GOTY 2022 & '21 - Number 5
(The video version of this is here)
Look, there's something wrong with my judgement. "Character action" games have never done it for me. Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden. I just don't feel a connection between my button inputs and the mad flips and spins on-screen. Maybe that's because so much of my comfort is found in a completely different kind of action game - extreme sports. Games where jumps and spins are intrinsically linked to control and level design.
I didn't have faith that Rollerdrome would be any good when I first saw it. I've seen games offer the world on a plate with their concepts, but when you actually play them, they're something like My Friend Pedro. Gimmicky nonsense that leans hard on a couple wild moves that look good in trailers. Rollerdrome does not fall victim to this, and it's likely because roll7 understand extreme sports games. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is often painted as just a good skateboarding game, but it's a massive success in designing a game that emphasizes points and combos with truly 3D gameplay. Something where environmental structure was really important, and had to be learned and mastered to squeeze out its full potential. That's the bones of Rollerdrome, with Hotline Miami and Quake III as its muscle and flesh.
This is a combo-based arena shooter where you fire sniper shots at jetpack guys and fuchikomas while backflipping off quarterpipes. It's a concept too cool to ever work, but it does. Momentum-based propulsion is the key. You're not steering while aiming. You set off in a direction and then line up your shot. If you need to make a sharp turn, you roll out of it. Rollerdrome makes judicious use of bullet time, and you don't have to worry about safe landings. You always land on your wheels, but lining up sequences that keep your flow going is always preferable. Remove any of these elements, and you'd have an unplayable mess with ideas above its system, but packaged together like this, it's a joy. Grinding and wallriding while steadying long-range shots across the map and pulling the trigger at the perfect moment - that's the game working at its full potential.
I don't know if a lot of people will connect with the game in the way I did, but as someone whose reliance on Tony Hawk's verges on the chemical, it's captivating to add so many new variables to the formula. Combos aren't about connecting sequences of tricks, but a series of kills. Tricks are there to regain your ammo. There's no real-world logic to the systems, and that's something to be lauded. You can learn a level inside out - where each new spawn will be, the most effective weapons against each enemy type, and the most efficient ways to line up combos - but there's so many dynamic little nuances to each part, I don't know if you could ever mathematically work out a formula and have each part of Rube Goldberg chain fall into place perfectly. There's always an aspect of flying by the seat of your pants. I have a path through Tony Hawk's 2's School 2 that's set in stone, but I don't know if I could ever get into that state of semi-conscious playing while revisiting a Rollerdrome level. It's a much looser, less predictable game. Don't for a second think that's a mark against it.
An aspect of Rollerdrome that might go underappreciated is how good its platforming core is. If I ever had to go on Mastermind, I might pick "Subpar Extreme Sports Videogames" as much subject. I can tell you all about what sets a Thrasher: Skate and Destroy from a Shaun White's Skateboarding, and an Airblade from a Razor Freestyle Scooter. In all likelihood, there's a good chance I've set pretty decent scores on every level of any piece of crap you could think to mention. Rollerdrome really makes a mockery of Jet Set Radio. You're never fighting against the controls. It just flows effortlessly, and the levels are instantly readable. You're never knocking against a corner to try to line up a jump to a balcony. You just go do it, and it's done. It's reliable, and it builds your confidence to try wilder stuff. I've seen this stuff done wrong, or miss a beat so often, roll7 deserve to be praised for how good it feels to just move around the levels.
Rollerdrome is a lesson for the industry to learn from. Any wild concept can work as a game, if you really work at the design. They'd been making skateboarding games since the mid-eighties, but about a decade and a half of sex-out-of-tens later, Neversoft came out with something that everybody wanted to play. Action games don't have to be either God of War or Hotline Miami. We don't have to linger in the shadows of a handful of game concepts that really connected with a big audience, and we don't have to lean on art or story to make games that stand out. There's still space for genuine innovation in design, and you don't need to reengineer the wheel to do it. Tony Hawk's with a gun worked. Let's try the impossible ideas now.
(The video version of this is here)
Look, there's something wrong with my judgement. "Character action" games have never done it for me. Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden. I just don't feel a connection between my button inputs and the mad flips and spins on-screen. Maybe that's because so much of my comfort is found in a completely different kind of action game - extreme sports. Games where jumps and spins are intrinsically linked to control and level design.
I didn't have faith that Rollerdrome would be any good when I first saw it. I've seen games offer the world on a plate with their concepts, but when you actually play them, they're something like My Friend Pedro. Gimmicky nonsense that leans hard on a couple wild moves that look good in trailers. Rollerdrome does not fall victim to this, and it's likely because roll7 understand extreme sports games. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is often painted as just a good skateboarding game, but it's a massive success in designing a game that emphasizes points and combos with truly 3D gameplay. Something where environmental structure was really important, and had to be learned and mastered to squeeze out its full potential. That's the bones of Rollerdrome, with Hotline Miami and Quake III as its muscle and flesh.
This is a combo-based arena shooter where you fire sniper shots at jetpack guys and fuchikomas while backflipping off quarterpipes. It's a concept too cool to ever work, but it does. Momentum-based propulsion is the key. You're not steering while aiming. You set off in a direction and then line up your shot. If you need to make a sharp turn, you roll out of it. Rollerdrome makes judicious use of bullet time, and you don't have to worry about safe landings. You always land on your wheels, but lining up sequences that keep your flow going is always preferable. Remove any of these elements, and you'd have an unplayable mess with ideas above its system, but packaged together like this, it's a joy. Grinding and wallriding while steadying long-range shots across the map and pulling the trigger at the perfect moment - that's the game working at its full potential.
I don't know if a lot of people will connect with the game in the way I did, but as someone whose reliance on Tony Hawk's verges on the chemical, it's captivating to add so many new variables to the formula. Combos aren't about connecting sequences of tricks, but a series of kills. Tricks are there to regain your ammo. There's no real-world logic to the systems, and that's something to be lauded. You can learn a level inside out - where each new spawn will be, the most effective weapons against each enemy type, and the most efficient ways to line up combos - but there's so many dynamic little nuances to each part, I don't know if you could ever mathematically work out a formula and have each part of Rube Goldberg chain fall into place perfectly. There's always an aspect of flying by the seat of your pants. I have a path through Tony Hawk's 2's School 2 that's set in stone, but I don't know if I could ever get into that state of semi-conscious playing while revisiting a Rollerdrome level. It's a much looser, less predictable game. Don't for a second think that's a mark against it.
An aspect of Rollerdrome that might go underappreciated is how good its platforming core is. If I ever had to go on Mastermind, I might pick "Subpar Extreme Sports Videogames" as much subject. I can tell you all about what sets a Thrasher: Skate and Destroy from a Shaun White's Skateboarding, and an Airblade from a Razor Freestyle Scooter. In all likelihood, there's a good chance I've set pretty decent scores on every level of any piece of crap you could think to mention. Rollerdrome really makes a mockery of Jet Set Radio. You're never fighting against the controls. It just flows effortlessly, and the levels are instantly readable. You're never knocking against a corner to try to line up a jump to a balcony. You just go do it, and it's done. It's reliable, and it builds your confidence to try wilder stuff. I've seen this stuff done wrong, or miss a beat so often, roll7 deserve to be praised for how good it feels to just move around the levels.
Rollerdrome is a lesson for the industry to learn from. Any wild concept can work as a game, if you really work at the design. They'd been making skateboarding games since the mid-eighties, but about a decade and a half of sex-out-of-tens later, Neversoft came out with something that everybody wanted to play. Action games don't have to be either God of War or Hotline Miami. We don't have to linger in the shadows of a handful of game concepts that really connected with a big audience, and we don't have to lean on art or story to make games that stand out. There's still space for genuine innovation in design, and you don't need to reengineer the wheel to do it. Tony Hawk's with a gun worked. Let's try the impossible ideas now.