|
Wednesday 5 March, 2008
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.
|
