TrickStyle

"I've played a lot of great Dreamcasy games. It's a shame that this isn't one of them."

Introduction
When I played Cool Boarders 2 on the PS1, I really had a lot of fun. When I went to Gamestation and saw Trickstyle- a futuristic hover board take on Cool Boarders- for cheap, I thought I'd be getting a good offer. Oh, how could I get such a thing wrong?

Gameplay 6/10
Trickstyle is set around a series of futuristic races. You race against a bunch of opponents as you glide across each level on hover boards. The thing is though is that Trickstyle plays really badly. The controls aren't very good and the opponents are either sloppy, being either too good or very bad and their skill level never changes. The main problem with Trickstyle is that it just isn't very much fun. Levels are a decent length, and they play reasonably well, although I do find that having to come first on every race just to progress to the next is a little harsh. The mini games are very poor and unoriginal. A mini game that has you going through hoops wasn't very much fun due to the sloppy control scheme. They controls aren't very responsive and they left you frustrated as you try to turn, especially when you just miss a hoop by an inch because your character doesn't turn quick enough.

Characters come in three forms. They're either Speed racers- They aim for pure speed. Skill racers- They're more trick based. Bully racers- They are the bullies of the race track, but to be honest, all characters play exactly the same and these different title mean nothing at all.

Visuals 3/10
However, the visuals were OK. The bad thing about them is that nearly all the levels look identical to each other. In addition, there is so much going on in each level that the backgrounds can really distract you. They're ugly to look at, and can at times get a little confusing. I hated the visuals and for me they are the main reason I stopped playing the game (well that and the rubbish controls).

Audio 3/10
Techno tracks that all sound the same. They brag about the composer on the front of the case, but I feel that if you're not already a fan of techno before you buy Trickstyle then you're not going to like it much after you played it. The music is horrible, the character voice-overs are very lazy, and the whole package is just horrendous.

Replay Value ??/10
I have nothing good to say about this game. I tried in numerous occasions to play and get into this, but I couldn't It plays so bad and as I mentioned above the whole package as a whole is abysmal.

Conclusion
If playing bad games is your bag then be my guest. This was a poor take on Cool Boarders, but plays nothing like it. I had zero fun with this title and I feel as though I'd wasted money that could have gone on a more worthwhile purchase. There is nothing good that can come out of this game, unless you use it as a Frisbee that is. Yeah, I know it's a cliched line. Just don't buy this game, as you'll regret it.

Pros and Cons

+ Er... I can't think of one
- Everything

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 03/31/09

Game Release: TrickStyle (EU, 1999)