Skate or Die!

Yes, these were the two choices you were faced with, should you decide to take you chances at 720°, a skateboarding-based arcade game that beckoned to you with its strange circular joystick and boom box cabinet. As you took command of a skateboard slacker, board in hand and appropriately attired in brightly colored gear, it was time to show your flashy moves and make that high score your own.

Your quest began in an urban street setting, where curbs, ramps and cylinders that launched you into the air awaited your prowess. Each well-executed spin and jump earned you valuable points which would allow you access into one of the four skate parks located within the surrounding city – Ramp, Downhill, Jump and Slalom. You just had to caress those kick and jump buttons as if your life depended on it.

Over at the Ramp, you would find the typical half-pipe. An impressive display of trick spins and gravity-defying jumps, maybe even a rail slide or two, would rack up points that could be used towards a bronze, silver, or even gold medal. But you had to stay upright; an ill-timed execution could lead to a wipeout, which not only didn’t earn you any points, but used up valuable time on the ever-ticking clock.

Next, on to the Downhill park, where the risks increased, but so did the potential glory of racking up some real points. Faced with an ominously tall tower, your skater navigated a steep slope, kicking his way down to achieve maximum power. Along your descending journey, you were periodically forced to handle a treacherous 90-degree turn. Depending on how finely honed your timing was, you were either racking up numerous points or taking an agonizing tumble from the edge. You could always give the ramp another try and save face but the clock was always ticking. Achieving a stellar time was essential to garnering one of those coveted medals.

Over at the Jump park, things looked similar to the Downhill park, with one noticeable exception – that little curl at the end of the ramp that would send your skater high into the air, ready to execute aeronautic maneuvers that could rack up some serious points, perhaps even a bonus if you stuck your landing within one of the designated sweet spots.

And finally, the Slalom park, which called for precise execution of turns as you zigged and zagged your way safely through a flag-laden course. Fly through the course with accuracy and speed and watch your points accumulate substantially.

Medals may have given you bragging rights but you were also rewarded with some cold hard cash for your efforts, which allowed you to upgrade your equipment at the various shops and increase your abilities. Don a shiny new helmet from the helmet shop and you could act more aggressively on each course, spinning faster and racking up the points in the process. Over at the Pads shop, some improved safety equipment allowed you to recover more rapidly from those nasty time-eating spills. A new set of footwear from the Shoes shop gave you better jumping abilities and a new board from the Board shop could increase your times substantially in each of the courses.

Most important to remember, however, was that the unmerciful clock was always ticking. Once you exited each of the four parks, you had a limited amount of time to rack up as many points as you could through various tricks to earn entrance into the next park. A respectable time at the previous park was essential if you were going to move forward. And when the time became dangerously low, you were greeted with a shout from the machine to “Skate or Die!” You better make your way to the next park immediately or face the consequences – in this case, a swarm of treacherous bees (yes, you read that correctly.) And if that wasn’t enough to motivate you to pick up the pace, perhaps you deserved their wrath.

720° stood alone as the premier arcade skateboarding game and would mark the beginning of an onslaught of skateboarding games for the home gaming system market that would follow in later years. NES’s Town and Country Skate and Surf Designs, Skate or Die, and of course, the immense Tony Hawk franchise all owe a tip of the hat to this Atari innovator, whose impact was enormous. And to this day, yelling that ominous command “Skate or Die” at a former aficionado of 720° can still cause a cold sweat to arise unexpectedly.