720 Degrees

"Its not Skate or Die, but...."

720 was released by Tengen on to the NES. The game is also available on many other classic gaming systems. As far as skateboarding games for the NES go, this one is kinda original. Instead of a simple side scroller, 720 lets you skate in a full enviorment. Unfornately, since this game was made in the 1980's, the skateboarding is simialr to how it was in the 80's. Big boards, no flip tricks, mostly just a whole lot of ollying. Never the less the game is kinda enjoyable.

Graphics 7/10: The graphics are pretty good. You are given an entire skatepark like enviorment, complete with ramps to skate in. My only real complaint is the kid you control is dressed like he is about 5 years old. He wears a bright green outfit, with a bright green hat. I guess maybe that was the style back then or something.

Gameplay 4/10: Controlling your skater is quite a feat. The view on this game has you looking down on everything, kinda like in Solstice. This makes getting your skater to do what you want him to do pretty challenging. Getting down the simple directions can be very tedious. Also, I don't know whose idea it was to put a bunch of pools of water all around the skatepark, but it is a real pain falling into them over and over again. Once you overcome these two obstacles playing the game actually becomes pretty fun though.

Sound 5/10: The sound in 720 is nothing really special. It has normal Nintendo music, and very few sound effects to speak of. I will say that the music isn't annoying, and I hardly even noticed it. I don't know if that is a good thing or not.

Replay 9/10: I say the replay on 720 is pretty high. If your like me you will probably just mess around doing tricks until your time is up, then play again later. I hardly ever even try to advance in the game.

Overall 7/10: This game could have been alot worse. If you have a real interest in skateboarding you will probably enjoy playing this game. If your not that into skating, you might want to try Skate or Die first. I consider it to be a better game. I don't know who still rents Nintendo games, but I am pretty sure you could find this game for less than $5. I would probably pay up to $10 to own this one.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/21/02, Updated 07/21/02