Powder Trip SSX-short for "snowboard supercross"-drops gamers into some of the most intense downhill races ever. No matter how you cut it, these tracks are tricky, littered with steep-banked curves, unusual obstacles, and many alternate paths. If you don't want to follow the track, don't-you can take your chances in the deep powder and hope that you can find the finish line faster your own way. SSX offers only eight tracks, but they're impressively long and filled with secret shortcuts and trick opportunities. Plus, these aren't exactly your run-of-the-mill bunny slopes. In addition to the traditional powdery mountains, you'll tackle a glacier off the coast of Hawaii, carve through a paradoxical course in the American Southwest, surf a snowed-in city complete with subway shortcuts, and shred in the Tokyo Megaplex (a cross between a snowboard park and a pinball machine). Best of all, the game has a bonus course of pure, unpacked snow-explore and make your own path. Snowny Hawk? Of course, you'll have to do more than just survive the course. Above and beyond fighting off as many as seven determined opponents-who, it should be noted, have no qualms about smackin' you around to get past you-you'll be expected to hot dog a bit for the crowd and pull off stunts in the middle of the race. The more tricks you pull and jumps you land, the more adrenaline you'll obtain, boosting your speed and improving your overall chances. The tricks will sound familiar to board-sports fans; stiffies, stalefish, railslides, and more wicked stunts are yours to master using the L and R triggers in combinations. The more you win, the more boards, outfits, and tracks you'll unlock and the further you'll tweak your boarder's skills. If stunts are why you're playing this game, check out the Showoff mode where you'll earn Olympic-style medals for your trick performance. You'll also find an Adventure mode, which is sort of an obstacle course for snowboarders, and the nasty Knockdown mode, where the winner is the rider who can push the most opponents into the powder. A Downhill Thrill After all those years of seeing opening cinemas and thinking "Why can't the game look like that?" gamers will finally be satisfied with high-resolution, wickedly fast gameplay graphics. Almost-but-not-quite-real facial features give some of the characters an unsettling plastic quality-Elisa looks like a Barbie doll in more ways than one-but they're all exquisitely animated. The deviously designed tracks feature lots of gorgeous scenery-not all of which you'll notice right away, thanks to the game's breathtaking illusion of speed. SSX is fairly easy to pick up and play, sporting knife-edge analog controls that will have you carving the snow like a pro immediately. The soundtrack leans toward the techno side, but isn't nearly as generic or annoying as those of most other games. The voices steal the show, from the announcer's witty barbs and truly helpful reminders to the quips from the riders themselves. Jurgen's German-accented "Geronimo!" could be a catch phrase all its own. EA Sports Big lives up to its name with SSX-this game is packed with options, challenges, and, most of all, rewarding repeat gameplay for PS2 owners looking for a quality extreme-racing title. Someone had to break the Curse of the Lame Snowboarding Games, and SSX does it in style.
