Gamers addicted to the see-how-long-you-can-last genre, this may be the game for you. Introducing SKATE or DIE, released by 3G Studios, Inc. The goal of SKATE or DIE is to ollie your way through a never ending onslaught of rooftops in what may be the largest cityscape ever!
SKATE or DIE Pros:
- Vibrant visuals
- Great replay value due to randomly generated cityscape
- Pick-up-and-play simplicity
- SKATE or DIE Power-up
SKATE or DIE Cons:
- No Leaderboards or achievements
- No sounds of any sort
The App Store has seen the likes of this game style before, namely Canabalt and the much anticipated Mirror’s Edge. The premise is simply to tap to clear obstacles and voids in an effort to beat your longest life time. The way SKATE or DIE approaches this is by giving the main character the speed of a skateboarding lunatic. Players simply need to time their taps to avoid the gaps between structures. The farther the skater progresses, the more speed he gains, increasing the challenge. One feature of this game that we appreciated was the ability to double-jump when in SKATE or DIE mode. Every so often, the sky becomes blood red while fireworks shoot in the background. During this short period, the double-jump power-up activates launching players over multiple buildings. This is just the type of variation a game like this needs to keep from becoming monotonous. Hopefully, additional power-ups will be available in future updates.
3G Studios has done a nice job giving the game a pick-up-and-play style in each of the three difficulty levels. Controls are quick and responsive, as this is a must in this type of gameplay. The graphics are colorful and cartoonish which hearkens back to games of similar names from years gone by. The backdrops are constantly varying as is the landscape. No two sessions are alike. Scoring is tabulated according to the number of buildings successfully overcome. While players can see a tally of their best runs, no global leader boards are present. This is a huge loss for a game like this, in which there is a singular goal.
Unfortunately, SKATE or DIE lacks sounds of any sort. No soundtrack and no audible effects. We found ourselves cranking the volume and even restarting the game to see if this was some sort of glitch. No luck. This was no fakie. Such an obvious omission of an exciting musical accompaniment is something 3G Studios needs to address. They have in fact promised sounds to be added in an upcoming revision to the game. This can’t come soon enough. That being said, the addictive nature of SKATE or DIE keeps us coming back for more. Despite the lack of leaderboards, achievements and sound offerings, this $0.99 title still scores a 4-Dimple rail-grinding rating.
