Snowboard Kids

"A great racing game for all ages!"

When you first see this game in action you will probably be thinking that the game looks very kiddy and wont be very entertaining at all. You are dead wrong. This game is far from kiddy. I doubt very many kids below the age of 12 have ever 100%'d this game. Just for the simple reason being that it is so damn hard when you get to the later courses. I am 16 and I've only just unlocked Shinobin and got my Star Board, and it will be a few more weeks until I can get the 2500+ points to get the last board for the 100% Enough of my ranting, on to the review.

Story: NA

Nonexistent. I can't very well give it a score now can I?

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics in this game may seem bad at first, but thats only because of it's age. The game has some very nice texture and character designs. The characters may look silly, but that's the way they should look, without them the game just wouldn't be the same. The lighting effects are nice to see. Doing tricks is where the graphics really come into play. Having your character doing a bunch of flips with blue streaking from all sides still looks so awesome to this very day. This game has great graphics for it's time.

Sound: 10/10

This is where the game really shines. The music in this game has catchy beats and smooth rhythms that will have you tapping your feet along. The music can become annoying after a few weeks, but what can you do? I just have music going on my computer at the same time. We all win that way!

Game play: 10/10

You have 5 characters to begin with and 3 very basic level boards. As you progress through the game you can acquire many new boards and even a new character! This game gets much more difficult as your progress through. After about the first 3 courses which I could beat on the first try I found myself straining to get first in a race. I would always get second. It wasn't a discourager at all though, it made me want to play the game even more. After a few tries you can get first in any course.

With every different character comes a variation of tricks and skill in these 3 main areas: Speed, Corner and Trick. Some characters only have 3 special tricks while some have 5. Although everyone of them can use the same basic tricks, you'll want to use the specials and all those huge jumps that come along on most of the courses. When you get air in this game, I mean that you get air! Some jumps are so big you can pull of a special then just do a hold the rest of the way down for big bucks.

The weapon system in this game is really interesting. There are a variety of weapons raging from a bomb that explodes and takes everyone close enough out with it, to a parachute that hits you into the air and stalls your decent, these weapons are all fired on the Z button and have limited homing capabilities. The weapons fired on the B button are much more, shall we say, unique. They range from a rock which trips anyone who rides over it to flying pans which take out everyone but the user. Just remember that all weapons can be avoided by using an invisibility, which is a B weapon.

Replayabilty: 10/10

Whether you play by yourself or you play with friends this game is a great game. The single player will you keep you busy for weeks while you try to master the characters tricks and unlock everything. The multi-player is very fun although when 3 or 4 people are playing the screen does ger squashed quite a bit, although it doesn't distract from the fun. This game will keep you and your friends busy for weeks!

Overall: 9/10 (Not an average)

This is a great game for the N64 and more than likely my favorite racing game in all of history. It will keep you busy for weeks on end and has many things to entertain people of all ages. The game is fun to play and fun to master and is still fun when you are trying to win that final race on the final lap in dead last. Every re-try didn't take away from the fun. The game can get very difficult if you try to 100% because getting those last few secret boards is really tough!

Buy/Rent?

BUY BUY BUY! I don't care where you go to buy it, just go find it and buy it. If you can't find it anywhere a rent will due (although I doubt many places still rent N64 games) but you will keep renting it because of its addicting fun!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/05/05