OlliOlli World Review

When a game has the word “World” in its title I instantly think of Super Mario World, a game that was much more than a simple sequel. Sure it had the same core mechanics, but it added a multitude of new ones and greatly expanded the scope of the original; blowing past anyone’s expectations and becoming a cornerstone of the video game world. OlliOlli World, the third game of Roll7’s OlliOlli series, this time published by Private Division, also makes an impressive leap forward compared to its predecessors. OlliOlli World is not going to make the same long-term impression on the video game landscape as SMW. That should not be viewed as a knock against the game because it is a fantastic game that takes the core mechanics of the first two games and greatly expands on them as well as the overall gameplay, creating an experience that will attract a much wider audience of players and keep those players engaged with a wealth of content.

The most obvious difference in OlliOlli World is no doubt the new flashy and colorful 3D art style that makes the game look like a high-quality cartoon you might watch on Cartoon Network. The game is made up of five areas and each one has its own distinct artistic style and theme. The first two OlliOlli games also consist of multiple areas made up of a handful of levels but each of the levels in an area is very similar in design and nothing really stands out. This is not the case in OlliOlli World as each level has its own design elements and one level might have a drastically different setting than another while still fitting into the same theme of that area.

When players start the game they will be greeted with a short intro explaining the premise of the game. In all honesty, the game doesn’t really need a story, because the gameplay is so much fun and addictive, but having an explanation for what is going on in the game is always welcome. The world of Radlandia was created by the five skate gods. They truly crafted a skateboarding paradise. You start off in Sunshine Valley, which is beach-themed, and you meet what will become your new crew. They are holding tryouts for the next Skate Wizard, because the current Wizard, Chiffon (part of that crew), is retiring. They encourage you to try out, and that’s where you start your journey to reach Gnarvana. Before and after each level you’ll have conversations with the crew as well as local denizens of that area. On one hand, the amount of dialogue they wrote for the game is impressive and it is all upbeat, cheery, and contains a good amount of humor, but on the other hand, I always found myself wanting to get straight into the level. Luckily you can skip all the dialogue with the push of a button.

I left out one huge part when describing the intro. A new addition to the series that really adds a ton of personality fun to the game – character customization. As far as I remember the first two OlliOlli games had no character customization options. OlliOlli World does a complete 180°, giving you a large number of options for your character’s physical appearance, and then offers what seems like an endless amount of clothing options for you to pick from. There are also plenty of board customization options allowing you to change the trucks, wheels, and letting you pick from an assortment of board styles each with its own art design. You unlock even more items while playing the game as you complete levels, beat local heroes, and knock out challenges. Anyone who likes creating their own character in games will be in heaven here. I usually don’t spend too much time customizing my character in games, but I found myself constantly checking out the new gear I earned and switching up my outfit here and there. The one thing it is missing is the option to save multiple outfits so you could switch them on the fly.

After playing OlliOlli World I went back and played a little of the first two games to refresh my memory. The first game is very simple. It’s a 2D skateboard game with solid mechanics. It’s fun, but it only captures a slice of the sport, focusing on flip tricks and grinds with a limited combo system. OlliOlli2 ups the difficulty causing the game to feel more like a precision platformer. They added the ability to manual allowing you to chain together massive combos if you’re good enough. OlliOlli World takes the foundation that Roll7 laid out in the first two games and builds a skateboarding masterpiece. Pretty much all of the skateboard mechanics make a return – the only exception I found was the removal of the stance change – and they add in pretty much everything else you could want. Now you can perform grabs, late tricks, and wallrides, also since the game is in 2.5D there are now quarter pipes. It also seems like they have added in a boatload of additional special moves. My favorites are the special grind switches you can perform by pressing the right stick in the same direction as the left stick once you start a grind. I also really like the tweaked grabs. 

The game does a good job slowly introducing you to all the different mechanics, but all the moves are at your disposal right from the start so if you played the second game in particular you’ll have a leg up on the competition. You might be wondering how you can perform all these different tricks with a controller. If I explained all the button inputs it probably would sound very complicated, but once you are familiar with everything the gameplay just feels so smooth and the controls feel perfect. It all starts with the excellent design decision they came up with for the first game to control the flip tricks and jumps with a flick of the left joystick. I know I’ve criticized other games for not assigning jump to the A button, but here it works perfectly and feels very original.

Both of the first two games are fail-and-retry style games, meaning you have to complete each level in one go, and the later levels can get pretty tricky. OlliOlli World doesn’t abandon that approach entirely (there are plenty of rewards for completing levels in one combo and for posting high scores), but overall Roll7 has taken a much more beginner-friendly approach. Each level has a number of checkpoints that you will respawn at if you fall. The game has a logical explanation for this: Chiffon is a wizard so she can use her power to teleport you back to the checkpoint. This makes the game feel so much more laid back, you can really enjoy just playing through the levels checking out the sights, sounds, and interesting level layouts. Then if you want to try to master the level you can buckle down and go for a high score. Each level also has three challenges presented by Mike (another crew member) which add some extra gameplay variety if you wish to partake in them. Once you’ve beaten all the levels and reached Gnarvana you’ll unlock a new extra difficult challenge for each level. The only one I have completed so far is the one for the first level which is awarded if you don’t touch any of the kicker ramps in the level. It sounded pretty easy at first, but it took me more than a few tries.

One other aspect the developers have changed that makes OlliOlli World much easier is the fact that you can now land or go into a grind even if you are in the middle of a trick. The only exception is grab tricks which will cause you to bail (fall) if you are still holding the board when you land. When playing the first two games you always had to be mindful of which tricks you were using. You couldn’t do a complex trick if you didn’t have enough air time because you would crash if the board was still mid-trick. This change might make things appear a little unrealistic but it makes the gameplay much more fun. It’s one less thing you have to worry about and instead, you can focus on pulling off the sickest tricks.

OlliOlli World has some wonderfully crafted levels. Switching the viewpoint to 2.5D makes a huge difference in what the designers are able to accomplish in their level layouts. A lot of the levels have multiple paths through them. Some of the alternate paths are reached by over-jumping the regular path or by purposefully missing a rail and then grinding the one below it, but the main mechanic they introduce that allows you to switch paths is the lane change ability. The ground will have arrows indicating that you can move over and one press of the X button will slide you over. Roll7 has gone above and beyond when creating the levels in Radlandia. Being able to replay levels and look for other routes is a lot of fun. In addition, there are a fair amount of bonus levels that unlock as you play and meet certain criteria. I really liked a lot of these levels, especially the ones that focused on a single objective, like racing a bear riding a raft to the finish line for example.

There was one aspect of the level design that kind of bothered me. While playing there were many occasions where I reached a point in a level where I had a lot of trouble clearing a jump. I found this very frustrating. I think the game could do a better job teaching you how to get the biggest air when jumping off ramps, or perhaps be a little more forgiving. You have to time your jump precisely. One other tactic I learned is that using the no-comply trick (right stick up, then let go) seemed to give me bigger air than a lot of other tricks.

Just like its predecessors, OlliOlli World has more content besides its seventy or so story levels. The first two games had a Daily Grind mode which allowed you to post your best scores against players across the globe on a different track each day. Roll7 has created a much more robust version of that for this game, called Leagues. Each day you can compete against a shortlist of real-world competitors on a randomly generated level and the best ones will advance to the next league the next day. Meaning that there are many different leagues all occurring at the same time and if you continue to play you will most likely end up in one that suits your skill level. They have also included an option to play randomly generated levels from any of the five areas. I think both of these modes really add to the longevity of the game. I’m also stoked to see what they do for the upcoming DLCs, which I think will be a first for the series. The only thing I would have liked to see in the game in terms of the level design and gameplay modes is a skatepark area. They added the quarter pipes to the game, but you never find any actual halfpipes. I think they could have made a really cool practice area with a skate park theme, and you could enter and exit a halfpipe using the lane change mechanic.

The only thing that didn’t really stand out to me in OlliOlli World is the music. They describe the soundtrack as electronic and IDM (Intelligent Dance Music – I had to look it up). Most tracks are very laid back and most of them went in one ear and out the other. Only a few tracks really stood out, such as the main menu music. When I think of skateboarding I think of music that has a little more edge, like alternative rock, or even Hip-hop. The one positive thing about the music is it pairs very well with the sound effects. The noise you make while grinding and the unmistakable sound of the wheels hitting a ramp always seemed to mesh perfectly with whatever track was playing.

Conclusion

Roll7 has gone above and beyond with their third skateboarding entry, OlliOlli World. It’s bursting with content and more is on its way. This game is perfect for veterans and newcomers alike, and the character customization is next level. What are you waiting for? Drop-in and ride.

This game was reviewed based on Xbox One review code, using an Xbox One console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.