Skate or Die
- Skate or Die (1989 on Dedicated handheld)
Description official descriptions
Skate or Die incorporates five distinct styles of skating, which can be attempted individually or in turn. You skate around a menu room to choose which one to attempt. Before taking off you can visit Rodney's skate shop to buy equipment.
The first event is freestyle, in which your aim is to score as many points as possible in 10 attempts. Judges determine how much style and skill you have shown. The High Jump uses the same equipment, only this time your task is to jump as high as possible at the end of the ramp.
The downhill events are overhead-view races. In the Downhill Race you simply try to complete the course within 90 seconds. In the Downhill Jam you try to outperform a human or computer opponent whilst dodging or jumping hazards. You can use attacking moves to either remove hazards or knock your opponent over.
The pool joust is more of a one-on-one beat em up using a stick, set within a pit to skate around.
Groups +
Screenshots
Promos
Credits (Commodore 64 version)
17 People (16 developers, 1 thanks)
| Software Graphics | |
| Software Programming | |
| Associate Producer | |
| Technical Support | |
| Product Management | |
| Art Director | |
| Package Design | |
| Package Illustration | |
| Music | |
| Sound Effects | |
| Artist and Screen Photography | |
| Package Photography |
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| Cover Skater | |
| Inside Skater | |
| Skateboards for artists courtesy |
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 67% (based on 25 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 87 ratings with 4 reviews)
Good concept; dismal controls.
The Good
Variety of events; fun concept. Pool Joust provides a decent challenge. Clever graphics and animations.
The Bad
The only event that provided any challenge is the Pool Joust, and it’s just not that fun. The other events are slightly fun, but with no real challenge. Really poor controls
The Bottom Line
The lack of challenge and poor, imprecise controls turn a fun concept into an annoyance.
NES · by tvail4 (4) · 2024
The Good
Absolutely nothing!
The Bad
The controls are terrible and the game itself simply sucks!
The Bottom Line
Terrible! Keep a safe distance!
DOS · by Tomer Gabel (4534) · 1999
Skate or Die is a game lacking in certain areas but overall has some replay value.
The Good
This game offers up quite a bit of replay value and is a rather original idea. Skating against the computer is a challenge and also can be fun.
The Bad
The controls, which generally shouldn't be a challenge to master in a game, are a slight challenge here. Most hurdles are quickly overcome, however.
The Bottom Line
Skate or Die is, although a bit lacking in ease of playing, a fun game with quite a bit of replay value thanks to the different styles of play. Skating fans and non- alike will both enjoy this mix of innocent fun and attitude.
DOS · by Stuart Bergstrom (2) · 1999
Trivia
720º
This game is commonly confused with the Atari coin-op 720º. The confusion stems from the spoken "Skate or die!" yelled in the coin-op.
Credits
A line in the credits reads: "If you like Skate or Die, drop us a line and we'll see that the nurses read it to (the developers)."
Fences
Not sure about the PC version, but on the C64 version if you could skate through steel wire fences, only to fall into little pieces a moment later.
Milestone
Skate or Die! was Electronic Arts' first in-house game, i.e. the first developed by full-time employees. All prior EA titles had been done by independent contractors.
Rodney
Rodney of Rodney's Skate Shop is an obvious, blatant reference to Rodney Dangerfield. It's funny just how much they ripped off his image.
Spectrum version
The manual for the Spectrum version states:
"There is no abort key on the Spectrum version of Skate or Die due to the ease of simulating the same key value from other input devices, this removes the chance of accidentally aborting the game."
Leaving aside the woeful grammar, this isn't very good design. Although most Spectrum joysticks did map to certain keys, it was easy to choose which ones these were.
Awards
- Commodore Format
- March 1994 (Issue 42) Heaven – The Path to Righteousness: 20 Essential Games
- March 1994 (Issue 42) – Heaven: Music of the Gods
Information also contributed by Joshua Dove, Martin Smith, and Terok Nor
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Related Sites +
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NES Player - Skate or Die
Shrine site with information about the game. -
Play NES Flash Games
Play Skate or Die online free. -
Video review of NES accessories (WARNING: Laguage)
The Angry Video Game Nerd, James Rolfe, reviews some NES accessories and some associated games, including the Roll & Rocker and Skate or Die on NES.
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Trixter.
Commodore 64 added by Quapil. NES added by The Imperial Darkhorse. Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Apple IIgs added by Kabushi. Wii added by Parf.
Additional contributors: Apogee IV, Alaka, LepricahnsGold, TJ Liebgott, FatherJack.
Game added March 1, 1999. Last modified October 11, 2024.