Xtreme Sports

Genre: Compilation / Sports (“Xtreme” / Various)

Players: 1

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Review:

Xtreme Sports, originally released on Game Boy Color in 2000 and ported to Nintendo Switch in 2023, is a Sports game containing multiple Sports-themed minigames within it, specifically Skateboarding, Surfing, In-Line Skating, Street Luge, and… Skyboarding. Which I’m just now discovering is an actual real thing. This is all contained within a game with a framing device about a pair of characters trying to win a competition hosted by a cola company.

I could have done without the framing device, which makes for a lot of slow-paced walking around an island, thanks to your character’s dreadfully slow walking speed. However, the meat of the game is the sports themselves, so let’s have a closer look at those:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Score
In-Line Skating	Sports (In-Line Skating) / Platformer	1	B-
tl;dr This is a pretty fun take on a side-scrolling skating game with tricks and grinds. It’s not very complex, but what’s here is surprisingly fun.
Skateboarding	Sports (Skateboarding) / Platformer	1	D
tl;dr This side-scrolling Platformer take on Skateboarding has needlessly confusing controls, making this my pick for the worst game in the bunch here.
Skyboarding	Sports (Misc.)	1	B
tl;dr Skyboarding is a highlight of Xtreme Sports, with players collecting directional inputs while avoiding mid-air obstacles, then holding down the B button and pressing those inputs to perform tricks. There’s some good risk-reward elements here, and it’s a really inspired take on a sport that I didn’t even know existed until now.
Street Luge	Sports (Street Luge)	1	C-
tl;dr This game has you racing downwards while trying to avoid obstacles and aim for tricks to score points. It’s fun when things are going well, but you have far too little notice when an obstacle is coming up.
Surfing	Sports (Surfing)	1	C-
tl;dr Enjoyable in short bursts, but this really feels more like a minigame than anything truly fleshed-out.

Overall, the highlights here are clearly Skyboarding and In-Line Skating, while Skateboarding is by far the worst. On balance, the sports here are mostly decent, if a bit lacking in complexity.

Rather than being an entirely straight port of the Game Boy Color game, the Nintendo Switch release of Xtreme Sports does have a few other additions on offer here. You now have display modes to select from, save states, and a gallery of pre-production art, product art, and pixel art.

Here’s the thing though… I’ve reviewed this game before, on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console. And while I may have been inclined to be more generous to this game when it was priced at $4, this version’s $10 price tag is harder to swallow, and the added bonuses don’t really amount to the 250% difference in price in the Nintendo Switch release of this game.

Is Xtreme Sports a decent collection of “Xtreme Sports”-themed minigames? Sure. Is it a great one? No. And the improvements to this release are absolutely not enough to justify the difference in price. This may be worth picking up when it goes on sale for those looking for a fun retro Sports game, but other than that I wouldn’t recommend this game.

tl;dr – Xtreme Sports is a decent collection of “Xtreme Sports” minigames based on Skateboarding, Surfing, In-Line Skating, Street Luge, and Skyboarding. Unfortunately, they’re marred by a framing device that slows the game’s pacing to a crawl, and the extras added to this release don’t justify the $10 price tag for a game you could get on Nintendo 3DS for $4. This game may be worth a pickup when it goes on sale, but I wouldn’t recommend it otherwise.

Grade: C

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