Date: Wed, 02 Jul 1997 23:42:25 -0600
From: cloud9@htcomp.net
Subject: Cool Boarders, I've beaten it, now the FAQ's
Newsgroups: rec.games.video.sony

Well it took a few months, but by all accounts I have
finished the game Cool Boarders.  It was well worth the
price.  Would you believe that I looked far and wide on this
vast wasteland <Internet> for someone, ANYONE who could help
me with some tips to this game?  No one apparently had
finished it, or if they had they weren't sharing a whole lot
with the rest of us.  You know the old routine.  Someone's
half correct - badly spelled so called FAQ <do a search at
these so called 'hint' sites and you'll see what I mean.>

If you have about thrown your controller a few million times,
you know that the things people want to know is HOW do you do
the tricks that will score the highest points, and WHAT
boards do you use for what purposes to break these records?

This FAQ is for the US release ONLY - I have no clue about
the Japanese version - as an aside, if you have a Japanese
version that you'd like to sell, get in touch with me -
remember make it a fair price.  All offers must have the
price that you are seeking or the e mail will be ignored.

First let's review all of the boards in this game: there are
FOUR that you have to earn.  No there are not any codes,
cracks or magic spells that you can get these boards with,
you have to put in the time and hours and learn and defeat
the courses.  I did, and you will too.  This is to share with
you my experiences, and debunk the myths and half truths.

You start out with the slowest freestyle board - it has a
squiggle graphic underneath.  I suggest that you get to know
this board really well.  It will be needed in EVERY course in
this game at some point.

You have 2 Freestyles, 3 All-Round boards, and 3 Alpine
Boards

The special boards that you earn are the: Freestyle - Novice
Course, a sweet little Tobacco sunburst number - You'll grow
to love this amigo.  The All-Round - Advanced, a cool board
with a graphic of Icarus on the bottom, and a white star on
the front.  Also a handy board to have.  It's almost as fast
as the fastest Alpine the game starts with.  Then we have
the *terror* without description, the Alpine!  This baby is a
bullet with no steering!  Fast, but unstable and definitely
not for tricks unless you want to get laughed off the course!
You get this board after you beat the Expert course.  I'm not
going to tell you the graphic on this *monster* but it will
*scare* you to *death* hehehe.  Bad puns, I know!  You can
*see right thru me* can't you?  :)

There are 5, count em 5 courses in this game.  What?  You
mean I missed one other board?  Yes I did.  But that's a
special deal that I'll cover later.  As I was saying there
are 5 courses, you start with three, and earn the other two -
which is not easy at all.  There are Novice, Advanced,
Expert, Special, and Extra.

To get the special board on each course, you need to beat the
time and trick score shown at the lower left hand corner of
the course selection screen.

There are 3 trophies that you can win on each course.  One
for Fastest time, one for Highest trick score, and one for
Highest total score - with time and trick combined.  When you
earn the special board for the course, I can guarantee you
that you'll also have earned the  Highest total score as
well.

Now the stats.  My scores

  Sect 1:    Sect 2:      Sect 3     Total Time:   Total
Rank:
N
  '19.252    '20.658      '20.793    1'00.252      6850
A
  '44.352    '54.582      '34.683    2'14.683      6319
E
  '34.716    '46.662      '52.470    2'13.848      6416
S
  '44.220    '56.166      '50.688    2'36.816      5659
Ex
  '25.938    '29.469      '23.760    1'19.398      11121

Trick Score: N-3458, A-3247, E-2769, S-2778, Ex-7552

Novice: Fakie to Misty 540 Tail Grab - 841 pts

Advanced: Fakie to 1440 Tail Grab - 844 pts

Expert: Fakie to Misty 540 Tail Grab - 925 pts

Special: Misty 540 Tail Grab - 871 pts

Extra:  Misty 1260 Indy Grab - 1373 pts

These are the stats currently saved on my card.  I have
gotten better scores/times, but hadn't remembered to save
them :( It is possible to score a lot higher, but once I beat
the course, I move on.

Misty's are the bomb

If you wanna score and score big, well friend, ya gotta do
Misty's and lots of them.  A misty is done by holding the
jump button down and then pushing the d-pad in a diagonal
fashion i.e. upper right.  When you release the jump button
and push the square button while holding the directional pad
diagonally, voila!  A Misty!

Nothing comes close, and believe me, I've tried.  How about a
2300+ degree spin with a stalefish grab?  Not even close to
what a Misty can do for ya.

Use the right board for the right score.  You want speed.
use Alpine.  You want tricks.  Stay with the slowest ol
faithful Freestyle.  You want best overall?  Well you need to
learn your course.  Practice the tricks till you have them
down pat and learn the idiosyncracies <and believe me, they
are a-plenty> of each course, till you have them down.  Then
take your fastest All Round Board, and hit it.

Lets run down the synopsis of each course and their really
tough spots.

Novice:  For tricks, use the slowest Freestyle board.  Pull
Misty's on all the jumps - practice.  The longer you hold the
button down the bigger the jump <hang time, man>.  That will
rack up enough points.  For speed, I used the second fastest
Alpine board.  I would NOT use the fastest - it's too fast
and too touchy if you haven't mastered all the courses using
faster boards than this one <read, SPECIAL>.  The second turn
is a lulu - Hall of famer, for sure.  You NEED to use a
little bit of brake here or else all kinds of bad things will
happen to you.  It is possible about 5% of the time to make
it <luck>
without getting slammed into the wall or doing an areial out
of nowhere, but it's best to bite the bullet and use the
brake.  The cliff.  Ahh the cliff.  Use a WIDE approach and
*ease* the board  through it.  Take your time, you don't need
to use any brake if you get good enough - it is possible.

After the 4th jump and heading home, you will notice the
mountain appearing crescent-fashion. Follow the curvature as
you approach, otherwise you will not make it around the crag.
Big time killer.

The rocks are easy once you learn them. As you approach, make
sure you are dead center in the gap between all the rocks, 2
quick hard turns, more like leans, and you are through.  But
don't quit there.  If you aren't paying attention, you'll
have quite a bit of speed afterwards, and go sailing over the
edge...right into the fence - bad move.  Instead, start your
turn before you make the fall over the cliff - good position
to finish strongly.

These tips should, with practice, help you earn your first
special board.

Advanced:  Right off I should tell you, that I'd use your
special board.  Good time to get to know it.  You should
practice the first few turns without the brake all the way to
the tunnel.  In the tunnel, use the brake and a hard left,
then right, then a *careful* hard left again to avoid going
over the cliff.  Use the ice walls to your advantage but
don't hit them head on, or you will hit the rock at the top
and wipe out.  The first jump is a perfect place for a
Misty.  So is the second.  Use as little time lining up, and
set for the Misty.

Next should be the trees.  I avoided going to the cliffs on
the right, but if you want em, you're on your own, kid.  For
you tricksters you should know that there are two jumps you
need to make in the tree area, and they are not easy either.
the first one has a tree that's too easy to hit as you
approach, so take a far right approach and center the ramp as
you go.  If you want to be a hero, try a Misty, if you want
to be smart, play it conservative and do some spins with
grabs, which is all you need.  The second jump is easy to
find if you dont spend time trying to AVOID the trees.  Get
to know them, because it's a pain when you leave the course
and wipe out, especially if you have been having a good run.
Same thing, don't be a hero, play it safe and do some spins.
Now the fast part as you leave the trees, use just enough
brake to avoid the trees screaming towards you at blinding
speed.

This next jump is a little too risky to try a Misty on, only
try it if you don't have enough points.  It's a bit shallow,
and I'd play it safe with some more spins and tail grabs in
the 500 point range, which should be just enough.  This is
the last jump on this course.  Now you have 2 ice walls and
the serpentine turns. Another day wrecker - use hard turns
with brake but *controlled braking* and turn right, left,
right, left, and then you have an ice wall, and the final
approach.  Don't make the mistake of trying to pad your score
by doing a neato trick here <as I did time and time again>
there is no score on this last jump.  Keep it simple and
cross the chasm,
through the doors to the finish line.  If you get good
enough,  You should be able to use the special board to earn
the speed time record and earn another special board for that
course, the All-Round board.

Now we are at the Expert course:  Forget everything you've
learned to this point.  This is a new animal and it will
knock you out and humble you REAL quick if you think
otherwise.  They don't play fair here.  To beat this beast,
master the first turn, use a hard turn right after the first
rock out- cropping - the turn has to be at about 2 o'clock
<with 12 as straight ahead>  stay close, but not too close to
the right side after you have made it through the first and
second turns, and you should be ready for your first jump.
Immediately afterwards, make a hard turn to the right, past
the cabin and another hard turn right, into the forest.  This
will cause you nightmares unless you practice through it a
few times.  The goal is to make it over to the far right by
the end of the trees.  How you do it is a matter of practice.
Use hard brake/turns when avoiding the trees coming your way.
This course will teach you an essential skill you NEED to
have from this point on: CONTROLLED BRAKING/SKIDDING!
Welcome to the big leagues, son. Your 2 special boards that
you have earned by now will be a big help.  But for total
trick points, stick with the simplest plainest ol number one
Freestyle board with the squiggle..  Now the big approach to
the curve after you leave the trees - stay sharp - and take a
wide turn around it, feathering your brake, cause up ahead
you will need all the control you can muster to avoid a nasty
spill over the cliff.  If you made it this far, set up for
the jump and be prepared to make a hard turn right at the end
of the straightaway.  I usually tap it 3 times, 4 max as I
make the turn.  Try and stay center on this new straightaway,
and as you approach it, slightly turn left, following the
grade of the snow, otherwise you are airborne, which means no
control, which can have disasterous consequences. After a
slight bend, you have some very challenging cuts to make,
hard left, hard right, and hard left.  Above all, keep
control of things, don't spazz - learn to follow the skid and
control *where* it skids.  Note, these are very quick turns,
no sleeping allowed here or you will end up lost really
quickly.  As you pass the snowman on the left, say Hi to him,
he will soon become your best friend!  It will take some
practice finding the sweet spot to set up for the next jump
as you don't hit it square on and it has a nasty way of
throwing the newbie into a cliff wall.  Take a right and a
left and set up immediately for the big leap coming up.  You
need to clear that ravine and land on the ice.  Which means
you'll have to angle slightly to the left.  As soon as you
clear it, get ready for a serpentine series again, hard left,
hard right, left, right, left,and you should now be
approaching checkpoint.  If you set up in time, you should be
able to pull a Misty - big help here.  Now comes the dizzying
fun part you have some killer turns, if you can even call
them that, these will demand the best you've got to beat
them, so practice practice and yes practice.  The skill of
controlled braking/skidding will either be developed through
this proving ground, or you'll neve beat this course.  On the
ice straightawy you should pretty much stay center and you'll
have a straight shot, followed by more serpentine turns which
will require MORE practice, and then the cliff, turn hard
left and try not to go over the jump or you will plow into
the wall.  Best to stay on the right and work your way around
the curves.  At the end you will need to feather the brake to
cross the finish line - the turn is to sharp to just fly
around.  If you are going for time, the only way I have been
able to beat the best time is by getting the special board
later.  If you have won all 3 trophies on the first two
courses, and you have beaten the time and trick on the course
selection screen for the Expert course, and earned the
Special Alpine board, and earned hightest toatl, and highest
trick total, you should recieve the "Extra" course.

On the extra course.  Use the special Freestyle board to beat
the score on the course selection Screen, and use the Special
Alpine to beat the Course Time.  I'd use the special
Freestyle for total tricks as well.  If you have made it this
far, and you need special tips, e mail me and I will be happy
to help you out.

If you do well and get high scores on the Extra course, you
will be given "The Snowman".  His board is a Shovelblade
without the handle, and it is the fastest, most stable board
of all.  This is what I used to beat the Speed time on the
Expert course.  When I did, I was awarded another course, The
Special Course.

This one is a real hard course.  You will need a lot of
practice, drawing on all the skills that you've learned, to
beat this one.  But it can be done.  Learn each course, till
you can know by heart what's coming up next - its the only
way to do it.  The last course, once you have all the times
and scores, is the end.  No special boards - No "Hybrid"
board that you've heard legends of.  At the end of this game
you will have a real feeling of accomplishment, and believe
me, you'll have earned it.  Again, if you've made it this far
and you need tips on this course, e mail me and I'll be happy
to give you a hand.  Getting this far is a matter of pride,
and I tip my hat to you.

This should be more than enough to get those willing to work
through it, to the end of the game.  Hats off to you, and
tear it up, fella!

Happy shredding!

Sean

cloud9@htcomp.net







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