Air Trix

"Sega's follow-up to Top Skater is a winner!"

A few years ago, Sega and Namco, perhaps other companies as well, brought out many types of games that featured control schemes other than joysticks or steering wheels. These machines simulated actual objects such as jet skis, fishing poles, bicycles, rafts, snowboards, etc. One of the games Sega made in this time was Top Skater, a skateboarding simulation. It was a great game, where, using a skateboard-shaped controller, you went through a downhill course through halfpipes, over ramps, etc. However, it was more based on ''kicking'', or pressing one end of the board down, at the right time rather than actual combinations of tricks. Air Trix changes all that. Where Top Skater was downhill with a couple halfpipes, Air Trix is all about the halfpipe. Pick one of the five characters, and then you can choose a training level or dive right into the main game.
Sega has made some interesting gameplay changes, including the (extremely helpful for new players) training level. Now, simply kicking the board will only get you one trick. You have to change the position of the board and kick more than once in order to start racking up high-scoring combos. In addition, you can twist the board further now (though not to the point where it's turning more than 180 degrees), adding the possibility of spin tricks, and you can also do grinds, something which to me was almost nonexistent in Top Skater. In addition, you now receive coins for the tricks you pull of, where really awesome trick combos will score you lots of coins, and small combos will only net you a few. As you score coins, your skill level increases and you can get more air and make bigger combos. Coins are how you are scored in Air Trix.

Scores:

Graphics: 10.0
Man, this game is pretty! The locations of the halfpipe location looks very realistically rendered, and the textures are very smooth. I would say the game's graphics are on par with Virtua Fighter 3. There are some neat effects accompanying certain tricks as well. The animations are very nice as well, as they are extremely realistic and do not have outlandish moments.

Sound: 8.0
I couldn't hear much of the sound from the game while playing the game in the arcade in which I found it, but the skateboarding and grinding noises sound very realistic. The music is okay... it didn't sound familiar to me but I wasn't really paying attention to it.

Gameplay: 9.0
This game's play is incredible! The increased range of motion on the controller really helps, and trying to pull off combos on your own is much more fun than just using a simple foot press at the right moment.

Control: 7.0
The only reason this score is kind of low is because the controller doesn't seem that sturdy. The game is fairly new, but at one of the arcades I played it at, the controller wasn't working well at all.

In Conclusion:
If you have any interest in skateboarding at all, and see this game somewhere, give it a try!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/09/01, Updated 05/09/01