OlliOlli
Overview -
For a few years now, Sony has tried to capture the kind of secret sauce on their handheld platforms that has made for various indie monster hits on smartphones and PCs. With games like 'Journey,' Sony has had the edge when it comes to the more cerebral fare. But out of desire for titles like 'Super Meat Boy' and 'N+,' which scratch a quick and brutal itch, Sony signed up a young, indie, British developer, Roll7, and their prototype of a sidescrolling skateboard game. The result is the full-fledged 'OlliOlli' for the PlayStation Vita.
Video Review
'OlliOlli' is a 2D sidescroller, whose art style mimics 16-bit games. The visible playing area is much larger and more detailed than anything similar on the SNES or Genesis, but it's imitative all the same. Where this kind of imitation is beloved in RPGs, these levels just look ok. The gameplay is so demanding that, at its best the art burns away to reveal the tactical layout. The five different visual palettes make for some nice variety, but the whole game could be changed to a 'TRON' look without missing much of a beat.
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Occasionally there will be a visual bug where the wrong animation will play, and it seems like you've landing or are grinding for an instant when you've really face planted. It's an extremely minor issue as it occurs when you've already face-planted, but still noticeable.
The UI design and delivery is expert, with all of the crucial scoring info available even while nailing crazy-multipliers. One change I would like is an easy way to take screengrabs, as the game moves much too fast for the standard Vita technique.
Audio Review
Initially, I was ready to slam the audio as a kind of forgettable non-factor, but upon further review, I decided that the jazzy soundtrack is quite suitable as a complimentary part of the game. It's unlikely that most players will be disturbed as they might have been had the soundtrack been high-tempo. Here again, the implementation suits the frequent restarts as the audio is never disturbed in the menu or in the game, not even when pausing. The pause menu gives instant access to both music and sound effect sliders. The sound effects provided decent feedback for various moves.
For every time I've thought, "if only this game had a tight control scheme and consistent physics and scoring," the devs at Roll7 must have been furthering their plot to make 'OlliOlli.' I would never have guessed that I could be addicted to a skateboarding title, and I have some serious concerns that the Vita might not have been designed to support such a replayable (if brutally challenging) game. It might not be much of a looker and many will confuse it at a glance for an iOS title, but the gameplay really trumps such superficial concerns. If anything, they should make a version for the PS3/PS4, and put one of the DualShocks to work.
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