With that said, I need to disclose that I’m approaching this review a bit differently than other reviews, as I reviewed Skatebird on two different platforms at basically the same time. While playing, I couldn’t help but be reminded of a really, REALLY well-done remaster of 1998’s Rugrats: Search for Reptar levels mixed with 2000’s Grind Session (I promise this is a compliment). Don’t expect to be blown away if you’re already a hardened veteran of the genre. In that sense, the game is a great entry point for those just starting to cut their teeth on the skateboarding genre. You do, however, have a double jump ability and a slower descent back to the ground after catching big air. If you’ve played any games in the THPS series, you will be immediately familiar with Skatebird’s single button flip tricks, grabs, rotations, stalls, and grinds. See also Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearls Timed Drifloon Encounter is a Weird OversightĬontrols are about as straightforward as you can get. Each level has a different theme, such as a bedroom and an office, where Birb will kick flip and tail grab its way over ramps, rails, and big air jumps made out of everyday objects like leftover pizza boxes and straws. In terms of its overall gameplay, Skatebird puts you in the skate shoes (talons?) of Birb – a house bird who skates throughout sandbox-like levels while taking on missions and collecting hidden objects. That is, depending on which platform you play the game on. And for the most part, it’s a welcome addition to skating’s gaming catalog. However, considering that at that time, we were just entering a revitalized era of skateboarding video games with titles such as Session, Skater XL, THPS 1 + 2, and the announcement of the next Skate game, it only made sense that Skatebird’s humorous spin on the extreme sport would come about in some form or another. Sure, the idea of a skateboarding bird wasn’t quite as appealing as playing as the Hawkman himself (a desire that actually became a reality later in the year with the surprise release of the remastered Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2). While the rest of the games shown off during the Wholesome Direct had me excited, it was Skatebird that piqued my interest. You Are Reading : Skatebird Review Winged Thrashinĭespite its original announcement in 2018, followed by a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign in 2019, I was first made aware of Skatebird during last year’s Wholesome Direct 2020, when I watched a spunky, fat, little bird cruising around on its skateboard and grinding rails like, well, Tony Hawk. Without the hills and mounds found in landscapes elsewhere in the world, this skatepark offers ramps, mounds, banks, drops and edges, which merge with more conventional means of traversing a site, such as sidewalks and stairs, to create a new hybrid space between a conventional building and a foreign landscape.Skatebird is a silly, welcome addition to skateboarding’s gaming catalog. The large ground plain of the park creates an unusual urban plaza, featuring a landscape of topography in a southern Florida region known to be persistently flat. The skatepark’s ground plain swells up to connect to the second story level, where open observation balconies surrounding the park. Micro-retail venues line the east and west sides of the park within repurposed shipping containers that are stacked in two levels. The plaza remains open, in regards to both space and use, while the cathedral is a monumental space beneath a massive roof.īeyond a place for skating, the park acts as a place to gather. Wall murals of several well-known Miami artists, including Magnus Sodamin, are painted on the park’s surface to welcome visitors to the park and highlight the warping surfaces and changes in elevation upon entrance.Īlthough the building’s elements are designed to the requirements of strict building codes, the surfaces of the skatepark present a playful contrast with fluid forms and alternative ways of inhabiting space. Located at the edge of Miami in the Village of El Portal sits the newly completed Skatebird Skatepark, a large open-air urban space that exists as a skatepark, event space and place for the arts.Īt approximately 38,000 square feet, the skatepark consists of three parts: the skateable terrain, the enclosing walls and the large roof that covers half the site, providing a dry and shady spot for visitors to escape harsh sunlight, as well as sporadic rainfall.
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