Pros: Realism, Pro Snowboarders, Great Levels, Novel Gameplay
Cons: Too Few Levels, The Great Chasm
The bottom line: If you love to snowboard, then you'll love this game. It's the best Snowboarding game for PS2. It controls more like Tony Hawk.
SSX is one of the best console games to ever grace our living rooms. But I never really liked it. "Why not?" I asked. "It was love at first sight when I picked up my copy of Coolboarders 2001," I admitted to myself. I was so ready to write this review about this awesome snowboarding title and say how much better it was than SSX but I knew SSX's loyal fan base would debunk my story and damage my credibility. I had to explore my ill feelings toward SSX before going on about how great Coolboarders 2001 was.

SSX, blah blah blah

I played Coolboarders 2001 for a week straight before even thinking about a review. But I new I had to log some more SSX time before even attempted this review. So I borrowed my buddy's copy of SSX and started my research. As soon as it slipped into my PS2, my original feelings surfaced. "Yuck, I don't like this game." But why didn't I?

SSX is beautiful. It's arcade mayhem at its best: good framerates, fantastic/ty levels, cartoon-esque characters, etc. But then I asked, "Why is this a snowboarding game?" It totally lacked any of the qualities that make me love to snowboard. It could have been a Nascar game and just as well. Where's the realism?

Realism

Warning: I'm about to wax poetic. It might make you sick to your stomach, and it will definitely confuse you.

So that was it. SSX is an amazing game, but it's not a good snowboarding game. After seeing what Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (I/II) has done to bring the essence of skating to the console (and beyond), I expect nothing less out of a snowboarding title.

That's where Coolboarders 2001 shines. I was so stoked after playing this game, that I've already started planning next season's snowboarding trips. The game captures so much of the snowboarding experience. For instance, whenever your rider starts his run, there's an animation of him checking his gloves, putting his goggles on, or adjusting his rear binding since he just got off the lift. That's little, but it adds that hint of realism that conjures up sweet thoughts of those ideas trickling though your mind after getting off a lift and before starting your next run.

And once the run gets started, you immediately start to get the thrills of riding. In this game, the board noise when going over groomed trails takes a straight route from my ears my brain telling me, "That's a lot of speed for that one edge", as my super wide board flexes and bows beneath me. No you can't see the board flex beneath the rider on the screen, but with a simple sound they were able to give me the exact sensation.

The realism continues as you scrape down the mountain. Besides carving big swooping slopes, snowboarding, to me, means finding adventure. So I'm always on the lookout for terrain that may lend me a thrill. It's not long before you see a small kicker laying at the foot of some fresh powder. So you immediately switch to your toe edge and start carving right toward it. The scraping intensifies as you near the kicker, then !poof!. You land leaning way back in the fluffy stuff. Riding powder reminds me of the scenes in Gladiator when he reminisces back to his family's farm. All of the noise around you gives way to silence...except for the whisper of the snow parting for you and your board. It's just like tickling your fingers through stalks of wheat.

OK, you think I'm crazy, but the sounds in this game as you rip through powder are amazing. When I shoot my player off of the groomed trail in search of a new sequence, I immediately get the feeling that I'm slipping into some powdery adventure. Swoosh...

And you know, Pro Riders always add a huge element of realism to a game. I got really tired of SSX's cartoon characters and their 2D personality.

Gameplay

So yes, the game looks stunning, and sounds amazing. Playing the game is a mixture between the images on the screen and the images it conjures in my mind. But this is all promoted through gameplay.

It seems that many extreme sports go through a race phase, where all of their public exposure is through big racing events. But not too many extreme athletes race. Often times snowboarders just like to flow down a mountain finding a new canvas to improvise on. So Coolboarders 2001 responds with a lessened emphasis on racing.

- Gate Racing: This first type of event is a downhill race against three other riders through a series of gates. You have to beat everyone to the bottom while going through all of the gates. Missing three gates disqualifies you.

- Checkpoint Racing: This event puts you on the same slopes, but there aren't any gates or opponents. You simply have to make it through all of the checkpoints in the allotted times. But that's not really the goal. The goals are twofold. First you need to earn the stated point total by pulling off tricks. Secondly you need to complete the stated number of sequences. Sequences are combinations of obstacles and maneuvers as you're going down the mountain. Each of the sequences has a marked starting point. When you find that you need to execute the steps of the sequence. For instance there may be a sequence that requires you to jump a particular kicker, land on a shed grinding its roof, then jump off over a fence. The steps are illustrated with visual queues. The beauty of it, is that this event takes place on somewhat natural terrain. Nothing too fantasy-like.

- Boardpark: These events have their own levels which include all kinds of man-made obstacles: quarter-pipes, kickers, pipes, buses, etc. The goals are the same as the Checkpoint racing: get the points, find and complete the sequences.

- Half-Pipe: These events also have their own levels, and they're half-pipes. The goals are to rack up the points stated.

- Big Air: These events involve short runs that have huge jumps. And in those few big jumps you need to earn the points that get you to the next level. Some of these levels are man-made jumps, but others are straight out of a Warren Miller film.

- Challenges: There are four challenges. The first two are copycat challenges, that make you mimic an instructor's moves. You can only mess up three times before they make you start over. The third challenge is a coin challenge. LAME! The fourth challenge is the Great Chasm. Holy Cow, this is hard. You have to make it down a level without falling into the numerous glacial chasms. This challenge was WAY TO HARD. I hated every hour that I tried it. The worst part was that I started a session of attempts on it one night, and the 30th attempt or so was my winning attempt. Why did that suck? Because I watched the replay as it ran through all 29 failures, waiting to see my perfect run. But it never made it to my run, because it can only replay so many minutes of runs. AWWWGGGHHHHH!

- CBX: These events should have been called SSX. They are fantasy races with large colored moving obstacles, skyway overpasses, and 100 ft. cliff jumps. You just need to beat your three opponents to the bottom. I hated these events. :)

Control

Similar to ATV Offroad Fury, this game has a preload for jumping. Tapping the jump button causes a slight flutter, but pressing for a duration and then releasing really gives you a boost. I really liked this, because it's patterned off of real life. You always set up for the big hits.

So once in the air you've got a button to twist in either direction, plus a button to use with the stick to flip you forward or backwards. Add a grab button to grab, and another button to tweak that out. So then bang all of those keys together and watch the aerial acrobatics.

There are big signature moves (Signature Move - A move so Cool it has a name of it's own, like the Lawn Dart). Basically you start your preload, then bang shoulder buttons in the required sequence. Then release, and your rider pulls the trick automatically. This is too arcade-like, but it's really a complicated thing to do while the rider is in the air. So all in all, I'd say it was an innovative way to add some really nice tricks. I have a feeling that SSX Tricky will totally overshadow those efforts with their new Uber Moves. We'll have to wait and see.

And one last note on controls: you bang a button to grind as well. Much easier than SSX.

Replay Value

I'll be playing this game for a long time, but mostly because of its gameplay innovations, like sequences. Just like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 where I continually try to find the gaps, I'll be searching and completing sequences for a long time to come.

But unfortunately they've shortchanged us quite a bit on levels. Lots of extreme athletes have a strong love of exploration. But you need a much bigger backyard than this to explore, or you'll wrap it up too early. I saw everything after four days of career mode playing. Unless they unlock some sort of super level like the Great Chasm II after I hit all of my sequences.

Conclusion

Sorry for the wordiness. This game made me feel like I was riding, and I wanted to share that a little. Maybe I shared too much. But I wanted to get across my feelings on why this is such a better snowboarding game than SSX. It's done through realistic level design, immersing sound, pro riders, and innovative gameplay modeled more after real snowboarding.