Skate City

Aesthetically, Skate City fares well. The visuals are simple, but Snowman has nailed the grunge look that the sport is known for. The original score is excellent, and soaking up its relaxing lo-fi beats makes even the most frustrating challenges enjoyable. Unfortunately, the three courses are a tad too realistic and end up feeling interchangeable. However, the addition of a slow-mo function and a dynamic camera make capturing your tricks to craft your own videos a neat additional feature. Take the time to master it, and there's fun to be had in this city.

Skate City is a laid back, chilled out alternative to the more hectic skateboarding action of the likes of Roll7's OlliOlli series. The various tricks and skills here won't take you long to master, putting together little runs through Los Angeles, Oslo and Barcelona feels satisfying and the overall aesthetic suits the rather simple, straightforward nature of proceedings. However, there's an undeniable lack of actual challenge and variety here, alongside a few niggling framerate issues on Switch, that result in a game that's reasonable enough value for a quick bash, especially given its budget price point, but one that won't last anyone beyond the most avid of skateboarding fans for much longer than a couple of hours.

I’m sure that all gamers out there have played at least one skateboarding game in their time. The infamous Tony Hawk Pro Skater titles alongside Skate will probably be your answer, and they remain at the top of the genre even today thanks to sequel announcements and remasters. For me, it was Disney Extreme Skateboarding… but anyway, the fact remains that playing these games made us crave to be able to perform these sick tricks in real life with a great soundtrack accompanying us.

Whether you are taking on the game's numerous challenges, or carving your way across the concrete in endless mode, Skate City is the perfect way to kick, push and shove your way through a digital world.

Skate City is certainly worth checking out. Its gameplay and ambience are decidedly relaxing, and it is incredibly easy for newcomers to jump in and get acclimated. The perspective and controls might take a minute to get adjusted to, but it is still a title with plenty of challenges and replay potential to keep players busy, especially with its A+ soundtrack. However, you have been warned about its brevity and lack of depth. That being said, it's $14.99 USD on the Nintendo Switch, so it is a budget title.

Skate City is a chilled-out but ultimately shallow experience. Don't go in expecting anything too involving and you should have fun.

Skate City provides an enjoyable few hours of gameplay. However, I have to lower my score by half a point, due to the frame drops in the Switch version. I can only guess that there is no such problem on other platforms, so you will probably have fun on the next-gen or PC.

Skate City could dare more when it reached the consoles. Its attractive visual composition and sound track achieve a certain level of immersion, which unfortunately is broken by some slips. Maybe with some additional content, the feeling of being playing a mobile title will be changed and it will be seen as the fun indie that it has the potential to be.

With headphones on and the right mindset, the lo-fi vibes are enjoyable, but this is far from a competent Skate 4 sit-in without the tight controls or the engaging level-design and challenge.

Skate City is buoyed up by its excellent and mellow lo-fi soundtrack, a veritable repository of chill beats to skate to. This defining aspect helps elevate a simple concept to put you in the right mood to engage with it. While the visuals are nothing to write home about and the finnicky controls can sometimes cause frustration, there's still something special about chilling out with a 20 minute skate session after a hard day's work, and discovering yet another great lo-fi tune. However it should have launched for consoles with at least all of the content and modes from the mobile version, if not more for its bigger platform debut. While Skate City is a relatively engaging and mellow experience overall, it's one I have a hard time recommending on console at its new premium asking price.