720º (Game)

720º

GAME » on 1986

Amstrad CPC (Platform)Arcade (Platform)Commodore 64 (Platform)Game Boy Color (Platform)Nintendo Entertainment System (Platform)ZX Spectrum (Platform)

One of the earliest games that focus on the extreme sport of skateboarding, 720º is an open-world game that tasks you with performing spinning tricks in a variety of events. But be fast, or else you'll have to SKATE OR DIE!

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Overview

720º, sometimes known as 720 Degrees, is an open-world isometric skateboarding game developed and released by Atari Games (Company) for arcades (using Atari System 2 hardware) in 1986.

In 720º, players control a skateboarder as they skate around Skate City (Location) while performing tricks in order to score points and earn admission to events at four "skate parks". Along the way, they earn cash for upgrading their gear and must avoid a swarm of bees chasing them throughout the city.

The game is known for its dedicated arcade cabinet, with a unique joystick controller, a large monitor for its time, and a marquee that resembles a boombox (with the game's speakers mounted to its loudspeakers). The joystick is mounted into a unique contraption that keeps it in a rigid angle, where it rotates around in a circle (similar to a rotating dial) for quick turning and spin tricks.

The game received home conversions by Tiertex for the Commodore 64 (Platform), ZX Spectrum (Platform), and Amstrad CPC (Platform) in Europe in 1987-1988, all released by U.S. Gold. It also received a separate Commodore 64 (Platform) conversion by Beam Software (Company) for North America, released by Mindscape (Company) and Tengen (Company) in early 1989, which was itself ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System (Platform) later that year. It later received a handheld conversion by Digital Eclipse for the Game Boy Color (Platform), released by Midway in 1999.

An emulated version of the original game was later included in multiple compilations, including the 1999 Arcade Party Pak (Game), the 2001 Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits Volume 2, the 2003 Midway Arcade Treasures (Game) (as well as its Extended Play and Game Center USA editions), the 2012 Midway Arcade Origins (Game), and as part of the Midway Arcade level pack in the 2015 game Lego Dimensions.

Gameplay

720º puts the player in an environment called Skate City (Location). The game starts with a Skate City (Location) session, during this session, the player must score enough points to earn tickets before the timer runs out. When the timer runs out, a swarm of bees arrives to attack the player. The player must then spend one ticket to enter one of four skate parks. The player is encouraged to perform tricks and stunts almost constantly to score points and earn tickets. The points scored add to the time remaining throughout the game.

The four parks are:

Ramp - Where the player rides a half pipe, trying to gain air, pull tricks and score points.
Downhill - Where the player navigates a downhill course, the quicker the time, the more points scored.
Slalom - Here the player rides between a series of gates. Each gate successfully navigated adds more time to the clock, the more time left on the clock at the end, the more points scored.
Jump - The player tries to hit a target off screen by hitting ramps correctly.

The player can earn medals in these parks. With these medals comes some money, this money can be used to buy upgrades to improve the skaters performance. The game timer is also reset.

After the four rounds of a park, the player then returns to Skate City (Location) to complete another session. Once all four events are completed in all four parks, the game is complete. In the arcade version, the players' remaining money is then converted into points ($1-10points) and the game ends.

Upgrades

There are upgrades available to buy in four shops throughout the city. These upgrades consist of;

Helmet - This increases spin speed, enabling the player to score more points in a given amount of time.
Shoes - This upgrade increases the high that the player can jump, again helping the player to earn more points.
Pads - Decreases the recovery time after a crash
Board - Increases the skating speed, this is useful for the downhill and slalom events.

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