I guess there comes a point in any skateboarder's life when all the skate parks, half pipes, ramps, and grind rails just don't shine with the challenge of excitement that once was. One lucky skater was in the forest when a crystallized meteor crashed, not only giving him super powers, but converting the landscape into the extreme skate park of his dreams. Welcome to Extreme Skater.

Each level is an obstacle course that ends with your skater reaching a chunk of crystal. The game starts out slowly with simple ramps and jumps, but soon enough you're grinding on rails, swinging on ropes, and powering up and blasting through barriers to reach hidden troves of coins, and to fulfill each level's missions, which lead to greater rewards upon completion. The main balancing of your skateboard is done via tilting. While up in the air, you can tilt to perform front and back flips and when riding or landing, if you're not lined up with the ground, you'll stack it and have to start back from one of the tiki torch checkpoints.

The coins earned can be used to upgrade your skater and his board, but the most worthwhile item to spend your money on is to unlock the tricks. Not only do these add more variety to what can be done in each level (and some level's missions revolve around them), but it opens up a skate park based around learning and performing said maneuver, complete with its own missions and coin rewards.

With all this content and variety, Extreme Skater is a worthwhile play, but it's not without its faults. For one, the skateboard feels far too weightless, both in the air and on the ground. It lacks a sense of speed when leaning forward, and in the air it seems to ignore gravity, returning to the ground at its own pace. Then there's failing to land a jump or smacking into an obstacle on your board. Usually these games have a visceral feeling associated with failure that adds to the fun. Perhaps it's the weightlessness of the board itself, but crashing your skater lacks emphasis and impact, and definitely detracts from the experience. Even with these criticisms however, this is a fun game with a lot to offer, and is worth a look for those who like what they see.