If one was to count the most over represented genre on the PlayStation it would likely be this one. After all how many snowboarding games do we need? However there has yet to be a defining example and even considering the Radical's latest effort the snowboarding genre is lacking in quality. Just look at Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and you can see what all of these powder shredding games are missing.
Radical's newest snowboarding title is basically like a sequel to X-Games Pro Boarder sans the X-Games license. As you would expect from the name this one is chock full of MTV "coolness" and the focus is now on MTV's version of extreme sports.
While MTV Sports Snowboarding includes most of the elements that made Pro Boarder a fun game this one is a bit lacking in the trick department. The huge events like Slopestyle and Big Air return but the awesome stadium mode didn't make the cut.
What really makes MTV Snowboarding less fun than Radical's other snowboarder is the way the events are unlocked from the beginning. When you first pop the game in you are stuck with the simple downhill trial mode where you must play through a tough, time consuming qualifying round that will likely zap any enthusiasm you may have had for the rest of the game. From there you must compete in the MTV Challenge which is just as hard to unlock the better gameplay modes since the first one that opens is the downhill race. Despite the fact that the tracks are basically free-roam this race is only fun until you realize that it will take sometime to even complete the simple task.
The trick element has also been toned down and was likely due to criticism about the difficult control element in Pro Boarder on the expert setting. Now the tricks are relegated to simple board grabs and spins. Although the simplicity is somewhat of a let down my main beef is with the jump button which causes you to head down in a straight line when held. No adjustments can be made after the press of the jump button which leads to missed ramps and botched tricks.
While most of MTV Sports Snowboarding is like a variation of Pro Boarder the addition of the create a park does set it apart. This nice mode allows you to edit the placement of ramps and obstacles within the arenas but it isn't as detailed as some other examples.
When looked at on a whole this latest in the long and sure not to end here line of snowboarding games doesn't do what the others forgot as well. To innovate and improve. It simply takes a hot selling formula and creates a game that if was competing only with itself would be a better than average game. The hard difficulty and tedious gameplay setup keep this one from being anywhere near as good as X-Games and it is easy to say that the snowboarding genre still doesn't have a "Tony Hawk Pro Skater" for others to compare to.
