Skater Nation is a game made by gameloft and available on the appstore for $6.99. Skater Nation is a copy of Tony Hawk for the gamecube. SN is the first good skateboarding simulator to hit the app store. SN is an open-world skateboarding game which really puts the other skateboarding titles available on the platform to shame when it comes to overall depth and complexity. Skater Nation was made using the same game engine made for Gangstar. In SN you have a 3d open environment with multiple locations, from a beach to a construction sight. One of my favorite things about this game is the fact that you can go to any of the 10 major locations using a GPS, and there is no load time in between.
There are 2 modes of play: Career and Free Skate. Much of your time will be spent in Career mode because you have the ability to free skate. Career mode offers many different challenges from racing around a park, to trying to beat high scores, and even collecting skateboards. Career mode also allows the player to unlock different skateboards, wheels, and trucks. Each of the items has its pros and cons. If you are able to complete career mode, you unlock 2 additional players. Be advised that the challenges can be hard and frustrating. Skater Nation is not for the casual gamer, unless you want to spend $7 on free skate. Free skate just allows the player to casually skate around the city and practice moves. There is no time limit and no restrictions.
You might ask...how big is the map? The city in Skater Nation is about half the size of the city in Gangstar. There aren't as many buildings either. Instead, everything is placed so you can preform tricks. Unlike Gangstar, there are only a few cars, and other than the people who you get the missions from, there are no other skateboarders. While this might be good in the real life, the city seems to be deserted.
The controls in Skater Nation take some time to get used to. The controls consist of a joystick and an a and b button. The controls sometimes are unresponsive, and i find that sometimes my finger slides off the joystick a lot. It takes awhile to learn all of the tricks, and sometimes you find the tricks hard to pull off. There is over 30 different tricks and grabs available. I feel that more tricks could be implemented, but 30 seems like enough. While the library of tricks you can do is nowhere near as vast as modern console skateboarding games, all the main grind types and board flips are in place. Skater Nation has a combo system that will be familiar to anyone who has played a skateboarding game before, with strings of tricks that can be tied together with manuals for massive point totals.
While the game itself was cool enough, what really blew me away was the replay editor. Much like Skate, you will be able to rewind the last 3-4 minutes of gameplay to save replays of cool tricks, jumps, or combos you were able to pull off. These replays can then be uploaded to YouTube. You first have to link your youtube account to google or else it will not work.
(note: missing is the ability to play your own music)
Overall I give this game a 9.5/10
Gameplay 9.5/10
Sound 9/10
Visuals 9.5/10
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