Sound:  
I swear I have reached the point where I can cut and paste my sound sections from every review I do. I suppose it has to do with the fact that I review similar types of games most of the time, but it really seems uncreative to write the same thing about the sound every time. This game follows in that portrait, unfortunately. The sound in the game is merely… there. There are generic rock type beats behind your gameplay, which don’t do a whole lot to improve or wreck the game. I’m guessing that a console version would feature licensed music tracks from actual… what do you call those? Oh yeah, bands. However, the GBA must cut back and is forced to find a placeholder for the music, and this is no different than the rest. It really has only purpose, which is basically to be louder than silence would be, and it achieves what it sets out to do.

Gameplay:  
The play itself is what kind of turned me off to the game. It is objective based play, similar to its crazy great-grand-uncle, Tony Hawk. Get a certain score, collect these things, find this…. You get the idea. However, in this game, your freedom of movement is a little limited, since you are going only one direction: down. If you miss a letter or something you need to collect on the way down, you have to make another pass to get it. It’s a little annoying, but if it were any other way, it wouldn’t be snowboarding. It can also be tough to get used to the timing for hitting jumps/ramps and the sort to get a decent jump. Many times, you’ll jump too early and jump OVER the ramp or you’ll just slide right over it and pull off a normal jump afterwards. Since you really can only get huge air off of those kinds of objects, it is bothersome to miss them and the potential big score tricks. It can also be a little tricky to get onto a rail and grind. Sometimes, if you miss the very beginning of a rail, it is nearly impossible to get on it afterwards. Again, a little frustrating when you are trying to get points for scores everywhere you can. However, my single greatest complaint lies in one word: PASSWORD! Yes, you guessed it; this game uses passwords to record your progress. I have detested passwords my whole frigging life and had hoped that they were gone forever, but here they rear their ugly head again. It just sucks the fun out of a game when to pick it up and play, you need a pen and paper to get anywhere significant. I absolutely detest passwords, and it really kept me from wanting to play this game beyond what I had to do to put together this review. Overall, the gameplay really didn’t make me want to keep playing this game. It had too many weak aspects, and, of course, those bedamned p…p…p, passwords. (There, I said it.)

Control:
The control scheme is very simple in the game. The A button jumps and does your tricks when used with the control pad. The B button is for braking. The R button allows you to duck down for speed, and the control pad moves you around. It controls pretty well, after a few trips down the hill to get accustomed to it. The tricks can be a little sketchy at times, and the landings seem randomly determined on occasion, but most of the time, you’ll be able to do what you want to when you want to.

Multiplayer:
I didn’t get to try out the multiplayer, since I don’t know anyone else in my immediate area that owns a GBA. The mode consists of a head to head competition in the Superpipe, which is a long halfpipe that can be played in one player mode as well. This board is definitely more enjoyable for me than the basic levels. It uses a perspective from behind the riders, as opposed to the usual ¾ top down view from the other levels. It seems to allow for more freedom of tricks, since it has many opportunities for big air and tricks instead of a few jumps and ramps put around the normal levels. It sounds to me like the multiplayer would be pretty entertaining, though.

OVERALL:
As a game, this isn’t as bad as it could have been. The controls are suitable, and the graphics look good, but it lacked a little too much in most other areas to allow it to remain fun. With an improvement in gameplay, a battery backup to avoid PASSWORDS, and an effort to establish a step forward in the sound department, this could be a very good franchise for years to come on the GBA. Unfortunately, this first installment fell short in too many areas to make it one that will keep me up at night using up my precious batteries.

 

The Lowdown on  Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder Aesthetics: Very Good Control: Average Gameplay: Above Average Multiplayer: Above Average Sound: Average Innovation: 4/6 Lasting Appeal: 3/6 Overall: Above Average! "A Quality Game"