Midway/Kemco's snowboarder proves that nobody does it better than Nintendo. The full review.

November 13, 1998

Developer Boss Game was no doubt thrown into an uncomfortable situation when Nintendo announced that it was not only in development, but nearly finished with 1080 Degrees Snowboading. You see, the Seattle-based game-maker responsible for N64's Top Gear Rally was deep into production with a snowboarding game of its own, Twisted Edge Snowboarding.

Shortly after 1080 was released, Boss decided to delay Twisted Edge three months in order continue working on it. After all, 1080 was and is a great game. If Boss were to have any hope of competing, Twisted Edge would have to be better. And so three months passed and Twisted Edge saw another delay. And then another.

One year later, Twisted Edge has shipped to retailers and, unfortunately, it's no 1080.

The Facts

• Seven snowboard tracks.
• Each track features alternate paths and different degrees of difficulty.
• Nine unique riders.
• More than 20 boards.
• Multiple gameplay modes including competition, stunt, practice and versus.
• Two-player split-screen multiplayer game.
• More than 30 moves including spins, flips, and grabs.
• Rumble Pak support.

Gameplay
To say that Twisted Edge and 1080 Snowboarding play alike would simply be untrue. Boss Game's title features significantly different control and physics than Nintendo's boarder. Players compete against three other boarders, instead of 1080's one-on-one competitions. Whereas 1080 generally speeds along, Twisted Edge coasts. Whereas 1080's physics enable players just enough hang-time to pull off various moves, the boarders in Twisted Edge seem to float through the air in a fashion that reminds one of the Rush series.

Boarders (a cast of nine hip, alternative skate-punks) can pull off quite a few tricks, from Back-flips and Mctwist 720s to Stale Fish Airs and Sad Kens -- upwards of 30 moves in all. The trick system itself is considerably different than in 1080. Not only is far more simplistic, but it's more intuitive as well, thanks largely to the fact that players can pull off combo-tricks. A Mctwist is performed by pressing Right, Down, Left, Up, A in sequence. Spins are even easier. By simply holding Left or Right in conjunction with the A button, boarders will continuously spin through the air limited only by the ground beneath them. Pulling off a 1080 is easy as cake. And, best of all, it's perfectly possible to manipulate a 1080 and follow it up with a method before dropping back down to the ground.

Unfortunately, Twisted Edge's trick system maybe its only saving grace. The game, especially by comparison to 1080, moves at a dreadfully slow pace. If a boarder crashes, it's nearly impossible to regain any sensation of speed, thus ruining the experience from the crash-point on. In a nice departure from 1080, the game rewards players with slight speed boosts upon successful completion of tricks, but if you're stuck in a corner, pulling off tricks is near impossible. The game's floaty feeling also does its best to deaden any sensation of speed. It's entirely possible to race 90% of a course flawlessly, crash, and still lose because it's impossible to garner speed again. Very frustrating.

It must be said that the game's stunt challenge mode, also highly frustrating, is strangely fun if not a little addictive all the same. The idea behind the mode is to race through a course pulling off tricks and racking up points. The more tricks successfully maneuvered, the more points a player receives. However, a time-clock continuously counts down as a player races. The only way to stop the clock from reaching zero and in turn ending the race is to keep landing tricks, which add time to the clock as well. More time equals more points. Because of the problems we mentioned above, the mode is easily the most frustrating the game has to offer. That said, we keep coming back to it.

Twisted Edge's two-player mode offers good one-on-one vs. racing at a smooth framerate, and helps a little to extend the game's replay value. Unfortunately, after experiencing the tighter control in Twisted's competition, there's no going back.

Graphics
Imagine 1080 Snowboarding. Now take away trees, snow-trails, speed and replace the game's tracks with one white-snow texture. Remember the powdery effect that 1080 delivers? There's nothing like it in Twisted Edge. Remember the details everywhere -- from fallen lumber, rocks, and horizon-spanning lens-flares? Twisted Edge takes a more generic approach to the sport with huge trails that lack the little extras. That's not to say that the game is ugly. Far from it. It's just not as pretty as 1080 -- and it's going to be compared to 1080 time and time again.

On the bright side, the game's levels are considerably more open, bigger, and there are a few eye-openers like frozen water with reflections and flying saucers soaring over tracks. Everything moves along with a super-smooth framerate too. It's just a shame that Boss didn't deliver a quicker-paced game to take advantage of the engine.

Sound
Twisted Edge sounds great. Listen to the music in the game and we think you'll agree that somebody at Boss was influenced by the band Primus. Funky bass-lines with quick guitar snaps and unimportant back-beats fill each stage. A welcomed change to the usual techno lot. The sound effects are also a big step up from Top Gear Rally, with varied snow and ice noises and plenty of voice work. The Southern-Cal announcer ("Way to lose, loser!", "That move's twisted!", "And the Earth shakes!") can get a bit grating, but you can adjust volumes in the sound menu to your liking.

COMMENTS

Unfortunately, Twisted Edge Snowboarding is just too little too late. Nintendo's 1080 Snowboarding beats it out in nearly every category and remains the all-around better snowboarding game. That said, Boss Game's boarder does feature a nice selection of tricks and an intuitive combo system to back them up, visuals are pretty, framerate is top and the music is great. However, the game's lacking sense of speed, frustrating crashes, sub-par two-player mode just don't do it for me. Boss is one of Nintendo 64's best developers and they are capable of so much more. It's worth a rental to see if you like it.

--Matt Casamassina

Twisted Edge isn't bad, but everyone who has played 1080 is bound to be disappointed. 1080 used a two-part player model to simulate accurate boarder movement, but TE simply tilts its boarder when turning. It just doesn't seem right. On the other hand, the ability to catch big air is great and there are a lot more tricks in Twisted Edge. But it seems to me that Boss just gave up when they saw 1080. The final product is a decent snowboarding game that makes for a good rental and entertains with a diverse lineup of stunts, but just can't compete with its strong competition. Rent it first to see if you like the different approach.

--Peer Schneider

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