OlliOlli World is not like other skaters. Not shredding lines on an asphalt concourse, not pissing off security guards, not crashing into the curb in a haphazard 50-50 to scare passing shoppers, Roll7's series of side-scrolling skaters has instead taken a faraway We traveled to the shores of Radlandia. It's a skater's paradise, where the rails are always polished, there are no nails on the ramps, and aspiring shredders compete for a chance to become the next skate wizard.

The OlliOlli world is stranger and wilder than anything that came before Olli'd.

This third entry in the series follows the template established in "OlliOlli 1" and "OlliOlli 2," in which players push with the A button and kickflip with the left stick as they skate down a side-scrolling course in a straight line. In addition to clearing stages, players can also record high scores and achieve secondary goals while chaining combos and racking up tricks with manuals, grinds, and wallrides.

As written, "World" doesn't sound much different from its predecessor. However, from the moment you boot up the game, it is clear that World has carved out a unique path of its own.

OlliOlli World loves skateboarding, not just tricks and flips, but culture, fashion, and music. However, it doesn't feel as if it is absolutely obedient to the idea of what skateboard culture should be like; whereas OlliOlli 1 and OlliOlli 2 had instantly recognizable parks and sidewalks, World uses those touchstones to create a Adventure Time"-style wonderfully surrealistic scutopia.

This is a much-needed tonal refresh for the series, perfectly integrated into the newly discovered three-dimensional world. The skate line winds through cliffs, abandoned casinos, sludge factories, and giant ice cream cones. The switch from a flat background to a world with depth not only makes "World" a more beautiful game, but also gives Roll7's designers much more places to challenge your skating skills.

Whereas before you could only go left to right on the track, OlliOlli World's stages now move back and forth, looping through quarter-pipe gaps and destructible floors, opening up new routes the second time around.

This new freedom is maximized in the tough new "Gnarly Routes." Riding the right rails or switching lanes at the right time will lead you to more difficult (and more challenging) paths, requiring faster paced and more precise jumps and tricks. You will want to explore every nook and cranny. In addition to simply completing levels and beating the locals' scores, there are also hidden NPCs that unlock fashions and entirely new stages that are unlocked by exploring the map and completing certain objectives.

Before playing "World," I went back to the original "OlliOlli" and was surprised to find that absolute precision is required from the start, and the game quickly feels punishing. In "OlliOlli World," on the other hand, great care is taken to make its particular skating style feel laid-back and familiar, at least for the first few stages.

More punishing elements, such as a significant speed penalty if you don't hit the "A" perfectly on landing, have been removed, allowing for higher score bonuses. However, the levels also seem more leisurely at first, and new elements are added gradually, so you will still get a tutorial in the third or fourth of the five regions of the overall game.

Sometimes it feels like World pulls no punches, but when it finally hits, the challenge is brutal, multi-layered, requiring precision grinds, wallrides, transfers, and tricks to be performed perfectly at breakneck speed, loop and repeating, requiring the rider to keep a constant watch on the track and navigate a line that will break apart on its own. They went from doing the course effortlessly and perfectly to struggling to even survive. Checkpoints allow you to fight through stages one chunk at a time, but there is always the implicit pressure to do a perfect run.

Each map has its own leaderboard, and when you revisit a stage, you are assigned to battle your rivals. However, this means that there are more stages to battle, and while there are certainly people who battle over these spots, Gnarvana is where many of those seeking a challenge get their fix.

Unlocked after conquering the first region, Gnarvana is a mysterious space where you can generate and share tracks by selecting difficulty, length, and biome (or by entering a "zip code" seed.) It is a mishmash of proc-gen parts, so the main It doesn't have the bespoke charm of the stage, but it's also where World's Daily Challenges resides.

It immediately tickles the part of my brain that has been diligently working on Nuclear Throne's Daily Challenge for a year. Being able to watch replays of other contestants has also been a great learning tool for finding ways to maximize my route (although the replays are often a bit off).

Roll7 could have played it safe with the third OlliOlli. After all, OlliOlli 2 was a fairly safe sequel that polished and tightened the format established by Phil's beloved 2014 debut, so it's easy to imagine a world where the third film is a perfect iteration, like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

However, it is not clear whether the third film will be a perfect repetition.

However, shedding the grounded style of the previous films, "OlliOlli World" gives the series a much-needed identity. It is a vibrant, rhythmic platformer that unfolds on grind rails and halfpipes.

While a strong commitment to stoner skater Pendleton Ward's aesthetic and a gentle learning curve may put off some series enthusiasts, the skateboard game is a budgie kickflip, lo-fi halfpipe toy, crystalline skate sessions in New York's underworld, and the radical reinvention of OlliOlli World will not only help keep up with this new crowd of skaters, but also give the series the most stylish and satisfying skaters necessary to produce.