SSX EA challenge cool boarders to the throne in this mixture of realism racing with a touch of cartoon style. One of the first games I touched on my beloved Playstation 2, and I guessed it would just be another snowboarding game with no difference from the four Cool Boarders games, but how wrong could I be. SSX opens with a nice shiny opening with the new EA company title of EA Big it merges the game and some character introductions together which works nicely, the games actual presentation is also very nice too. The racing options allow you to have a single race or a long drawn out world circuit competition, I spent most of my time in the single player world circuit event, that�s when I realised I couldn�t put it down. When you have selected your racing mode its time to set your boarders up, first choose which boarder you want out of the starting characters such as the bigheaded Moby or Mac who is in fact full of life and wants to live to the limits I mean that literally, and a bunch of other racers, which some you will have to unlock, more about that later though. After you have chosen your boarder you can pick some clothes for him or her and even there boards, new ones can be unlocked of these too. Then it�s off to the slopes for the ride of your dear life. The stadium around the starting pad erupts into life as an announcer speaks and the boarders get ready to launch themselves down the hill, the starting lights light and off you go. The graphics are spot on, as smooth and shiny as marble. The snow looks brilliant as the racers board through it you will see the detail in the way the snow reacts to the riders situations and the boards also leave a line of where they have been which is great and actually looks grooved into the snow. Some of the slopes have fireworks shooting from the side of the banks which in my opinion is one of the best graphical achievements I have ever seen, masses of beautiful colour please the eye and you realise how much the console has moved on from its five year old brother. The courses are probably the best lot I have ever seen on a racing game never mind just snowboarding, they range from big steep hills to massive jumps and a load of obstacles to avoid. The first course is called Snowdream and it is set in Japan, its quite an easy straightforward course which won�t really test your skills, the second course is when things start getting interesting as it has two massive jumps at the beginning of the slope for you to contend with and then again some more jumps towards the end on a narrow path which is quite scary to be honest, the third course is set in a city and as you would think there is a load of people in the stadium, the course is difficult with lots of obstacles to contend with, luckily the other boarders are normally as crap as you if not crapper. The other 3 courses you can discover yourself. Each course consists of 3 rounds quarter finals, semi finals and final after you have finished in the top 3 on each round the next more difficult course will be unlocked or you could gain some experience points to improve your characters skills this is all done with your customisation, this is also how you unlock new characters, clothes and boards, which feels very rewarding. The racing is fast and adrenaline-streaming madness as tricks are also included allowing some cool stunts off big jumps or even small jumps if possible. Tricks include back/forward flips, side spins and more, but trust me they are cool and you won�t stop until you have mastered every single trick in the book, which will take ages. SSX signs are around the six courses which allow you to do some pretty nifty shortcuts right through the signs, ouch, shortcuts can also be found yourself, fancy a mega dangerous trip through the deeper snow in a cluster of trees and over huge jumps not knowing where you are going to land, then take the shortcut. One hilarious shortcut is through a building window and then right through the floor and out the other side which is very original and totally unrealistic, but SSX does not thrive on realism it thrives on masses of class and enjoyment. The game even contains pickups such as speed boost (can also be built up with doing tricks) with a nice motion blur or trick boosts which, well you guessed it. The sound is also a nice touch, listen as the boarders whistle through the wind or when they hit the ground, they will make cartoon bong and boing noises and there bodies go bang. The characters will also yell comments on the course as they jump they will say things such as �wohoo� or �yehaa� there�s also other samples from a commentator, he will say things like �I didn�t know backs could bend that way� or if you repeat a trick again and again your points of that trick will be halved and he will tell you in some of his comments which is a nice touch, he says a lot more but I think you will hear it yourselves. What can I say apart from all I already have said apart from well-done EA, I think this is one of the best launch titles if not the best and Cool boarders hang your head in shame, SSX is here to stay.Chris Wigham 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |