Nov 15, 2007
Mist and silence. That's what defines SSX for us. The arcade-style snowboarding racer might normally be the bounciest, brightest game on PS2, but there's one moment at the start of Tricky where everybody hurtles off a cliff, the music cuts out, the scenery falls away and you… just… drop. Nothing but mist and silence. For one, two, three seconds - then you slam back into the race, there's a cascade of sparks, the DJ whoops and the race kicks off again. And every SSX, even On Tour, has its own defining moments like this that mark the series out as one of the most special, most exciting set of sports games around. We love it.
SSX On Tour
Blasphemy. That was the reaction when we saw Kaori toting a brace of ski poles, prompted by painful memories of Gallic ski instructors shouting at us during our first real goes on a board. All On Tour really did, though, is add more options to the series - the skis are there if you want, but you can always stick to the traditional boards if you like. At times, On Tour's structure gets a bit too loose - it sometimes feels like there's no clear sense of direction - and references to shredding and hype felt a bit forced. Whacking pre-school skiers seems a bit THUG, and dodging avalanches didn't help the game any. Can SSX get back on track when it goes next-gen? Let's hope so.
Best character: New characters Tyson and Skye are a bit underwhelming, so we're going to bend the rules here and pick series mainstay Moby Jones.
Best course: All of them sort of blend into one, but you can't beat The Peak for breathtaking scenery.
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