If 1080 Snowboarding didn't exist, this game would still be crap. Now that that's out of the way, let's see how I can trash this game further....
For starters, let's look at the concept: Snowboarding. A good workable game premise. You snowboard down a hill against the computer or your friends. You can pick up powerups along the way that will enable you to slow down your opponents. Sounds like Mario Kart on snow doesn't it? Yep. Mario Kart 64 was an insult to fans of the original, which I was mildly. This game is an insult to everyone who's played an original game before. What a dumb idea, if you are going to copy a game genre, pick a good one to emulate. Try Wave Race for example, but of course 1080 has that one in the bag. Copy Diddy Kong, which was miles ahead of Mario Kart. Why rely on dead-end game play that was stillborn in the first place? One original idea in S.K. is that when you get to the bottom of the hill, you have to jockey for position to ride the chairlift back up the hill. I loved being last and having to wait for all of the other character's animation to go up the hill, before mine could go! Almost as much fun as the PlayStation game 'Tail of the Sun' when your caveman just falls asleep every few minutes and you can't wake him up!
The graphics are poor, the music is annoying and the racing is childish, hence the name Snowboard Kids, I guess. Why wasn't this game scrapped immediately after the word came in the Wave Race team was developing a snowboarding game? Kids aren't stupid, which I'm sure The Snowboard Kids accounting department is discovering right about now. Geez, I wonder how long it will take for the word to get out about this dud. Maybe 5 years ago when the internet was a well kept secret, this game could have survived. But now, you can find out within seconds whether a game is worth it or not. I know I'm just ranting now, but who would buy this game? In some of the stores I've been to, it's priced higher than 1080!! For that matter who would rent it, when it's sitting beside 1080?
Perhaps, this is merely a lesson in stupidity for us to learn from, who knows? For as long as we play games, some company that doesn't get it, will try and pull the wool over our eyes. I call these games the "Grandma games." Grandma goes to Wal-Mart to buy you that snowboarding game you want for your birthday, sees this game with snowboarding in the title, the box looks colorful and cute, and she thinks this is the one you want. Of course you know how this horrible story ends. It's like when they buy you a "Powerful Ranger" that really looks like one of the Power Rangers, but is cleverly just different enough that 70 year old eyes won't be able to tell what the hell is going on. I may be much older than the 'Power Ranger" faze, but I had grandparents and am speaking from experience. This kind of thing has been going on a for a long time now.
"No Grandma, I said 1080 Snowboarding, not Snowboard Kids!" you cry.
"What the hell do I know, " she barks, putting out her cigar on your arm. "I saw the cute funny box and knew you were a kid who liked snowboarding, my mind wandered as I fished around for mints in my gigantic purse, and before you know it the boy at Wal-Mart was wrapping up your game and telling me I couldn't return it. Happy Birthday you little S.O.B."
If you couldn't tell I loved this game! Buy it immediately, because it deserves every ounce of attention you have. If you have a job, stop at work on the way to buy Snowboard Kids and put in your notice, because you are going to want every second of your life to play this masterpiece. Married? What a perfect time for D-I-V-O-R-C-E! Let her keep the kids too, just get this game!!