OlliOlli World (Nintendo Switch) Review

OlliOlli World is a 2.5D skateboarding adventure game where its focus on its world is its greatest strength. The game uses an imaginative story, detailed landscapes, quirky characters and challenging-yet-accessible gameplay to keep players having the most fun possible on four wheels. Long-time fans and newcomers alike will find that OlliOlli World makes grinding rails, nailing jumps and pulling off radical tricks a superb and addictive endeavour.

After a short introduction to the lore of Radlandia and creating an avatar, players are swiftly shown the ropes. While the plethora of tricks, stunts and skills to master are indeed vast, the game does an excellent job of gradually teaching how to play without ever feeling too handholdy. Journeying through the five biomes, new ways to tackle courses are learned, keeping upcoming levels novel and giving real incentive to go back and try to beat personal high scores - or those of a friend - on a previous level. From new skills, like wall-grinding, advanced tricks to improve scores, and even tracks with multiple paths, which give more reasons to replay and discover new aspects, OlliOlli World is the gift that just keeps on giving.

Even in the early hours of the experience, where the more advanced techniques haven't yet been taught, the gameplay is utterly delightful. Pulling off even the simplest of tricks looks cool, and successfully completing the optional challenge levels after dozens of tries evokes a feeling of vindication for all the hard work put in. For those that never really found themselves drawn to other skateboarding franchises, OlliOlli World presents a simple to learn but hard to master gameplay loop that is fresh, intense, and satisfying.

Gameplay this good is only accentuated by the world design. From fantastical woodlands and weird deserts, to lively factories and a groovy beachside boulevard, each biome of Radlandia is a feast for the eyes. Sporting a new art direction for the series, OlliOlli World takes on a more cartoony style, with creatively designed characters and a vibrant colour palette. It’s reminiscent of the Adventure Time cartoon in all the best ways. From the moment everything kicks off, to the later levels, Radlandia is a wondrous place to be.

This creative and innovative direction that Roll7 has taken the franchise in also extends to the soundtrack. The music is, simply put, so darn good. With the option to skip tracks on the fly, there is never a need to do so. Grooving along to the addictive vibe of songs, while trying to nail a jump or complete an in-level challenge, just keeps players engaged throughout.

The detailed quirkiness of OlliOlli World’s level design is also brought to its character creator. From the very start, there are a plethora of customisation options at your disposal. From skin tone and body type options to head-to-toe wardrobe choices, player expression has been fully realised and allows anyone to look like themselves, or anyone else for that matter! Cosmetic items are unlocked by completing each level’s in-game quests and score challenges. With no microtransactions in sight, rewards are given for replaying stages, completing challenges, and unlocking all the cosmetic gear people could ever want.

While the majority of OlliOlli World is designed for arcadey single-player fun, Roll7’s implementation of asynchronous multiplayer fits naturally into the game. Each level has real-time leaderboards to climb, and even has friends' replays to try and figure out how they got such a high score.

After completing the first world, more multiplayer options unlock. Leagues is a mode with daily challenges to compete in and special rewards to unlock, giving plenty to do after rolling credits. The big-ticket mode, however, is OlliOlli World’s Portal mode. After choosing an art style, challenge difficulty, and length setting, players can do their best to complete a curated, auto-generated level. Once satisfied with their score, the level will be assigned a unique eight-digit ‘postcode,’ which can then be sent to others worldwide – on any platform – so that they can compete against that player’s score in their curated stage.

While the multiplayer modes are simple on paper, they fit well into the overall style. They don’t pull away from the focus on world-building and replayability, and also give more ways to show off the gnarly combos those in control have mastered.

One of the very few shortcomings of this extremely polished title is how the story is presented. The Saturday morning cartoon narrative works well enough with a funny script, inventive character design, and an engaging world to carry it along. There is, however, a little too much of it. For those who want to learn everything about Radlandia’s gods and skate wizards, there’s plenty of dialogue to be enthralled in, but as the hours go by, there is eventually a point where it becomes an afterthought. Thankfully, dialogue can be easily skipped, but a tighter script would keep some folk more engaged throughout the whole adventure. Nit-picking aside, there is little bad in this bundle; OlliOlli World is a blast from start to finish.