{{Short description|1997 video game}} {{Refimprove|date=December 2009}} {{Infobox video game |title = Top Skater |image = Top Skater cover.jpg |caption = Japanese arcade poster |developer = [[Sega AM3]]<ref name=SSM20>{{cite magazine |title=Coin-Operated |magazine=[[Sega Saturn Magazine]] |issue=20|publisher=[[Emap International Limited]] |date=June 1997|pages=92–95}}</ref> |publisher = [[Sega]] |director = Kenji Kanno |producer = Hisao Oguchi |platforms = [[Arcade video game|Arcade]] |released = {{vgrelease|JP|March 15, 1997|NA|March 1997|WW|May 1997}} |genre = [[Sports game|Sports]], [[Racing video game|racing]] |modes = [[Single player]] |arcade system = [[Sega Model 2]] }}

'''''Top Skater''''' is an [[arcade game|arcade]] skateboarding [[sports video game]] released by [[Sega]] in 1997, and built on the [[Sega Model 2]] hardware.<ref name="NGen30"/> It was one of the first arcade games to feature a [[skateboard]] [[Game controller|controller]] interface.<ref>Mark J. P. Wolf (2008), [https://books.google.com/books?id=XiM0ntMybNwC ''The video game explosion: a history from PONG to Playstation and beyond''], p. xx, [[ABC-CLIO]], {{ISBN|0-313-33868-X}}</ref> The game was directed by Kenji Kanno.

In ''Top Skater'', players stand on a skateboard-like platform which swung side-to-side or tilted, manipulating the actions of the [[Avatar (computing)|avatars]] in the game. The game has ramps, rails and other skating objects from which the player can do tricks to gain points.<ref name=SSM20/> The player has a limited amount of time in which to perform tricks, but can extend this time by collecting time bonus rings or by performing certain tricks.<ref name=SSM20/>

Kenji Kanno went on to create the ''[[Crazy Taxi]]'' series, which has similar character art design and music. ''Top Skater'' also served as a basic foundation for later skateboarding games including [[Activision]]'s ''[[Tony Hawk's]]'' series. ''Top Skater'' had a sequel called ''Air Trix'', released by Sega for arcades in 2001.

==Development== The game was directed by Kenji Kanno and produced by AM3 general manager Hisao Oguchi.<ref name="CVG188"/> The AM3 team wanted to make ''Top Skater'' a game which would allow players to explore unrealistically large skateboarding courses and perform the fantasy tricks associated with skateboarding's image, rather than a realistic simulation.<ref name=SSM21>{{cite magazine |title=Interview: Top Skater |magazine=[[Sega Saturn Magazine]] |issue=21|publisher=[[Emap International Limited]] |date=July 1997|pages=54–59}}</ref> Because of this, recreating some of the tricks for [[motion capture]] would require an unusually large studio with equipment to propel the motion capture actor through the air, so all the animation was done by hand.<ref name=SSM21/> The primary [[target audience]] for the game was young Americans.<ref name=SSM21/><ref>{{cite magazine |title=An Interview with Hisao Oguchi |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=32 |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=August 1997|page=54 |url=https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_32/page/n55}}</ref>

None of the development team members skateboarded; instead, they watched professional skateboarders both live and on video for research.<ref name=SSM21/> An AM3 member explained the game's trick-based approach: "It wouldn't make any sense to make a skateboard racing game. You don't need to skateboard as fast as you can. I just wanted to make the game cool and fashionable. If the game were a racing game you wouldn't want to do any tricks as you'd be absorbed in trying to race as fast as possible."<ref name=SSM21/>

The team collaborated with [[Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio|Sega AM4]] in designing the skateboard interface and cabinet.<ref name=SSM21/> They installed an MPEG board for the sound, since using MPEG boards had recently become more financially feasible.<ref name=SSM21/>

==Soundtrack== The soundtrack of the game consisted entirely of these songs by the [[punk rock]] band [[Pennywise (band)|Pennywise]]: * "Society" (from the then newly released ''[[Full Circle (Pennywise album)|Full Circle]]'') * "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (from ''[[Pennywise (album)|Pennywise]]'') * "Homesick" (from ''[[Unknown Road]]'') * "It's What You Do With It" (from ''[[About Time (Pennywise album)|About Time]]'') * "Dying To Know" (from ''[[Unknown Road]]'') * "Searching" (from ''[[About Time (Pennywise album)|About Time]]'') * "The Secret" (from ''[[Pennywise (album)|Pennywise]]'') * "Try To Conform" (from ''[[Unknown Road]]'') * "Peaceful Day" (from ''[[About Time (Pennywise album)|About Time]]'') * "Perfect People" (from ''[[About Time (Pennywise album)|About Time]]'')

The developers selected Pennywise because they felt punk rock was both the most appropriate genre for the skateboarding theme and the best choice to excite players, and some members of the team were fans of the group.<ref name=SSM21/>

== Release == The game debuted at a Sega arcade show, held at the Otaku Entertainment Plaza in [[Kamata, Tokyo]], on March 15, 1997. It was one of four Sega games introduced at the show. The game was presented by Kenji Kanno and Hisao Oguchi, who both demonstrated some of the game's tricks.<ref name="CVG188">{{cite magazine |title=Arcade: Sega's Spring Arcade Private Show Report |magazine=[[Computer and Video Games]] |publisher=[[EMAP]] |issue=188 (July 1997) |date=11 June 1997 |pages=86–7 |url=https://archive.org/details/Computer_and_Video_Games_Issue_188_1997-07_EMAP_Images_GB/page/n85/mode/2up}}</ref> The game made its North American debut the same month at Sega's [[GameWorks]] venue in [[Seattle]].<ref name="NGen30">{{cite magazine |first=Marcus|last=Webb |title=Sega and GameWorks |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] |issue=30 (June 1997) |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=20 May 1997|page=28 |url=https://archive.org/stream/NextGeneration30Jun1997/Next_Generation_30_Jun_1997#page/n29}}</ref> The main sponsor of the game was [[Coca-Cola]].

== Reception == Upon its debut at the Otaku Entertainment Plaza, it was the most popular game at the show and drew long queues.<ref name="CVG188"/> In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Top Skater'' on their June 15, 1997 issue as being the third most-successful dedicated arcade game of the month.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - 完成品夕イプのTVゲーム機 (Dedicated Videos)|magazine=[[:ja:ゲームマシン|Game Machine]]|issue=543|publisher=[[:ja:アミューズメント通信社|Amusement Press, Inc.]]|date=15 June 1997|page=21|lang=ja}}</ref> ''[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]'' reported in early 1998 that ''Top Skater'' sold "briskly" to U.S. arcade outlets.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Marcus |last=Webb |title=Sega: Bigger Is Better... Maybe |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] |issue=40|publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=April 1998|page=32}}</ref>

The game received a positive critical response from ''[[Computer and Video Games]]'' magazine.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Top Skater: Sega Skateboarding |magazine=[[Computer and Video Games]] |publisher=[[EMAP]] |issue=191 (October 1997) |date=12 September 1997 |pages=84–5 |url=https://archive.org/details/Computer_and_Video_Games_Issue_191_1997-10_EMAP_Images_GB/page/n83/mode/2up}}</ref>

== Legacy == Kenji Kanno went on to create the ''[[Crazy Taxi]]'' series. ''[[Crazy Taxi (video game)|Crazy Taxi]]'' (1999) has a similar style to ''Top Skater'', notably the character art design and type of music. A sequel called ''Air Trix'' was released for the [[Sega Hikaru]] arcade system in 2001. ''[[Ollie King]]'', published in 2004 and developed by the creators of the ''[[Jet Set Radio]]'' series, contains much of the same gameplay as ''Top Skater'' and used a nearly identical arcade cabinet.

[[Activision]]'s ''[[Tony Hawk's]]'' series was inspired by ''Top Skater''. While developing the original ''[[Tony Hawk's Pro Skater]]'' (1999), the [[Neversoft]] development team spent lunch breaks at a bowling alley near the studio, where they would play and study from ''Top Skater'' in the arcade. Members of the team were fans of ''Top Skater'', the design of which served as a strong basic influence.<ref name="Retro Gamer">{{cite magazine |title=The Making of ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater'' |magazine=[[Retro Gamer]] |issue=131 |year=2014 |pages=84–7 |url=https://archive.org/details/retro_gamer/RetroGamer_131/page/84/mode/2up}}</ref>

==See also== *''[[Crazy Taxi]]'' *''[[Street Sk8er]]'' *''[[Tony Hawk: Ride]]''

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:1997 video games]] [[Category:Arcade video games]] [[Category:Arcade-only video games]] [[Category:Sega arcade games]] [[Category:Single-player video games]] [[Category:Skateboarding video games]] [[Category:Video games developed in Japan]]