SSX On Tour
Posted November 22, 2005
Winter must be around the corner because EA has just released the fourth iteration in their EA Big branded SSX series. But in order to keep things fresh they decided that the single plank option wasn't enough to entice gamers into buying a new version, so dual-planks (skis) have been added, and quite honestly the gameplay didn't change much, but the graphical tweaks that were required added a little freshness to the title.
Gameplay:
Altering things slightly from previous SSX titles (i.e. SSX Tricky being spread across multiple locations, SSX 3 being a free-form romp across a single mountain), SSX On Tour has just a single mountain as SSX 3, but instead of allowing you to board around freely you have to choose your challenge and therefore your line down the mountain.
Picking single challenges can get stale pretty quickly without a driving point behind your choices, so the underlying story this time around is you're a lowly snowboarder or skier who is trying to make a name for himself on the tour. Through challenges where skill is required such as medal races, trick challenges, and other unfortunate challenges like the collecting items and grinding specific rail segments, your character will gain some cred to help spread his name around. Gain enough cred and you'll earn sponsorship and entrance onto the ranked list as a lowly amateur. You get your name known through more than just riding well; you also get hype points by scaring tourist skiers and tubers, and even knocking them down as you barrel down the mountain as you fight and claw your way up to professional status.
As you creep higher in the rankings, you unlock more challenges that will have you facing off against other named racers, and providing you beat them you unlock their likeness for use in free ride mode, or in multiplayer mode. Multiplayer is unfortunately limited to a single console and two players, why Live support was not included I cannot tell, but that is one area which is lacking.
SSX always was and always will be solely about pulling off huge air and pulling off some insane tricks that no average person could ever perform. Gone are the Uber tricks of yesteryear, now we are fully able to perform Monster tricks once your boost bar is full. How do you fill the boost bar you ask? Well, naturally you fill it be successfully performing simple tricks and linking them together with combos, similar to the manual in the Tony Hawk series.
Skiing obviously is the largest addition to the game, but in all honesty it doesn't make that big of an impact in the overall feel of the game. I did actually think to myself that the skiers controlled slightly different and could actually turn a little tighter especially when trying to navigate the tree infested tracks. Naturally the animations for the skiers are different all the way from the basic motions they make when carving downhill to the Monster tricks and rail grinds they can perform. Sure it might not make people super excited to pick up yet another sequel, but it's a change of pace of games that involve skiing are few are far between; and skiing is a very popular winter sport.
The controls are very simple and easy to pick up, especially for those who have played a previous version of SSX, or even any other extreme sports game for that matter. Almost immediately I found myself pulling out 360 Stale fish Back flips and other staggering tricks. Because it's not aimed at the simulation area of sports games, the game is a quite forgiving when it comes to making that perfect landing. I mean, when you can pull off airtime that comes close to 15 seconds and is performed in slow motion, should you really expect your character to land at a perfect angle? I didn't think so.
Graphics:
When a game has an air guitar playing unicorn you know that something is up. Menus and loading screens (which incidentally are very quick) all through SSX On Tour are drawn in a very simple doodled black ink on white paper style. You know the kind you used to draw when you were sitting through Chemistry 101 even though you had no artistic talent, yeah that's them. But surprisingly, I found this to fit in quite nicely with the rest of the game's "extreme" feel, and even more so when you take into account the soundtrack.
Character models are very similar to the ones that appeared in the other three SSX titles, slightly exaggerated in all aspects, but realistic enough to make you feel that you're on that mountain with them.
Snow effects are nicely implemented yet again, with the tracks you lay in powder looking realistic, the rooster tails you throw when carving a super tight line, it all looks great. The mountain is big, and I mean big. When you actually take the run from the peak to the base later in the game, be prepared for a tens of minutes long finger numbing experience, which features no loading breaks other than the initial load. One minor nitpick is the drawing of the trees when you're flying down the mountain. They just seem a little two-dimensional, and even through they whiz through the screen at a blurring pace, they still detract from the title just a little.
Audio:
For some reason unknown to me, EA churns out games with soundtracks ranging from a few songs in a particular genre in games like the NHL and Tiger Woods series, then on some games they pull out all the stops with a soundtrack that is varied and expansive like they did with SSX On Tour.
I'll admit I was smitten from the moment the game booted and I was greeted by Iron Maiden telling me to Run to the Hills and then treated to a Kaiser Chiefs song, followed by some Blackalicious. Not all players will enjoy the default soundtrack that EA has selected, so various options are included to limit the play list to new rock, classic rock, rap among a couple of other options.
The music plays a vital role in the style of the game, and isn't simply limited to playing constantly during your runs down the mountain. If you start to catch some major air the music will crackle and fade in and out depending on your airtime, if you start to crash a lot the sound will reflect the action onscreen.
Ambient sound effects are adequate with the poor skiers, snowboarders and tubers you whiz past and crash into commenting on your "skill". Also the competitors that you'll race and otherwise compete against will also be talking smack to you when you are near them, which adds to the full mountain feeling that the game represents.
Conclusion:
Games come out year after year with little in the way of enhancements so I tend to try and alternate years, allowing for that much more innovation, and to that note I still bust out my copy of SSX Tricky and get down from time to time. I feel that this is the version that will get the most play in my house, thanks to sharper graphics and one of the best soundtracks EA has yet to put on a game. That combined with the ability to go through the game as a skier instead of a snowboarder offers a little more in terms of variation and for that I salute you EA.
They managed to keep the controls simple enough that a new player to the series could pick up and play with no issues, and players who are familiar would be able to start up and rank their player up with little downtime. There is one major downfall to the game however and that is that the speed at which you progress through the game is a little slow, so it takes some time for your character to gain enough skill to earn new equipment which will really let you fly down the mountain, both in terms of speed and airtime. But once you reach a critical mass you'll be soaring through the air and pulling off some insane Monster tricks, and you'll once again fall in love with the world of SSX. I give the game a solid recommendation.
Gameplay:
Altering things slightly from previous SSX titles (i.e. SSX Tricky being spread across multiple locations, SSX 3 being a free-form romp across a single mountain), SSX On Tour has just a single mountain as SSX 3, but instead of allowing you to board around freely you have to choose your challenge and therefore your line down the mountain.
Picking single challenges can get stale pretty quickly without a driving point behind your choices, so the underlying story this time around is you're a lowly snowboarder or skier who is trying to make a name for himself on the tour. Through challenges where skill is required such as medal races, trick challenges, and other unfortunate challenges like the collecting items and grinding specific rail segments, your character will gain some cred to help spread his name around. Gain enough cred and you'll earn sponsorship and entrance onto the ranked list as a lowly amateur. You get your name known through more than just riding well; you also get hype points by scaring tourist skiers and tubers, and even knocking them down as you barrel down the mountain as you fight and claw your way up to professional status.
As you creep higher in the rankings, you unlock more challenges that will have you facing off against other named racers, and providing you beat them you unlock their likeness for use in free ride mode, or in multiplayer mode. Multiplayer is unfortunately limited to a single console and two players, why Live support was not included I cannot tell, but that is one area which is lacking.
SSX always was and always will be solely about pulling off huge air and pulling off some insane tricks that no average person could ever perform. Gone are the Uber tricks of yesteryear, now we are fully able to perform Monster tricks once your boost bar is full. How do you fill the boost bar you ask? Well, naturally you fill it be successfully performing simple tricks and linking them together with combos, similar to the manual in the Tony Hawk series.
Skiing obviously is the largest addition to the game, but in all honesty it doesn't make that big of an impact in the overall feel of the game. I did actually think to myself that the skiers controlled slightly different and could actually turn a little tighter especially when trying to navigate the tree infested tracks. Naturally the animations for the skiers are different all the way from the basic motions they make when carving downhill to the Monster tricks and rail grinds they can perform. Sure it might not make people super excited to pick up yet another sequel, but it's a change of pace of games that involve skiing are few are far between; and skiing is a very popular winter sport.
The controls are very simple and easy to pick up, especially for those who have played a previous version of SSX, or even any other extreme sports game for that matter. Almost immediately I found myself pulling out 360 Stale fish Back flips and other staggering tricks. Because it's not aimed at the simulation area of sports games, the game is a quite forgiving when it comes to making that perfect landing. I mean, when you can pull off airtime that comes close to 15 seconds and is performed in slow motion, should you really expect your character to land at a perfect angle? I didn't think so.
Graphics:
When a game has an air guitar playing unicorn you know that something is up. Menus and loading screens (which incidentally are very quick) all through SSX On Tour are drawn in a very simple doodled black ink on white paper style. You know the kind you used to draw when you were sitting through Chemistry 101 even though you had no artistic talent, yeah that's them. But surprisingly, I found this to fit in quite nicely with the rest of the game's "extreme" feel, and even more so when you take into account the soundtrack.
Character models are very similar to the ones that appeared in the other three SSX titles, slightly exaggerated in all aspects, but realistic enough to make you feel that you're on that mountain with them.
Snow effects are nicely implemented yet again, with the tracks you lay in powder looking realistic, the rooster tails you throw when carving a super tight line, it all looks great. The mountain is big, and I mean big. When you actually take the run from the peak to the base later in the game, be prepared for a tens of minutes long finger numbing experience, which features no loading breaks other than the initial load. One minor nitpick is the drawing of the trees when you're flying down the mountain. They just seem a little two-dimensional, and even through they whiz through the screen at a blurring pace, they still detract from the title just a little.
Audio:
For some reason unknown to me, EA churns out games with soundtracks ranging from a few songs in a particular genre in games like the NHL and Tiger Woods series, then on some games they pull out all the stops with a soundtrack that is varied and expansive like they did with SSX On Tour.
I'll admit I was smitten from the moment the game booted and I was greeted by Iron Maiden telling me to Run to the Hills and then treated to a Kaiser Chiefs song, followed by some Blackalicious. Not all players will enjoy the default soundtrack that EA has selected, so various options are included to limit the play list to new rock, classic rock, rap among a couple of other options.
The music plays a vital role in the style of the game, and isn't simply limited to playing constantly during your runs down the mountain. If you start to catch some major air the music will crackle and fade in and out depending on your airtime, if you start to crash a lot the sound will reflect the action onscreen.
Ambient sound effects are adequate with the poor skiers, snowboarders and tubers you whiz past and crash into commenting on your "skill". Also the competitors that you'll race and otherwise compete against will also be talking smack to you when you are near them, which adds to the full mountain feeling that the game represents.
Conclusion:
Games come out year after year with little in the way of enhancements so I tend to try and alternate years, allowing for that much more innovation, and to that note I still bust out my copy of SSX Tricky and get down from time to time. I feel that this is the version that will get the most play in my house, thanks to sharper graphics and one of the best soundtracks EA has yet to put on a game. That combined with the ability to go through the game as a skier instead of a snowboarder offers a little more in terms of variation and for that I salute you EA.
They managed to keep the controls simple enough that a new player to the series could pick up and play with no issues, and players who are familiar would be able to start up and rank their player up with little downtime. There is one major downfall to the game however and that is that the speed at which you progress through the game is a little slow, so it takes some time for your character to gain enough skill to earn new equipment which will really let you fly down the mountain, both in terms of speed and airtime. But once you reach a critical mass you'll be soaring through the air and pulling off some insane Monster tricks, and you'll once again fall in love with the world of SSX. I give the game a solid recommendation.