Snowboarding games have been and are an interesting phenomenon in the world of video games. I believe it all started back with Uep Systems’ Cool Boarders, and since then there has been a plethora of snowboarding games, most of which are on PlayStation. As with any genre that gets flooded too fast for it’s own good, it has gotten to the point where lots of people and especially reviewers get that sick feeling in their stomach every time they see a new one. In this light, it can be difficult to be objective when reviewing a game of this type. But don’t worry friends, if I was able to stay objective with my most hated genre (space shooters), then I think I can do it with this game.

Pure Ride offers several different modes of play, including Express Pass, Free Ride, Tournament, Stunt Mode, and Create a Park. In Express Pass, the CPU picks your boarder, board, and track for you. Free Ridge is just what it sounds like. In Tournament mode, you compete against other CPU controlled boarders, in different competitions: half pipe, big air, and…I forget what the other one’s called, but you basically just board downhill and go over several well-placed jumps and rails and try to get the most points. You add up the totals from the three different competitions, and if you end up in the top three, you can advance to the next tourney. Also, if you place first overall you get certain other prizes, like unlocking new boarders and boards.

The create your own park feature is a great idea that’s finally being implemented in most games of this type. It is fairly easy to use and understand, but it does have some problems. First, you’re only allowed to place so many “items” (jumps, trees, rails, etc.) in a section, so you can’t really get too creative with the design. Also, you can only have like three sections total on a track, which isn’t very long. You are able to choose from different “scenarios”, like France, Canada, etc. Overall it’s a good feature, but it could have been done better. I think the one in Crave’s Sno Cross Championship is probably the best one I’ve seen so far.

In stunt mode, you’re given various missions-for example, for the first one you have to clear a gap-and when perform that mission, or stunt, you can go on to the next one. The stunts steadily get harder and harder as you go. This mode is…ok, but there isn’t really much to do here. Still, if you’re up for a challenge, this is the place.

With all of these features plus the 2-player mode, there’s quite a bit of gameplay here. The big complaint I’d have is that despite all these features, it’s still pretty much the same thing over and over. If there was a more in-depth create a park feature, and the 2-player option was deeper, like that in Tony Hawk’s, for example-there would be a lot more replay value.

The most important aspect of the control scheme in a game like this is, of course, the trick system. I’m happy to report that the trick system is not only very easy to get into, but it’s also quite a bit of fun. The best thing about it is that it seems to be based entirely on Tony Hawk’s ingenious trick system. To quickly summarize it, you hold down “X” and then release it to jump, you use the square, circle, and triangle buttons to perform various tricks, and you spin with the R/L buttons. The one innovation, and coincidentally the biggest problem, is in the special moves. I believe Pro Skater does have special moves, but you actually have to charge up your “special bar” by doing other tricks and stuff. Anyway, with this game you can use the special moves ad infinitum. Even that wouldn’t be so bad, except that you can do the same trick any number of times and receive the same amount of points every time. That way, it pays to just do the special tricks over, and over, and over… There’s absolutely no incentive to mix up your tricks, which can make the game somewhat stale.

I think it’s safe to say that we’ve reached the point in the PlayStation’s lifetime where it’s difficult to be impressed by its graphics. Consequently, you find yourself saying things like, “Well, it’s just a PlayStation game…” when discussing how a game looks. That’s how this game is. Everything just looks pretty good for PlayStation graphics. The player models are detailed well enough, and the courses look pretty good. Everything just looks…pretty good. No noticeable slow-down, or anything else to get in the way of the game, so that’s good.

This game features music from some fairly popular (I think they’re popular, I have a tough time remembering what’s hip these days) punk bands, like Incubus, and…some others. I can’t remember. It all sounds pretty good, though, and that’s all that matters, right? The sound effects are decent, though I still like the effects in the Cool Boarders series better than any other snowboarding game I’ve played.

This game ends up getting a decent overall score, and really is a pretty good game, but if snowboarding games are your cup of tea, this wouldn’t be my first recommendation. I hear SSX is great, and if you’re not getting a PS2, I’d go with the immortal Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2. Skateboarding, snowboarding, same diff.