Rollerdrome

Rollerdrome places the player in a stylized retro-futuristic version of the 1980s, where a bloody but publicly beloved sport combines roller skating with shooting armed opponents inside an enclosed arena. Player character Kara Hassan takes part in a tournament run by a powerful corporation and, through conversations and memories, gradually uncovers the darker side of the entertainment industry that sustains her — one that turns violence into a mass-watched spectacle for crowds hungry for an ever bloodier show.

The gameplay hinges on a tight link between movement and shooting — all ammunition and health are replenished only through tricks performed on ramps, grinds, and jumps, forcing the player to stay constantly in motion and combine acrobatics with combat, as if a skateboarding sim had been merged with a third-person arena shooter. This system creates a distinctive, almost dance-like rhythm, where chaining tricks and precise hits fluidly together brings a satisfying sense of flow, and the player is rewarded for taking risks rather than playing it safe. Each arena has a different layout of ramps, railings, and platforms that rewards creative use of the terrain, and as the levels progress, new enemy types appear that demand a different approach.

Visually, the game relies on clean cel-shaded colors and a poster-like aesthetic reminiscent of period sci-fi illustrations and comic book covers, which on PS5 stands out thanks to a crisp image and stable frame rate necessary for precise control during fast movement. Rollerdrome, from studio Roll7, known for the OlliOlli series, was praised on release above all for its original combination of two seemingly unrelated genres and for a visual style that immediately carved out its own identity among the indie games of its time, even though commercially it was a much smaller title than the studio's later work.

Why play it: For fans of original genre combinations and a bold cel-shaded style — Rollerdrome fuses skating and shooting in a way that earned studio Roll7 its own distinct identity.