OlliOlli and its sequel, OlliOlli 2: Welcome to Olliwood, are notoriously troublesome to grasp. These side-scrolling skateboarding video games begin out simply sufficient, however if you wish to full each problem, get able to play and replay some ranges dozens of instances over. It could be infuriating, but additionally extraordinarily satisfying to tug off simply the precise combo of methods and grinds wanted for an enormous rating.

I used to be nervous that OlliOlli World, a brand new course for the sequence that arrives on February eighth, was going to dispense with that stage of problem. After taking part in an prolonged preview of the sport during the last week, I’m not involved. Developer Roll7 has made a recreation that’s considerably extra approachable than the unique titles — however one which retains the twitch-response gameplay and score-chasing highs intact for many who crave them.

For the uninitiated, OlliOlli World is a, 2.5D skateboarding platformer the place your character merely has to make it from one finish of the course to the opposite whereas pulling off as many methods and combos as potential. That’s the identical primary formulation as the unique video games, however the scope of OlliOlli World is a lot larger. The recreation is break up into 5 completely different areas, three of which have been playable in my demo. The first one, Sunshine Valley, had shut to twenty distinct ranges, a handful of which have been merely coaching ranges meant to introduce the fundamentals of skating, grinding and pulling off completely different methods. But even when you don’t rely these ranges, there’s much more to discover in OlliOlli World than the 2 earlier video games, every of which had 50 ranges whole.

There’s a bunch of the way to problem your self as you skate via these ranges. For starters, you’ll want to navigate grind rails, gaps, ramps and different obstacles to get to the tip earlier than you’ll be able to progress. In a concession to the sport’s historical past of bruising issue, although, ranges now have checkpoints — so when you blow it 90 p.c of the way in which via the extent, you’ll be able to strive that final phase once more. Of course, when you had an enormous combo going that obtained interrupted, you’ll lose out on that chance for giant factors. But this at the least makes it simpler to study ranges and work on downside spots with out having to deal with the whole course once more.

But the degrees are each extraordinarily nicely designed and visually fascinating, so I used to be desperate to play and replay them till I mastered all of the challenges and located as many secrets and techniques as I presumably might. The world is populated with colourful and fantastical creatures like strolling bananas, smiling bushes, big bees holding indicators so that you can wall journey on, large frogs (typically driving these big bees) and, in fact, the Skate Godz that you just meet on the finish of every world.

See, your character is on a quest to grow to be the brand new Skate Wizard, with the assistance of a goofy and pleasant animated crew, together with Chiffon, the one-eyed, pipe-smoking present Skate Wizard who’s able to retire. To take their place, you’ll want to satisfy the entire Skate Godz that inhabit the 5 completely different zones you’ll be able to play via. Each stage has some banter together with your crew in addition to individuals you meet in your journeys, filled with ridiculous puns and occasional recommendation on easy methods to enhance your scores or pull off new strikes. You can skip it in order for you, nevertheless it helped me get within the headspace of the attractive world of Radlandia.

It’s onerous to sum up in phrases what makes the person ranges in OlliOlli World so compelling, however they combine critical problem in with moments that allow you to actually get into that elusive circulation state, the place you’re simply pulling off methods, driving rails and customarily tearing via a course with out considering an excessive amount of about what you’re doing. The music, sound results, artwork type, stage design and number of strikes you’ll be able to pull off all contribute to this vibe — and regardless that the sport appears totally completely different from its predecessors, the tip end result is identical: skateboarding bliss.

My abilities from the unique OlliOlli video games translated right here, however there are many new issues to problem long-time gamers. The recreation isn’t straight 2D anymore, which implies there are a number of paths you’ll be able to uncover via many ranges, one thing that critically provides to replayability and problem of those ranges. Each stage has a number of objectives you’re introduced with initially, and assembly all of them will nearly definitely require a number of performs, particularly as the sport goes on and the tracks get extra advanced. 

Indeed, by the point I obtained about midway via the third world within the recreation, I used to be critically struggling to verify off all of a stage’s objectives. The excellent news is you’ll be able to hold progressing with out beating all three challenges, nor are you penalized for utilizing checkpoints, however the recreation is so nicely designed that I needed to maintain going again and attempting to greatest my earlier scores and nail these objectives.

There are loads of new strikes like grabs to tug off, and quarter-pipes allow you to change the course your skater goes in. It sounds easy, however having your skater go right-to-left as an alternative of the other actually threw me for a loop, however I additionally audibly cheered the primary time I skated into a type of quarter-pipes. They add an entire new dimension to the sport that I wasn’t anticipating.

It’s additionally value mentioning a few of the different methods Roll7 made this recreation extra approachable than the sooner ones. Besides the aforementioned checkpoints, it’s rather a lot more durable to wipe out now. Earlier video games required you to press a button when touchdown, or else you’d lose all of your momentum in addition to the factors you gathered from a trick. Now, you’ll be able to land with out having to fret about that step — however pulling off so-called “perfect” landings will increase your velocity and rating.

The foremost recreation is a deep expertise, however Roll7 added new options for many who like to chase excessive scores. Every time you end a stage, you’ll see a rival participant’s rating that you just’re then challenged to greatest. It’s refined, simply exhibiting your rival’s excessive rating beneath your greatest rating — however these challenges taunted me into taking part in a number of further rounds to try to beat that problem. OlliOlli World is sensible sufficient to match you with gamers of your individual talent stage, so in case your excessive rating tops out at 100,000, you gained’t be challenged to beat somebody who obtained 1 million on a stage; the rival scores are normally round 20 p.c greater than your individual greatest. It’s good encouragement to push your self even more durable via a stage.

OlliOlli World additionally provides every day challenges via the Gnarvana League, which you unlock when you end the sport’s first space. Here, you be part of a league the place you’re pitted towards 9 opponents who once more skate at the same talent stage to you. The ranges change each day, and also you’re merely attempting to place up the very best rating in your group. As you play, you may get promoted to different leagues, the place the programs presumably will get trickier. I’ll readily admit that after placing up a rating that put me on prime of my group, I saved my eyes on the league all through the day to see if I’d should replay it and enhance my rating to maintain that prime spot.

Finally, there’s a random stage generator that you should use to problem your folks or strangers to place up their greatest rating. The Gnarvana Portal is very simple, letting you decide a stage’s “style,” which relies on the 5 foremost worlds within the recreation. You can then select one in every of 4 issue ranges and set the course’s size. Once it’s generated, you’ll be able to share that course by way of an eight-digit postcode. That code lets anybody else strive your stage, no matter what platform they’re taking part in on, and also you once more compete to see who can put up the best rating. The enjoyable factor is that anybody can do this, so that you may give the postcode to a couple shut mates, or put up it on-line and problem anybody you need.

For the primary time in an OlliOlli recreation, it’s also possible to customise your character to your coronary heart’s content material. There are a ton of clothes choices, hairstyles, skateboard designs, pores and skin coloration choices and way more right here, and you will unlock way more as you verify off the completely different challenges every stage provides. Unlike the primary two video games’ single, generic male skater design, you can also make a personality right here that really matches your character.

There’s a ton of recreation right here for $30, and the Roll7 staff has at the least two DLC expansions deliberate for later this 12 months (each of that are included when you order the $45 Rad Edition). If you will have even a passing curiosity in skateboarding or platformer video games, OlliOlli World is totally value your time. It’s deeper, brighter, greater and extra enjoyable than the unique video games, and I anticipate it’ll be a success with hardcore OlliOllli fanatics in addition to a a lot greater new viewers experiencing the fun of this meditative skating sequence for the primary time.

OlliOlli World shall be obtainable on the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC on February eighth.