SSX: A Must Have Title.
Written: Jan 03 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great maps, easy to play, and easy to get into.
Cons: Some math problems, might need to see a doctor about getting a prosthetic thumb now.
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| Alkaiser's Full Review: SSX for PlayStation 2 |
This game is so incredibly fun, and visually impressive, you should just account for the cost when you're buying your PS2. Just assume you're going to buy it, along with an extra controller.
The game's concept is fairly simple...snowboard, do tricks, and get down the mountain first. However, that was the concept for the first Cool Boarders game, and it got whupped by the snowboarding mini-game that was in Final Fantasy 7. After that point I had sort of become put-off by snowboarding games, and I was hesitant to try SSX at first.
However, during a game rental weekend that JamesWong and I engaged in, we picked up this game, and Gradius III and IV. It is very easy to pick this game up, and do simple things like backflip and 180 properly. Once you start playing the game for the 2nd or 3rd time you start to learn how to crank out moves like the "Frontside Triple Rodeo" that rack up the points, and fill your Boost gauge.
While it may look difficult to pull off tricks at first, every trick in the game is done by either holding a direction and jumping, or by holding some combination of the shoulder buttons and jumping. It's not you're trying to pull off a reverse dragon punch while you're in midair to do board grabs.
The maps are VERY well done. They're all nice and long and filled with many alternate paths, shortcuts, and other little secrets. In addition to this, they all look incredible and are jam-packed with little details. To run a game this large this smoothly would be impossible on any of the other systems available now.
One thing I found kind of lacking were the characters. I just kind of wish they were a bit better thought out, because most of them just end up looking the same. The only way you really start to tell them apart is their distinctive voices. I wish there were more than 8 riders total in the game as well.
Music is done pretty well, with EA calling up their old stand-by for video game rap music, Razael. (I'm not sure on the spelling.) He did the opening theme and a couple tracks for NBA Live 1999. Nothing really worth buying the soundtrack for, but it's good enough that it won't get annoying, which is, however, more than I can say for his announcing work.
There are some oddities in the game that just strike me as clueless. On some of the maps, you'll be racing away and the computer will tell you that you're in 1st, but you'll see riders in front of you, and more likely than not, you're actually in 6th. Another thing is the math seems to break down once you start getting multipliers, or your points get halved for repeat tricks. For instance, I pulled off a 360 after hitting a 2x multiplier. Standard 360 score is 950, but after it was doubled, I got a 1910. In addition, if you manage to pull off something larger than an 1800, the computer will report your trick as "???". It's not as rewarding to have to go and figure out that you pulled off a 2160 instead of having the computer announce it to everyone. Also, while you're riding, your board leaves this nifty little "bevel cut" in the snow where you were riding...it looks pretty nice up until you get on the ice and it does the exact same thing.
But aside from that, the game is really quite fun. If you play in "World Circuit" mode you'll be either racing against the computre players, or you'll be trying to crank out as many tricks as you can to reach certain score plateaus. Once you medal, you can gain experience points to level up your rider. The levelled up rider will then be useable in Vs. modes as well as other World Circuit and other modes. Earning medals on tracks will allow you to unlock other features like new boards for your rider, new costumes, and new tracks.
So, while you're looking around for somewhere to buy a PS2, pick up this game while you're waiting, so you'll have it while you're waiting for PS2 supplies to start arriving, that way it won't be as big a financial blow, and this is pretty much a sure-fire hit.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Alkaiser
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 - Top 500 |
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Member: Clayton Chan
Location: Irvine, CA
Reviews written: 655
Trusted by: 344 members
About Me:
Broke the 700 pound mark on my leg lifts.
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