Snow Rest for the Tricked

The developers at EA SPORTS continue their assault on your adrenal system with the Platinum Hits title SSX Tricky, a high-speed, high-stakes snowboarding game chock full of lunatic tricks, impossible courses, a dozen unique characters, the option of race or showoff modes, and enough blazing velocity to make you go snow blind.

Eddie grinds a rail.

SSX Tricky splits the action into two modes: Single Race, which lets you go head-to-head against another racer in split screen, and World Circuit, which lets you compete against the rest of the ‘boarders in the SSX crew in Race, Showoff, or Time Attack. You’ll start off with four characters to choose from, and as you win races and out-trick competitions, you can unlock eight more. The starting characters are all quite capable, and once you devote some time building up your starter’s skills, you’ll probably stick with that starter for some time.

Character skills are split into Edging (taking corners); Speed (self-explanatory); Stability (staying on your board); and Tricks (possibly the most important of the four skills). Each character has a maximum level in each skill, and it varies from ‘boarder to ‘boarder.

Air Elise!

The four starters have something for everybody. Eddie, a gawky fellow with an enormous afro, is well-balanced and a good choice for beginners who want a little extra speed. Elise has a focus on speed and tricks, with deficits in stability and edging-and she’s cute as a button to boot. Helmet-wearing Moby (who doesn’t look anything like that Moby) has high stability and trick ratings, while Mac, a low-key gangsta with stone-cold attitude, focuses on tricks above all else. I went with Elise and haven’t had any complaints.

In addition to bonus characters, you can also unlock new boards with higher skill ratings and an array of new outfits for your boarder. Gain a master ranking, and you’ll get the unbelievably tricky Uber-Board and a “Master” outfit that makes you look like the liquid metal guy from Terminator 2.

I’m sure he’ll pull out of this.

As the title implies, SSX Tricky is all about the tricks. Even in Race mode, when speed is of the essence, pulling off tricks will fill up your trick meter. You can use a built-up trick meter to provide a needed speed boost when you need to pass an opponent or catch extra air on your next jump. When it’s full, you go into the zone, pulling off even more complicated Uber tricks. Uber tricks rack up the points, but can take a while—make sure you’ve got big air before setting one off.

As you progress in the game and successfully pull off tricks, you’ll complete new entries in your trick book. A combination tutorial guide and scrapbook, the trick book is made up of chapters. You unlock the next chapter (and the next bundle of possible tricks) by completing the chapter before it, driving you to pull of new and ever more impressive stunts as the game progresses.

Dress like this and still look wicked cool. Sorta.

The game’s division into Race and Showoff modes gives you nearly twice as many tracks, as each course is set up differently, depending on the type of competition. Race tracks naturally focus on getting you to maximum velocity, while Showoff courses are loaded with extra ramps, trick point multipliers, and an awful lot of long metal objects that you can ride between jumps to build gigantic trick combos.

You can even the odds in Race mode by attacking other competitors with a flick of the right thumbstick. Every character has a preset disposition toward yours and will be more or less likely to pick a fight with you on the slopes depending on whether they consider you a pal, feel neutral, or hate your guts. You can knock down whomever you please, however, and should—a successful knockdown fills up your trick meter instantly.

First place with a full Trick Meter: a beautiful thing.

SSX Tricky offers hours of thumb-wrenchingly addictive snowboarding gameplay that will constantly have you squeezing in “just one more race”—and, best of all, you get all this at the $19.99 Platinum Hits price! Grab your board, get tricky, and own the mountain.

By Ben Barker