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1[[quoteright:346:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/skateordie.PNG]]
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3''Skate or Die'' is an ActionAdventure skateboard video game franchise by Creator/ElectronicArts for the Platform/Commodore64, Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem and Platform/GameBoy, having the distinction of being their first game developed in-house. The NES port was handled by Creator/{{Konami}} under their Ultra Games banner.
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5The first game, ''Skate or Die'', revolved around your character doing sick skateboarding moves and competing in a tournament to become the best. [[NoPlotNoProblem That was pretty much it]], but the music and gameplay were received well enough to make EA develop a sequel.
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7''Skate or Die 2: The Search for Double Trouble'' was a much lengthier game than the first and even had a plot, focusing on the hero's efforts to unban skateboarding in the town of Elwood, then get a permit to build a new half-pipe--all while being dogged at every turn by their archenemy Icepick.
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9A Game Boy game, ''Skate or Die: Bad 'N Rad'', was developed and published by Konami and revolved around the unnamed hero working to save his girlfriend, Miss Aerial, from [=ElRad=] the Evil One. A final game in the franchise, ''Skate or Die: Tour de Thrash'', was also released for the Game Boy in the US and was a throwback to the first game, with the player competing in skating tournaments.
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11Electronic Arts also produced a winter sports-themed spinoff, ''Ski or Die''. This game also received a NES port from Konami.
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13!!This franchise contains examples of:
14* AllThereInTheManual: ''Bad 'N Rad'''s manual explains the setting and background of the game: somewhere in the State of Confusion (just to the left of California), the town of Vileville is in an uproar because Miss Aerial, the daughter of Great Ben and the last of the Bad 'N Rad Skateboard Masters, was the last of many boarders captured by [=ElRad=] and his buddy Bionic Lester in their bid to TakeOverTheWorld. Luckily, they missed capturing you, so it's up to you to save Miss Aerial and the day.
15* CoolBoard: With a franchise built around skateboards, this was no surprise. Every boarder in the series has a board suited for them, and the player uses theirs to win tournaments and save the town.
16* DamselInDistress: CJ is kidnapped late into the second game, and rescuing Miss Aerial is ''Bad N' Rad'''s plot.
17* DeathOfPersonality: ''Bad 'N Rad'''s manual mentions that Bionic Lester got hit by toxic waste as a kid which resulted in his good side dying and his evil side flourishing.
18* EquipmentUpgrade: In the second game your board can be upgraded through the bartering system, and you can also learn new tricks to perform.
19* EverythingTryingToKillYou: ''Bad N' Rad'' has everything from cats, birds, land mines, SpikesOfDoom, and fellow boarders out for your blood.
20* {{Expy}}: CJ from the second game looks very similar to Ariel from ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989''.
21* FauxActionGirl: CJ is described as a tough girl who can skate you into the ground, but in the story she hits Icepick with one paint ball and is immediately chased and captured while crying for help.
22* FlameSpewerObstacle: ''Bad N' Rad'' has floor and ceiling flame jets for you to jump over and duck under.
23* GenericGraffiti: Generic rad graffiti tags pop up all over the series, proclaiming things are "Crazy!" and "Bad!" in a good way.
24* GreenEyedMonster: According to the manual, the boss of Stage 3 of ''Bad 'N Rad'' has been courting Miss Aerial and attacks the player character out of jealousy.
25* GrimyWater: Stage 3 of ''Bad 'N Rad'' takes place on an oil platform with rising and falling oil that slows your board if you're on top of it and kills you if you fall into it.
26* HardLevelsEasyBosses: ''Bad 'N Rad'' has ''punishing'' levels that have many instant-death scenarios and rely on rote memorization to make it through, with the added complication of your skateboard's momentum affecting platforming. The bosses are much easier since, with one exception, there's no danger of instantly dying.
27* ImplausibleBoardingSkills: The more platformer-based games have this, particularly the Game Boy game where you skate on floating platforms, dodge spikes, and outrun sawblades and cement barrels.
28* TheMall: Featured in one level of ''Skate or Die 2'', where your character makes "deliveries" of some kind from store to store to make money to build a skate ramp.
29* MisterMuffykins: The plot of the second game starts when Icepick distracts the hero and leads them to run over the Mayor's wife's prized poodle, leading her to ban skateboarding.
30* MonsterClown: The first boss of ''Bad N' Rad'' is the Berserk Not-So-Happy Clown, who juggles balls that must be jumped on to bounce back and hit him.
31* NoPlotNoProblem: The first game revolved around your character doing sick skateboarding moves and competing in a tournament to become the best, with a much heavier emphasis on gameplay than anything story-related.
32* NoobBridge: The first NES game's High Jump event, where to build up speed, rather than simply tapping the B button as in the Ramp Freestyle, the player has to rapidly alternate between left and right on the D-Pad or joystick while tapping it (or holding it, if they have a turbo controller).
33* PlayTheGameSkipTheStory: A rare invoked example happens in the second game. It gives the player the option to skip the story entirely and play the Double Ramp skating game, which would normally be unlocked after completing Story Mode.
34* ProBonoBarter: In the second game, you trade anything from [=CDs=] to French Fries in exchange for new skateboards and tricks. Justified as the plot of the game has you ''saving'' money, and you can't do that if you're spending it on unlockables.
35* RaisedByWolves: The manual for ''Bad 'N Rad'' states the boss of Stage 3, Mister Wart Monger, was raised by a pack of wild sewer frogs.
36* RazorFloss: Colliding with a fence during the Downhill Jam causes the skater to be diced into cubical chunks.
37* RecurringRiff: The theme song ("SKATE OR DIE! DIEDIEDIEDIEDIE!") recurs in several variations in the second game (the mall theme, at least one of the cutscene themes).
38* SaveThePrincess: ''Bad 'N Rad'' revolves around saving Miss Aerial, the daughter of Great Ben and the last of the Bad 'N Rad Skateboard Masters.
39* SongsInTheKeyOfPanic: ''Double Trouble'' has an unused panic version of the Plant stage theme.
40* TitleScream: The second game's memorable "SKATE! OR! DIE! SKATE OR DIE! DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!"
41* ToBeAMaster: The first game and ''Tour De Thrash'' have you working your way up the tournament ladder to be crowned best of the best.
42* TooFastToStop: Since you're on a skateboard, turning around or even stopping is dependent on forward momentum or lack of it, and it takes about 2 seconds to go from full speed to a stop. ''Bad 'N Rad'' exploits this with disappearing platforms, suddenly-appearing enemies, and pits at the end of ramps to the point where a normal playthrough is closer to a rhythm game than a standard platformer.
43* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: In the last act of ''Skate or Die 2'''s story mode, the Player Character has purchased a permit for construction of a new half-pipe ramp, and saved its blueprints from blowing away, when local gang leader Icepick kidnaps the hero's girlfriend, CJ, and he must navigate a maze-like factory to save her.

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