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SkateBIRD
Released On: Sep 16, 2021
54
3.7
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 20 Critic Reviews
54
15% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
65% Mixed
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
20% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 20 Critic Reviews
54
15% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
65% Mixed
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
20% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
If you think that Super Smash Bros. Brawl's "1/100 chance of tripping" mechanic ruined the game, then SkateBIRD definitely isn't for you. But if you'd like to embrace a little chaos while getting wild in a virtual skatepark made of paperclips and duct tape, then we're birds of a feather, and this is a game you should flock to. [Issue #56 – November/December 2021, p. 20]
It makes progress a struggle, so despite good intentions SkateBird isn’t a game that ever really properly takes flight.
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 9 User Ratings
3.7
11% Positive
1 Rating
1 Rating
33% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
56% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 9 User Ratings
3.7
11% Positive
1 Rating
1 Rating
33% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
56% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
With the exception of the Tony Hawk redux that came to the system earlier this year, the skating scene on Switch has been on the slim side. To date, none of them has come to the table with nearly as much quirk as SkateBIRD, and I’d say that with its 3D gameplay rather than sticking to the simpler 2D plane it’s also more ambitious than most of its competition. That said, while it’s kind of weird and funny to take on half pipes and other skating challenges with some species of bird that is decked out in an outfit you get to choose, the game does have some rough edges in multiple places. The one that stands out foremost in my mind is the double-edged sword of your environment being seen from the perspective of a small creature in a human-sized world. Yes, it makes everything novel, but when you mix some of the areas and the large drops off of things like a table with the missions you’ll be trying to complete on the clock it can make things very frustrating. Falling off an edge while you’re trying to make things happen will often sink your entire attempt, and when you throw in the sometimes-dodgy controls that are a bit on the loose side it’s more commonly a problem than I’d prefer. However, if you’re looking for something just a bit different and enjoy skating games given the lack of options on Switch it may be worth a look.
****/2021/09/mini-reviews-september-16th-edition.html
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Nintendo Switch
Great concept, poor execution.
The team behind SkateBird obviously likes skating games and wanted to create something like that. However, it seems that they couldn't figure out what makes skating games fun. There is very little variety in the tricks you can perform. The level design is cluttered and sparse at the same time and is more focused on the theming rather than gameplay.
The theming is very cute, and the addition of a double jump could have opened up a lot of possibilities. However, as I mentioned before, it doesn't seem like the level was designed with that moveset in mind.
There is no hook, you just get plopped into the game world without any ceremony or explanation, while the mechanics get introduced through walls of text. And the first few missions are so boring in their objectives that I could barely bring myself to finish them.
I also expected the game to be far more forgiving and arcade-y because of the silly theme. Boy was I wrong. The player feels incredibly heavy and clunky to control, which to me is extra weird, given the theme.
All in all, this game feels like a late alpha, not a full release. The basic mechanics are in, but they could do with a lot of fine-tuning.
I hope the developers continue working because the game does have a lot of potential.
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Nintendo Switch
SkateBIRD is ultimately, incredibly charming, but incredibly flawed. It’s fun, when it doesn’t punish you for its own shortcomings, and the blurry backdrops are straight bargain bin-PS1 fodder, but I still can’t help but get drawn back into the odd, goofy world of these skating, winged weirdos.
Everything is next to impossible in Skakebird. It’s the sort of game that you’ll want to love — right up until the moment you play it, at which point you’ll just be left saying, “But it looks so cute!” Ignore the cuteness, focus on the gameplay, and skip this one altogether.
Skatebird would have benefited from a little more time in the nest. The game's technical problems make it hard to appreciate the positive aspects of its world. There's definitely room in the market for a more casual skateboarding game, but it needs to have the fundamentals worked out first, and Skatebird isn't there yet - though it has promise if future updates smooth out the experience considerably.
Humorous dialogue and bird customisation don’t do enough to stop SkateBIRD from falling far down the pecking order of skateboarding games available on Switch, with boring levels and controls that are janky and frustrating at best.
I’m glad that I played SkateBIRD, and it hurts that I’ve had to give it this score. I firmly believe that as games are an art form, game developers should be trying things, even if they don’t ultimately succeed. SkateBIRD is a brilliant idea and it takes a big, heaving swing at it. Sadly, though, it’s a strikeout. However, with that being said, if the developers get another innings, I would play a SkateBIRD 2 without a moment's hesitation, and I would fully expect that the developers would deliver having had this experience.
I wanted to love this game so much but after playing for a couple hours i just cant. There are so many things wrong with the game that you will be extremely frustrated very quickly. While this gave has some heart, the games mechanics are so unpolished that I dont think they actually play tested it. Tony hawk 1 is 10x less clunky and more refined than this game and that game was made like 20 years ago. At the current moment this game is not worth getting at all. They will need to make significant tuneups and modifications to the game mechanics before it is worth buying.
Issues:
~The camera constantly clips or freaks out
~A really big mechanic of the game is the "fancy" gauge, its kinda like the special bar in tony hawk but in skatebird it controls your maximum speed. The issue with it is that unless the gauge is full, there are many quarter pipes that you are not able to reach the top of. So half of the quarter pipes are inaccessibly without maximum Fancy. While this is very annoying, there are two issues that make this unbearable. When you crash the gauge goes to 0 (see next issue), and the gauge fills up arbitrarily. You could do a huge combo and the guage wont fill up at all. Then you could do an ollie and it goes to maximum. It makes no sense and you end up spending most of the time during missions, just filling up the gauge.
~You fall randomly, and due to laggy controls & weird camera angles you will crash a lot doing simple tricks. If you bump something you will probably fall. You fall constantly
~The hitboxes for pickups are insanely small. You have to collect "SKATE" just like in tony hawk and to collect them you have to hit them perfectly. The
~The double jump would be really fun but it is very laggy and when you use it on quarterpipes it just launches you in a random direction.
~The soundtrack is very small so you end up listening to the same songs over and over again. You start off with like 8 generic songs and each level you can find some more. They only use like 4 bands so theres not much variety. Its mostly ska which i like but its low end bands so some songs are really bad.
~The grind button and stall button are both the same. So there are multiple times when you want to grind that you will stall instead.
Pros:
~The quirkieness is nice and the birds are somewhat entertaining
~There is a lot of birds and outfits to choose from
~You can set respawn points and quickly respawn at them
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Nintendo Switch
Great idea, barely functioning final product. So bad I tried (unsuccessfully) to get a refund. Camera is glitchy, physics are beyond wonky, and even simple actions seem unnecessarily challenging. I'm sure there's a great soul to this game, but the technical issues are so overwhelming calling this a final product is insulting to consumers. I want to reiterate how badly I wanted this game to be good, and I feel like the bar for "good" was relatively low here. Just "functional" would have done fine for me, but failing in that was incredibly underwhelming. If you want a skate game for Switch, get the Tony Hawk 1+2 bundle. If you want a cutesy game featuring a bird that's still functional, get A Short Hike. I'm seriously hoping they fix this game since I was really hoping it would be better.
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Nintendo Switch
Nobody was expecting this to be a masterpiece. It’s a game who’s entire existence I due to a bad pun. But it could’ve been a fun, quirky little Tony Hawk like experience. Instead of getting a few lols at a cute bird grinding a soup bowl, you just get frustrated at the poor controls, the annoying camera and the awful level design. I’m so thankful I got it on gamepass because if I’d paid for this I’d want a refund and some compensation for the 32 minutes of my life wasted. The developer should give every species of bird appearing in this game a personal apology.
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Nintendo Switch
Summary Grind on bendy straws, kickflip over staplers, and carve killer lines through cardboard and sticky tape parks. Above all else, skate birds try their best!
Rated T
for Teen
Platforms:
- PC
- Xbox One
- Nintendo Switch
- PlayStation 4
- PlayStation 5
Initial Release Date: Sep 16, 2021
Developer:
- Glass Bottom Games
Publisher: Glass Bottom Games
Genres:
