➤ Skate City, the review on Nintendo Switch 🎮

Sports titles are destined either to never be released for years, or to be distributed all together within a few months. Here then is Skate City review on Nintendo Switch, at a time when all in all there is also the return of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 to keep an eye on on consoles and PC. Speaking of platforms: you will certainly not have missed the review of Skate City for mobile devices and more recently also for PC, the first by Fabio Palmisano, the second by Luca Olivato. Since you often ask the editorial staff to analyze as many conversions as possible of the same title (and with good reason), why not settle for it when there is the possibility? Everyone who was waiting for Skate City on Nintendo Switch today will know more about this specific version.

Conversion on Nintendo Switch

Let's start with the most important aspect when analyzing a port: what is the conversion on Nintendo Switch by Skate City? Appreciable, while not representing anything exceptional. We mean that the HD Rumble, while present, has not been adapted in a brilliant way and certainly could have enhanced the tricks and grind on the surfaces a little more, as well as many other small aspects of the gameplay, which would have come out of it. embellished. This was not the case: and yet the tactile feedback is quite good, and allows you to identify with the performance (sometimes a bit reckless) of the skater protagonist.

Skate City, the review on Nintendo Switch

The adaptation of the commands, in truth, some of it seems to make sense, and some of it doesn't. Let's explain it better: by holding down the button A, the skater moves on the screen; if you stop pressing it, it stops. And so far nothing abnormal; only, to perform the tricks, you have to tilt the individual analog sticks in various directions, both right and left. Now, as far as the left is concerned, no problem, but try to hold down the control A and at the same time use the right stick on that tiny Joy-Con. And even try to use all three input systems at the same time: this is inconvenient beyond a reasonable hypothesis, if not simply impossible.

Technically speaking, then, the conversion of Skate City to Nintendo Switch is not exciting. THE loading times they seemed to us to be on the verge of acceptability: a couple of seconds more for each, and we would have evaluated them negatively. It is not clear why a title that basically has very little to "load" takes so long; we assume the optimization wasn't all that great. Nothing to object instead on the graphic rendering and the frame rate, which remain at good levels, also considering the mobile nature of the title and its already existing conversion for PC.

Gameplay

Having said this, it is appropriate to recall, at least briefly, what the gameplay by Skate City. The player controls a skater and tries to perform as many tricks as possible, without necessarily enhancing the showmanship at the expense of technique. The goal is either to have fun freely on open maps (there are three of them, associated with three main cities around the world) or to try to complete the challenges proposed by the developers. The latter guarantee Skate Points, credits to be used in various ways: to unlock the other two maps present, initially not available; buy new styles for the protagonist and the skate; improve performance parameters.

Perhaps the real underlying problem of the production, which has led here and elsewhere also to appioppargli not exactly generous votes, consists in the lack of a progression well defined: of a plot, of a purpose, of any career modality. However, this is understandable if we consider the nature of the title itself, which in the end was born on mobile, suitable for very short game sessions between a break and another. Nintendo Switch partially recovers this philosophy, because it again allows you to take Skate City with you and select it "how, when and where we want". On the other hand, compared to the titles properly born on consoles, it lacks a depth that leads one to criticize the launch price on the Nintendo console, however fixed at 15 euros.

This does not mean that die-hard skate fans or simple casual players can't have a lot of fun with Skate City: on the contrary, they will have fun. Provided, however, to keep in mind the limits quantitative (it is not a particularly full-bodied nor long-lived game) and qualitative (it quickly becomes boring, and several recent productions can easily surpass it in every aspect).

Comment

Tested version Nintendo Switch Digital Delivery Nintendo eShop Price 12,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

6.5

Readers (2)

7.6

Your vote

Skate City also lands on Nintendo Switch: this allows it to keep its identity intact, that of a mobile title that has then decided to move to console too; Nintendo's hybrid platform is perhaps the most suitable venue, compared to the next gen and fixed consoles in general, because it was designed for "hit and run" sessions, exactly like the title of Agens and Room8. The conversion itself is good, although not excellent: in particular, the adaptation of the controls has not convinced us completely, nor is it possible to change it from the settings. Instead, it is possible to change the game language, choosing the Italian one from among the many present. We recommend the production to skate lovers who already own the best counterparts available, such as the excellent Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2.