To forget the world is just a tiny bit awful right now. It’s easy to forget your troubles in Radlandia.

Levels go by in a breeze, and gameplay absolutely soars once you get the hang of it. The hearty gameplay preview I was given made me fall completely in love, even though I’ve bounced off so many skateboarding games in the past. While it largely adheres to familiar skateboarding game tropes, it also encourages experimentation and trying again. Its sense of fun and whimsy is so clear in its character design, in its world-building, and in its gameplay. It means even when you do run into trouble, the game remains a delight. Hitting the deck produces a similar outcome: flailing limbs and a slow, dramatic fall. I must have seen this a dozen times in a single level. There’s a wonderful animation where your player hits a boardwalk square-on, and their limbs go floppy and limp as they fly through the air, Skyrim-style. Until you ‘get’ OlliOlli World‘s gameplay, you may find yourself failing a lot. Even when it’s frustrating, the game is pure magic.

This takes time, but it’s time well spent. Risk is often a reward, and more dangerous paths can unlock higher scores, but mastery is required to really make the game’s high speed action sing. Skating here is more of a puzzle, where players need to determine which paths to take, how much force to use, and how many tricks they can pull off before they hit the ground. It’s tough to get right at first, because no input can sometimes be the right move – even if it feels counterintuitive. The perfect balance is needed to reach every finish line. Too much speed means you’ll trip and fall. Enough speed means you’ll be able to clear objects in your path easily. To perform tricks (on console), players must ‘flick’ their controller in a particular direction, while constantly gaining speed via grinding (a constant upward push), pushing (using ‘X’ on PS4/5) or wall riding (a downward push). Beyond OlliOlli World‘s aesthetics, which truly are immaculate, the gameplay itself is a real draw. While the notion may seem daunting, OlliOlli World is very good at easing new players in through a number of tutorials that show off the game’s chill vibes.įrameborder='0' allow='accelerometer autoplay clipboard-write encrypted-media gyroscope picture-in-picture' allowfullscreen>Īfter early teething problems – namely, learning to let go of the trick button and relax – I found myself completely enamoured by the game’s intricacies. In another, you’ll see starfish lying on ice cream beaches while a rubber ducky watches on.Įach level operates on rails your job is to avoid obstacles, score major points, and complete a number of optional goals while honing your craft.Īlong the way, each locale will teach you new tricks: grinding first, then ‘wall riding’, in addition to a number of special moves that’ll be familiar to skateboarding fans: ollies and heelflips, the no comply and beyond. In one level, you might encounter giant frogs in a slimy rainforest. The overworld is laid out in biome-based levels, with each being themed to a certain locale: the ocean, the forest, a desert.

If you watched Rocket Power as a child, it’s the same vibe here: you join a bunch of kids who love skateboarding, and set out on rad skateboarding-themed quests. The premise here is simple: you’re in line to be the next ‘Skate Wizard’ of Radlandia, a world governed by its dedication to skateboarding and being ‘rad’. With enough skill (and perhaps some luck), any challenge can be conquered. It means anyone can jump into the game and enjoy themselves, even as grinding pipes and tougher beaches hit the scene. The game rewards you for trying and trying again, with easy restarts and checkpoints helping you conquer each course and pull off the right tricks. But while it’s certainly challenging, failure is never punished. OlliOlli World‘s Radlandia is a realm filled with miniature skateboard courses, each more difficult than the last.

Olliolli screenshots