Grind Session

Review

by Nick Woods

Grind Session is not limited to those who skate or those who watch people skate. In fact, you could have never heard of the skateboard and still love this game. For those who skate, Grind Session offers a fantasy world of tricks they only wish they could perform! For anyone else, it's just plain fun. The action is challenging, the options are diverse and replay value is unusually high.

The game works two different ways: first, with the one-player game, you can choose between four modes of play: Training, Tournament, Open Skate and Endurance. Second, multi-player options allow you to either pit player against player in one of eight cities or play Simon Says in a game called C-H-U-M-P (a letter is earned for each trick not executed). In multi-player there is also an option called Teamplay, in which you set up as many as four teams of four players each. With all these options, the gameplay is endless and guaranteed to please anyone.

The Tournament mode lets you skate your way through eight levels. Of course, it isn't as easy as it sounds. In order to get to each new city or level, you must gain a certain number of Respect Points. These are earned by scoring trick points, accomplishing technical goals, hitting a certain number of trash cans or boom boxes etc., or by earning "Pro Points." But let's get back to the beginning here: each time you successfully complete a trick, you get a certain number of points based on how difficult it was.

The interesting thing is that Grind Session comes packed with so many different tricks you'll not know where to begin! Kickflip, heelflip, nosegrab, railslide, and grind your way around huge levels filled with impossible stunts. Where else could you fall hundreds of feet while doing 360s in mid air AND land successfully? In one level of Grind Session, you can dangerously grind your board on the tracks of a subway train or jump over it while it's running. These impossible stunts help separate Grind Session from other skateboarding games.

While some of the tricks are downright impossible, the game is not without realism. From the tattoos on Pigpen (one of the characters) to the sounds of the skateboard rolling on the concrete, the details of Grind Session are impressive. When you fall in this game, you really fall hard -- everything from the skater's grunts can be heard. However, it doesn't damage your skater in any way to take a fall. This is either a downfall of the game or an advantage, depending on your point of view. Your skater could fall a hundred feet, land on his head, flip over, and be ready to skate the rest of the level.

Another strong point to Grind Session is the soundtrack, which includes such famous artists as Sonic Youth, Black Flag, Dr. Octagon, KRS-One, and NOFX. The combination of punk, rap and hardcore provides an excellent background to slamming your face into the concrete as you fail to make a combination.

Lastly, a feature that will no doubt make you play for hours on end is the ability to choose where you want to go on the course/level. Grind Session does not make you follow any order -- in fact, chaos is the intention. Obviously, to get the maximum number of points you're going to want to travel around as much of the course as you can, but if you don't want to, you don't have to. Whether you're in the mood for an all-out stunt show or a straightforward skating experience, Grind Session is a game that will last for countless hours of fun.