Razor Freestyle Scooter is an attempt to bring the ever-popular freestyle sports genre to a younger audience using the popular Razor scooter name. Like the PlayStation version, the DC release is aimed at a younger crowd, but it still manages to be good, albeit short-term, fun.
Most of these games don't bother with an overall story, but Razor makes a valiant attempt. A giant evil robot has kidnapped most of your scooter posse, and you must earn their freedom by completing Tony Hawk-like goals in a variety of levels. Completing tasks in the main levels, such as obtaining a set score, grinding a certain distance, and collection goals, opens up challenge levels. In the challenges, you have a limited amount of time to collect a certain number of wheel icons. If you succeed, you unlock that challenge level's hidden character, the roster of which includes a crazy sock monkey and UFC bad boy Tito Ortiz.
This genre has run the gamut from near perfect to near the garbage can. While you'd expect a kid's game to land a little closer to the garbage side of things, Razor Freestyle Scooter has solid gameplay and graphics. The game is built on the same engine that powered Sony's Grind Session for the PlayStation. So, like Shaba's skateboarding game, Razor Freestyle Scooter has nice trick animation and bright, colorful graphics. It also has the look function from Grind Session, which lets you move the camera around to see various parts of the level. The trick system isn't nearly as deep, but it still has plenty of tricks and combos.
Staying true to the conventions of the genre, Razor Freestyle Scooter employs a licensed soundtrack. The music in the game comes from a few different bands, such as the Sloppy Meat Eaters and Sick Shift, and the songs all fit nicely into the pop-punk genre. The rest of the game's sound is pretty good as well.
Seasoned fans of the freestyle sports genre will whip through Razor Freestyle Scooter in an afternoon, no questions asked. And it doesn't offer up any real variety in its challenges. Still, the game is a fun diversion, and it's worth a rental. Younger players who haven't already become accustomed to Hawk-like methods will get a lot more out of the game.
