Gaia Industries' Street Trace: NYC is a futuristic street racing and combat party game that is fun in small bursts or with friends, but offers little else. Situated on hover boards, players are heavily armed and compete with each other in tournaments which include a variety of game types. The tournament mode and hoverboard-centered gameplay is fresh, but not exactly compelling enough to warrant a purchase to the average gamer. One part Jet Set Radio and one part Fuzion Frenzy, Street Trace is a fast-paced party game that, although not recommended for offline or solo gamers, is worth it for party game fans.

Typical to today's vision of tomorrow's sports such as Rollerball, Street Trace is set in urban New York with the typical party game characters: the tough skater dude, the hip punk girl, and plenty more; all using hoverboards to execute their high-speed needs. Although the setting isn't unique, the gameplay is. Since every game is played on the hoverboard, the game feels more like a cohesive product rather than a collection of minigames. Your board automatically moves, leaving you in charge of direction and other abilities including boosting, jumping, attacking, grinding, and powering down with what is essentially an e-brake. Powering down is the only method of making quick turns and stopping, requiring a light tap on the X button and a flick of the analog stick to make a 90° turn or holding the button down to come to a full stop. This is a good addition because the natural speed of the game makes pulling off perfect skids or tight turns extra rewarding. That said, the hover boards move a little too fast and, even with practice, it's hard to stop yourself from bouncing off the walls. It's not beneficial in a gameplay sense, but the squirrelly controls mix well with the light, party game atmosphere.

Riders are equipped with four weapons, each of which can be upgraded between rounds with money you've earned in the game. You can drop mines, shoot lasers, fire rockets, and launch bouncing projectiles of death. The game auto-targets the closest enemy to you, but the speed at which both you and the other player are moving makes it difficult to make contact in many cases. Plus, ammunition runs out fairly quickly even with fully upgraded weapons. This tends to add an annoying realism in a light-hearted party game. Thankfully, there are weapon refills scattered across each map. Using the weapons isn't a pain but it should have been tuned to the rest of the game better.

The gameplay is much more interesting in a multiplayer environment.

Game types vary between races, straight death matches, or mixes between the two. One type, Traces, consists of a race around the map with weapons. There are a lot of jumps, hairpin turns, and tricky-to-access shortcuts, along with plenty of weapon and board upgrades along the maps. Death is common, but not very punishing. You typically spawn pretty close to where you would be if you hadn't died. Linking together boosts, jumps, item pick-ups, and attacking is fun and takes some concentration. Another mode, Chaos, is a death match with flags and targets that also score you points. A kill is worth two points, shooting a target is worth four, and picking up a flag earns you two. It can get pretty crazy and the way you choose to upgrade your weapons and board creates different ways to attack the game. There are several other modes as well.

You can play each mode individually but the real crux of the game is in the tournament mode. You can set up tournament layouts to your whim and getting eight players together can be a fun experience. Matches run through a variety of game types, with your score accumulating based on your podium placement in each round. Between rounds, you can upgrade your board and weapons with money earned during the last game, creating side goals of hoarding cash bonuses while still placing high. Upgrading your rider takes some careful consideration of the next game type as well as what you'll need in the long run. The round and upgrade-based system is a smart addition to what would otherwise be a run-of-the-mill party game. Tournament mode is where the fun is to be had in this game, especially with a group of friends.

It is unfortunate that friends or other players are necessary for this game. It might be argued that this is an attribute of all party games, but the good ones should still be entertaining in bot-play. Street Trace does have a single player mode that consists of a few tournaments with boss characters, but that's not enough. The wild gameplay fits much better to a friendly, casual atmosphere than playing against dead silent drones.

Street Trace's cel-shading and presentation suit the game well. Everything looks typical to the urban future vibe and the hover board emits a nice blue glow. There are some ugly items and rooms but things still look good for an XBLA game. Also, there is a glitch where you can grind on a rail even if you're under it; you just need to be close to it and you'll "snap" onto it when you press the grind button. Music consists of some seemingly out-of-place fantasy instrumentals. Characters all have mottos and phrases, as usual for a party game. The sound effects on grinding, boosting, using weapons, etc., is fine, if not special in any way. It's rough around the edges, but Street Trace's presentation shouldn't turn anyone off.

Street Trace: NYC is what it is: a $10 party game. You won't find long-lasting enjoyment in the single player or particular addiction to the gameplay. However, its fast pace and tournament setup makes for fun group action. Under those conditions, it's a genuinely entertaining game and worth checking out.