Skitchin'

"If only it could have had a big sticker saying 'I AM NOT ROAD RASH!!!' on the box. Fantastic, but overlooked by many."

EA struck a successful formula with the game Road Rash, and it's sequel, Road Rash 2. The games both involved high speed fighting, but were both racing games at heart. Well, take away the bikes, and add rollerblades. Add in more dangerous weaponry. Add in tricks. Add in the ability to hold onto the back of cars. All these things together are what separate Skitchin' apart from it's big biker brothers.

Before you go off whining, saying it is nothing more than Road Rash on skates, shut up and finishing reading. There is enough here to set the games apart.

I first saw Skitchin' March of 1994, when purchasing NBA Jam with my brother (this time at the Gold Coast). We both thought the game looked pretty cool, and rented it on our arrival home. Eventually, after 6 or so more rentals, we became sick of the game and it drifted into the back of our minds. We saw it at an ex-rental sale one day, and snapped it up immediately. I have memories of nearly melting the carpet beneath the Megadrive from playing Skitchin' for such extended amounts of time. Its very addictive.

Graphically, the game is pretty neat. Plently of animation of the characters, thus abandoning the lifeless feel of Road Rash. The characters are large too, and generally well drawn. Your skater generally looks quite the homeboy, while other skaters tend to either look like you, or like skinheads. Cars are a problem. Some look quite ugly, others look fine. They lack animation, thus making them flat, lifeless sprites. Backgrounds are nice....yet quite gruesome. They suffer the same horrible scaling effect that Road Rash had. Mind you there is a lot more detail to them now.

Sound is a strength for Skitchin'. The music variety is great, offering tunes for all different tastes, and a stack of them at that. There is even a CD player which lets you choose the desired track for each level. Not disappointing at all. Sound effects are quite good too, but mainly consisting of the sounds of your fists smacking against other opponents heads, or being hit by a car.

There is no story as such, but the game does have various events, such as commentators being beaten up or arrested. They don't help the game, but they are quite amusing.

The game itself is quite excellent. Starting off in Vancouver, with a small amount of cash, you must pummel and skate your way through the various tracks up to the big dance in New York city. You earn money various ways, such as skitching a lot of cars, beating guys heads in, and performing stunts. The art of skitchin itself is quite a chore. Starting off easy, it gets progressively harder as the game goes on, as drivers tend to change lanes, stop and even pop their boots to knock you off.

There are 4 different game modes. The basic one player experience is the core of the game. The 2 player modes add some variety however. There is 2 player - Turn by Turn, for those who don't like having their screen hogged by another player. Essentially quite boring to whoever isn't playing though. 2 Player - Competitive puts you with each other, essentially in the single player mode, but with the two of you playing at once. The screen is a little squished (not enough to worry us with our 41'' TV...fear it), but there is still enough for you to see. This mode does make the game easier however, as only one of you needs to make in the Top 5 to progress. Finally there is the 2 Player - Head to Head, which is basically Mano-o-Mano from Road Rash 2. You fight and race each other to the death. The problem? If you knock your friend out, they are basically screwed the second you skitch your first car. Not too competitive.

Control is nice. A plus a direction will put your arm out to skitch a car, B is the accelerator, and C hits. After getting some air, various button combinations will perform stunts, but keep in mind the time it takes to do the trick in relation to the amount of air you have.

In terms of lasting, Skitchin' is very good. There is plenty of game to keep you satisfied. The single player game is long enough to keep you interested, and the whole cash and equipment management is deep enough. There's about 10 levels to skitch your way through, getting progressively difficult. The two player experience makes things a little easier, but it is a great way to have a bit of fun with a friend.

The game is good enough to sweep away most of its comparability to Road Rash. While the games are running on the same core, I tend to prefer Skitchin' to Road Rash, Road Rash 2, and even Road Rash 3: Tour de Thrash. While RR3 built on the depth of equipment management of Skitchin', it is still essentially Road Rash 2 with more bells and whistles. Basically if you like Road Rash, get Skitchin'. If you hate Road Rash, try Skitchin' anyway.

Overall, I'd say this is one of my top 100. Slagged by reviewers at the time because of it's Road Rash roots, people tend to give up on it prematurely. It is a good game, with an interesting concept and plenty of staying power. It gets helped by having a strong 2 player mode as well. If you can track it down, get it, you won't regret it.

Graphics: 8.3

Polished. Plenty of colours, in conjunction with big sprites with plenty of animation. The cars look stiff and the backgrounds have some scaling problems, but these are quite minor hitches.

Sound: 9.3

Excellent soundtrack. A great mix of various rock tracks. Sound effects are quite good too. Nothing beats the sound of frying one of those skinheaded freaks with a cattle prod.

Story: N/A

Just a few interesting facts to help with gameplay, but no real story basis. The premise doesn't really allow for it.

Gameplay: 9.5

It's great. Pick it up and play at any time. There are a wealth of stages to get through. It's item management is fairly deep. It does get tough later on, but rumor has it there are ways to teleport back to the beginning. Two player will get you and a friend addicted for certain.

Control: 8.0

A little non responsive at times, but simple to pick up and play. You do have to watch yourself when it comes to performing the tricks.

Lastability: 8.8

I still play it. I still love it. There is plenty to keep you coming back for more. The game isn't short by any length of the imagination. 2 player modes make things a little easier to progress through, so keep away if you wish. It is around a medium difficulty, but the learning curve is quite low.

Pro's

- Nice Graphics
- Excellent Soundtrack
- Great Two Player modes
- Great involving gameplay
- Easy to control
- Will keep you playing for ages to come

Con's

- Background scaling sucks
- Two player modes make things easy
- It was thought of as Road Rash on skates when it came out, and was overlooked

Does it belong in my collection? Yes!

Get it now. Kill, maim, steal it if necessary. I doubt there will ever be a sequel. It sits in my top 100 all time list, and probably one of my top 10 Megadrive/Genesis games. A little rare, but not as bad as some games.

Overall: 9.2 (scaled back to 9)

Not the Road Rash clone it was made out to be. Plenty here to keep you interested. It's a shame it was overlooked by so many. A sequel would probably ruin it (look at Road Rash), so capture a copy and keep the memory alive. A great Megadrive game, a stand out in my collection :D.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/30/01, Updated 06/30/01