STREET UNI X Steam Charts & Stats

hell yeah! punk rock. has everything those old TH games had, runs slick and lots of fun

My feelings for [i]Street Uni X[/i] are complicated. At first glance, this seems indeed to be [i]Tony Hawk's Pro Skater[/i] (1999) with three wheels missing: Score attack in small open areas with extra tasks. Find letters, jump over gaps, etc. and a bar that fills up as you do tricks. So, what's different? Lots of discipline-specific details: The necessity to move / pedal backwards and forwards in equal measures – you won't be riding backwards on a skateboard a whole lot – coasting, two dedicated grind buttons, depending on if the rail is right or left to you. And balancing on both the x and y axis comes into play, too, without spoiling the fun. (I think that incorporating balance in sports games is a big design challenge: Nobody wants to fall on their face all the time, but in REAL LIFE that is skating's first end boss... but often this stage is skipped in games, for obvious reasons, so good compromise here) And something else that you may not really care about. As long as I can remember extreme sports games were made for mostly boys. Girls and queer representation hardly mattered. Sure, you had Elissa Steamer in [i]Tony Hawk[/i], or the made up (among pro skaters with surnames) "Chrissy" and "Jordan" in [i]Aggressive Inline[/i], and just like in real life you take what you can get. ([i]Rolling[/i] for the PlayStation 2 had some cool professional women skaters.) Maybe you're allowed to create a custom character and make up your own "representation". Seeing yourself on the screen is nice, but actually being catered to (there it is, the bad word!) is nicer. It's like, finally, a game for "us". Without jiggle physics. So, fine, representation alone doesn't make a game good, does it? No, but to the people it matters to it can elevate a competently made "clone" to "Wow, I'm welcome here and not just tolerated and I will gladly accept some jank for that". Random thoughts in lose order: - The trailer is really good, but: - The music isn't as varied as the trailer suggests, pretty much all locally sourced skate punk and alternative rock, some nice post-hardcore tracks, but nothing atmospheric or "chill"? I would love some calmer tracks. [i]Street Uni X[/i]'s maps might have atmospheric potential (rain outside the warehouse), but right now the music sometimes kills the mood (Of course I can put on my own, but who doesn't like a nice curated playlist?) - Despite all the fun stylings, this is a pretty serious and technical game: For instance you can't correct your jumps in mid air, which means you have to line them up accurately. - Skateboards make more interesting (feedback) sounds than Unicycles, which is unfortunate for a video game, but I noticed that the sounds present aren't bad, they just get drowned out by the default music - I don't need to see that PlayStation boot up joke every time I start the game, let me get to it - If I roll against an obstacle, it appears that the wheel snaps right to the obstacle's angle, doesn't feel right [i]Street Uni X[/i] let me time travel to an alternate 2000s, where instead of being disconcerted by Bam Margera I would have had a role model like Daffodil to look up to. If you don't see what's special about this - if this appears to be a mere throwback or even a joke game - with all due respect, you might not be the target audience, and that's okay.

far from perfect but if you're hungering for a bit of THPS with a subtle twist it's worth it. It is pretty short though, so while I'm personally happy with the price unless you're starving for someone to have a shot at making a game like this maybe wait for it to go on sale.

this game owns bones and rules. a control scheme that is easy to pickup but difficult to master, stages that are a delight to replay, a trick combo system that builds on the tony hawk's pro skater lineage, and clear attention paid to the way it all feels together. if you've ever enjoyed an extreme sports game in the past or even just think you might enjoy them, this is an easy recommend. the music is also rad as hell