About a year ago when the PlayStation 2 was all the rage, I rented a PS2 and the Electronic Arts game SSX. It was so much fun to play that I spent the better part of the time I had the PS2 playing that one game. I thought that the new version of the game might be even better, and being an Xbox fan you know it had to be impressive.
So, we rented SSX Tricky from the local video store with the hopes that this game would resurrect all the joy and laughter we had last year. I was hesitant to buy it because it was supposedly a port from the PS2 version (my thinking being that it might not be as good as a "native" Xbox game). You'll have to read the review to see if this was a mistake or not.
The Game
The premise of the game is pretty simple. It's so simple, it's fun. You are one of several snowboard riders -- each with his/her own personality and style. When I say style I am referring to appearance, attitude, and riding style. (If you ask me, ya gotta go with Elise! ;-)
The racers careen down the track at over 60 MPH and you basically do a variety of trick combinations whenever you feel like it. [NOTE: I'm not a snowboarder so please excuse me if I don't get all the terms right]. You can do things like ride the rails (or even fallen trees), flips, spins, ariel grabs, etc. When you have landed a number of successful tricks your "tricky" bar gets filled up. When it's full, annoying Tricky music comes on and you have about 20 seconds to do a special "Uber" trick. An Uber trick can be, for instance, a break dancing move on the board while in the air or perhaps a release-flip-and-catch move in the air.
SSX Tricky lets you start off by practicing your moves on the courses without any pressure or competition. You can also run in a learning mode which will educate you on how to do specific tricks. You can race the World Circuit which lets you race against computer opponents, gain medals, and unlock new race venues, clothing, tricks, snowboards, and characters. As you succeed with each level you get "points" which you can use to improve the capabilities of your racers. One of the things I like to do is to watch the replay after I've run the course. It gives you the TV-coverage-like view and even allows you to skip to the highlights of your run.
Finally, the aspect of the game that holds the most promise is the 2 player mode. You can do a straight speed race or you can play showoff mode which highlights your trick skills. The screen is split vertically down the middle - and quite frankly, this SUCKS. Competing against a buddy is awesome and tons of fun, but the split screen just doesn't provide nearly the field of view you need to play SSX Tricky. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten lost or misdirected in the course because I can't see which way is downhill. Some sort of on-screen arrow would really be helpful here.
Overall the game itself is fun -- especially at first. But I found that it gets kind of redundant and mundane after a few days worth of playing. I mean, really -- how many times can you do flips, spins, tail grabs... Maybe I'm just not that interested in snowboarding, but I started getting a little bored. As a counter opinion, my sister and wife absolutely love the game and even stayed up until 4am playing each other and becoming super-tricky. Unfortunately for them, this is my epinion review -- they can write their own. :-) I will say that I am not really into racing games of any kind, so it doesn't surprise me that this game got old fast. This isn't a car racing game, but the premise is more or less the same.
Interface
I'm not quite sure what to write about for the interface. What can you say? Electronic Arts has done a truly excellent job of designing the interface layout. I found it to be very intuitive. Basically, the thumbstick on the left accelerates, brakes and turns; the buttons on the right do things like jump and are used to perform tricks; the right thumbstick is used to knock down other racers; and the left movement pad is used to do things like flips and spins. It sounds kind of complicated, but it's actually very easy to use. It'll take you only a few minutes and a couple of games to get the hang of it.
The hard part comes in learning the trick combinations. Things like press left, then the X button. That sort of thing... Fortunately, EA has included a tutorial mode which lets you learn the trick and practice it to your heart's content. There's even an image of the controller on the screen which shows you how to perform the trick in realtime. Just copy the move and you're home free. If you forget your tricks, you can even check the "trick book" in the middle of the game.
Well done EA!!
Ambiance
Now admittedly, I have not seen the PS2 version of SSX Tricky, but the graphics look pretty darn good to me. They're slightly better than what I'd expect from an arcade machine, but not anywhere near what I know the Xbox is capable of. On it's own, the look and feel is very good -- but when you've seen Halo or Dead of Alive 3 on the Xbox you've got a whole new definition of "awesome graphics".
Still the attention to detail is good - not great. Clothes don't look particularly real, and they don't really flow naturally -- but the game's action is so quick you don't really notice. You will notice things like kicked up snow spray when you're making a sharp turn, and the very nice shadow effects of the racers... but the detail in the course is not much better than an arcade machine. I doubt it would look significantly better with an Advanced AV pack (not on my TV anyways).
Sound effects and music are excellent, although I didn't notice any stereo sound effects at all. I might have just missed that, but it seems to me that if a fellow racer is right beside me that I should hear his/her taunts and snowboard noise right-beside-me as well. Call me picky.
There's also some limited announcer commentary which lets you know you've done a phenomenal trick or that you need to do some more creative moves ("I think we've seen that trick before!"). Frankly, I think it gets kind of annoying.
One Last Thing
One last thing I'd like to highlight is that there is some bonus DVD material on the game disc. When you start up the game it lets you choose the game or the DVD material. There are behind the scenes interviews and discussions of how the game was made and the thought behind it. I guess they had to fill up the rest of the DVD with something, eh?
Overall
Overall the game succeeds in making a fun arcade-style snowboarding game. It lets even the least athletic of us live the dream of making an amazing 720-flip-tail grab-with a mid-air catch and release trick on the slopes... without the fear of spending the rest of our lives in a neck brace. I do wish that EA had taken the time to fully take advantage of the Xbox platform they were given, but I think if I were in their position I don't know that I would have done any different. And the game is fun, while it lasts.
Ssx tricky takes you to the other side of the mountain in moreways than one. The follow-up to the game that took the console world by storm features 6...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Get dropped onto the lower peak of the biggest mountain you've ever seen. You'll seamlessly board from one awesome area to the next-entering competiti...More at Amazon Marketplace
This is a picture of the actual item(s) you will receive. See photo. The prices and offers listed are firm. However, due to changing market conditions...More at eBay
Intense snowboarding excitement comes to the Xbox in this remix of the fan-favorite SSX. Whether you're interested in high-flying tricks or high-veloc...More at GameQuest Direct. com
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.