SSX Review

By Crazy Packers Fan

 
This is the top snowboarding game ever, one of the PS2 launch games, and something that you simply *must* buy if you don’t own SSX Tricky (basically the same game only harder and with a couple more tricks, characters, and courses). This is one of the best PS2 games to this date, let alone the best of the beginning games.

Characters?
Moby
JP
Elise
Kaori (cute)
Some big guy
Zoe
Another big guy
Yet another big guy (Names? I forget.)

Courses?
Snowdream (Japan)
Elsium Alps (Alps)
Merqury City Meltdown (N.Y. before 9/11)
Tokyo Megaplex (Tokyo and a giant pinball machine)
Hawaii
The Desert
Pipedream (England)
Untracked (who knows where, seriously!)

Now for the 0-4 star Review!

Graphics: ***

Great, I must say. Crisp, clear, cool... it all looks real, except for the tracks and falls in the ground. Those need some work. The glass? Okay, but where does it go? Same with a gate to a shortcut marked “Danger”-
it disappears once you break through it! But the rest is good, so a good rating here.

Sound: **1/2

Not bad, not bad. I mean, good voices (how I love Kaori’s voice), good music, although not great, and
sometimes annoying, but all right, and the crashes sound real at times and unreal at times. There’s where
it falls to 2 1/2 stars.

Characters: ***

Well, there’s 80s girl Zoe and dumb, loud, arrogant, and showoff blonde Elise, and then there’s that cute
Japanese brunette Kaori. All right, it's just my own opinion, and characters aren't that important in this game, so this category is trivial.

Difficulty: ***

All right, the racing’s difficult when you’re against computers. Especially when you win two races, finish
fourth in the next, and are out. No fair! But once you get going with tricks, oh is it easy! There’s a code to get everything unlocked, and it is... for me to know and you to search for. You’ll need it!

Gameplay: ***1/2

It’s easy to do tricks and easy to race. You know what you’re doing and you can do it well. I can’t complain
here, at all!

Controls: **

The controls are easy to follow and easy to pull off except for attacking (the right Control Stick) and grabbing the board (Triangle, because you’ve got to hit two buttons really quick). An okay rating here.

Tricks: ***1/2

Once you get going, it gets really fun! The tricks are easy to pull off: jump and push right; you’ll get at least a 180?, possibly a 360?. It’s a ton of fun, and you’ll enjoy it. I’ve pulled off a 900? before; my sister’s pulled off tricks I’ve never seen or heard of before and gets her boost meter filled within seconds of constant jumping and pulling off tricks. Completing a trick gives you boost for your boost meter. Tricks = boost, boost = speed!

Tracks: ****

They overdid themselves with some of these. Tokyo Megaplex? The pinball machine one? Wow! Merqury City Meltdown? So beautiful, but so tough to imagine the meltdown. Hawaii? That’s where the Survivor morons put their torches for you to knock over! This is on a mountain, where snow does fall in Hawaii. But I
wouldn’t eat it... The desert is another goodie. And that Alps course? Wow-ee! Especially the glass and that corkscrew thing. You know, EA Big should be commended on their efforts here. Too bad they didn’t make new ones for SSX Tricky...

Replayability: ***

You’ll want to keep on playing, especially against a live friend. Only two players hurts the rating here.

Fun Factor!: ***1/2

Again, only two players hurts the rating, but if you play against a live opponent you’ll have a blast. I guarantee it.

Overall: ***1/2

What a great game! This is a must-have, and I’d suggest it over SSX Tricky if you don’t have SSX. SSX Tricky is a remake of this game with a couple of new features, but not quite as good. If you get SSX Tricky after SSX, you’ll realize that you just paid $50 for a game you already have. SSX is cheaper and almost the same. Of course, it’s only for PS2, so if you don’t own PS2 then get SSX Tricky. Anyway, the best snowboarding game ever is this one, and it’s near-perfect. A must-have, I repeat!
 

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