OlliOlli World Review

What is skateboarding? Skateboarding is a side-scrolling platformer. Expect to pay PS25/$30. Release date February 8, Developer Roll7 Publisher Private Division. Reviewed on RTX 2070 with 16GB RAM and AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Multiplayer. Official site. Online leaderboards

OlliOlli World skaters are not like others. It isn't ripping lines on an asphalt concourse, scaring shoppers and pissing off security staffs as it slams a random 50-50 into the curb. Roll7's side-scrolling skaters have instead traveled to Radlandia. This skater's paradise is where rails are always polished and ramps are free from loose nails. Aspiring shredders can compete to be the next Skate Wizard.

OlliOlliWorld is wilder and more bizarre than the Olli'd that came before it, and it's all the greater for it.

OlliOlli 2 and 3 set the standard for the third game. The third game in the series follows the OlliOlli 1 and 2 templates. You are required to skate a line along a side-scrolling track, using A to push and left to launch into kickflips. Unfortunately, controls cannot be rebound. You will build your repertoire of tricks and chaining combos using manuals, grinds, and wallrides. This will allow you to finish the stages in style, racking up high scores, and pursuing secondary objectives.

World sounds very similar to its forebears when written like this. World, however, is clearly cutting a new line from the moment it starts up.

Nice 'n' steezy

OlliOlli World is passionate about skateboarding. Not just the tricks and flips but also the culture and music. In 2022, there will be more chillhop beats than thrash and ska. It doesn't feel completely bound to any particular idea of skateboarding culture. World creates a surreal Adventure Time-esque skateboarding world by using the same parks and sidewalks that OlliOlli 2 had.

This is a necessary tonal change for the series and it plays well into a third dimension. Skate lines can be found gliding around abandoned casinos, abandoned casinos, sludge plants, and huge ice cream cones. World's flat backgrounds are no longer the best. It gives Roll7's designers more room to test your skating skills.

OlliOlli World's stages are now able to move from left-to-right, where courses used to only go left to right. They also loop around with quarter pipe gaps, and destructible floors, which open up new routes.

These new freedoms can be explored best on the tough Gnarly Routes. You'll find a more challenging path that requires more precision jumps and tricks, if you choose the right rail or switch lanes at just the right moment. You will want to explore every corner and crevice. You won't just beat the level or get better scores than the locals. There's also more fashion available by searching the map and finding hidden NPCs that unlock new stages.

Easy Rolling

Before I started playing World, however, I went back to OlliOlli original and was shocked at how punishing it felt and the exact precision it required from the start. OlliOlli World has, however, taken great care to make their particular style of skating more relaxed and approachable, at least in the initial stages.

Higher score bonuses have replaced the need to land 'A' perfect on landing. Levels feel more relaxed at first and new elements are introduced gradually so that tutorials can still be found in the third or fourth of five regions.

It can sometimes feel like World is pulling its punches. But when it does hit out, the challenges are brutal, multilayered fares that require you to grind, transfer and perform tricks at a breakneck speed. You must keep an eye on the track while you navigate through lines that split on their own. From mastering the courses, to struggling to even make it through them, I was a complete mess. Although you can only battle one stage at a time with checkpoints, there is always the pressure to do it all.

Each map has its leaderboards. If you visit a stage, you will be assigned a rival to battle against. There are many stages to conquer, and while there will be people vying for these spots I am sure Gnarvana will be the place where most challenge-seekers will find their fill.

After beating the first region, Gnarvana can be unlocked. This magical space allows you to create and share tracks. You can choose their difficulty, length and biome or enter a 'postcode seed'. They are made from proc-gen pieces and lack the unique appeal of the main stages. However, it is where World's Daily Challenges take place--every day a new track to battle over.

It instantly tickles my part of the brain that used to follow Nuclear Throne dailies religiously for a year. It allows you to view replays of other contestants, which is a great learning tool. However, replays can sometimes be a bit off-sync.

Keep the landing.

Roll7 could have kept it simple for OlliOlli 3. OlliOlli 2 was a safe sequel that refined and tightened the format established by Phil in 2014. It's easy to see a world where OlliOlli 3 would be a perfect third iteration, much like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3.

OlliOlli World has given the series a sense of identity by letting go of the traditional grounded style. OlliOlli doesn't just 2D Skate, it's also a surreal skateboarding paradise that features a lively rhythmic platformer on halfpipes and grind rails.

Pendleton Ward's stoner skater aesthetics are hard to follow and a gentler learning curve may put off series die-hards. However, skateboarding is experiencing a revival that includes kickflipping, lo-fi halfpipe toys, and crystalline skating sessions in the underground below New York. OlliOlli World's radical redesign doesn't just keep it up with the new skaters, but it's what the series needed in order to produce one of the most stylish and satisfying skaters.