Sunday, December 04, 2005
Snow Booo Kids
I have been neglecting my duties of late. A couple weeks ago, Nick and I received a reviewable copy of Snowboard Kids DS. As I am the one who was so enamored with the N64 originals, it was clearly my job to give this new version a run through and see how it stood up. And I did do that. In fact, in two days of gaming, I played through the entire World Tour mode. That was about a week ago. Since that time, while avoiding my school work, I tried to write about this game, but I just had nothing to say. SBK: DS certainly isn't a bad game - if it was I would have plenty to say - but it isn't all that good either. It just... is.
I briefly toyed with the idea of writing about the original titles, and why I loved them so, but I can't even remember what made them so special anymore. There's an unfortunate side effect in the new game that causes all memory of the originals to be erased from memory. Considering I spent many weekends playing both versions with my friends, it's kind of sad that entire portion of my life is now wiped clean from my memory. All I remember is desperately fearing the pie plates, which squashed all other racers, and trying to reach the chair lift before anyone else. Oh! That is one thing I can mention, the chair lift. Snowboard Kids is a battle/racing snowboarding title with laps. Just a fantastic idea. You would have to ride the chair lift back to the top and go down the mountain a few times to finish a race. When more than one person got to the lift at the same time, one would be screwed out of a seat and have to wait for the new ride to come by. Just a fantastic idea. Have I said that already? Well, I stand by it.
The new game has no moments like that. But that's not to say it's a complete loss either. For instance, there is actually a skillful way to dodge attacks in this. If you jump and perform a turn trick (not what you're thinking...) you can deflect shots. Doesn't add a ton to the game, but makes battling not as cheap as other games of its ilk seem to revel in. Also, the touch screen is actually put to good use. If you power up your Sno Bo Meter (no, I don't remember the real name) you can unleash a super trick off of jumps. You just tap the touch screen in the appropriate places and, viola, uber-trick.
Other than that though, it was a rather blah experience. I would have loved to play some real multiplayer, but it seems the single cart options are slim (one course...) so I can't issue an honest statement on that. I just wish there was more to this game. The World Tour is only a few hours long and after that there simply isn't anything to do. I would have liked a few more courses with some actual variety and a better single cart multiplayer. But, it seems like this game was doomed from the start. Coming out in the same month as Mario Kart DS is just a recipe for disaster. When the biggest fan of the originals - me - doesn't even care about you, maybe the drawing board is where you should have stayed.
If you've gone through all the great NDS titles, you should just go through them again before buying this. If snowboard action is what you crave, I'm sure you can find the originals with enough cash left over to buy a breastplate and a new bow.
I briefly toyed with the idea of writing about the original titles, and why I loved them so, but I can't even remember what made them so special anymore. There's an unfortunate side effect in the new game that causes all memory of the originals to be erased from memory. Considering I spent many weekends playing both versions with my friends, it's kind of sad that entire portion of my life is now wiped clean from my memory. All I remember is desperately fearing the pie plates, which squashed all other racers, and trying to reach the chair lift before anyone else. Oh! That is one thing I can mention, the chair lift. Snowboard Kids is a battle/racing snowboarding title with laps. Just a fantastic idea. You would have to ride the chair lift back to the top and go down the mountain a few times to finish a race. When more than one person got to the lift at the same time, one would be screwed out of a seat and have to wait for the new ride to come by. Just a fantastic idea. Have I said that already? Well, I stand by it.
The new game has no moments like that. But that's not to say it's a complete loss either. For instance, there is actually a skillful way to dodge attacks in this. If you jump and perform a turn trick (not what you're thinking...) you can deflect shots. Doesn't add a ton to the game, but makes battling not as cheap as other games of its ilk seem to revel in. Also, the touch screen is actually put to good use. If you power up your Sno Bo Meter (no, I don't remember the real name) you can unleash a super trick off of jumps. You just tap the touch screen in the appropriate places and, viola, uber-trick.
Other than that though, it was a rather blah experience. I would have loved to play some real multiplayer, but it seems the single cart options are slim (one course...) so I can't issue an honest statement on that. I just wish there was more to this game. The World Tour is only a few hours long and after that there simply isn't anything to do. I would have liked a few more courses with some actual variety and a better single cart multiplayer. But, it seems like this game was doomed from the start. Coming out in the same month as Mario Kart DS is just a recipe for disaster. When the biggest fan of the originals - me - doesn't even care about you, maybe the drawing board is where you should have stayed.
If you've gone through all the great NDS titles, you should just go through them again before buying this. If snowboard action is what you crave, I'm sure you can find the originals with enough cash left over to buy a breastplate and a new bow.
// posted by Tom @ 8:51 PM 
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