Street Skater, also known as Street Sk8ter in the US, is one of the first (if not the first) skating game for the original PlayStation. Developed by Atelier Double and published by EA, it is a fun arcade game. The controls are extremely easy, which is good, because there is no tutorial. Your character automatically accelerates. You use the Square button to slow down, Circle to crouch and gain speed, and X to do an ollie. Combining X with one of the directional buttons while you're about to jump off a ramp will allow you to perform tricks. The game boasts hundreds of tricks but you only have the four different button inputs to do it... what tricks you do will depend upon the speed and the level of your character.
Getting the timing correct for the ramps takes some getting used to. You'll no doubt crash and burn a lot of times in the beginning. The key to jumping off the smaller ramps is that you do not press the combination for tricks at the end, but rather in the middle of the ramp. Aiming your jumps will allow you to grind rails. The jumping mechanic will take some getting used to, and the collision detection is typical of the games in the age, being weird and instantly stopping you. Successfully completing tricks and grinding rails will give you points. The aim is to get a high score by the end of each stage. Unfortunately, crashing will deduct points, which is not great when you are just beginning and you lose the points you worked so hard to get.
There are two modes: Street Tour and Free Skate. Street Tour is your typical main game mode, which comprises of three courses along with two bonus levels. You need to beat the high score at each course in order to progress through the next and this can be tough when you begin. The bonus levels will give you additional time in the next course which is a boon and means the later courses are easier to get the scores required to clear it. The Free Skate mode allows you to select any of the courses and skate to your whim. You can remove the time limit in this mode allowing you to practice and explore the courses to your heart's content. There is a VS mode allowing you to play with a friend, but of course, you need two controllers for this.
There are four characters to choose from in the beginning and it is highly recommended to pick the one with the slowest speed. This may sound counter intuitive but it makes it much easier to navigate the courses when you are starting to get your bearings on how to handle the game. Each time you clear a course in Street Tour mode with a character, it levels them up and you can distribute points to their various stats (handling, acceleration, jump power and max speed). This is a great element and encourages you to check out other characters. Higher levels mean better tricks and more points for them.
Unfortunately, while the game is a lot of fun specially when you complete a successful run chaining together multiple tricks, it lacks in content. There are only three courses along with four bonus arenas (which is just one massive skate ramp). Each course will take 1-5 minutes, meaning that theoretically you can beat the game within 15 minutes. Go in it for the first time and you'll have to take multiple attempts on each course, extending it to 30 minutes to an hour. The replayability comes from high scores as well as completing the Street Tour mode multiple times to unlock more stuff. You will get to eventually unlock alternate pathways in the courses, four additional characters, new skateboard designs and mirror mode.
The soundtrack is one of the best aspect of the game, it suits the action perfectly. The graphics are nothing to be wowed at though and while it hasn't aged well, you'll soon get used to it but most importantly, the gameplay remains fun to this day. The bright colorful level designs helps keep the game feel upbeat and positive. Overall, Street Skater is a typical arcade skating game that's reminiscent of the design choices from that era of games. It has aged fairly well but the limited amount of content is what holds it back.
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