SSX On Tour
When Sony released the PlayStation 2 at the end of the year 2000, the system flew off the shelves despite having a relatively lackluster lineup of games. One game that caught the attention of gamers was SSX, an arcade snowboarding game. It was fast, fun, and showed off the new systems power nicely. A sequel titled SSX Tricky was released for all three major consoles, but it didn’t really feel like a sequel. It was more of an expansion, with some new tracks, moves, and characters.
Then, in 2004, EA released SSX 3, which is widely considered to be the best snowboarding game ever made. The gamer had a whole mountain to explore at their leisure, and it all streamed perfectly without a hitch. Now, two years later, the fourth game in the series has hit store shelves. Does SSX On Tour require a season lift pass or are you better off with a weekend pass on the mountain? Read on to find out and if you are not happy with the SSX series, then we would recommend you try Ragnarok that has Ragnarok private server high rate for a seamless online gaming experience.
Gameplay
SSX On Tour is the fourth iteration of the popular SSX series. SSX 3 was a huge jump from SSX Tricky; it was leaps and bounds beyond what its predecessor was. Unfortunately, the same can not be said about SSX On Tour.
The biggest change in On Tour is definitely the new art direction and style. Gone are the days of the funky soundtrack and characters, and in with the new rock and roll theme. Players still compete with various borders on the mountain, but now the gamer is a rock star, seeking to build hype and dominate the mountain. The menus have taken a new style and they kept my interest for quite some time; and those were just the menus! Rock and roll have been implemented into just about every aspect of the game (soundtrack, menus, characters, etc). The presentation as a whole looks like an animated sketchbook. The menu screen is filled with various animals and other quirky objects that will bring a smile to your face every time.
The new style burrows its way into the gameplay as well. You’ll find sketchbook icons on the mountain, a cool announcer, and some amazing replays that show off every angle imaginable. I have to hand it to EA; they did one hell of a job with the new style in SSX On Tour. It fits perfectly with the game and it’s hard to imagine playing an SSX game without it.
So, what all else is new to SSX On Tour? ThatÃs the thing; there isn’t really anything else that is particularly new to the series. Although the option to ski has been added, it doesn’t adds too much to the whole game seeing as both snowboarding and skiing are almost identical in almost every aspect. The only major difference is that skiing is a little more difficult. It could present more of a challenge to seasoned veterans.
Unfortunately, the sprawling mountains from SSX 3 have been replaced with the main single-player mode called The Tour. No longer are you able to ride as you please down the mountain, now you are presented with a map and various different challenges for you to complete. These challenges range from a trick contest, race, escape the ski patrol, get a certain amount of collectibles, or outrun your opponent. Sure, the challenges are almost identical to those in SSX 3, but it just doesn’t feel the same without the open mountain I came to love in the previous game. As you complete each challenge, you will unlock more on different parts of the mountain. There are a total of 145 challenges and 49 medals to be won on the mountain of thirteen tracks.