Air Boarder 64 is a futuristic racing game for the Nintendo 64. It is very similar to the Tony Hawks Pro Skater series, although the game features hover boards instead of the usual skateboards. Various game modes are available in which you either have to win the race challenges or get a high score by performing different tricks. The North American version was supposed to release as 'AirBoardin' USA' but was canceled.
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Air Boarder 64 is a trick-based skateboarding-style games, but on hoverboards. The fascinating thing about Air Border is that this came out before Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. The unfortunate thing is that the developers of Air Border never seemed to figure out what the player is supposed to do in a game like this, instead opting for a bunch of random modes.
You have a trick mode (spoiled somewhat because you have to hit gates in a certain time), a time trial, coin collection and free play. It all feels like the developers were testing different things, but none of them really feel like a completed feature, seeming a bit disjointed. The five levels also feel like they’re each from a completely different game, with zero cohesion in theme or level design.
You have the starting skate park, a forest level, a bit of a city during winter, a few islands connected by a massive bridge and one where you’re tiny in a house. Like the modes, these also feel like they were testing random ideas and couldn’t work out a direction for the game. None of them take advantage of the fact that you can fly up walls, either.
Even though it feels more like a lost prototype than a final game, I can’t help but find this game fascinating, and the core movement and tricks are enjoyable. It’s not a good game but, even with its complete lack of direction, it’s not terrible, either.
You have a trick mode (spoiled somewhat because you have to hit gates in a certain time), a time trial, coin collection and free play. It all feels like the developers were testing different things, but none of them really feel like a completed feature, seeming a bit disjointed. The five levels also feel like they’re each from a completely different game, with zero cohesion in theme or level design.
You have the starting skate park, a forest level, a bit of a city during winter, a few islands connected by a massive bridge and one where you’re tiny in a house. Like the modes, these also feel like they were testing random ideas and couldn’t work out a direction for the game. None of them take advantage of the fact that you can fly up walls, either.
Even though it feels more like a lost prototype than a final game, I can’t help but find this game fascinating, and the core movement and tricks are enjoyable. It’s not a good game but, even with its complete lack of direction, it’s not terrible, either.
Shit game but great music from masafumi takada
You really have to be a god gamer to experience most of the games unlockable content. Score challenges ask for way too much from you while giving you way too little time to complete them. Game is a lot more fun, and possible to complete, with an infinite time limit enabled. Huge respects to anybody that can pull any of this shit off without it, i just dont have the will to try anymore. It also has the kind of jank you'd expect out of an extreme sports game from this era that wasn't made by Neversoft.
A huge problem is the amount of time it takes to do a trick and have it count towards your combo. You hold a C button, and your character will perform a move about 1 & 1/2 seconds later. Obviously the wait on the move interrupts the whole flow of doing anything flashy, and it doesn't help that if you're getting out of the animation by the time you hit the ground, your dude will fumble and have to get back up. The other shitty part is that the move only counts once it's pulled off, and the score multiplier is based off of how long you stayed in each move during the combo, so it's really hard to get huge scores in the air when the game is giving you peanuts for each trick. The only good thing about trying to do combos is that it doesn't matter which way your board is facing once you land, which is great since if you're tilting the analog stick in any direction while in the air, even while trying to perform flips, you just go fucking anywhere but straight back down onto the ramp. I could ever really get about 4 moves in a combo during the first mission, and just barely got an A rank after about 40 minutes of playing and restarting constantly.
This game definitely would've benefited from releasing a couple years later for Gamecube, when speed in character movement was increasing. Really sucks because i love everything else about this game. The artstyle, the designs of the levels, the music, all great. Disney Extreme Skate Adventure for sure plagiarized that house level though. The kids bedroom is almost identical to Andy's room in that game.
A huge problem is the amount of time it takes to do a trick and have it count towards your combo. You hold a C button, and your character will perform a move about 1 & 1/2 seconds later. Obviously the wait on the move interrupts the whole flow of doing anything flashy, and it doesn't help that if you're getting out of the animation by the time you hit the ground, your dude will fumble and have to get back up. The other shitty part is that the move only counts once it's pulled off, and the score multiplier is based off of how long you stayed in each move during the combo, so it's really hard to get huge scores in the air when the game is giving you peanuts for each trick. The only good thing about trying to do combos is that it doesn't matter which way your board is facing once you land, which is great since if you're tilting the analog stick in any direction while in the air, even while trying to perform flips, you just go fucking anywhere but straight back down onto the ramp. I could ever really get about 4 moves in a combo during the first mission, and just barely got an A rank after about 40 minutes of playing and restarting constantly.
This game definitely would've benefited from releasing a couple years later for Gamecube, when speed in character movement was increasing. Really sucks because i love everything else about this game. The artstyle, the designs of the levels, the music, all great. Disney Extreme Skate Adventure for sure plagiarized that house level though. The kids bedroom is almost identical to Andy's room in that game.