720 Degrees - Nintendo Entertainment System

Review comments

Here's another skateboarding game on the Nintendo - but totally different to Skate or Die. It's a conversion of the old Atari coin-op and is centered around city streets and sidewalks littered with ramps, water hazards, and deadly traffic.

Surrounding the streets are booths corresponding to the four events you must compete in - slalom, jump, downhill, and ramp. Your success in these events is rewarded by bronze, silver, or gold medals - but if you're complete rubbish you won't get anything! Also, you get cash for winning medals, which is used to buy better pads, a boards, shoes and helmets. The better your gear, the better your on-screen personna performs. On completion of all four events, you progress to the next, more difficult level.

Of course there's a fly in the ointment - in this case, literally! There's a fixed time limit between events, and when it's elapsed a swarm of bees starts chasing you - get to the next booth quickly, or it's curtains!

Staff comments

I think this game is a lot of fun - although you're supposed to compete in the events, it's just as much fun skating around the streets doing stunts and hassling pedestrians! Unfortunately, the swarm of bees soon puts an end to this. Anyway, the events themselves are a little disappointing, as they don't change a great deal between levels. So although the game is great fun, I have my doubts about its long-term value. So why not check it out at your local shop before buying?

Although this only has four events, they combine together to produce an entertaining game. Skating from one part of the park to another is a laugh, because you can do stunts and knock people over on the way, and there are also shops where you can stop and upgrade your gear to give you better abilities (so long as you keep winning the cash). The game itself isn't difficult to get into, but once you get to higher levels, it becomes very tough indeed, with the bees swarming after you at very high speed - you have to plan ahead and skate like mad to get to the next event before they catch you! 720 is an entertaining and original game, and is well worth trying out if you're after something other than a shoot 'em up or platform game.