Rollerdrome

Tony Hawk meets Max Payne in this glorious sci/fi sports title that is sure to get its hooks into you and never let go. Wholly unique and utterly engaging, Rollerdome is a blast.

I love Rollerdrome. That “hell yeah” factor hit me early, especially once I saw how it utilized the foundation built by one of my favorite franchises, yet still managed to create its own experience. Its satisfying gunplay and sense of momentum make it one of the finest sports games available, while its art style makes it stand out from the crowd. Roll7’s winning streak of incredible skating games continues.

Rollerdrome's unexpected blend of skating and shooting is a joy to master, backed by an arresting art design, thumping soundtrack, and a surprisingly layered story.

Rollerdrome is a beautiful creation. It’s DOOM Eternal meets Tony Hawk with thoughtful political ruminations and an art style to die for. We’re only about ten or fifteen bad years from a sport like this actually existing, so you might as well practice.

Rollerdrome is one of the most unique combo-building games in years. Its combination of Tony Hawk-style skating with Max Payne-esque gunplay is a joy to play. Nailing combos while taking down a swath of diverse enemies does feel nice, even if it does get a bit overwhelming at times. Plenty of players will find a ton of challenges in repeat playthroughs of levels to achieve everything, and will assuredly be able to pull off some sweet moments. Unfortunately, I ended up being pretty terrible at the game; but it’s hard to deny that Rollerdrome is something special.

Fast-paced, challenging, and visually pleasing, Rollerdrome is a game that deserves all the praise heaped upon it. Strap on your skates and load up those pistols, it’s time to dive into this brilliant skater-shooter.

Much like OlliOlli World, Rollerdrome strikes the perfect balance between engaging gameplay, score-chasing, and challenging progression, this time with an ingenious shooting/skating premise. It’s so much fun and I couldn’t put it down.

If you’re looking for something a bit different to play this summer and have a Tony Hawk-sized action sports itch you need to scratch, Rollerdrome is absolutely worth checking out.

From its action to its slick presentation, everything about Rollerdrome screams “effortlessly cool” from the moment it ramps off. Its breakneck pacing and unabating stages make each victory feel well earned, and revisiting each feels like a mastery that verges on transcendental.

I kind of feel like, with the popularity of the skater genre and the endless appeal of competitive shooters, a game like this was an inevitability. It’s too perfect a combination to not work, and I’m just glad Roll7 got to it first with Rollerdrome. This is an exceptional and welcoming game, one that takes the best elements from both genres and combines them into a sophisticated and unabashedly cool experience.

Rollerdrome is a celebration of the mantra “easy to learn, hard to master”, except even the beginning stages require advanced levels of hand-eye-coordination that may challenge a more casual audience. Despite having various, commendable options for difficulty and accessibility, at the core, Rollerdome is aimed at a niche of hardcore players that love chasing highscore and chasing the elusive “perfect run”. While certainly not to everyone’s taste, Rollerdrome is absolutely stellar at what it does and lands its killer combo with a stylish presentation and a banging soundtrack.

Rollerdrome surprises by offering an interesting combination of skating with shooting. The gameplay is extremely smooth and this makes it quite addictive. Due to the many challenges, the game also has a good replay value, which means you can get away with it for a long time. Add to that a tight presentation and Rollerdrome is highly recommended. Keep in mind that there are some minor issues that can be irritating, but it is so minimal that you can still get enough enjoyment out of it.

Roll7 is to be applauded for putting together this unique shooter skater game. I really dug the 1970s vibe of the game both in the art direction and especially the score. This makes the game stand out aesthetically from other games. The only nit I have with the 2D art style, is that it makes judging jumps difficult due to the lack of depth perception. With a little practice, I was able to acclimate to it. Rollerdome is a blast to play, tailored to appeal to players of all skill types.

Rollerdrome is a solid action game that merges shooting and sports quite well. The blend creates loads of exciting moments that only seem to falter during boss fights. The number of levels and challenges feels just right. The concessions made for all skill levels is appreciated, and the presence of leaderboards and a bonus campaign ensures that there's plenty of incentive to keep people playing. Overall, Rollerdrome is a great title for those looking for something different.

Rollerdrome is an incredible arcade shooter that combines fluid movement with addicting mechanical loops which encourage you to pull off visually appealing stunts with ease. Though your mileage may vary be you a high-score chaser or not, it never fails to be fun, and Rollerdrome is more than worth a look for any arcade shooter lover.

Rollerdrome immediately clicked with me, and I ate it all up. As polished and fun as the experience is, it feels like Roll7 is just dipping its toes into the water. I hope this talented studio gets the chance to make a sequel to further flesh out this unique concept with more detail in the story and greater player progression. Regardless, Rollerdrome is a fantastic first foot forward. I adored the campaign gameplay and have a feeling my friend group will use this unique title for late-night scoring competitions.

Despite its lack of cooperative or PVP gameplay, I don't think it's hyperbolic to say that this is an essential game for 2022. Blending two opposing styles into an expertly executed bullet ballet, Rollerdrome's future is anything but dystopian.

A score-driven game that’s stylish in every way, this is perfect for the competitive, jumpsuit-and-gun-loving beast desperate to skate its way out of you. [Issue#19, p.86]

Rollerdrome is a unique experience with beautiful art design and smooth gameplay that somehow manages to combine two very different genres and still entertain.

While the gameplay relies on being grindy and some of the narrative elements fall short, Rollerdrome still offers a highly enjoyable experience, especially for fans of action games.

Quotation forthcoming.

Rollerdrome combines the skate game feeling of satisfaction from landing the perfect trick, with the pulse-pounding adrenaline of fighting for your very life. Between the story that you must find for yourself and the varied arenas that throw new ways to move and do tricks, there’s never a dull moment to be found. Rollerdrome is by no means a long game, but it is one that is just so easy to pick up and play.

Rollerdrome breathes arcade on all four sides, a retro experience that adapts perfectly to the current times.

If you're itching for a brand new third-person shooter with some unique mechanics, then Rollerdrome may be the game for you. Its presentation, arena design, controls and combat are superb, and make up for the otherwise short length.

If a rollerskating John Wick in a 70s synth bar sounds like a good time, then I have just the game for you.

The gameplay is sublime and just the right mix of detailed, intricate and skills-based button bashing while always avoiding being overwhelming.

Rollerdrome is a fantastic concept really well executed. There is still some room for improvement, hopefully for a sequel, but Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater fans have an interesting twist to the genre here they should try.

It's easy: if you like skate games like Tony Hawk's or Jet Set Radio and shooter games with clever mechanics and lots of spectacle, Rollerdrome it's the explosive combination you didn't know you needed.

Rollerdrome is a good experiment by Roll7. It's technical, challenging and it has lots of style. A bit more variety and polished controls would have been great.

The fun skating of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater turned into a bloodsport is wildly entertaining, especially with the vibrant art style and fitting soundtrack, but Rollerdrome's scope is rather limited beyond that. Players who fancy the challenge of shooting for the optimal run to attain a personal best may get sucked in, but those hoping for much beyond the eponymous sport won't find a deep narrative or character development to latch onto.

Blending the momentum of an extreme sport with the action of a third-person shooter, Rollerdrome creates a unique experience that will resonate with those who love to chase a high score.

If you’ve ever wondered what the combination of an extreme sports title and a third-person shooter would be like, Rollerdrome is the game for you. Its story might be a let-down, and some gameplay elements might not hit the mark as well as they should do, but on the whole this is a thoroughly original and entertaining affair. We hope we get to spend more time with Kara in the future, too, as there’s a lot of scope here for further violent high-octane antics.

Rollerdrome is undeniably one of the must-watch indie games of the summer for its great feel, satisfying punching shots, and vibrant 80s soundtrack. And if the beauty of the tricks is secondary, their usefulness during a hyper-paced performance constitutes a clever balance and very well balanced in terms of gameplay.

If there's an award for game feel, Rollerdrome wins it by a country mile. Roll7 has crafted a short but supremely sweet experience that feels incredible to engage with. No matter whether you're performing tricks or blasting enemies, its addictive loop will have you coming back for more. Complemented by a phenomenal, colourful art style and a real sense of speed, flow, and motion, Rollerdrome rivals the very best Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games.

Rollerdrome has one of the most intoxicating and satisfying gameplay loops in recent memory, and while the game suffers from some janky moments and underwhelming bosses, there’s no ignoring how good it feels to shoot, flip, and grind through each level. We just wish there was more.

Roll7's atypically spectacular shooter is pure kinetic energy, "held back" by a certain inertia in form and content.

Rollerdrome certainly has its issues, but the overwhelmingly chaotic action is fun enough to compensate. I continually found myself dropping back into levels to try and chase higher scores and take out my foes with increasing style. There are elements that could have been fleshed out further, but considering the scope of the project, I'm impressed with the results.

Rollerdrome is a wonderfully chaotic and satisfying game. The gameplay steals the show, the drawn style is unique and the DualSense really adds something. However, the full potential of the concept is not fully exploited. Especially the lack of variety keeps Rollerdrome from being a real masterpiece.

Rollerdrome is an unbelievably fun single-player experience that hasn’t quite reached its full potential. The explosive gunplay and roller-skating trickery are complemented by the picturesque yet bleak world all realised in a graphic novel art style. However, improvements can be made with some of the enemy types, bosses, and the inclusion of other competitors. Despite room for growth, this game is clearly being made by one hell of a talented team and Rollerdrome proves to be one hell of a shooter.

When everything comes together, Rollerdrome feels incredible, but too often, things get buried under the weight of its many systems. While even at its worst, there is definitely fun to be had here, this feels like an incredible concept for a game where the developers needed to spend a little more time workshopping what aspects of it were really needed. It’s still a good game, though, and the foundation is in place for a sequel to be truly incredible.

Rollerdrome is an action game smartly mixed rollerskating and shooting. While the fast, exciting action and retro style OST are impressive, relatively scarce volumes and cartoon rendered visuals can be divided into likes and dislikes.

Rollerdrome is stunning to behold and great fun to play, but loses some of its flow as it starts to swamp you with more and more stuff to look out for and get hit by.

Unfortunately, the package ends up feeling a bit bare. The story is window dressing, and the gameplay is lacking in variety. The lack of multiplayer also feels like a missed opportunity. Without it, there’s not much replayability other than an online leaderboard.

Once you get to grips with its demands, Rollerdrome’s core concept is realised immaculately. With glorious backup from its retro stylings, each run is peppered with audacious stunts that would grace any action movie. It flags towards the end, however, thanks to an inelegant pile-on of difficulty, a lack of new twists, and disregard for its character’s story and narrative themes.

Rollerdrome is Roll7 stepping out of their comfort zone and creating something original while trying to retain the magic fans of their games know and love. At the same time, I can't help but to feel that this is more like a concept for something much more complete that is yet to come.

That speed and flow, ultimately, is a fantasy - one that's ever harder to appreciate when you're constantly being knocked off course by rockets. [Issue#376, p.104]

A sleek skating hybrid with plenty of compelling ideas and some stylish presentation, but the longer it goes on the more frustrating it becomes.