One of my all time favourite games growing up was the ZX Spectrum classic Skool Daze. It was one of the very first sandbox games. Granted, compared to the titles of today like Red Dead Redemption II, Skool Daze is nothing to shout about. But it was the first game I recall where I had the freedom to play my way. Yeah there was a point to the game and that point was to open the safe where your school report card was held so you could steal it. You had to learn the combination to the safe first and how you did that was really quite open for the time. You could walk around and explore the school at your own pace and ignore the main mission all together. Cause trouble, all while trying to avoid getting lines from the teachers as too many lines meant game over.
Write funny and rude messages on the blackboards, hit students and teachers with a catapult/slingshot, jump around like a kangaroo, attend classes or skip them all together, get other students into trouble, etc. There was so much you could do of your own free will and Skool Daze is often considered a pioneer of the sandbox game genre. Skool Daze was a big hit and was followed by a sequel, Back to Skool. Giving you an bigger school to play around in and even including a girls school, along with more characters and ways to cause trouble. The two games were stone cold classics and there have been numerous remakes and updates over the years. Even Rockstar Games themselves got in on the act with their Bully game.
Enter Alternative Software (who have been around since 1985), the latest team to try to bring Skool Daze to a new generation of fans with their remake Skool Daze Reskooled. Only this is more than just a remake of the original game, this is a unification of both the original games in one. Yes, Skool Daze and Back to Skool all in one game with various updates to keep things fresh. First up I just want to mention the options, this game is full of options. Fully customiseable keyboard controls, gamepad support, audio sliders and even difficulty settings. You can tailor the game to suit your needs.
Alternative Software have been wise enough to not mess too much with the core gameplay. If you played and enjoyed the original games, then you’ll find yourself slipping very comfortably into Skool Daze Reskooled. There are a total of four maps to play in… okay so one of them is just a tutorial to get you used to the game’s mechanics. The other three are the maps from Skool Daze, Back to Skool and then there is an all new map called Nu Skool (I’ve not unlocked it yet though) designed just for this game. The renaming of the main characters is also carried over from the originals and that was something I loved about the game. Yeah renaming a character is all too common place now, but back when Skool Daze first came out? I remember renaming some of the students and teachers to people from my school who annoyed me at the time and really enjoyed punching them in the face or hitting them with a well timed catapult shot… still did it with this game too. But Alternative Software have added a nice twist as you can now unlock other characters to play as and they each have their own strengths, weaknesses and bonus. For instance Eric, the main and only character available at the start is very average at everything, but keep playing and you’ll unlock other characters with better/different stats.
The graphics are 2D, bold and colourful. Basic stuff but you really don’t need fancy high polygon counts graphics here. They suit the game well and pay homage to the original in plenty of ways. When you attend classes now (if you want to) you can answer questions and even learn something along the way too. I’ve had to brush up on my periodic table.
There’s a handy waypoint system showing you your next task and even a hint system in the pause screen to help you out if you get stuck or unsure of your next move should be. Skool Daze Reskooled even features achievements giving you some nice and funny goals to aim for. Plus there’s a nice little display that slides in and out at the touch of a button to tell you where you should be, whether that be in class, break time or whatever. Everything is well designed so you never forget what your goal is or where you need to be if and when you decide to go off and just mess around with the game mechanics… and you will. It’s just too damn tempting to punch that annoying swot, Einstein in the face and letting another pupil get the blame.
It’s a much smoother game over the original with vastly improved animations and frame-rates. The slow chugging along of Skool Daze is now a distant memory as controlling Eric here is a complete joy. Everything is so much brighter and easier on the eyes too. As much as I loved the original game, it was a visual mess and often found it difficult to tell which character I was in a crowd or even where I was a lot of time. Skool Daze Reskooled is just so much more easier to follow.
Available on Steam now for a very reasonable £5.99 as well as being available for Android and iOS at a slightly cheaper £2.99. But I think it plays far better on a computer then a mobile device. There’s a lot of game here for your money and any fan of the classic Skool Daze will not be disappointed. I’ve played several remakes of the game over the years (Klass of 99 is probably the most famous one) but Skool Daze Reskooled is by far the most fun, most accurate (while also new) and most gameplay packed version yet. If you loved the original as I did, go get yourself a copy right now and prepare yourself for a wondrous trip down memory lane. I doff my school cap to @AlternSoftware for bringing back one of my all time favourites is such great style.
Now if you’l excuse me, I need to go and write “Mr Wacker is a wanker” on the blackboard.
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