OlliOlli World Switch Review – A Thrilling Skate

OlliOlli World manages to bring the thrilling rhythm of skating intact with a touch of fantasy sparsed throughout. It presents a thrilling version of the sport many know and love in an aesthetically pleasing environment, but there are a few issues that pop up every now and then that plague the experience.

This OlliOlli World review is going to take you down a wild ride

Let’s grind into OlliOlli World, shall we? In the game, you play as a new up-and-coming skater, who is hoping to become the next skate wizard, and along the way, you must impress every skate god on your journey. As you play further into OlliOlli World, you’ll learn all sorts of moves like spins and grabs as the game proceeds into levels scale in difficulty.

There’s an addicting game loop evolving from OlliOlli World as you move along a map with six different environments among Radlandia: Sunshine Valley. Cloverbrook, Burnstock, Los Vulgas, and finally, Sketchside.

Each level lasts a few minutes and tests both your platforming and skating mind. Working on your 360 spins and grinding tricks alongside avoiding obstacles is usually frenetically fun. However, a problem arises when OlliOlli World gets super fast. The screen tends to blur, and it becomes hard to focus on what’s happening on the screen. It actually made me feel queasy and made some platforming segments hard to nail.

That’s gnarly, dude (in a good way)

Most of the time, however, the game presents a thrilling skateboarding experience with all manner of moves available, trick combos, and challenges for you to complete. What makes it even more exciting is that there are multiple paths in this 2.5D experience. Switching tracks allows you to enter gnarly routes, which are tougher than the standard route; it lets you decide if you want to take a risk or not, providing more tension to each run. Each level comes with challenges that can only be completed by finishing a gnarly run.

The challenges are like a method grab for OlliOlli World as they add a tweak to the general gameplay experience. They will keep you restarting each level to get the cosmetic that lies in wait. It could be a shirt or some pants, but you’ll likely want everything in the game unlocked, adding to the replay value.

Weird characters with a weird world

Speaking of cosmetics, there is so much customization to how your character can look. You can have a green beard, yellow overalls, and Venetian glasses on if you really want to. There is also no gender option, letting all people decide their look and relate further to their character. You can already see the creativity in the cosmetic systems OlliOlli World has in its loading screens. Players’ avatars are featured in these segments of the game. There are some downright weird characters people have made.

But those weird characters make sense in the weird world that Roll7 has created. You’ll see walking trees with smiles on their faces in the background, for example. The shaded art style of the background matched with the graphic novel-style look is perfect in this indie skateboarding title. Almost every environment is interesting to look at as you ride across Radlandia. But we have to talk about Burnstock for a second.

Compared to the lush lands of Sunshine Valley and Cloverbrook at the beginning of the game, Burnstock is boring to look at. It has the dull orange of the desert and lacks personality all around. There are some cool stages like Area 41, for sure, but the often overplayed desert landscape didn’t feel like it fit in a colorful adventure like OlliOlli World.

Too much dialogue

This is also when the game’s negatives start to flow into your mind. The cast of characters that guide your way throughout OlliOlli World are charming at first, and then become annoying a few hours in. They’re written well, but having a cutscene before every level starts is too much. Having them pop in every once in a while with lore bites and comedic writing would have been much better. Thankfully, you can skip these conversations, but simply seeing them at the start of each level does make the experience feel a little repetitive.

Wiped out during this OlliOlli World review

As the levels begin to get more difficult, the way the game presents itself is a bit frustrating. For some of its more challenging elements, you’ll come across an obstacle so fast that it’s hard to react to. Even while going back to the checkpoint over and over again, I was stuck at the same section of the level due to the camera not giving me the information I needed. This element plus the blur of getting high speed was a common issue I found while playing the Nintendo Switch version.

The chill music

What settles that frustration is the chill music that Roll7 and Private Division have included. It has an overall electronic sound that is filled with chill, yet determined music. Most of the tracks fit the aesthetic that OlliOlli World is going for, and if there is a certain song you don’t like, you can easily skip with the right shoulder button, similar to an iPod of a bygone age. It’s definitely an aspect I love and glad to include in this OlliOlli World review.

In conclusion for this OlliOlli World review, there’s a riveting skating adventure through Radlandia as it provides thrilling gameplay and a gorgeous aesthetic. However, it can be a bit too fast for some as you’ll likely notice some intense blurring in some sections of the game. Some of the characters also outstay their welcome, and not every level needs a cutscene.

OlliOlli World Review provided by Nintendo Link
Review also found on OpenCritic
Publisher: Private Division
Developer: Roll7
Release Date: February 8, 2022
Price: $29.99, £24.99, €29.99
Game Size: 3.6 GB