SSX Tricky

Not to be confused with SEX, SSX Tricky is the second installment of the SSX series made by Electronic Arts. Basically a snowboarding game, it fits pretty perfectly in the "XTREME SNOWBOARDING" theme everyone basically wets themself over.

SSX Tricky is an very interesting game, no doubt. Instead of sticking useless famous snowboarders in the game, or sticking in characters from EA's other games, they've rather decided to create "Wacky" characters in replacement. This actually isnt such a bad idea, as that it makes the game more unique than it makes it cheesy.



The game's controls and system are the main good part of this game, believe it or not. Instead of, again, forcing a useless true snowboarding genre, the game is very lighthearted about the tricks and skills you can do, allowing for many different types of jumps, spins, and general trickery in the air. Its much better than playing a realistic snowboarding game, and it makes the game feel so much more polished.

This game was basically created for the PS2 controller. L1, L2, R1, and R2 all control different ways you can trick out on the board with different grabs and the like. Then, to add more complexity, the control pad is used to control a tilt of your character, so you can spin, flip, or the like. Of course, the perfect combination tends to be to hold all of the shoulder buttons and spin like a maniac, but its easier said than done.

As for the game modes, this game is a little sparse. Trick mode (To get points), Race mode, time mode, your general racing genre modes. However, SSX Tricky tends to not make these modes feel old, as the levels are so complex and useful that even a simple race down the slope feels much more than a "Slam into the character beside you" race, like in most Gran Turismo games.


Of course, there are bonuses in the game, such as picking up little snowflakes. An interesting addition to this game is that while you gain points, you gain "Tricky", a meter that allows you to boost. So essentially, pulling off tricks after getting major air do play off in the race mode, because the boost is almost essential to winning some of the races.

The graphics are pretty good for what they're for. Again, its obvious that the PS2 is hitting its graphical limitations, and that the graphics could have been much better, but I'm not too worried about that. After all, I play TONS of classic console games, and compareably, they have horrible graphics, so who am I to argue?

The music deserves attention of its own. If you've read a few of my reviews, you'll know I'm a big game music fanatic, and this game doesnt dissapoint. The game features a ingame music mixing engine, which basically changes the music depending on the situation you're in. This can range from making the music more intense in the last race, to cutting the treble during a jump to make the bass pump the speakers. Essentially, its like the transition from "Battle" to "Boss Battle", and really isnt as big of a deal as EA's like it to be, but it is a very new and original idea, and I hope they don't trash it just because it was a little lacklustre in the production of this game.



The maps in this game deserve a decent amount of attention, and not because of the graphics. Just like my Beetle Adventure Racing review, I'll say that these levels are actually ones you can explore and enjoy, and they are truely fun to experiment with. Complex groupings of rails, huge chasms, and multiple paths make these maps so much better than your traditional one-path race game.

Overall, this is a very decent game to pick up if you own a console, because this game is available in every next-gen console, as well as on the Game Boy Advance. This might be one of the funnest racing/tricks games you can pick up for the next-gen consoles, and is a welcome break from the overly done snowboarding games like Microsoft's Amped.

4 star(s) out of 5

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