GAME REVIEW: SSX

The first additional game I bought after the initial first 4 I got when Playstation 2 first released was SSX, an EA Sports Snowboarding title. I was a little apprehensive about purchasing a snowboarding game, and assumed that I may end up returning it however the game did prove it's worth and I still play it to this day. At first I was really turned off by this game due to its difficulty right off the bat in the beginning. The game is hard at first when you don't know what you are doing or the secrets to playing the game decently. The first few days I cursed it several times, and as it were I kept playing over the next few days still doing rather poorly until I figured it out significantly. In all the years of playing games, I've never gotten a callous on my thumb, this game however, gave me callouses on my thumbs I played it so much in determination. Once I mastered this mechanics of the gameplay and the secrets to successful winning, it became a lot of fun.

The graphics in SSX, are very good. I suppose anything on these Next Gen systems will at least look very good, but I've got to say that the appearance of the environments are very well done. The courses are very smooth and evoke a sense of realism. The only obvious graphical deficiency are the people in the stands who are flat 2-D moving polygons, but that's okay because I know that they just couldn't render that many people and the course and your racer at the same time. The action is faced paced, no draw in, and it's clipping along at at least 30 frames, probably 60 (can't tell) per second. I never saw slowdown. This game is faced pace and in your face. The characters you choose from are detailed, textures a little basic for Playstation 2 graphics, but nonetheless nothing much to complain about really. There are 8 characters in all, each with weaknesses and strengths, well, more or less one character may have a stat that is enhanced over another or vice versa. The action is nonstop in SSX except during loading times which I think are a little long sometimes.

The play system is is not overly combersome and overloaded with statistics, which is good however excecuting the tricks and maintaining control will escape some gamers for the first couple of days. The deal with SSX is that you have to realize and plan ahead as you approch one of those ramps. The first two days I had this game, I had no idea what the boost was for, and felt real stupid when I figured out all it took was to press the square to make the boarder go faster. Mastery and memorization of the courses is key to winning in this game. The more you win the more experience pts you can add to your rider to make them better suited to win more often. My suggestion is to play all the Trick Courses in World Circuit first and try for a gold in all those before attempting the race. Executing killer tricks depends upon pressing and holding X, adding boost, and pressing the D-Pad in the direction you would like to spin your boarder, as well as picking the possible combo of L/R buttons to push. The bigger the trick, the bigger the air, the more points you get. Also, add combos while you are in the air to rack up points. You may wonder why all the boarders kick your ass in race mode, and it pestered the crap out of me until I figured it out. You see, there are shortcuts on all the courses that let you get the jump on the other boarders, use these. The easiest way to know something is a shortcut is if you see those signs made of glass that say SSX on them. Breaking through the glass with your boarder will lead to short cuts every time and are essential to you winning the race. Also, only perform enough tricks in race mode to get your boost into the red, otherwise simply ride over the ramps without trying anything fancy or even holding down X. I am now a pro at this game, having played it for awhile now. I can execute some ultimate combos like a "Crippled Squirrel" or a "Life Insurance" or a "900 Full On with an Experimental to a Late Combo" or a "Backside Triple Misty with a Method"

The sound effects in the game are appropriate for the "extreme" motif of the game. The racers and characters will taunt each other at times and you do have the ability to push the other racers into the snow if you press on the right analog stick when you are near an opponent. There is usually an announcing voice that is just plain warped at times. Ex: "That was a funky dope maneuver!" or "Ohh, the taste of snow!" or "I didn't now backs could bend that way!" Sometimes you hear announcers speaking in English and Japanese at the beginning of the race on the appropriate courses that are indicated as located in those countries. There are some funky songs that play while you shred snow, I think one of these is a song that sounds like the "Bow Wow, Wow, wow, yippie yo, yippie yay," song, but overall they are nothing that special. I wouldn't mind hearing some heavy metal or punk alternative kind of like Crazy Taxi for a game like this. It's adequate background music but my preferance in bands lies elsewhere. The music will fade if you are in the air executing a trick.

There is considerable challenge and replay to be found in a game like this. As I mentioned before, I had a tough time with this at first, in fact I tossed the controller across the room several times in disgust and gave my TV the finger on at least a couple occasions after hearing "I'm sorry but you didn't qualify for the next round." Another annoying thing is obstacles, or getting stuck in a valley. If you bump into something, rather than try to negotiate around it and waste all that time, just press "select" to reset your boarder back on the course, it's faster. Once I got the hang of it though, things started falling into place. I still play this game because I attempt to better my score in all the Trick modes. I think my high score on Elysium Alps is currently at 283,000, and I'm working on getting that higher. I sometimes like scored games because these are the games that you can have bragging rights with your friends. I challenge anyone I personally know to topple my high scores on any of those courses. They get a BigMac on me if someone I know can beat those scores. There isn't too much extra in the game other than 2 new outfits per character, new snowboards, an extra course "Untracked" and Exp Pts, but the challenge in performing that impossible trick is still there. I still find myself executing tricks that are new. Once in a while, I'll get a trick that says "???" at the bottom of the screen which means I did something even the computer didn't know what to call it. That's style and finesse right there, baby.

SSX isn't any kind of RPG or Shoot 'em Up Action game, but it delivers an all around fun package. Once you get past the initial difficulty it's fun to play, and that's what makes a game worth keeping. I just wish there were more courses to play, more characters to choose from, and the graphics had been tweaked just a bit, but that's just me kind of looking for flaws. This game doesn't need to get any harder to be a challenge, it is tough enough to whip your ass several times. I figure once you get past its minor problems, you have an all around game. If you like Xtreme sports or snowboarding then you must have this game. If you are looking for a game that you want to challenge your friends with, then this is a good game to have for PS2. If you hate "these kind of games" then don't even try, you will hate it. If you are an openminded gamer, rent it at least and you will be satisfied.