Trickstyle

by Acclaim Entertainment Inc.

Product Details

• ASIN: B00000K10H
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #27,366 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

Product Description

Editorial Review

TrickStyle is one of the most stylishly pleasing games. And the Dreamcast version really pumps out the pixels with fluid animation that effortlessly follows the hoverboard riders along the tracks. One of the game's designers recently explained that the concept behind the game was for riders to find the path of least resistance, taking one graceful path down the track like "a drop of mercury." Great concept. But this drop met many a brick wall on its way to uncertain victory. The tracks in TrickStyle are not player-friendly, and neither are the computer-controlled opponents that act more like flawless robots than flesh-and-blood competitors.

Still, this game looks so darn cool, you can't resist playing it. The requisite tricks from snowboarding games are here, but this time they actually add important power-ups to your repertoire, favoring function over, dare we say, style. To save yourself the frustration of trying to consistently win races, you should enjoy this game by watching the screen while other more nimble or less leisure-time-deficient friends play. --Jeff Young

Pros:

• Jaw-dropping graphics and animation
• Functional board tricks
• Contemporary styling

Cons:

• Difficult racetracks
• Unrealistically skilled computer opponents
• Need to place first in order to progress

GameSpot Review

"Excuse me little girl, I have to borrow your... hoverboard?" The famous scene from Back to the Future II may have inspired the realization that someday you won't need wheels or snow to hop on your board and perform some radical stunts. Well, that day has come with the arrival of TrickStyle - a futuristic racing game that lets you stand atop a floating board with a thruster on the back. But while the premise and physics are a little refreshing, TrickStyle doesn't do a whole lot of revolutionizing and ultimately ends up being a disappointment.

Instead of bogging you down with menus, TrickStyle simply has you choose a racer and a board, and then puts you into a main staging area called the Velodrome. From there, you enter into different rooms to select the challenge you're going to tackle next. The game is divided into two different tasks - challenging the Velodrome trainer to unlock new tricks, and racing the tracks to unlock new areas and boards. The challenges usually have you run through a series of gates in the Velodrome before a timer expires. Once you're done, you can opt to move to the next race or return to the dome for some practice. After the third challenge, you'll be sick of the limited space inside the Velodrome and wish you simply had a menu.

The racing tracks are spread across three different continents - Japan, the USA, and the UK. Once you have raced the five races on each continent, you'll unlock a boss race, which usually isn't a race at all, but a Velodrome-like challenge. Beating these will unlock new hoverboards for you to race with. Unfortunately, the racing tracks are really tightly spaced, making collisions with other racers almost inevitable. And since the outcome of collisions are determined by one stat - strength - I found that racing with any but the three bully racers was almost impossible, since the computer-controlled characters would repeatedly knock into you and cause you to wipe out. Apparently, the developers couldn't be bothered to come up with any sort of creative name for any of the tracks, as they're simply designated by a number. And while the track design is creative, there are few tracks to choose from. The game boasts a total of 18 tracks, and more than four of them are tracks you've already seen before backward.

TrickStyle has everything you would expect from a boarding game - rails, ramps, loops, impossible jumps, 1080-degree spins - it's all here. Unfortunately, for a game with the word "trick" in its title, the tricks in this game aren't really that eyebrow-raising. Most of the tricks are way too easy to accomplish. Although landing a 1080-degree spin in real life is impossible, all you have to do to complete a 1080 in the game is pound on the X button until you land. I also found that most of the tricks suffer from a drastic delay - between the time you input the command to perform the trick and the time your boarder actually attempts it. This makes stringing more than two or three tricks together impossible, and gone is the sense of the extreme, rapid-fire tricks. What is a bit refreshing, however, is how accurate the physics are for technology that hasn't been invented yet. Your hoverboard is a single-engine, rear-powered vehicle, making it control much like a jet ski. Braking does almost nothing, and turning without acceleration has little effect.

Graphics are definitely TrickStyle's biggest asset. Simply stated, there's never been a boarding game that's looked as good as this game does. The tracks, backgrounds, and board effects all look great. From the start of your race, you'll be able to see everything ahead of you, with almost no pop-up. The track design is inventive and shows off tons of different textures and objects. However, the racers themselves seem a little too inhuman - the movements of all the boarders seem a little forced, and the trainer himself looks nothing like his drawing. The win/lose animations are the same for every racer in every race, and each boarder does every trick the same way.

The sound department has me caught in a cross fire. The soundtrack is chock-full of outstanding techno, but the sound effects are trite and unappealing. In the race mode, the game gives you an audio signal every time you pass or are passed by another racer. This bogs the techno down with unnecessary and repetitive character taunts. It's enough to make you mute the race mode sound effects altogether.

It's the little things that make TrickStyle suffer. It's way too easy to perform the tricks, and there are only two or three tricks worth doing in the stunt challenges. Also, no matter what you do, you'll always answer to the trainer at the end of your session - if you beat a race, he'll be there to congratulate you, and if you lose a race, he'll be there to encourage you. This ends up being a little tedious because he says the same lame thing almost every time. I've had better pep talks from my Peewee football coach. --Ben Stahl
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars style over substance? not my type of game, January 2, 2000

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

I've got good news and bad news about "Trickstyle". First, the bad. You would think by the title that this game would have a load of tricks, right? Think again. Ok, the "gyro" is pretty dang cool, but this game could be tons better with a flip and spin system like in the "Coolboarders" series. That right there would've givin it an extra star. The tracks are pretty, but too similar. Very monatonous. For me, an experienced gamer, this game was way too easy. But, it is ok for a beginner. I would've liked a four player mode instead of just two players. Now, the good news. Everything in it is beautiful. I love getting sick air over gaps in pipes and bowls. It gives you a feeling unlike other skateboarding or snowboarding games. VERY stylish. All the latest trends (Zack's gap vest and cords). Japan race # 5, baby. More extreme than espn 2. Possibly the scariest track i've ever raced on in a game. First off, you are above the highest skyscraper. Second... well... I guess you'll just have to play on it to see # 2. Overall, it is fun to look at, but lacks the substance that should be in dreamcast games. I say "play before you pay" to this one.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I don't really enjoy this game., November 20, 1999

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

I have to be honest, maybe I don't like sports games in general. I bought this game because the graphics looked cool and it looks so futuristic. However, once I started to play it is seems kind of bland. The graphics are great but I am not motivated to align my board to some of those rails(which is difficult).

This game just doesn't keep my interest. I will stick to action/adventure and RPG's. I prefer unraveling mysteries.

I gave it 3 stars because the graphics are really nice to look at. But this game simply isn't for me. You may like it though.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Imperfect, but tons of fun nonetheless., October 25, 1999

By A Customer

Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:1.0 out of 5 stars 

I've always had a weakness for 'board' racers since the days of 720°, and this one carries the tradition off beautifully in its own way. The trick system takes some getting used to, but it brings in some novel innovations: 360's give you extra hang time, ride your board like a luge and you go faster, ride your board like a boogieboard and you gain control (all with drawbacks, of course). Spins, grabs, flips, and kick tricks are all there, and instead of grinding you can luge on magnetic rails in certain spots. The physics to all this are excellent (not realistic, of course, as it IS a hoverboard, but complete), and just about everything is fun to do.

The graphics and effects are up to the usual Dreamcast standard, and the backgrounds are really stunning and hard to distinguish from the 'real' track because of a nice Quicktime-VR-style effect. Tracks are very well-constructed for flow but Criterion's 'node-based' construction (each track is made up of a mixture of unique and re-used roomlike elements) is just evident enough to kill the suspension of disbelief. The checkpoint system (and NO stunt/practice mode) on tracks makes it hard to experiment and ride around just for fun (as the physics and tracks are good enough that playing around would be terrific fun) outside of the practice velodrome. CPU racers run on the catch-up/wait-up system, presumably to maintain excitement without frustration, but I never really liked that system and it just points out how mediocre the collision handling is. It also makes faster boards and advanced techniques like the luge seem nearly useless. Choosing difficulty or having separate classes would be more fun and last longer. And the learning curve is a bit steep, particularly for some of the challenge rounds (required if you want to learn new tricks, like the awe-inspiring Gyro and handstand flip). Frustration will keep many people from really discovering how delightful Trickstyle can be at its best.

Unfortunately, even with as many tracks as it has, I'm not sure how long it'll last once all the challenges and tracks are opened up, due to the aforementioned lack of a difficulty setting.

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