Skate or Die 2: The Search for Double Trouble
A skateboarding sequel with paintball guns and bartering.
The Nintendo Entertainment System title Skate or Die 2: The Search for Double Trouble is a skateboarding action-adventure game and a follow-up to Skate or Die!. Its cover art features Jef Whitehead, who later gained fame as the sole musician behind the black metal project Leviathan.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Electronic Arts
- Designer
- Michael Kosaka
- Eric Knopp
- David Bunch
- Producer
- Don Traeger
- Programmer
- Eric Knopp
- David Bunch
- Carl Mey
- Thomas DeBry
- Composer
- Rob Hubbard
- Released
- September 1990
- Genre
- Adventure/Skateboarding
- Modes
- Single-player
Facts from the source article.
Characters
The unnamed hero is a male skateboarder who starts with a paintball gun and throwing weapons. His girlfriend is CJ. Rodney, a character from the original Skate or Die!, sells new skateboards. His son Lester teaches tricks if caught and given goodies. Icepick is the main villain.
Gameplay
Skate or Die 2 is a side-scrolling game allowing return to previous areas. The player can program controls for skateboarding moves and weapons. The hero's primary weapon is a paintball gun; he can also throw eggs and firecrackers. A bartering system lets the hero trade CDs, cassette tapes, French fries, and tacos with Rodney and Lester for new tricks and skateboards. There are five skateboards total. The starting board is slow with low jumps; Rodney provides two progressively better boards that replace it. Later, Rodney offers two non-replacing boards: one fast with poor jumping, one high-jumping but slow. If the player does not acquire boards on the first level, Rodney will not appear in the third. Similarly, Lester's appearance in stage three requires buying his three moves in stage one. The player can skip the story and play the Double Trouble halfpipe standalone by pressing 'Select' on the title screen.
Plot
The game opens in the fictional town of Elwood. The hero, distracted by Icepick, runs over the mayor's wife's poodle. She has skateboarding banned. The hero's solution is to meet her in a warehouse and assault her with a paintball gun. Stage one takes place on Elwood's streets, where the hero can meet Rodney and Lester, blast other skaters for goodies, and defeat the mayor's wife. In a cutscene, the hero finds the local half-pipe being demolished; a construction worker says it lacked a permit and suggests the hero get a job. Stage two occurs in a shopping mall, where the hero works as a delivery boy to earn money for a new half-pipe. He has limited time per delivery, receives tips, and avoids shoppers and a security guard. After completing deliveries, the hero accidentally turns on a fan, scattering the blueprints for the new half-pipe over the beach. Stage three requires collecting all blueprint pages while avoiding roller skaters, crabs, seagulls, and body builders. The hero can again meet Rodney and Lester. After recovering the blueprints, CJ goes to city hall with the money but is kidnapped by Icepick and his gang.
Double Trouble
Double Trouble is a large half-pipe with a smaller spine ramp in the middle, spanning two screens instead of one. The player has three minutes to perform tricks; three wipeouts end the game, though a code grants unlimited boards. A scoring streak causes CJ to appear in a house window, doubling points for a short time. After the run, the player sprite reacts based on points: the worst reaction shows the man slamming the board on his head and saying 'No way, dude!'; the best, after exceeding 30,000 points, shows him balancing the board on his finger and yelling 'Way cool, dude!'
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