Back on the Piste

Reviewed by Russell Baillie

Cool Boarders 3

Sony

PlayStation


The third instalment in this series of PSX snowboarding sims arrives just in time for ... um ... summer.

If nothing else, this should give aspiring snowboarders who've suffered a powder-challenged winter a reminder of what the white stuff looks like. And a reminder what the slopes feel like, too - it's certainly better on that front than its two predecessors.

Should you, er, grab some air but find your chosen landing spot is a rather large boulder you will miraculously survive but - via the dual shock controller - you will certainly feel it.

Other developments include a fight option enabling you to shove your race opponent out of the way during a downhill free-for-all.

And there are new slopes. In its advanced stages (still out of reach for this reviewer) are "Everest" and "Avalanche." Riding a snowboard down the world's highest mountain or surfing a rumbling snow tsunami? It better be worth it.

Trouble is, getting there means quite a lot of time persevering with the finicky, button-intensive controls (for pulling off tricks), though it's improved response-wise on the steering front and has generally better graphics.

However, just as you might wonder how you survived that face-boulder-interface, brushing past other hazards often results in a full and undeserved wipeout.

There are the usual range of events including downhill, slalom, half-pipe freestyle as well as a split-screen two-player mode for shoulder-to-shoulder racing.

While it's an improvement, it's only an enhancement of what, gameplay-wise, is always going to be a limited idea. Extreme sport perhaps, but only mild video game fun.

Psybadek

Psygnosis

PlayStation

Another boarding game, but as its names suggests we're talking futuristic plankdom. It's a game on hoverboards, like Michael J. Fox used in Back to the Future II and upon which Manga characters Xako and Mia explore various worlds in an effort to free their friends kidnapped by the evil Krakken.

Each territory has 10 levels you have to complete before proceeding to the next, involving racing, puzzles and shooting marauding penguins. But the most fun is to be had by throwing the fluidly moving boards through the skatepark-like environs - one of which actually is a skatepark (cool!).

Combine that sense of swoosh with the crazed dayglo of the graphics and you've got something more enjoyable - especially for the younger set - than any board-riding sim trying to keep it real.

Top Gear Overdrive

N64

Kemco

This latest addition to the bunch of racing games for the Nintendo system resembles some of PlayStation's better speedsters.

It manages near arcade-level excitement, with its high frame-rate giving this a fine dose of white-line fever.
There's cheating fun on offer with hard-to-find but useful shortcuts. And it comes with some even wilder extras - like its whiplash turbo boosts and crash'n'burn collisions should you get it very wrong.

It's not particularly realistic but that's more than compensated by its efforts at creating a petrolhead virtual heaven - one offering its very own, hilariously gung-ho racing rush.
-- Russell Baillie, 7DAYS

PICTURED: PlayStation's snowboarding simulation offers extreme sport the safe way.