You see a problem. You take it upon yourself to do something about it (or maybe you never really had a choice). You go to battle. You go back and forth with your opponent, gaining and loosing advantage, taking steps forward and being forced back. You are both more prepared and yet more worn down than you were to being with. You get a major win. Then you look up any realise that for all your progress, you are effectively back at the start. You continue, because you still have much to do.

If this card put the runner through that journey instead of the corp, I would say it would be a flavour home run.

Disclaimer: If you want a short version of this review, read the end of Diogene's review. This is all about that question: How do rollerblades help you hack better?

On a metaphoric level the effects make a lot of sense. While rollerblading you don't want to hit things (triggering when encountered abilities) or get hurt (net damage). Now the rollerblades of today don't do that on their own, you have helmets and wrist-guards for that, but these futuristic ones very well could.

The thing is, even if that is true, I don't see how that helps you in netspace. In fact, how do you even use these as a vehicle during a run? Don't you need to be at your console for a run? I thought that is why vehicles tended to be consoles, at least recently.

I do think that the vehicle subtype is relevant. Specialized hardware is standard in this game, but it would be an odd sight if you just plugged rollerblades into your rig. You don't actually throw Boomerang (I hope), but isn't a weapon either.

There is a possibility that even if it these are physical rollerblades there is some digital component to it. Like the thing that makes the JSRF Ed. of the AirbladeX special is it comes with a digital pack-in for your netspace avatar. It does leave the lingering question of why the hardware itself is involved.

My crazy theory is thus: The AirbladeX is actually just an extra input mechanism. You use your ankles to translate your real life rollerblading skills into netspace navigation, getting you "around" the ICE during a run. Arissana can definitely take advantage of this, and she can also take LilyPAD with her when she goes skating in meatspace.

In conclusion, I not even sure if there is an explanation for how this works, beyond metaphor. And I don't take issue with using metaphor on occasion; it is a nice way to fold more parts of the runner and corp story into the game.

Then there is the "how much anti-gravity is there in this setting" question but that can wait for another day.

I wonder if the digital figures around the banner are the ones actually getting you through the ice. The banner itself is a rally point, a symbol, but the figures around it are what carry you forward. The corp can try to beat them up, track them down and break their stuff in hopes they give up; but the corp can't stop them. They can't be stopped.

In other words, I really like the flavor text on Banner and the connection to an out-of-control riot.