Skateboarding and video games have always gone hand in hand with each other. In most 80’s and 90’s media you would always see kids riding down to the local mall’s arcade or the corner store on their skateboards hanging out and playing arcade games. Games like 720 and Skate or Die made it cool to be a skateboarder, while Tony Hawk Pro Skater and EA’s Skate pushed the sport into the mainstream. There have been plenty of misses in the last few years with skating games, but they have been slowly making a comeback with the like of Tony Hawk 1+2 Remaster, Oile Olie World coming out soon and the eventual return of Skate. Now Glass Bottom Games hopes to be added to that comeback list with their game SkateBIRD.
The story for SkateBIRD is pretty simple but really sweet and endearing. You take on the role as the skate bird who lives with Big Friend (aka human owner). Lately Big Friend has been looking pretty sad and tired, coming home late from work. Worried about their health, the skate bird recurts its friends and some outside help from other birds to cheer up Big Friend and try to fix whatever it is that is making them feel sad. Again short, simple but really cute and endearing. There’s even an option for them to speak in birb.
With skating games, there are what I like to think are different styles of game mechanics: there’s the arcadey stylings of the early Tony Hawk games, the more realistic thumbstick flicking of EA’s Skate and other (i.e. original game mechanics). When you start the game, it’s obvious thatGlass Bottom Games took inspiration from the Tony Hawk games when creating the game mechanics for SkateBIRD, specifically THPS 1, THPS 2 and the “open world” of THPS 4. Doing flip tricks, grabs, manuals, grinding, all of it is almost 1:1 with the THPS games, and that’s not a bad thing. You’ll be doing ollies, 50-50 grinds and nose grabs in no time flat. As much fun as this sounds, SkateBIRD has some issues that had me struggling. One of these issues is the camera placement. Much like THPS, SkateBIRD has the camera following behind your character. However the camera control is janky when trying to move it around to look at your surroundings. It also has a tendency to zoom up close to your character when skating around. And most annoying of all is when you start off from a still position and start moving, the camera will jank around a bit trying to reposition itself.Another annoying thing about the game;s controls is the fact that the developer opted to use the left analog stick for pulling off moves instead of the D-pad. While this helps with pulling off manuals and makes balancing lip and grind tricks easier, pulling off vert tricks like bird versions of tail and nose grabs is a bit more annoying as the left stick also makes your bird rotate while in the air. The trick mechanics are pretty solid albeit very simple and limited since well you’re a bird and don’t have hands. Still it would be great to have bird versions of tricks like the 900 or the McTwist. If the developer was using the THPS trick mechanics as inspiration for theirs, they should have just gone all the way with it.
While SkateBIRD doesn’t have the powerhouse of a soundtrack that the THPS games have, the music in is is just as good. Mostly filled with ska tracks you can really vibe with the music while flapping away.
SkateBIRD’s graphics, while not the prettiest looking environments, are actually charming when you consider you’re a tiny bird on a skateboard. The game has pretty extensive bird customization options to choose from. You can actually choose what kind of bird to be, ranging from a pudgy little Budgie to a tiny Western Screech Owl. Or at least look like one, remember this is a game about tiny birds riding tiny skateboards, so some of the bigger birds like the owl and golden hawk have been shrunken down and cuitfied, which I’m ok with. And to make your little cute bird even cuter or cooler, you can give them various accessories to wear, such as beanies, sunglasses, backpacks, gold chains and other items. More items are unlocked as you complete story objectives or find secret items scattered around the level.
SkateBIRD skates on a fine line between annoying and fun. On the one hand, you’re a tiny bird on a skateboard, how cute is that? On the other hand cuteness can only take you so far if you’re missing what should be simple tricks. The reason everyone loved the early Tony Hawk games is that they let fans be able to pull off some sick looking tricks. SkateBIRD doesn’t really give that same feeling. Sure it looks cool and cute to see your bird grind on a railing, but after a while you’ll want to some more exciting looking tricks, and the game does not provide that. The bird customizations options are really cool and the story cute, but the gameplay is hit and miss.. SkateBIRD is not a bad game by any means, its just that there are other games out there that do skateboarding better. If you’re looking for an skating alternative to the likes of Tony Hawk or Skate, and have Xbox Game Pass ( as the game is on Game Pass for the XB1 and Series X) I’d say give it a shot. As for the Switch, I’d say wait for a sale to get it at a discount.
