SkyRoads: Xmas Special

The Good
Many games have their special holiday editions - the whole "X-mas Lemmings" / "Holiday Lemmings" series comes to mind - so why not a Christmas version of "Skyroads"? I liked the original very much, so I was just thrilled to discover there is more of space racing.

The Bad
Anyway, this game doesn't play as good as the original. The difficulty level just soars. It would be fair to say the original "Skyroads" had one-half easy levels and one-half hard and very hard levels. Now there are pretty much just a few easy levels... If you aren't too good at such things, you can soon discover the new game doesn't really offer much satisfaction.

The Bottom Line
I wouldn't say it's only good for people who haven't played the original - people who liked "Skyroads" will likely be interested in playing "more of the same". Anyway, be prepared for a game much more difficult, so tough it can very soon get frustrating.

The Good
Of course, the positive aspects of SkyRoads have all been carried accross into this level pack, thus making it a fast, addictive jumper/racer/puzzler, and a welcome add-on for all addicts of the original out there. The sheer size of the pack is also wonderful- It's the same size as the original, 30 tracks, that all feel reasonably worked through, ten new good-looking backgrounds, as well as new music. This is obviously a very positive thing, as it literally doubles your playing time.

The Bad
Obviously, it lacks the freshness of the first game- unlike many level packs, it does not attempt to remedy this by adding new gameplay elements (new tiles, for example), instead just giving you more of the same type of levels. These also somehow lack the supreme quality of many of SkyRoads's levels, though there are a few that go up with the best SkyRoads had to offer. SkyRoads exhausted most of the possibilities of the setup already. Also, all of the problems of the original carry across, with duff backgrounds (I could almost swear some of them are just minor variations of ones in the original) and grating music, and the same lack of options.

The Bottom Line
For better or worse, it is more of the same. For SkyRoads fans, this is definately worth a look as the difficulty level is slightly higher and you finally get to play more once you've mastered SkyRoads. (Sadly, this game which seems perfect for a level editor never had one.) For others, I suggest you play the original first.

The Good
The Music, graphics, and sounds of this game are great! The tracks in this game are tougher and are much more of a challenge, several new themes are added in this game, in this game most of the roads are in the sky and only some stretch into space. This game remains true to it's predecessor, a 2D driving game with a lot of jumps, and good graphics!

Once again you land up driving a small automobile, this time driving on roads with a Xmas theme.

The Bad
This game is very, very much like the predecessor, it's literally like a copy of Skyroads with a Xmas theme.

The Bottom Line
A game that is worth playing if you haven't tried the original, if you have tried the original then don't bother.