Skatebird, It’s Time to Ride
After three years of dev time, SkateBIRD is now officially launched! It feels completely surreal to say that. So much time, effort and passion went into making this game. The team behind SkateBIRD is actually pretty small when you consider the scope of the game. I can’t go into much about post-launch plans but just know that the team behind SkateBIRD SO appreciate the support, love and encouragement so many of you have expressed and shared with us.
Launch Trailer
Here’s where you can see the launch day trailer that we put together. It highlights some of the fun and quirky vibe that makes SkateBIRD…. well, SkateBIRD.
Pirate Birb says “ARRRRR!”
Take A Peek
The good folks at Subpixel put together a really neat mini-documentary about how we made the game. We had to do everything remotely since we were all living through this Covid madness, and now I see just how badly I need better internet. But I still love how the documentary tells our story. I hope you enjoy it too!
The Reviews Are In
My main role on SkateBIRD was as the composer. While I did provide some of the sounds in the game, I didn’t implement anything myself. As a result, I’ll focus my attention on what folks are saying my main contribution: the soundtrack. Below is a list of quotes along with the website links, should you want to read the entire review.
“One positive of Skatebird is its soundtrack. A licensed soundtrack is a hallmark of the skating genre, but Skatebird is an indie game that’s found a great alternative. The game makes the best of what it has access to, which includes a mix of low-fi tracks with bird noises in the background, and pop-punk tracks that wouldn’t feel out of place in a major extreme sports game. The Skatebird soundtrack has some great tracks that help elevate the experience and match the tone that the game is trying to create.”
https://screenrant.com/skatebird-game-review/
“The soundtrack itself is easily the most polished part of Skatebird, and it’s stacked with relaxing, skate-friendly earworms full of bird calls and samples of overzealous nature filmmakers from public domain documentaries. It’s very well done; even the birds enjoy it, bopping along as they skate.”
https://www.ign.com/articles/skatebird-review
“…the music hits. The soundtrack ranges from punk rock and ska to a laidback original score featuring chirps and wildlife presenter narration. While emulating, to some degree, the sounds of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, for the most part SkateBIRD offers something more relaxed and serene”
https://metro.co.uk/2021/09/17/skatebird-review-tony-hawk-with-cheep-gimmicks-15273597/
“Skating around to the game’s fantastic soundtrack, which fits in perfectly with other skating game soundtracks and will likely end up on my Spotify soon enough, is an absolute blast.”
https://www.digitaltrends.com/game-reviews/skatebird-review/
“…SkateBIRD has a better soundtrack than I ever could have expected. It doesn’t just have its own original music (which is also good and catchy)”
https://www.shacknews.com/article/126688/skatebird-review-crash-and-bird
“…the soundtrack begins with plenty of groovy tunes that sound like they belong on one of Mark Farina’s Mushroom Jazz compilations but you’ll unlock many more tunes by picking up audio cassettes that expand the soundtrack to include music such as punk rock tracks which I also enjoyed. Overall, the visuals and audio are very well done.”
https://videochums.com/review/skatebird
“I believe the soundtrack is very fitting for the atmosphere they have built. It might not be my preferred music choice, but it’s such a lovely accompaniment to my tiny bird doing tiny skate tricks.”
https://www.savingcontent.com/2021/09/16/skatebird-review/
“The finished product is an accessible entry that combines goofy skateboarding and an unimportant plot with old-school collectibles and a killer soundtrack, and SkateBIRD does a lot of this pretty well.”
https://www.windowscentral.com/skatebird-xbox-review
“The original soundtrack and licensed tunes provide a good vibe to proceedings, occasionally evoking the series that inspired the game but mostly keeping things relaxed.”
https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/skatebird
“The music is more of a standout, as you may get indie songs covering punk rock and SKA, but the lo-fi hip-hop match the calmness of the game and put you in the right mood.”
https://worthplaying.com/article/2021/9/15/reviews/128465-pc-review-skatebird/
“Nathan Madsen’s chill lofi score fits the tone well, especially in the narrative segments…”
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/58349/skatebird-switch-review
“Skatebird’s music is my favorite part of the game – whether I’m mindlessly cruising throughout the level while listening to chill hop-style rhythms and melodies (which referred to as lofi Bird-hop by its creators).”
https://www.thegamer.com/skatebird-review/
“The sound effects and music are spot on. With all original music composed by Nathan Madsen. A nice blend of SoundCloud rap, jazz and funk, I enjoyed the chilled relaxed vibes of the music.”
https://xboxera.com/2021/09/15/review-skatebird/
“Skatebird’s soundtrack is also a clear highlight, with the initial tracks hitting a “lo-fi beats to skate to” sweet spot”
https://culturedvultures.com/skatebird-switch-review/
Try It Out For Yourself
If you haven’t had a chance to experience the quirky vibe and setting of SkateBIRD, then give it a shot! Also the full OST is out on BandCamp, Spotify, IHeartRadio, Youtube, Soundcloud, Amazon and many other platforms.
BIO
Nate Madsen is an established composer, sound designer with nearly 16 years experience and over 870 credits. He’s worked in-house at FUNimation Entertainment, NetDevil, Bee Cave Games and is currently a Principal Composer, Sound Designer for SciPlay. Two of his recent side projects have been Great Wolf Lodge’s Magiquest and Glass Bottom Game’s SkateBIRD. He lives in Austin, Texas. Be sure to
reach out to Nathan with any audio needs you may have!