Speed Skater, another Run & Jump Game… Meh!
by Toni McQuilken
Jun 2, 2011 7:22 AM –
Install
Speed Skater. Welcome investors, Mr. Stephen Tumble, triple silver medalist will put our new product through its paces on this live course. Go Steve! Ride the skateboard over highland plateaus, touch the screen to jump over the gaps and other obstacles.
Price: Free
Tested on: MyTouch 3G Slide
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Very challenging gameplay keeps you coming back
Cons
- The graphics are a bit simple
Features:
Let me preface this review by saying that, while I enjoy playing them, I am terrible at games like this, where your character is moving at a constant rate of speed, and your goal is to make them jump over obstacles and across chasms. This is exactly that type of game, and in this one, instead of a running unicorn or superhero, you are a skateboarder showing off for the crowd.
One of the challenging things about this game is that the obstacles and even the position and size of the chasms is completely random. So you can’t memorize where and when to jump to try and get further in the game – every time is different. At the top of the screen, you see a small graphic that will show you a very basic representation of what’s coming up in terms of the chasms, so there is an element of strategy to watch that for what’s coming up, while making sure your skateboarder doesn’t hit an obstacle in your path along the way. Hitting an obstacle won’t end your game, but it does kill all of your speed. You loose your life when you fall off a cliff, and after a few deaths, the game is over and you can enter your name for the high-score list.
One really nice touch in the game is the humor. When you die, one of several random notes will pop up, such as, “your girlfriend has left you”. It makes you smile, and adds another element to the game.
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Speed Skater Start
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Speed Skater Jumping
Fun Factor:
The challenge of the game, along with the touches of humor, make this a fun game to play. However, because it is a bit repetitive, it can loose it’s luster fast.
Addictive:
Because the elements of the levels are random, the challenge level stays high every time you play it, giving you a reason to come back. And you can view high scores either locally, or compared them to other players online, which is a fun reason to keep coming back.
Graphics:
The graphics are very basic, mostly color blocks, with very little detail. The focus here was on the mechanics, not on the look and feel. This is probably the one area I really feel the game let me down. I wanted more than just a small set of rotating elements mixed with blocky people. 
Accelerometer, Vibration & Sound:
The accelerometer and vibration aren’t a factor here, and you can choose to turn the sound on or off, the only element in the options menu. Like the graphics, the sounds are very basic and without anything really special here. It feels more like stock sounds pulled from a free online source than sounds designed for this game in particular.