This simulation adjacent skateboarding release has/had the potential to be something unique in the long stagnant genre but it's bare-bones approach is baffling. The best part of Skater XL is the unique controls that gives the player sandbox like freedom in how their tricks look and feel, but this alone doesn't feel like enough to keep the game fresh. The small handful of Skater XL's tiny levels feel static; something as simple as traffic or pedestrians would have gone someway to add a little bit of life to the levels, however even that wouldn't help alleviate by the numbers map design, lack of career mode, shoddy performance and numerous bugs. The bare-bones nature even applies to the sound design: lack of FX for things like bailing and the repetitive track-list by indie artists like Animal Collective and Future Islands really doesn't help the lifeless quality of the game. Skater XL could have been an exciting return to the lost extreme-sports genre that was a staple of the mid 2000s, but it's disappointing debut ends up feeling like an alpha, instead of a retail product.