Thrasher: Skate And Destroy
- November 24, 2000 14:47 PM PST
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Rockstar Games gets into the skateboarding mix with Thrasher: Skate And Destroy, a technical skateboarding simulation with plenty of realistic skating, but not nearly enough destruction.
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Punk With A Promise
Thrasher: Skate and Destroy tries hard to realistically simulate the physics of skateboarding, but also adds in a good amount of attitude. Pick from one of six characters, with names like Scab, Roach and Axl, and leave your nowhere hometown to tear up the likes of New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco on your way to the ultimate goal of an international championship. And what do you get if you win? You get your picture on the cover of Thrasher Magazine, of course.
Each city consists of three locations where you'll have minutes of hard thrashing and grinding to score enough points to clear the level and escape the cop, a mugger or dog that's trying to bust up your fun. You gain new moves as you advance, making your combination options larger so you can beat the escalating point totals necessary to clear each board. You also gain corporate sponsorships to decorate your skater as he or she progresses.
Realism, Schmealism
Thrasher's main goal in all elements is for realism, and that's a problem graphically. Each level is expertly fashioned after the real-life location, and all of the character's tricks animate smoothly, from the big flip tricks to balancing a long grind on a rail. But all of this is undercut by distracting collision problems, which really hamper smooth gameplay. Also, the physics of the characters go a bit out of whack when they take a spill, and their overly limp bodies sprawl out like rag dolls.
The soundtrack music is really bitchin' though. A terrific collection of old school hip hop keeps you grooving. Skating and environmental sound effects are reasonably realistic, and you'll get a kick out of what the mugger and cop say as they chase you ? until you've heard it ten times in a row, and then you'll be ready to pull your hair out.
Thrasher's control scheme is rather tricky. Once you learn the basics, you'll pile up more and more moves as you open up new levels, and it becomes rather confusing. The analog stick makes it a little more difficult, so you might just want to stick with the D-pad. It's already a steep learning curve getting the right button timing down and understanding your characters physics, and expert mode adds in the difficulty of having to land your tricks as well.
Skater's Delight
If you're really into skating and want a more realistic (and difficult) take on the sport, then definitely give Thrasher: Skate and Destroy a try. There are a lot of different skateboarding videogame choices out there, so get the one that appeals to your level of interest.
