Dark Summit

"This game is fun, no matter what you do in it!"

From start to finish I was hooked on this game. I am not a snowboarder, nor do I usually play snowboarding type games, but this game is awesome. I was up until the wee hours of the morning trying to get more tricks and $$$. It’s tough to put it down, knowing there is still stuff to do.

What sets this game apart from other ''trick-style'' games, are the challenges. They are not too hard, but hard enough to make you look everywhere for the money ($) symbols and the trick icons. Sometimes you will need to grind up high, then jump to another rail to grind just to get to a challenge. One key point to note is that if you fail at a challenge, you don't have to go all the way back to the ski lifts to try again, you can just restart the challenge, it took me the hard way to find that out.

The graphics are excellent, and the sound track is pretty cool. The ability to unlock other costumes, in conjunction with the amount of money you make, is a good concept, except that the extra costumes are too much like each other. Still a good change, even the new boards are nice, but closely the same.

Not that this is a spoiler, but when the game is complete, you'll have access to all of the other boarders, which is fine, but once the game is complete, there is not much of a replay value, as all of the challenges have been completed, so you'll know what to expect. It is certainly a great two player game, especially in the Summit lift area, you catch some serious air to pull off more than one trick at a time. At certain points in the game, certain boarders should have been available to continue on with your percentage complete.

The best area to ''board'' is the Moon Gate. You are so high up; you could get a nosebleed. It is awesome when you fall off!!! The airtime to pull off half-pipe tricks is insane. The hard part is finding the Moon Gate area.

The most difficult part of the game is the last challenge. It took me quite a few tries to complete it, as I kept mis-aligning my jumps.

Grinding on several obstacles at once is really cool and a good way to rack up some serious $$$ for a new outfit and/or board.

I would recommend this game to anyone, and have. It is lots of fun and can be used by all ages.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/03/02, Updated 01/03/02