Skate or Die 2
Encyclopedia
Skate or Die 2: The Search for Double Trouble is a skateboarding
themed action/adventure game for the Nintendo Entertainment System
, developed and published by Electronic Arts
, who also developed the first game, which was ported by Konami
's Ultra Games
subsidiary. It is well known for successfully using digitized vocals and electric guitar
in the opening theme (composed, along with the rest of the game's music, by Rob Hubbard
), rarely seen on the NES.
CJ: The hero's girlfriend.
Rodney: One of the characters from the original Skate or Die. He sells the player new and better skateboards.
Lester: Rodney's son, he will teach the player new tricks in exchange for some of the goodies he picks up along the way (if you can catch him).
Icepick: The main villain of the game.
gun, though he can also throw eggs and firecrackers at his opponents. The game also has a barter
ing system. During the journey the hero can pick up CDs, cassette tapes, french fries
, and tacos. These items can be traded with Rodney and Lester for new tricks and skateboards.
There are also a total of five skateboards in the game. The one the player starts with is slow and does not jump very high, but by meeting up with Rodney the hero can acquire two progressively faster and higher-jumping skateboards, with each one replacing the hero's current board. Later in the game Rodney can sell the player two boards that do not replace his current board. One is fast but has poor jumping abilities, the other jumps high but is slow. However, if the player does not acquire the boards on the first level, then Rodney will not appear in the third (this held true with Lester, as well. The player would have to buy the three moves he offered in stage one for him to appear in stage three).
Rather than make the player have to complete the story portion of the game in order to unlock the Double Trouble halfpipe, the game offers the player the option to skip the story and play the ramp as a standalone portion of the game by pressing "Select". The option is displayed on the title screen as well as described in the instruction manual.
. In retaliation, she has her husband ban skateboarding.
Stage one takes place on the streets of Elwood. The player can meet up with Rodney and Lester to acquire new tricks and two new skateboards. He can also blast other skates to pick up goodies, paintball clips, and throwing weapons. The stage ends when the player finds and defeats the Mayor's wife in a showdown.
The second cut scene shows the aftermath of the showdown. The hero heads to the local half-pipe only to find it being demolished. He is confronted by a construction worker
, who informs the hero that since the half-pipe
was built without a permit, it must be torn down. When the hero asks what they (the town's skaters) are supposed to do, the construction worker gruffly replies he should get a job so he can buy a building permit..."or take up knitting
."
Stage two takes place in a shopping mall
. The hero has taken a job as a delivery boy to earn money for the new half-pipe. The player has a set amount of time to make each delivery in the two floor mall. If the hero makes his delivery on time, he receives a tip (more weapons or goodies). In addition to the other skaters, the hero has to deal with slow moving shoppers carrying stacks of boxes and a security guard
.
After completing his deliveries and getting paid, the hero visits Rodney, who is finishing the blueprints for the new half-pipe. In an unfortunate accident, the hero turns on a fan instead of the lights. The blueprints fly out the window and are scattered over the beach.
This begins stage three. The hero must collect all the pages of the blueprint before they blow off the beach. While making his way past roller skaters, crabs, seagulls, and posing body builders the hero can meet up with Lester and Rodney again to continue learning new tricks and buy new boards.
Once all the pages of the blueprint are recovered, CJ heads off the city hall with the money the hero earned in stage two. Fate once again conspires against our hero. After buying the building permit CJ is kidnapped by Icepick and his gang.
Stage four takes place in the abandoned warehouse
Icepick and his gang call home. Unlike the other stages, the warehouse is a four floor maze of rooms instead of one long screen the player can move back and forth on. After finding the building permit, the hero makes his way to the rooftop where he defeats his nemesis.
With CJ rescued and the building permit found, the hero and his friends are able to build their new half-pipe, Double Trouble. The game ends with the player being able to use the ramp.
Double Trouble is a large half-pipe with a smaller spine ramp in the middle. Unlike the half-pipe in the first Skate or Die game, Double Trouble is two screens instead of one. The player has three minutes to perform his tricks. If he wipes out three times the game is over (although there is a code a player can enter to attain unlimited boards). Should the player go on a scoring streak CJ appears in a window of a house in the background, doubling the number of points the player receives with each trick for a short amount of time.
Once the run is finished, the player sprite would then react to the quality of his run, based upon how many points the player got during the run. The sprite had a number of reactions for each point total range. The worst possible reaction was the man slamming the board on his head (thereby shattering the board into pieces) before saying "No way, dude!" The best reaction (gained after exceeding 30,000 points in a run) would be the sprite doing a balancing act of the board on his finger while yelling "Way cool, dude!"
Skateboarding
Skateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard.Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation. Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report...
themed action/adventure game for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
, developed and published by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
, who also developed the first game, which was ported by Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
's Ultra Games
Ultra Games
Ultra Software Corporation was a spinoff company created in 1988 as a subsidiary of Konami of America, in an effort to get around Nintendo of America's strict licensing rules for the North American Konami release games for Nintendo consoles. One of these rules was that a third-party company could...
subsidiary. It is well known for successfully using digitized vocals and electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
in the opening theme (composed, along with the rest of the game's music, by Rob Hubbard
Rob Hubbard
Rob Hubbard is a music composer best known for his composition of computer game theme music, especially for microcomputers of the 1980s such as the Commodore 64...
), rarely seen on the NES.
Characters
The Hero: The unnamed hero of the adventure is a male skateboarder. At the start of the game, the player is armed with a paintball gun and a handful of weapons to throw at his enemies.CJ: The hero's girlfriend.
Rodney: One of the characters from the original Skate or Die. He sells the player new and better skateboards.
Lester: Rodney's son, he will teach the player new tricks in exchange for some of the goodies he picks up along the way (if you can catch him).
Icepick: The main villain of the game.
Gameplay
Skate or Die 2 is a side scrolling game, though the player can retrace his steps and return to areas he has seen before. The hero has a variety of skateboarding moves and weapons at his disposal, the controls for which can be programmed by the player. The hero's primary weapon is his paintballPaintball
Paintball is a sport in which players compete, in teams or individually, to eliminate opponents by tagging them with capsules containing water soluble dye and gelatin shell outside propelled from a device called a paintball marker . Paintballs have a non-toxic, biodegradable, water soluble...
gun, though he can also throw eggs and firecrackers at his opponents. The game also has a barter
Barter
Barter is a method of exchange by which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. It is usually bilateral, but may be multilateral, and usually exists parallel to monetary systems in most developed countries, though to a...
ing system. During the journey the hero can pick up CDs, cassette tapes, french fries
French fries
French fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...
, and tacos. These items can be traded with Rodney and Lester for new tricks and skateboards.
There are also a total of five skateboards in the game. The one the player starts with is slow and does not jump very high, but by meeting up with Rodney the hero can acquire two progressively faster and higher-jumping skateboards, with each one replacing the hero's current board. Later in the game Rodney can sell the player two boards that do not replace his current board. One is fast but has poor jumping abilities, the other jumps high but is slow. However, if the player does not acquire the boards on the first level, then Rodney will not appear in the third (this held true with Lester, as well. The player would have to buy the three moves he offered in stage one for him to appear in stage three).
Rather than make the player have to complete the story portion of the game in order to unlock the Double Trouble halfpipe, the game offers the player the option to skip the story and play the ramp as a standalone portion of the game by pressing "Select". The option is displayed on the title screen as well as described in the instruction manual.
Plot
The game opens with a cut scene that places the story in a fictional town called Elwood. While out for a skateboard ride, the unnamed hero is distracted by Icepick. This causes the hero to run over the mayor's wife's poodlePoodle
The Poodle is a breed of dog. The poodle breed is found officially in toy, miniature, and standard sizes, with many coat colors. Originally bred as a type of water dog, the poodle is highly intelligent and skillful in many dog sports, including agility, obedience, tracking, and even herding...
. In retaliation, she has her husband ban skateboarding.
Stage one takes place on the streets of Elwood. The player can meet up with Rodney and Lester to acquire new tricks and two new skateboards. He can also blast other skates to pick up goodies, paintball clips, and throwing weapons. The stage ends when the player finds and defeats the Mayor's wife in a showdown.
The second cut scene shows the aftermath of the showdown. The hero heads to the local half-pipe only to find it being demolished. He is confronted by a construction worker
Construction worker
A construction worker or builder is a professional, tradesman, or labourer who directly participates in the physical construction of infrastructure.-Construction trades:...
, who informs the hero that since the half-pipe
Half-pipe
A half-pipe is a structure used in gravity extreme sports such as snowboarding, skateboarding, skiing, freestyle BMX, and inline skating. The structure is wood, concrete, metal, earth, or snow. It resembles a cross section of a swimming pool, essentially two concave ramps , topped by copings and...
was built without a permit, it must be torn down. When the hero asks what they (the town's skaters) are supposed to do, the construction worker gruffly replies he should get a job so he can buy a building permit..."or take up knitting
Knitting
Knitting is a method by which thread or yarn may be turned into cloth or other fine crafts. Knitted fabric consists of consecutive rows of loops, called stitches. As each row progresses, a new loop is pulled through an existing loop. The active stitches are held on a needle until another loop can...
."
Stage two takes place in a shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
. The hero has taken a job as a delivery boy to earn money for the new half-pipe. The player has a set amount of time to make each delivery in the two floor mall. If the hero makes his delivery on time, he receives a tip (more weapons or goodies). In addition to the other skaters, the hero has to deal with slow moving shoppers carrying stacks of boxes and a security guard
Security guard
A security guard is a person who is paid to protect property, assets, or people. Security guards are usually privately and formally employed personnel...
.
After completing his deliveries and getting paid, the hero visits Rodney, who is finishing the blueprints for the new half-pipe. In an unfortunate accident, the hero turns on a fan instead of the lights. The blueprints fly out the window and are scattered over the beach.
This begins stage three. The hero must collect all the pages of the blueprint before they blow off the beach. While making his way past roller skaters, crabs, seagulls, and posing body builders the hero can meet up with Lester and Rodney again to continue learning new tricks and buy new boards.
Once all the pages of the blueprint are recovered, CJ heads off the city hall with the money the hero earned in stage two. Fate once again conspires against our hero. After buying the building permit CJ is kidnapped by Icepick and his gang.
Stage four takes place in the abandoned warehouse
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
Icepick and his gang call home. Unlike the other stages, the warehouse is a four floor maze of rooms instead of one long screen the player can move back and forth on. After finding the building permit, the hero makes his way to the rooftop where he defeats his nemesis.
With CJ rescued and the building permit found, the hero and his friends are able to build their new half-pipe, Double Trouble. The game ends with the player being able to use the ramp.
Double Trouble
Once the run is finished, the player sprite would then react to the quality of his run, based upon how many points the player got during the run. The sprite had a number of reactions for each point total range. The worst possible reaction was the man slamming the board on his head (thereby shattering the board into pieces) before saying "No way, dude!" The best reaction (gained after exceeding 30,000 points in a run) would be the sprite doing a balancing act of the board on his finger while yelling "Way cool, dude!"