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SSX Tricky Review
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
SSX Tricky arrives on the Xbox with minimum fuss, but can it still impress with an audience that has higher demands???
SSX Tricky is arguably the best snowboarding game around. Whilst some may deride it as unrealistic, the fact is that itās OTT nature comes closer to recreating the extreme nature better then most of the mundane efforts weāve seen. OK so perhaps you canāt get away with throwing a board around your body whilst youāre hundreds of foot in the air, but who cares, itās fun.
SSX Tricky is a basic port of the PS2 version that arrived earlier last year. For anyone that has played that version it will take awhile to get used to the reworked control system, as the game had been originally designed around the DualShock 2 controller. The trigger buttons and two of the face buttons now control tricks, with the other two assigned to boost and tweak respectively. After a few goes youāll quickly get the hang of things, although not having the trick buttons in the same layout as the PS2 version certainly affects things, moving from the analogue to the D-Pad is much easier on the Xbox controller.
The World Circuit mode is where youāll play the bulk of the game, and where you unlock most of the extra goodies. Select a character from the two initially available and then compete in two different heats, if you place at least third youāll move onto the final where you must win a Gold, Silver or Bronze to progress to the next course. Doing so not only openās up the next course, but gives you points to enhance your characters attributes and open up new boards, characters, etcā¦
For those not in the know, a quick refresh: pull of stunts to build up your boost bar, top your boost bar and youāll have access to the games uber moves.
SSX Tricky introduces the excellent friend/rival aspect to the mould, bringing in a much-needed sense of strategy and tactics to the chaotic affair. Depending on your performance towards your fellow snowboarders will influence whether they become enemies or friends. Enemies will do their best to knock you over and ruin your day, whilst friends will let you pass and try to hold up your enemies. The whole aspect is brilliantly portrayed in the slick cut-scenes before and after each race.
Of course you may think it easier and wiser not to not make any enemies, however pushing enemies will instantly fill up your boost bar giving you access to your characters uber moves. Once youāve topped your bar, Run DMCās āItās Trickyā kicks in, and youāve got 20 seconds to find a jump and perform a trigger/button combination that will send your character into an insane stunt that youāve all seen in the adverts to promote the game.
Pushing players over isnāt the only way to top your boost bar however it is the quickest, adding a nice sense of taking a risk to the proceedings. Do you risk making enemies or take your time building up your boost bar with a number of normal stunts???
SSX Tricky features minimum visual enhancements over the PS2 version, characters now benefit from sharper textures and self-shadowing effects that looks nice during the cut-scenes. However the courses still have the same simple textures, and yet, as with the PS2 version it all comes together well, so that itās only when you go looking for it do you notice them. It would have been nice to see some of the Xbox graphical trickery gone to use, but youāll have to make do without, thereās no fancy bump-mapping or particle effects for the snow and like the PS2 version slowdown does occur when things get heated, inexcusableā¦
As with the PS2 version, sound plays a major part. The tunes of Mix Master Mike build up as you get better, and collapse when you wipe out. The dialogue of the characters has been superbly crafted with the aid of some of the entertainment industries top brass; David Arquette, Lucy Liu and Macy Gray to name but a few. Each has recorded lines of dialogue that is played out through the cut-scenes and during the race as characters holler out at each other.
Thanks to the wonder of DVD storage the game features extensive extras, including such things as interviews with the voice actors and a look at how the game was made to name but a few. Itās fair to say there are more extras on here then in most DVD movies, hopefully an indication of the way games will go.
