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Snowboard
Kids DS is a pretty cool snowboarding game for the NintendoDS
(hence the name). It’s the follow-up to the Nintendo64 series by
Atlus, in which the aim is to get down the hill before your
opponents pulling off tricks as you go.
The
Touch Screen controls the direction you travel - move the stylus to
the left and your character leans to the left and so on. You
perform the tricks by a combination of using the buttons to do a
grab etc. and while in midair you can form circles on the Touch
Screen and turn your character round, making your jump earn you
more points… if you land the trick of course. This fills up a
boost meter which you can then use to boost ahead of the
competition.
The
main problem with the control is when using the stylus it is quite
difficult to move your character properly, in the end I found it
much easier to use the D-pad as it seemed to be more responsive,
which is a shame as I like using the Touch Screen in games, my hand
automatically reaches for the stylus rather than the D-pad.
The
graphics are pretty good, definitely up to a similar standard of a
Nintendo64 and although I know graphics aren’t the be all and end
all of a game, it certainly helps a little. The game doesn’t feel
especially quick but it moves quickly enough and you can see what
is coming up on the slope in front and gives you time to pull off a
trick so the speed seems about right for the genre of game it is.
There
is also quite a nice weapon feature involved, you can pick up
various weapons including snowballs to pelt at your opponents which
adds a nice touch of aggression to proceedings however they are
difficult to aim and you readily end up throwing yourself off
course trying to hit first place with a deserved snowball or ice
block in the back of the head!
Clearly,
Snowboard Kids DS is not trying to compete with the likes of
SSX Tricky and 1080 Avalanche; instead it plays
similar to Mario Kart. The title will appeal to those who
want something a little inventive but may easily discourage snow
boarding fanatics.
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