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eazya's Snowboard Kids (N64)
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| [March 5, 2008 05:51:04 PM]
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GAMEPLAY:
The more I played the game the more interesting it became. The levels are well made and each have their own unique characteristics. One part of the sand level which I found very funny was the penguins. There is a field of maybe 10 penguins pacing horizontally across the level. If you hit the penguin then you get flipped over and it makes a funny penguin noise. This heightens the intensity of the game due because you see the penguins but it is hard to avoid them. This is somewhat of an equalizer because everyone has the same probability of hitting the penguin and same chance of lagging behind. Another level has a bunch of spinning tea cups, symbolizing the ones from Disney Land. These are almost impossible to avoid or dodge. This results in all the characters getting stuck in the same place, bouncing off these tea cups. Everyone gets to share the frustration.
The flow of the game is really fast paced and easy to play. You can see a large distance of the level in front of you, unless you are going off a jump. If you go off the jump in a straight line, you will not hit any walls or objects on landing. You have to acquire coins through the level so you can get weapons. Another way to acquire money is through tricks, so if you are able to land enough tricks it doesn't matter if you don't get coins. If you don't have money it is devastating because when you hit an item box you just bounce backward, losing all momentum. That is a big factor in this game you have to keep your momentum because the acceleration is very slow.
DESIGN:
This game is one of a kind, I haven't seen a game combine snowboarding, tony hawk, and mario cart into one game before. It also has a special way of separating items. There are two boxes on the top of the screen, one for red item boxes and one for blue. They cost the same, 1 coin, but serve as different functions in the game. The red box is for shooting items, weapons used to knock the player over or inhibit him from keeping his momentum. There are various items as weapons: you can shoot them with a parachute and knock them into the air, turn them into snowman, blow them up with a bomb, freeze them, or hit them with a hand. They each have their own method of stopping the player, which leads to different strategies for using them. The parachute boosts them in the air and makes them slowly float down back onto the level. The best time to use this weapon would be on a jump, because he will have the maximum amount of falling distance allowing for you to make your pass on him. The ice weapon is also good right before a jump because they lose all their momentum and are not able to do a trick.
The other kind of item, the blue item box, are weapons that alter the game play but do not actually shoot at specific players. Some are even just for your advantage, for example the fan which boosts you and the invisible board which can protect you from incoming fire. You can also set rocks on the snow which cause people to trip over them, but it is also possible for you to run over them. This is were the coin rat can be obtained. You can steal everyones coins and become filthy rich. This item would best be used right before a player is about to run into an item box. So not only would you steal their coins, but they will run into the box and bounce back.
Another interesting part of the game is the way you make laps. It is somewhat realistic in the perspective that you have to go on a ski left to go back to the front of the level. The way you do this is by running into the lift entrance at the end of the level. The lift only allows one person in at a time, and it takes a while before the character actually enters the lift. So, two people are rushing toward the entrance, the first person there will be let on while the other person is knocked backward and looses all momentum. During this period another person can pass and take the next spot on the lift changing the character's placement in the race. This can be very frustrating at times.
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| [March 5, 2008 04:31:24 PM]
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SUMMARY:
This game is a cheaper, but fun version of a snowboarding game. You don't have to press anything to go forward, you just start boarding down hill. It is not at all like real snowboarding because the point of this game is to gain the most speed possible, loop around the track the required amount, and reach the end first. There are many jumps throughout the levels, some trick jumps which are there for the character to do flips and tricks off of. The way you do tricks is very interesting, it is like tony hawk pro skater controls. You have to hold down the jump button A and press a direction, when you release the button he will flip or spin in that direction. It also has qualities of Mario Cart because it has item boxes, which allow you to attack the other players.
GAMEPLAY:
I had tons of fun playing this game, and everyone that has played it has loved it. The simplicity of the game allows for a steep learning curve and even battles. One thing thats easy about the game is the home seeking shooter items. Almost every single one of them are home seeking and you don't have to lead off the character or shoot directly at them. The characters are very interesting, they only have 3 characteristics, and 3 stars for each. So there are not many variations, but they are very distinct. Each character has the same sum of stars, just in different permutations. Not only are you able to choose which character you want, but you get to choose what kind of snowboard you want to use for the race. Each snowboard also has the same sum of stars and different permutations, allowing for you to choose the smartest combination of character and snowboard.
The narrative is very simple but catchy, especially to people that like to snowboard. The story is that it is just a bunch of kids racing on snowboard for fun. This game has a surprising amount of social interaction. This is due to the creativity of the weapons and obstacles throughout the levels. One level in particular there is a giant snowman that shoots the snowman weapon, which if you get hit by it, you turn into a snowman onto your snowboard. Not only do you look hilarious but you are not able to turn. This means you can go straight into a wall and lose position in the race easily, or get lucky on a straight away and not lose your place. There are weapons that allow you to steal every characters' money supply, which is needed to acquire weapons. This in turn sparks a lively conversation of trash talking throughout the players and can be game turning.
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eazya's Snowboard Kids (N64)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Wednesday 5 March, 2008
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