Aggressive Inline is a 2002 sports video game developed by Z-Axis and published by AKA Acclaim. The game simulates aggressive inline skating, with players completing tricks and objectives in open-ended levels. The game was released in North America for the PlayStation 2 on May 29, 2002, followed by GameCube and Xbox versions in August. A Game Boy Advance version was released by Full Fat in August 2002. The developers of Aggressive Inline aimed to innovate upon the formula of the Tony Hawk's series of extreme sports games, building on the engine and tools of the developer's previous title, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2. The developers experimented with gameplay features, including the inclusion of open-ended level design and greater environmental interaction, an organic skill progression system, and the removal of fixed time limits, many of which had not been implemented in an extreme sports game before.
Upon release, Aggressive Inline received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the game's innovative features, the large, open-ended design of its levels, and detailed visual presentation, with minor criticism directed towards the soundtrack and character detail. The Game Boy Advance version of the game received weaker reviews than its counterparts, with reviewers faulting the game's more conventional design, citing its simpler objectives and inclusion of a time limit. The retrospective reception of Aggressive Inline has similarly been positive, with reviewers praising the game's innovations as prescient to the design of later titles in the extreme sports genre, particularly the subsequent adoption of many of its features within the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series.
Gameplay
Aggressive inline is an extreme sports game that simulates aggressive inline skating, in which the player navigates a series of levels to perform tricks, score points, and complete various objectives. Controls involve the use of the D-pad to move and buttons to jump and perform tricks, including grabs, flips, grinds, wallrides and manuals. The player can also interact with environmental elements, such as vaulting from rails, grabbing and spinning around poles, skitching on the back of moving vehicles, and bailing out of tricks.
In the game's "Career" mode, the player completes a series of seven levels and progresses by completing challenges issued by characters in the level. Challenges include the performance of tricks in certain areas or on certain objects, or accumulating points for tricks within a time limit. Completion of challenges assigns points to the player, and reaching a threshold of points enables progress to the next level. Levels also contain several hidden collectables, allowing the player to unlock hidden areas to other levels, increase their attributes, or unlock special tricks.
Aggressive Inline features several mechanics, including a "Juice Meter" system in place of a fixed time limit. When the meter is depleted automatically over time, the player runs out of energy and the game is over. The player can replenish the meter by performing tricks or collecting juice boxes throughout the level, allowing them to continue playing indefinitely. An attribute system allows the player to increase the effectiveness of their skater by using experience gained from completing challenges and performing actions and tricks of that attribute in levels. Increasing attributes allows the player to improve the performance of speed, jumps, spins, grinds, manuals, fakies, and wallrides.
Aggressive Inline features several secondary game modes. The "Tutorial" allows the player to complete 20 lessons to understand gameplay mechanics. In "Freeskate" mode, the player can skate without the Juice Meter in unlocked levels, without being able to complete challenges or upgrade attributes. "Timed Run" mode allows the player to accumulate points for tricks within a time limit in completed levels. The game also supports multiplayer in which two players can complete head-to-head challenges in modes including getting the most points during a run, performing the best trick, and collecting the most hidden items. The game also features a park editor.