It’s promising from the outset, with an intro that takes the form of a skate video, that maligned but occasionally witty class of films that’s at least half about watching people crash in funny ways. In this one, the main skater (that’s you) is involved in an accident and gets taken to hospital. The gag is that all the characters taking you there, from the ambulance-men to the doctors, is a famous skater. Most of them also appear in the game, as characters you can go and see to learn new tricks.

Tricks are what the game is all about – using one stick to navigate and another to control the board, it’s possible to quickly pick up the nuances of fairly complicated tricks, building them up from a simple beginning into a complicated routine.

Play is quite open – you’re given the run of the city and are able to go wherever you like, although there are challenges and new things to learn waiting at certain designated spots. Advancing in the game involves beating the challenges, but if you like you can simply skate around as you wish. The graphics are superb, with realistic skaters and passers-by who can be easily knocked over (although the numerous security guards give as good as they get).

Sound is also good, although the commentary of the cameraman, who follows you around, gets annoying quite quickly. That’s the only real flaw, though, in a game that really reinvents the skating genre in a spectacular way.