Price: £39.99

Players: 1-8

Last year we had SSX and while we wait for some more fun being "board", prepare for Airblade. However, it reminds me more of the fun you could have in Back to the Future 2, were you Marty McFly, complete with hoverboard. You take the role of Ethan, friend of Oscar, a scientific genius and disgruntled employee of the GCP Corporation, much so because he's been kidnapped after attempting to be silenced because they didn't like the hoverboard he created which creates limitless energy from gravitational fields. Hence, once you've spent your 'boost energy', more tricks equals more energy to speed along with.

For those who missed out on Jet Set Radio on the Dreamcast, what this means is that you begin in a small cityscape with four GCP heavies and four snipers to be done away with, as well as two atop scaffolding and not forgetting a limousine that appears for you to grind your board along. Once you've found where they are go along and pull off a trick in their face to defeat each one. Gliding your board around the 360-degree movement takes some getting used to but once you've got to grips with the basics - and notice I didn't say "once you've mastered it" because I certainly haven't - you can pull off one of a huge number of fancy tricks, each of which gain you points. The smooth ride around the city is a visual treat - the kind in which I'd like to base a round of Unreal Tournament - and as you progress you're helped by computer hacker friend Kat with hints at the bottom of the screen as to what to do next. There are, however, some glitches which are obvious as you sail about your business in which parts of the scenery disappear depending on where you are. Soundwise, this adds to the entertainment with a Dolby Surround soundtrack that fits but doesn't do much that's outstanding. However, while I could find some Dolby Digital 5.1 music tracks in the music player menu, they wouldn't play as such within the game.

Once each mission is completed "evolution points" will open up new areas, but hopefully with some more practice I'll get off level one, that's if the interest level doesn't wane first as it's beginning to do. Of the various game modes available, the "party mode", in which you and a load of friends (up to 8) can try out tricks so that the one the lowest score becomes the weakest link and is eliminated, is a great way to explore other places within the game. Bizarrely, this game, like a DVD, has a number of extras such as the aforemention music player, a list of the available stunts and how to complete them, extra levels, an Airblade gallery showing various designs for each character and a "making of Airblade" in which Bits babe Emily Newton Dunn interviews the team behind the game.

GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ORIGINALITY ENJOYMENT
OVERALL

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2001.