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Review: SSX

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. It’s been five years since the last SSX game (SSX Blur for the Nintendo Wii), and arguably, nine since the last good one (SSX 3). Having spent the better part of a month with the new SSX, I have to say, I’m fond of it. But there’s more to my fondness than just nostalgia – this is a well put-together game, one of the most addictive and rewarding experiences of this generation.

Like I said in the initial preview, this is a return to the series’ Golden Age, complete with illuminated TRICKY letters, Run DMC and outrageous characters, but while it recaptures the euphoria playing SSX Tricky inspired over a decade ago, the series has come a long way. The descents are faster, the jumpers are bigger, and the tricks are more awe-inspiring than ever before. The open-mountain course design is outstanding (if not initially daunting). The Survive It mode, while to some fans, unnecesary, offers challenges and new experiences for veteran players. This game doesn’t just call back to the Golden Age, it re-defines it. Sure, we can bicker that no SSX gamers were begging for a more realistic snowboarding experience, but we got it, and to be fair, it’s still pretty damn unrealistic.

Just the way we like it.

If you’ve never played an SSX game before, they usually feature two modes – racing and tricking. In the former, you race opponents down a slope (fastest time gets the gold), and in the latter, you perform an outrageous number of stunts in a set time (highest score gets the gold). Both modes are overwhelmingly addictive. This new incarnation adds a new survival mode, where you descend a mountain while battling a particular obstacle (be it gravity, darkness, an avalanche…). It’s a fun/punishing new addition, but really, SSX is all about those first two modes. In my preview, I said I couldn’t see Survive It commanding quite the same amount of attention as Trick It and Race It. I still stand by that, but I’ve warmed to mode and wouldn’t bemoan its existence in future incarnations.

Where the game really excels is in its online multiplayer. Yes, the game is single-player offline. You can’t go head-to-head in a real-time event, but really, SSX was never about battling head-to-head, it was about beating your friends’ scores, and then them beating yours. Your mates constantly nipping at your heels made you better – only, there came a time when your mates moved on to other games and the bar stopped rising. Now, your records are constantly under threat. The online system, RiderNet, tracks your progress, compares it to your friends’, recommends new opponents, challenges you to best their scores and rewards you when they can’t beat yours. Thanks to the saved ghost data, you’re not just competing against the score, but them, in sort-of-real-time. The game doesn’t finish when you get Gold, in fact, this system encourages you to retry a run over and over, as your worldwide opponents lift the bar higher and higher. This is the first game I’ve played online (I know, right?), and I had no trouble slipping right into the community and having a blast.

Because it’s an SSX game, the soundtrack has to be mentioned. It’s a stellar and comprehensive selection of tunes, but when you’re playing 10 hours a day, every day of the week, for three straight weeks, nobody would blame you if you wanted more. Enter playlist imports. Not only can you have your own music playback as you ride, but it’s remixed on the fly, influenced by the way you play (layers are stripped away with bigger air, bars repeat when you grind).

In its absence, SSX has evolved. While I do miss some of the crazier elements of its arcade-style roots (and am hoping fans will be rewarded with some DLC zaniness), this incarnation is near-perfect and well worth the investment it rewards. Just be sure to switch the control scheme to Classic and ignore the shameless (and pointless) microtransaction options EA snuck in there.


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About the author

Will Kostakis

Will Kostakis is a Nintendo tragic. Don’t ask about the hours he’s sunk into Hyrule Warriors or the status of his ShinyDex, unless you want to seriously worry about his priorities. He’s an award-winning author for young adults, best known for The First Third, The Sidekicks and the Zelda-inspired Monuments duology.