TrickStyle

"Hoverboards? Count me in!"

Trickstyle is one of the early Dreamcast titles, but ironically one of the last games I ever bought for the system. Basically, after I'd played Sonic Adventure, Crazy Taxi and Grandia 2 to death, I went out looking for other titles. Jet Grind Radio kept crashing despite buying three separate copies (really, three different copies, none of them worked) but in my search I ended up with this nice little surprise. For $15, it sure provided its money's worth and lived up to its name. Hell, the whole concept of racing around on hoverboards ala Marty McFly is worth the price of admission.

Gameplay

This is a pseudo-racing game, so the story behind it is the same as any others of its genre: bunch of people in a sci-fi setting get together to race against each other for money, fame and hopefully a better hoverboard. There is a good deal of interesting backstory in the instruction manual, but none of it comes into play during the game itself. I say pseudo primarily because there's more to do than just race. As soon as it all begins you're thrown into a large, square-ish arena called the Velodrome with nothing but some hills to jump, quarter-pipes and half-pipes, and quite a bit of open areas in which to practice handling your board.

Of course, you're given a decent range of characters to use. These folks fall into three categories: racers, who excel in speed, but can't perform stunts too well, nor take a hit. Stunters, as their name suggests, can pull off some fabulous tricks, but can't play offensively too well. You'll recognize the bully type from other games: strong and tough, but slower than the rest.

To compliment your racer, you have four different hoverboards to choose from. The standard board is, of course, even in all three categories (stunts, speed and power) while there are boards for each of the three categories of racers. The stunt board can help with tricks, but is the slowest, while the racing board is fast but weak, and the combat board...well, you can guess what it's for. These are unlocked by beating the 'boss' of the three racing areas, London, USA and Tokyo.

The name Trickstyle comes from the multitude of stunts you'll be able to perform both during and outside of a race. In a race, performing a stunt, such as a triple flip, will let you go faster when you land in the half/quarter pipe, or from a jump. The more advanced tricks, though, can only be learned by completing Challenges. These are certain tests of skill available anytime during the game that range from collecting globes to racing against the Guide, all the while performing the various tricks you've learned. The racing and globe switching (where you must tap a globe to turn it to your color, and whoever can change all the globes to his/her color wins) can also be played with a second player, if you're into that sort of thing.

The races themselves are somewhat different from what you might expect. Rather than just using speed to get to the finish line, you must perform stunts during the race to boost your speed. Each stunt makes you go faster, and the more complicated, the bigger the boost. Along with that, many race tracks have secret passages in the form of magnorails, speed pads and hoops, and even pedestrian vehicles you must duck under to avoid becoming roadkill. After several rounds back and forth along the track, you must challenge the 'boss' of an area, which is a one-on-one race to the finish in true showdown style.

While the races are the main point of the game, they're not that challenging. While at first you'll likely wipe out or be knocked to the ground more than once, if you get the hang of the controls and know your racer/board, a good portion of the races will be a breeze. The later races pick up the difficulty a bit, since at this point the computer starts using the shortcuts available, but by this time you'll be more than capable of following them across magnorails and such. The real challenges are in the mini-games, since the later ones involve a much more aggressive AI and more demanding tasks.

For my money, though, the races were primarily a diversion from the free-roaming you can do in the Velodrome. In this bastion of random insanity, there is no timer, no objectives, no real point except to mess around and master your craft as a racing trickster. While such an activity may not hold everyone's attention for very long, it's a nice way to kill ten minutes by seeing just how high you can jump and how many flips you can turn before crashing back to earth.

Graphics

For a first-gen Dreamcast game, it looks very good. Better than most PS2 games, excepting the latest gen of said games. Some tracks have a lot of activity going on, while others have a view that's just beautiful, except when you remember you're in the middle of a race and not sightseeing. The racers are modeled quite well and move fluidly, and the framerate is stable, with no huge dips I could spot.

Sound

Like many others of its genre, Trickstyle is filled with the sort of pounding techno-pop beats you might expect of a futuristic racer. It's got a good deal better music than some games out there, most notably Wipeout Fusion. What made me smile, though, was the odd comments shouted between characters as you pass them (or vice-versa). Some are fairly amusing, but there's little variety between them, which is shame.

Replay Value

There's quite a few races to complete, along with the mini-game challenges that are the bulk of the difficulty in the game. Once all that's done, there's still one final course which will really test your racing prowess, and of course, the prerequisite multiplayer modes. While it may not take you very long to complete the 1-player mode, there's still fun to be had competing against fellow humans, along with the odd round of free-roaming (if you're into that sort of thing).

Conclusion

Okay, Trickstyle may not be for everyone. It's not the best racer, nor the best futuristic racer, but it's still a fun diversion. Considering the ultra-low price of a Dreamcast and the game itself, it's very likely worth your time and money to give it a try.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/16/04