Read reviews & Check out new games
|
READ
|
DISCUSS
 Joytron PSP Sli...
 Pelican for Son...
 PSP IVO Sound M...
 DiGi iNVaDeRS
| Go on! You know you want it
| Summary: Just in time for snow.
90
Leave it to Electronic Arts to have SSX: On Tour developed in their Montreal Studios. If anyone knows about snow it's them; being a hop, skip and a jump away from the Quebecois. Playing in the white stuff can be fun, and so can your PSP with EA's latest installment of the SSX series available on your favourite little handheld.
Now I admit, we had a bit of a lull in terms of titles being offered for the PSP, but now, they are a flowing. Make no mistake, there now is, and will be, a lot to choose from come this holiday season and amidst the GTA Beast, the X-Men and countless other games coming up, SSX: On Tour ranks as one of the best purchases you can make right now. It's just a lot of fun.
SSX greets you with basically 2 modes of play; Practicing and all out Tournament, the latter of which you'll be playing mostly. The Goal? Become the ultimate SSX King by besting CPU opponents through flat out races and trick style events. What I first noticed about SSX is that it has style. The menus are easy to navigate and have a cool funky style to them. Yes, there's the loading wait times, but even those are interspersed with animation/hand drawn characters and figures. It has the whole "Gnarly" snowboarding them going for it. All of this is accompanied by the usual EA Trax music selection. The music is subjective. Some tracks are recycled from other games such as Burnout: Legends, but most are new. I really like the music, with tracks ranging from rock to rap such as Paul Wall (nice grills).
Back to the Tournament mode. There is no character creation mode like the console versions but you can choose from 2 characters whose characteristics progress the more gold medals you acquire. This progression allows you to buy better Board's and Ski's and Outfits for your character; eventually moving you up the ladder to becoming #1. There's a great sense of accomplishment as you progress and you'll continuously find yourself wanting to play "just one more event". I mentioned that there are Snowboarding events and Skiing events, so there's almost 2 separate campaigns you can accomplish at the same time. (At this point I stop my review to go put on my snowsuit. This is where the fun begins.)
You'll be amazed by the graphics when you first start swooshing down the mountain. This is one of the best looking PSP games out thus far. Everything looks great, and it's smooth and fast. There is the occasional clipping here and there but it doesn't detract from the experience at all. The camera auto zooms slightly closer and further from your character as moves are pulled off, and for the most part, it works really well. Sometimes when it's in too close, you lose your sense of direction, but as you learn the courses it's not a huge problem. You won't be dissapointed by the visuals. They're fantastic.
Under the options menu you have the choice of a regular control layout and an advanced control layout (shown to you by, again, a funky menu). I stuck with the regular layout as I found the advanced to be too confusing for me. Your character can be controlled with either the PSP's analog nub or the directional pad. Again, I stuck with the D-Pad. The X Button Jumps, which is great for catching big air off those ramps. The Square Button is a Boost (more on this later). The other face buttons are used for various grabs and tweaks. The L and are buttons can be used for grabs as well, or for throwing punches at your opponents when your not gliding through the air. When you wipeout, you must tap the Square button repeatedly to recover, which brings me back to the boost button. There's times when you catch some small jumps and hitting that boost button grants you a face full of snow. This is the games biggest setback.
The control after a few races works out extremely well, and you'll be more careful with the boost button, but it does take some getting used to. Holding forward on the D-Pad also allows you character to "tuck'in" and gain speed, however, this can also grant you a face full of snow if you aren't careful. The more tricks you pull off, the more boost you earn by your boost meter on the right hand side. Fill it to the top, and your granted a chance to pull off monster tricks by using the trigger buttons together with one of the face buttons. Pulling off one of these babies looks great, as do the rest of the moves. They are addictive. There are collectables scattered around the tracks as well as other goodies for you to discover. The track layouts are also well done. There's plenty of opportunities to catch some serious air and show-off. The difficulty is right up there, so this game will keep you busy for some time to come.
What more can I say. SSX: On Tour is an addictive and fun game. There's a few minor quibbles but if you enjoyed the console versions at all, you'll enjoy this game as well. While you might have seen some of the tracks ported over here, the developers really have spoiled us with an on-the-go version. I'm just hoping it doesn't get buried and ignored amidst the onslaught of Holiday titles coming up. Make no mistake, this is one of the best PSP games available. OK, back to skiing.
REVIEW IT
PRODUCT INFO
|
1
