2019-04-01_Retro_Gamer

VANCOUVER,

BRITISH COLUMBIA

QAs the first stage, this is

naturally the easiest with only

one lane of traffic and fewer

obstacles to avoid.

SAN DIEGO,

CALIFORNIA

QThere are a lot of cars on

these dusty roads, which can

be a big bonus for those with

great slingshotting skills

LOS ANGELES,

QDrivers will start popping

their trunks on this stage,

so you’ll need to duck when

skitching to avoid being

thrown off.

SEATTLE,

WASHINGTON

QThe cops start to show up

here, lanes are closed into

single-line traffic and enemies

carry weapons.

WASHINGTON

DC

QThere’s a lot of crap on the

floor in Washington, it seems,

so you’ll need to be careful

where you stop.

CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS

QNot the longest track on the

game, but certainly a challenge

when combined with the

difficulty of the enemies.

DETROIT,

MICHIGAN

QFor the bonus stage you’ll

need to fight a lot, and many

of the skaters have pretty

powerful weapons.

NEW YORK,

NEW YORK

QThe final stage and obviously

the toughest of them all. NYC

taxi drivers don’t want you

grabbing onto their cars.

DENVER,

COLORADO

QTricks are the goal of this

stage, with trucks and trains

required to launch yourself

over making their debut.

SAN FRANCISCO,

CALIFORNIA

QNo jumps at all on this

one, just a lot of sharp bends

meaning there’s need for care

when slingshotting.

TORONTO,

ONTARIO

QDual-lane bumps make an

appearance on this stage, the

perfect opportunity to score

some bonus trick cash.

MIAMI,

FLORIDA

QThe thrill of racing towards

the beachside is strong here,

but the track can take a turn for

the worst quite suddenly.

 DEVELOPER:

EA CANADA

 PUBLISHER:

ELECTRONIC ARTS

 RELEASED:

19 94

 PLATFORM:

MEGA DRIVE

 GENRE:

RACING

IN THE

KNOW

QThere s a lot of crap on the

floor in Washington, it seems,

so you’ll need to be careful

where you stop.

CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS

QNot the longest track on the

game, but certainly a challenge

when combined with the

difficulty of the enemies.

Q n o p N Q t t g

MIAMI,

FLORIDA

QThe thrill of racing towards

the beachside is strong here,

but the track can take a turn for

the worst quite suddenly.

The concept was simple: a racing game that didn’t
use supercars and motorbikes, but instead the
thrill of launching yourself forward by using the
speed of another vehicle. “It was kind of a mix of
different things,” adds Dave of the initial game’s
idea. “We started mapping out this national or
international racing event that was underground.
Grabbing onto the back of cars and buses in
rollerblades is still not legal so we gave it this
underground feel of races that were taking place
across different parts of Canada and the States.”
The advantage of being part of the Electronic
Arts machine meant that the company as a whole
could share among the various in-house studios,
and with Road Rash having been released in 1991
and proven to be popular, the direction of this
new idea was obvious. “Because of the way that
the concept was going, we talked to the team that
made Road Rash and got hold of the engine and
started doing some early prototypes,” says Dave.
“And so the combat was already there, you could
grab onto things and hit each other, but we had to
get the hitching working right. So we figured that
because it was this underground thing, there was
this no-holds-barred mentality – you did what you
had to do to win the race. So we added in a lot of
those elements and built on a lot of what Road
Rash was doing.” Dave suggests that the idea was
to separate itself from what its predecessor had
been doing so that “it wouldn’t be just another
Road Rash game”, and this is where the core
gameplay mechanic of grasping onto vehicles to
build momentum and fling yourself ahead was
devised. “We wanted particularly to make it so
that it wasn’t just a case of putting your finger
on the accelerator, you had to use the vehicles to
slingshot and gain speed. If the slingshot didn’t
work, I don’t think it would have been a fun game.”
Interestingly, the team behind the game ended
up using real-world reference points to get a sense
of believability about the game, and even went to
the local skate park to chat to some of the people
that were into the craze of rollerblading. “We had a
guy that was doing a lot of rollerblading at a skate
park and putting up with a lot of grief because of
that,” recalls Dave. “They had created an enclosed
trick park, if you could call it that, that was open to
both rollerbladers and skateboarders and [we]

» [Mega Drive] If other racers are fighting each other, that sometimes
gives you the chance to sneak on by without danger.

Skitchin’ USA

What to expect from each gnarly stage

RETRO GAMER | 71

THE MAKING OF: SKITCHIN’