Skater XL is the evolution of skateboarding games and moves the genre towards expressive, physics-based gameplay. Players will experience unparalleled board control and responsiveness while they skate legendary real-world skate spots. With ground-breaking and intuitive controls, skateboarding in a video game has never felt more authentic, fluid, and responsive.
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Emulate Skate 3 instead.
tenebroso
yeah it could have been great
Incredible potential but has no content on consoles, no progression other than a few challenges.
GOTY 2020 - NUMBER NINE
Video version
2020 was the year that skateboarding games finally came back. Not to ignore the brilliant OlliOlli games that have kept me going over the last decade, but with Skater XL, Tony Hawk’s 1&2, the Early Access launch of Session, and the long-needed announcement of Skate 4, the genre feels more alive and diverse than ever. Crucially, all these games are distinct and have reason to coexist. Skater XL feels like the most successful step forward for the genre of the bunch.
Skater XL is very niche. While something like Tony Hawk’s might appeal to fans of 3D platformers or high-skill arcade games, Skater XL is designed much more for people who love skateboarding. There’s no real game here. It’s more of a toy. A set of different levels to mess about in, with no set goals or progression. For many, those things just clutter up a good skateboarding game. This isn’t interested in the standard structure of a videogame.
While Skate bewildered many THPS fans by taking more of a simulation-style approach, Skater XL makes that feel simplistic and videogamey. Skate approximates the movement of your feet based on how you move the right analogue stick. Skater XL splits control of each foot between the two analogue sticks. The advantage is not only how each trick feels, but the control you have – how hard you push a kickflip or how far you spin the skateboard for a shove-it. This gives you far wider range of options in how you approach obstacles, and the inspiration you get while weighing up the possibilities. A smoothly performed manual on a picnic table in Skater XL can feel far more satisfying than a 5-minute unbroken combo in THPS.
The whole things feels very much like an evolution of Skate. A wee group of skateboarding enthusiasts who loved the game, but were frustrated by how it chose to present certain things. Not to say that Skater XL is better than Skate. The levels are relatively cramped, and there’s animation and collision issues all over the thing. There’s none of Skate’s brilliant weight-shifting manipulation. The game’s strength is in the fidelity of the controls for street skating. Skateboarding is a creative experience, and Skater XL makes Skate feel like trying to paint a portrait with a crayon.
If you’re into this stuff, returning to Skater XL after a week feels incredible. After all the linear, join-the-dots blockbusters of the current games industry, or even the hectic, pushy noise and clatter of the old stuff, it’s great to have games that are played entirely on your own terms. Your engagement with Skater XL hinges entirely on what it inspires you to try, and what you can get out of its mechanics.
I kind of hate critical summaries of games that posit that if you’re not already a fan of the genre or franchise, an otherwise appealing game will do nothing for you. It dismisses games as mere merchandise, and not things that have value in their own right. It creates artificial boundaries to those who might want to try something different. Games that have nothing to do with skateboarding could learn from Skater XL. It’s just a nice wee thing.
Video version
2020 was the year that skateboarding games finally came back. Not to ignore the brilliant OlliOlli games that have kept me going over the last decade, but with Skater XL, Tony Hawk’s 1&2, the Early Access launch of Session, and the long-needed announcement of Skate 4, the genre feels more alive and diverse than ever. Crucially, all these games are distinct and have reason to coexist. Skater XL feels like the most successful step forward for the genre of the bunch.
Skater XL is very niche. While something like Tony Hawk’s might appeal to fans of 3D platformers or high-skill arcade games, Skater XL is designed much more for people who love skateboarding. There’s no real game here. It’s more of a toy. A set of different levels to mess about in, with no set goals or progression. For many, those things just clutter up a good skateboarding game. This isn’t interested in the standard structure of a videogame.
While Skate bewildered many THPS fans by taking more of a simulation-style approach, Skater XL makes that feel simplistic and videogamey. Skate approximates the movement of your feet based on how you move the right analogue stick. Skater XL splits control of each foot between the two analogue sticks. The advantage is not only how each trick feels, but the control you have – how hard you push a kickflip or how far you spin the skateboard for a shove-it. This gives you far wider range of options in how you approach obstacles, and the inspiration you get while weighing up the possibilities. A smoothly performed manual on a picnic table in Skater XL can feel far more satisfying than a 5-minute unbroken combo in THPS.
The whole things feels very much like an evolution of Skate. A wee group of skateboarding enthusiasts who loved the game, but were frustrated by how it chose to present certain things. Not to say that Skater XL is better than Skate. The levels are relatively cramped, and there’s animation and collision issues all over the thing. There’s none of Skate’s brilliant weight-shifting manipulation. The game’s strength is in the fidelity of the controls for street skating. Skateboarding is a creative experience, and Skater XL makes Skate feel like trying to paint a portrait with a crayon.
If you’re into this stuff, returning to Skater XL after a week feels incredible. After all the linear, join-the-dots blockbusters of the current games industry, or even the hectic, pushy noise and clatter of the old stuff, it’s great to have games that are played entirely on your own terms. Your engagement with Skater XL hinges entirely on what it inspires you to try, and what you can get out of its mechanics.
I kind of hate critical summaries of games that posit that if you’re not already a fan of the genre or franchise, an otherwise appealing game will do nothing for you. It dismisses games as mere merchandise, and not things that have value in their own right. It creates artificial boundaries to those who might want to try something different. Games that have nothing to do with skateboarding could learn from Skater XL. It’s just a nice wee thing.
bought it in the beta so i dont care LOL!