OlliOlli World

Genre: Sports (Skateboarding)

Players: 1

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Review:

As you can probably tell from my review of the earlier OlliOlli games, I am not a big fan of the OlliOlli series. So when the third game in the series, OlliOlli World, was released in 2022 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, I gladly avoided it. That is, until the year-end eShopperReviews Patreon vote came back with OlliOlli World clearly the most-upvoted game of the lot. If that hadn’t happened, I might very well have skipped this game and been perfectly happy to do so. I want to make it absolutely clear: I was dreading this review.

Here’s the thing, I love Skateboarding videogames, but I specifically love the Tony Hawk style of Skateboarding game, and OlliOlli’s odd analog stick and single button-focused control scheme just never “clicked” with me. It also seemed deceptively difficult for such a simple-looking, cute and appealing game franchise. It certainly never gave me the sense of fun and freedom I’ve gotten out of the best Tony Hawk games.

And you guys voted to make me review the third game in this series…

… and for that, I owe you all a big “thank you”.

This is the first time that the OlliOlli series’ gameplay finally “clicked” for me, and now I can finally see the wonderful experience others have been saying is present in the earlier games in the series. A large part of the reason for this is that OlliOlli World makes the series’ gameplay a lot more forgiving and accessible, not punishing players for failing to time their jumps properly, freeing them up to focus more on doing tricks and navigating the hazards in the game’s levels.

It is there that much of the game’s challenge comes from, and this makes so much of a difference – when you ollie (jump) at the wrong time and smash face-first into a platform or eat dirt, there’s no question that it’s your fault you bailed, and what you did wrong. What’s more, each of the level’s challenges dare players to behave in different ways while trying to avoid these hazards.

In addition to improving the overall gameplay experience, this game adds some new gameplay elements, such as different splitting paths to take in the game’s levels. This doesn’t provide the same sort of freedom you’d get in a fully-3D Skateboarding game, but it still gives players some fun choices to make in the game’s levels that can provide them with different opportunities. I do kinda’ wish that players had more freedom to explore, but I don’t really know how this style of gameplay could make that work.

OlliOlli World really advances the presentation of the series as well, for the first time bringing the series out of pure 2D visuals and into fully cel-shaded 3D visuals. These pastel-colored visuals are absolutely gorgeous, and really give this game and its world a truly unique cartoony style, one that makes it feel like this game truly takes place in its own unique world. These visuals are joined by some nice skateboarding sounds, gobbledygook speak for the characters, as well as a chill, dreamy synthesized soundtrack that works well for giving the game the “zen”-like feel its characters espouse, even when you’re repeatedly bailing and restarting the same level.

OlliOlli World probably still isn’t a game for everyone. Just because it’s more accessible this time around doesn’t change the fact that it’s still tough. However, I can say that this is absolutely a sequel that vastly outpaces everything that came before in its series, both in terms of its gameplay and its presentation. If you’re a gamer who loved the earlier OlliOlli games, you’re in for a treat. If you’re a Skateboarding Game lover who hated the earlier games in the OlliOlli series, you still might enjoy OlliOlli World.

tl;dr – OlliOlli World takes the Skateboarding Game series and improves on it in numerous ways, with much more accessible gameplay and an appealing new presentation style that makes this a fantastic entry in the genre that even those who didn’t care for earlier OlliOlli games might enjoy. If you have any interest in Skateboarding Games, this is definitely one worth trying.

Grade: B+

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2022 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best Sports Game, The “Wow, this game was way better than I expected!” Award

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