Airblade (PS2) Gameplay Sample

Alright, so I rage quit in the third level. Not so much rage quit, but more of a I'm over it quit. I have beaten that level before, but the difficulty in this game amps up very quickly in the third level.

Airblade is sequel to Trickstyle on the Dreamcast, but instead of racing being the focus, tricks are more of a focus. This is more Marty McFly's Pro Hoverboarder than true Trickstyle sequel.

I do really like this game, and I remember liking it from an old demo disk, but this game isn't for everyone because it has one flaw you will either like or despise. You know how in THPS, if you complete a level objective, the game marks that objective off the list, and you don't have to complete it again on your next run? Well, in Airblade, you have to complete every single objective in each level in the time allotted or you fail the mission, and have to start over. This means that you almost have to put in a perfect run in each level, completing every objective in time. You'll be playing the harder levels over, and over, and over again until you figure out how to do each objective, and how to do it in time.

When you are time stressed, some of the control issues rear their head to add to the frustration. Sometimes the controls can be a bit awkward, bouncy, and can feel a little glitchy forcing you to battle the controls and lose precious times. It doesn't always happen, but it always seems to happen when you are flustered. Overall, the controls aren't terrible by any means, but the extra bouncy phyisics and other quirks do take some getting used to.

The graphics are good for time in PS2 development it was released in, but this comes from Criterion, the makers of the Renderware engine which powered almost an entire generation of PS2 games. They certainly aren't burnout quality, but Criterion knew their stuff when it came to PS2 development.

The Bottom Line: Despite the sometimes rough difficulty level in the game, and it's unforgiving nature when it comes to completing objectives, I still really like Airblade. It's definitely not for everyone, but give it a try sometime, you might enjoy it, or you might hate it. It's just one of those games you either like or you don't.

NOTE: Airblade supports 16:9 output on the PS2 which is why this video is in widescreen.