Skate or Die: Bad ’N Rad retrospective: A cube, thoroughly gleamed | Game Boy Works

Konami follows up on its popular NES conversion of EA skating sim Skate or Die with a game that has almost nothing to do with the source material aside from the use of skateboards. While not an entirely successful game, thanks largely to its memorization-heavy design, it is at least one of the more interesting original projects we've seen for the platform so far.

[@shabmaster7128]

I loved this game, and the music is pretty rocking. My favorite is the beach level, took me FOREVER to get that big jump at the end of level 5 though.

[@Janukard]

Wow, can't believe my 11 year old self actually beat that game! :) And it is actually a lot more fun once you get the hang and momentum of it, remember really loving it!

[@Gameboy-Unboxings]

Right. Exactly what you said. This game is really great & so unique. It plays so smoothly. I'm honestly shocked that anyone would have anything negative to say about this game. It's actually the latest game i've covered on my channel. One of my favorite games.

[@Splinter3385]

Are you serious? I LOVE this game. My buddy and I played this countless hours on the Super Gameboy

[@DrCorndog1]

Love the name, love the logo, love the unification of the three series. (That last bit especially pleases the organization nut in me.)

[@gabrieleriva651]

Dr. Corndog that'so neat.

[@jaspajones7045]

One of my favorites as a kid.

[@eldebo99]

I.. I think I beat this as a kid, I remember the horrible spike guantlet, I remember the ridiculous throne boss, but I don't know if I actually persevered. That "you failed" jingle, though, is *seared* into my memory.

[@obliviousmode575]

This was one of my favorite Gameboy games! I love the challenge! I beat this game many times. You are right some memorization is needed to get by in some of the levels. I wish you featured the scrolling half pipes stages. Those stages reminded me of the Castlevania on the Gameboy.

[@takitogr]

Wow. Pure quality. Congrats my friend. Subscribed immediately. You have deep knowledge of gaming & the video was entertaining

[@ZanderEzekial77]

I've never heard of Menace Beach before and that is an AMAZING name for a video game.

[@rand21althor]

I only know about it because of AVGN.

[@DeadOmega]

Was the first game I ever thought to use when I acquired GB Game Genie. Did not have the prerequisite radness to beat the game organically ..

[@NickEnlowe]

Definitely more Rad than Bad sir.

[@Svankmajer]

Beat it today! Last boss took me many many attempts. Think you are being a bit too hard on it as it is quite fun when you are getting better at the stages, but also good in a way to see its not considered easy.

[@farhadinho9]

I didn't get this until waaaay late. Got it when I had my GBA SP. Had the special tribal edition. Lol

[@SoukerWorldGaming]

Love the new format. While I can see some people wishing for consistency I like that you're not afraid to try something new while reviewing mediocre handheld games from the 90s. Honestly I'm really interested in this game. While it fails in it's execution there definitely was an attempt at a unique action game here. The effects in general caught me by surprise (like those ocean waves moving back and forth on the top down level).

[@tekkensentai]

It’s Rollergames on the game boy.

[@just_some_bird]

The new title cards/branding look great!

[@NORMALLYRETRO]

Man, the new intro is super dope.

[@DaKineGuy]

You're playing it way too slow like a normal platformer. It's all about momentum with this game. When you get better the game becomes a lot more fun.

[@lefloic-games]

Great video, as usual, love how you always find good things about these games, there's a lot of respect in the way you look at games. Keep up the great work! Cheers!

[@gabrieleriva651]

EXTRA BASES HERE WE COME!!!

[@jamesmoss3424]

I will think about getting this game.

[@DijaVlogsGames]

And today on "Game titles that are too 90s to be true..."

[@originalblob]

A Channel About Video Games, my first thought!

[@SpAMCAN]

The new branding looks nice, but I'm gonna really miss the old ones that matched the system. All the series having different names and branding felt weirdly charming.

[@JeremyParish]

OK.

[@SpAMCAN]

The new style does look genuinely lovely though. The transition from title card into the game footage is particularly swish.

[@LpSamuelm]

Would you look at that - Jeremy with the rare passive-aggressive reply!

[@hsatin20]

Haha, I actually beat this game once when trapped on a horrible family vacation.

[@lurgoyff]

I loved/hated this game as a kid, i still think how the hell did i actually managed to finished it.

[@ChrisGuanche]

Hey Jeremy, love your work and support the videos on Patreon. I have Game Boy World 1989 and Good Nintentions 1985 on digital, but I eventually plan to get them physically. For nitpicky collection purposes, I wanted to know if you're going to reissue these older books physically with the new Works titles. Keep up the great content!

[@JeremyParish]

Yeah, that's the plan. Stay tuned!

[@MyPhobo]

This was the first video game I ever owned. I mean My family had games for other systems, but this game and my gameboy were the first that were just mine. I have a soft spot for this game.

[@nerdvision8031]

I remember when i got that game and i really loved it. Why this ? It was different as the other skate or die games where you just had another version of california games but with skate games (ski or die was the same). This was like "yeah as a kid you drive with a skateboard through the street" and with platforming and danger etc. - this was a real good stuff. I am making btw. a game which is inspired by as i thought that a platformer with skating is still a cool game mechanic. 7:47 and Tour de trash was boring and no one didn't really cae about i think. Was also not really sold in the EU.

[@gaditeuk]

This game was a real challenge but I loved it all the same

[@erika_fuzzbottom]

The name change is weird, but, okay, I'll get used to it. Also that spiffy intro.

[@19AGJ86]

My brother and I used to pray to God to give us strength to beat skate or die...we never beat it! Got to the final boss and lost!

[@SlyBeast]

A friend at school had this game and I really liked it but never owned it myself or borrowed it from said friend so I never got to play it much. Years later, I finally got my chance (thanks, emulation) and boy is it hard! Some really poor design choices here.

[@koobert]

This is the best colour choice. I feel like I need to recolour my Mass Effect Ryder to this exact palette.

[@benjaminkellog7311]

I assume the name change is due to the "World" name sounding a bit too close to something like an official Nintendo endorsement, which is certainly not the case in the slightest. While I mourn the loss of the old name, I do like the new more matter-of-fact name and graphics. I take from the reference to "NES Works" that this same change applies to "Good Nintentions," and that there may someday be a "Game Boy Gaiden." Either way, keep up the good work!

[@JeremyParish]

No, that wasn't the case at all. I changed from World because I want all the series to have a common name, and there's already an NES World (which is why I went with Good Nintentions in the first place).

[@GeekatHome]

Jeremy Parish Makes sense. And the new logo looks good. Good luck with the rebrand?

[@benjaminkellog7311]

Oh, OK. I've had a bit of time to reflect on the name change, and I think it might work out even better for you in the long run. Not only are you looking into the collective works of these systems, but you are also doing a top-notch job analyzing what works best in these games. I think there's potential for some creative spin-off series now. "Almost Works," games that could've been all time classics, but just have one or two little problems that keep them from taking top prize. "Give 'Em the Works," retrospectives on game series both big and small; you kinda did that already with "Anatomy of a Game," but the thought of you going over "Professor Layton," "You Don't Know Jack," or Ubisoft's "Imagine" sounds oddly appealing to me. "A Wrench in the Works," when a change of some sort (developer, mechanic, plot point, etc.) greatly affects a game series ("Mortal Kombat" in 3D, anyone?). What can I say? The new name just plain "works!"

[@benjaminkellog7311]

Incidentally, you deserve all the kudos points for running for so long with such a punny name. "Nintentions!" Freaking classic! I also will miss the custom title screen homages at the start of each episode, but those might have gotten legitimately out of control had the old style continued into '88-'89. Complex parallax scrolling, oh the horror!

[@TheTacticalRPGOdyssey]

Dear god the water is giving me a seizure. I guess that's where the "or Die" part comes from. Great video though!

[@JeremyParish]

The water is one of those things that doesn't translate to Super Game Boy very well. The flashing effect creates an illusion of transparency on the GB's slow screen, but on a proper monitor with a 60fps refresh rate it's hideous. There's footage of me desperately toggling through SGB color schemes to find a palette that would be less painful, but nothing worked!

[@farhadinho9]

The TRPG Odyssey Lol!

[@doloresdebeauvoir4960]

Hi Jeremy, are you going to retroactively change the title of previous episodes?

[@JeremyParish]

Possibly the titles that show up on KZbin, but there's no way in hell I'm editing, re-rendering, and re-uploading 100+ videos.

[@Fragenzeichenplatte]

I also have a question: Are you're going to add this video to your "Game Boy Works: 1990, Pt. 2" playlist?

[@JeremyParish]

Yeah, of course.

[@daveraschke]

i Don't even know you had a KZbin man

[@huillamdaverc3141]

Urks, what ugly color palette to play the game. I love Bad 'N Rad! It is a very good and fun game. Yeah, it does take a bit to get used to the controls, but then it really is an enjoyable experience. I beat it as a kid many many times. A few days ago I fired the game up on my MiSTer and was surprised how much fun it still is today and that I still remember some parts of the levels. So it didn't took long before I have beaten it again. For me it is a classic, even a hidden gem.

[@Rhetorical346]

I like the series, but I feel like you aren't doing the game justice if you don't at least turn on a game genie code or use saving/loading to progress all the way through it.

[@keq64]

hardly better than watching, it's not the same thing as playing legit. longplays are hardly better though, if it's a hard game they don't shy away from using save states, so you get videos where player totally sucks even in a first level but somehow ends up beating a hardass arcade game on a single credit, hilarious.

[@JeremyParish]

Yeah, I'm not really sure what I can glean from using a Game Genie to glide to the end that I wouldn't be able to deduce from playing half the game legit to get a feel for its mechanic and design, then watching videos of the rest. It's not like I'm reviewing games for a score here - I'm piecing together their history. So what difference could it possibly make?

[@mau5083]

I can beat this veru hard game! I love it

[@221b]

So what's with the name change? I can't find anything on this channel or on your 2dimensions website explaining why this series is no longer called "Game Boy World." Please tell me that you didn't take the all-too-common tactic of posting important updates like this on Twitter where it's instantly buried by pages of inane bullshit.

[@hansamurai]

He explains on his patreon, not sure if it's public though: www.patreon.com/posts/some-minor-ch-ch-8704482 Also on this Retronauts blogpost a bit: www.retronauts.com/?p=2203

[@JeremyParish]

221b I posted about it on this newfangled thing called a "website" - they're all the rage!

[@CantStopTheRaj]

This game is amazing. The amount of poor reviews seems to be from people not giving the game a full chance. Even this review couldn't get past the 4th level (which you can choose to start on) which shows a lack of trying. Just because its hard doesn't mean it bad. Recommend, but dont use the color pallet this reviewer uses, ugh!

[@troudecul69]

I don't think you played a lot of ''tour de thrash''. The only thing that ''feels'' like skate or die, is the ramp clone straight from the nes sequel. The tour de thrash mode fucking sucks. Bad 'n Rad is a really great game, the quality can bares the konami name, the hit detection is near perfect, the levels are differents from another and the controls are awesome. The controls feels weird if you play 1 hour but they need to be mastered like the art of skateboarding lol. Konami didn't false advertise, it's really rad, I think you missed the point.

[@massivepileup]

Please avoid that color scheme, it's probably going to make anything besides Alleyway ugly...

[@JeremyParish]

That color scheme is Super Game Boy's most ’80s x-treme, making it the only possible choice for a game called Skate or Die: Bad ’N Rad.