Snow-world paradise! (SSX on Tour (PS2))

Member Name: nitrocide

Product:	SSX on Tour (PS2)
Date:	05/03/08 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Graphics, nice speeds, great trick system, good sound system

Disadvantages: no online mode

The SSX series has always been more of a racer, an racing game with an infinity of ridiculous airborne stunts. SSX on tour can keep up to this reputation and is even better then its pre-assessors.

Game play...

You start of the game with your own custom made player and then I mean custom, you can choose whether it's a skier or a snowboarder, whether he or she has blond or brown hair, how old he or she is etc... After you have finally customised your player you can then compete in a lengthy series of challenges. A good number of characters from past SSX games appear in SSX On Tour and you'll compete against them repeatedly.

The three main SSX event types--race, trick, and slope-style events are still part off SSX On Tour, EA has added more specific challenges to face. They start of pretty dull as you have to collect certain symbols scattered around the slope before times runs out, but as you improve more challenging shreds as they call them. One of my favourite challenges is where you have to make it through a course while touching the snow as little as possible. Every time you touch the snow, a countdown clock starts ticking, and if it reaches zero before you reach the finish line, you're disqualified. These events add an extra touch to SSX which I can not describe. Another good thing about the game is the go-any-where ability, there is no fixed path that you follow you can choose the paths for yourself.

Graphics...

The graphics are absolutely amazing on this game. Even if you come rushing down the mountain at god knows what speed, details on trees don't become blurry neither do the other racers go down in graphics when going on high speed. Every so often snow comes along which does increases the fun as it will decrease the level of visibility. When you perform a monster trick the came slows down and gives you a real good view on what the stunt is your performing. The graphics are all in one continuous flow with no short stops when you play.
Cool things are the add-ons of fireworks that blow up before you take a big jump and when you reach the finish.

Sounds...

At slower speeds, you'll hear everything on the mountain, the sound that your board or skis make changes as you go over ice and snow of different densities, the chatter of other people on the mountain, and the distant sounds of wildlife is included in the game. Once you start burning up your boost meter it is a completely different story. Everything changes the sound of the wind blowing past you increases. When you do a monster trick the sound stops and gives you a feeling is he or she going to make it or not. The features songs do go really well with the theme and there is a variety of really good song and some of them I even placed on my I-pod.

Controls...

The controls have been thought carefully about as there very affective and easy to use ones you get to know them.



For this game I would probably a 9 as the graphics are very good so is are the sound effects and controls. It is a very addicting game with lots of playing fun. Sadly it does not have a online mode and sometimes the game does get a bit monotone. But that doesn't matter as when you add up the good points they will far excide the negative points. The difficulty is a probably median to hard and it will take roughly about half-an-hour to an hour to get used to the controls, which isn't to bad for such a game with so many possibilities.

Summary: a game that every one should have! thanks for reading nitrocide