I first played this game on old school nintendo. From the minute I started playing the hackey sac portion I knew this was the game for me. All California games are entertaining to play with the exception of frisbee throwing.
Number one, the timing on that game was all whacked out. You throw the frisbee towards this chick and she runs and dives but never gets up. So funny! Really frustrating. Also, the half pipe skateboarding, very touchy on the timing! If you ever want to venture into the higher scoring moves you must practice and fall many, many times in order to find out what’s what and what time to execute everything.
Then there’s the roller skating portion of the game: So frustrating, if only that girl could jump just a little bit quicker. There gets a point where you just realize you will never find the end of the course because the obstacles get so close together they are impossible to maneuver over. In all reality, roller skating isn’t even that funny anymore and to do it in such an annoying way as it’s done on this game is even less fun.
Moving onto the top three games of the game. First there is hackey sac: Extremely cool to watch the little guy dance around on the screen, the play by play scoring has got to be the brain child for Tony hawks pro skater.
Once you put together the combo of moves, it immediately reports your move at the bottom of the screen and registers your score, while adding it to all of your previous scores. Lots of creativity here, if you dare to do every move on the move list there’s a huge bonus at the end. Don’t forget to hit that seagull in the sky, be prepared for a funny message. Next is surfing: the perfect wave, easy controls, no brainier on doing aerials, turns etc. I’ve played T&C surf designs for nintendo and that game is outrageously difficult to surf in. This one is a breeze AND you get a panel of judges that scores your style, performance, aerials etc. Can you be the first to score a perfect 10? BMX, this one is the creme of the crop. backflips, frontflips, 360's , bike aerials, you name it, you've got it. Well not really, this isn’t exactly the x game or anything but it’s pretty good for the time it was made. Plenty of hills, ruts, whoops, stumps etc to trick on and around. Watch out for the sides of the screen, fall three times and you're done. Did I mention you can wheelie? Also, try doing the backflip on flat ground, amazing right?
This game has some gems and some not so good parts but if you enjoy funky electronica in the background, and some solid effort here and their I’m pretty sure you'll be into California games. This has a two player mode where you try and beat your friends score as you both play along through all of the events, remember to hone your skills in practice mode first. Download the controls manual off of a website if you can figure them all out.
