OlliOlli World Review

OlliOlli World is the third installment in the OlliOlli skateboarding franchise, and it’s by far the biggest and best entry yet. This over-the-top, colorful 2D skateboarding action-platformer is packed with quirky characters and brimming with personality. The goal? Explore seven vibrant areas (five in the base game, plus two DLC areas), grind, wallride and chain combos to impress the Skate Gods – and ultimately ascend to Gnarvana.

OlliOlli World puts heavy emphasis on style, and its customization system is appropriately extensive. You can unlock all kinds of skateboard decks, hoodies, hats, tattoos and more as you play, letting you create the RADdest rider yet.

After creating my character, I dove into the first level in Sunshine Valley, which is a straight, obstacle-free track designed to reach you how to push forward. I snagged my first trophy here for completing the level without slamming. Of course, my first slam happened on the very next stage – which also earned me a trophy.

Tip: Try delaying that slam as long as you can for a self-imposed challenge!

Game Structure

Every regular level in OlliOlli World has multiple objectives to complete. Mike, the in-game reporter, sets three challenges for each level, which you’ll need to complete if you want to earn OlliOlli World’s platinum trophy. These challenges can include things like high-fiving NPCs, completing the level in one combo, or bumping into various animals.

After progressing through each area and completing the final level, you’ll meet the area’s Skate God, which unlocks five Masteries. Four of these require performing specific actions, like lane-switching, grinding, spinning, or riding quarter pipes, while the fifth tasks you with completing all of Mike’s challenges in the area. The exception to this is Radysus, the fifth Skate God – but more on that later.

Each level also features three score goals set by the “Local Heroes”, and beating 25 of these scores unlocks the area’s Local Hero level, which houses the final three Mike Challenges and also rewards the player with a trophy upon completing the level. Finally, every area has two side that you unlock by finding a specific character in a regular level.

While I could have casually progressed through the game and clean up challenges later, I prefer a thorough approach. My strategy was as follows:

1. Casually play through the area to meet its Skate God to unlock its set of Masteries.
2. Go back and finish all three of Mike’s challenges in each level, both side quests, and beat at least 25 Local Hero scores to unlock and complete the Local Hero level. Only then move to the next area.

That’s the plan I followed… mostly.

Leagues Mode – Online

After finishing Sunshine Valley and meeting its Skate God, Technicolas, I unlocked Leagues mode – a daily online competition against up to 10 players. By joining a lobby, you compete against the other players for the highest score on a short track. The two associated trophies require getting promoted to a higher league and finishing first in your group. Although it’s not ideal to tackle this early, given that I hadn’t yet mastered advanced techniques by this point, I couldn’t resist.

Luckily, I managed to win my first group and snag both trophies. Online mode: done! Afterward, I returned to Sunshine Valley and got back to my plan.

Learning Curve

I then went back to Step 1 and started cleaning up Sunshine Valley, and repeated Step 1 for Cloverbrook, Burntrock and Sketchside. This is the time to talk about the game’s progression and learning curve.

The beauty of OlliOlli World is how it ramps up its complexity while gradually teaching you new mechanics. Every trick and move is available from the start, so experienced players can dive right in and pull off insane high-score combos from the get go. But the game introduces its depth gradually for new players, with tutorial levels spread across all areas – even the final one.

This design helps players master each mechanic before moving to the next. By the end of the game, you’ll be spinning, tweak-grabbing, grind-switching, landing into manuals, wallriding and using firecrackers to chain combos worth millions of points. It’s a far cry from the simple moves and broken combos you start with – and an incredibly satisfying journey.
There are also late tricks, but let’s be honest: nobody likes late tricks.

There’s also a balance to maintain in scoring. While grind-switches and special grinds boost your multiplier, they also slow you down. This can make certain gaps tricky to clear when you’re aiming for a full combo, as you can’t push at any point to gain more speed. This feels like an unnecessary limitation, and one of the few mechanics I really disliked.

Further, only three manuals can be chained together before losing balance and ending a combo. This limit can be reset by grinding, wallriding, or performing a firecracker, and small rails are often placed strategically to allow for a reset and keep a combo going for longer.

As the game progresses, levels become more complex and require mastery of an increasing number of mechanics. Mike’s Challenges remain fairly consistent in difficulty, but Local Hero scores ramp up significantly. Sketchside, the fourth area, marked a turning point for me. Beating some of those scores required nearly full-comboing entire levels while using advanced techniques to increase my base score and multiplier. Given the increased complexity of the level layouts, this is easier said than done, and Sketchside thus became the first area where I needed to grind out several levels to beat these high scores, a task that had been really easy in the previous areas. It was tough but rewarding, and the practice sharpened my skills for the final stages and challenges.

After fully completing Sketchside, I reached the final area, Los Vulgas. This is where I adjusted my strategy. Instead of completing everything before moving on, I decided to casually progress through the area and unlock Radysus, the fifth Skate God. Here I unlocked the so-called Radysus challenges, one per each previous level. These mirror Mike’s challenges, but are much harder, and Radysus’ set of Masteries requires you to complete all of them.

In hindsight, unlocking Radysus’ challenges earlier might have saved time. But by sticking to my original plan, I developed the skills to tackle even the toughest levels with confidence. By the time I reached Radysus, pulling off multi-minute combos with full mechanics (except late tricks, obviously) felt second nature.

I thus returned to the previous areas, playing through each level one more time to complete its Radysus challenge, until I reached Los Vulgas. By this point, beating the Local Hero scores – which were often in the millions – wasn’t any trouble. I completed all of Radysus’ challenges, his set of Masteries, and with it, the platinum trophy.

VOID Riders & Finding the Flowzone

Both DLCs add a new set of levels and introduce a new mechanic each. VOID Riders introduces tractor beams, which pull you upward while holding a grab. Finding the Flowzone adds wind zones, which let you navigate levels in both directions. Both mechanics are fun and creative additions.
Each level comes with the three typical challenges, and one special challenge that unlocks upon reaching the area’s Skate God.

What is a bit disappointing is the sharp drop in difficulty. Levels are as complex as those in the later areas of the base game, but all challenges are much easier to complete, and Local Hero scores are laughably low compared to the base game – where scores reached 5 million, they rarely exceed 150’000 here. Even the Skate God challenges are easier, with no full-combo requirements.

Final Thoughts

OlliOlli World is a surprisingly massive game that took me around 40 hours to 100%. It’s brimming with charm and personality. The difficulty curve is perfect, and while newcomers can take their time learning the ropes, experienced players can dive in with all moves unlocked.

If you love fast-paced games with short levels and deep gameplay, this is an easy recommendations. And fans of the previous OlliOlli games will feel right at home.