Update: Now with the proper 60fps trailer - the Nintendo one was apparently cut to 30. Enjoy!
The absence of a truly great skateboarding game in the vein of the classic Tony Hawk's or Skate is a great and continuing shame for many '90s kids who recall kickflipping and grinding through the urban polygonal playgrounds back in the day. We've got the two Olli-Olli games on Switch, but we're still hankering for some full-on 3D skating, preferably to a soundtrack of American punk rock. It makes all those faceplants a little more bearable, you see.
Hoping to channel some of that nostalgia, Skater XL has been announced as coming to Switch in today's Indie World Showcase. While it looks perhaps a little too much like the skateboard games of old, we're not too bothered if it isn't the prettiest game on the block. We're more interested in the fact it promises an 'evolved' version of the skateboarding classics we know and love with 'unparalleled board control'. Created by a team of skaters, the physics are a focus for the developers and it also boasts several real-world skate spots where you can show off your finest ollies, nollies and the rest.
Check out the trailer above and you'll find it actually looks much better in motion than the bland environments suggest.
The game has been in Early Access on Steam for a while now and while it doesn't look like much, the focus on getting the technical nitty gritty perfect is encouraging. It might not be the big budget, AAA skateboarding experience fans of the genre are after, but if it nails the spirit of those classics, we'll be more than happy. Right now it's only got a '2020' release date, but we'll let you now when there's something more concrete.
Look, we got through the whole thing without using the words 'Sk8er Boi'! Feel free to congratulate us and leave your thoughts about Skater XL in the usual place.
Comments 36
I'd rather play a game in the vein of the Skate series than the Tony Hawk games.
I NEED Tony Hawk! This video shows no gameplay!
@BeefSanta Tony Hawk is way better than skate.
If it has the same controls as Tony hawk then I'm down
I’m really into this on PC but it is absolutely not worth it without the exceptional modding community. It’s early access so there’s 1 map and 1 character. The skating feels brilliant, like Skate but more accurate. If you skate in real life, you’ll probably appreciate this more than a casual gamer as it’s aiming to be more of a sim than an arcade experience. Right now however, if you aren’t interested in mods, it’s a waste of money.
I always preferred Skate to Tony Hawk. TH has the nostalgia factor, sure, and they were fine games up to a point, but I liked the controls in Skate much more. If this is like that, I'm down.
To me it looks very bland in both the animations and environments. It sounds like this places mechanics first and foremost though, and maybe that's enough for some.
The frame rate is bad.
As long as that Superman man song is in the game from THPS 1, I am all in... otherwise I will wait for a review
I don't know what the state of the TH license is at the moment. But I wouldn't mind a remaster of those games on the Switch. Especially the first 3. I liked 4 and that was probably the last time I enjoyed the series. But the first three were big parts of my late teen/early adult years
I shall await reviews but since Skate seems to be dead anyway... I'll take this.
I don't like watching indie Directs b/c all the 8 bit graphics make me cringe, but this was far and away the worst looking game in the Direct. It was so bad I couldn't' decide if it was supposed to be 1 of those flop physics games w/ 1 button controls or something cringe-inducing like Goat simulator. So slow motion bland and gray.
Best looking game in the Direct by far was Youropa which NL hasn't written about yet. It must be me.
I miss the extreme sports craze of gen 6. It got so huge, they actually made a game about wakeboarding. And it was GOOD! Think about this, the genre was so popular, they gave a team a big enough budget to produce a good wakeboarding game.
But does it have Goldfinget?
Skate and Tony Hawk are nothing alike, and this game looks a lot more like Skate than the latter. It doesn't make any sense to bring up Tony Hawk when discussing this game.
(The game does look promising, BTW.)
Tony Hawk for life.
This will do until a thps (or other fun ‘board game) appears. If this is reasonably priced or goes in a sale I’ll pick it up. THPS collection or whatever it (hopefully) ends up being will be day one purchase(or pre-order if there’s a decent Physical edition)
If i am not ollie-ing off a UFO onto a grind along a lip of a launched garbage dumpster into a inverted glass dome of a green house with a wendigo inside... is it really skating?
I would love to have a game on par with Tony Hawk 2, but....this looks awfully generic!
I have to say, initially I thought it's mechanics were a tad rigid, but watching the trailer again and focusing on the board, it looks rather tight and it's just the lack of animation on the clothes that makes the skaters look stiff! It could play really well I reckon.
@nessisonett
Thanks for the context, let's hope that by the time this comes out on Switch they will have also finished the PC version too and there is more than one bloody level.
Because when I see a skateboarding game finally appear on my Switch, I'm buying that thing day one regardless...
I never played the Tony Hawk games, but I loved Skate 2 dearly. I'd love a game like that on my Switch.
I'm just going to buy mario vs sonic Tokyo for my skateboarding fix.
Now this is a skateboarding game!
Where is Skate 4?
... Yeah, Tony Hawk 2 and 3 shouldn't feel threatened at all, this one looks incredibly generic.
Cya
Raziel-chan
I saw this on the stream and I was thinking, who makes a 30fps skateboarding game? I'm so glad it was just the videos fault. It looks good here (though a little barren with no NPCs).
Two words. Hell yes.
I have been waiting for a Skateboarding game for all my life! This is going to be perfect. Now, let’s see if Session is coming to the Switch.
Skate trilogy port or nothing for me .
Or I would ideally want the physics and trick list of skate 3 with cell shaded graphics .
Free skate mode and skatepark editor /skater editor.
No career/story mode
Just skating
I loved the Tony Hawk games growing up; I don't think I've played one though since THPS 3. I might just pick this up, as it's been years since I've played a skateboarding game, who knows it could be fun.
Anyone who thinks this is going to play like Tony Hawk is going to be very disappointed. Yes, it’s a skateboarding game, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end. It’s much more realistic, and therefore much more similar to EA’s Skate series.
...and I’m very happy this is the case.
@UmbreonsPapa
I failed to grab TH: HD before it was taken down... everywhere. I wish I could get that on Switch.
@sandman89 I guess we can have different opinions since both series are quite different in presentation and gameplay from each other despite being skateboard games, and not everything needs to devolve into 'my thing is better than your thing' debate.
Can't wait to play it! I've been waiting for a skateboard game for so long!
Looks super dated.
@BanjoPickles THPS2 was ahead of its time!
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