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It has been an excruciatingly long wait for fans of Nintendo's 1080º Snowboarding franchise - the last appearance for the game was on the Nintendo 64 more than 5 years ago. However, at long last, the popular extreme sports series has returned on the Gamcube with a new installment, 1080º Avalanche. Like the previous games, Avalanche's approach and basic controls emphasizes action and speed over realism. However, this installment includes improved graphics and tweaks that help to keep the gameplay fresh. The game allows you to select from one of 5 different boarders and boards. Each character brings a unique style and personality to the slopes, and each one has a number of boards as well. Players can subsequently unlock additional boards by completing levels. Once you've decided your character, its time to hit the mountain, where you'll find that you have a lot more to worry about than just the other snowboarders. 1080º Avalanche includes several modes such as Match Race, Gate Challenge, Trick Attack and Time Trial Modes. The main meat of the game lies in the Match Race, a series of races on each mountain course. In this mode, you are given a set number of lift tickets and have to win all the races to move on to the next level. Once you run out of lift tickets, the game ends. The courses are divided into three levels: novice, hard and, expert. As you progress up the ranks, things become increasingly difficult with harder runs and more complicated runs and increasingly aggressive opponents. The final race in each round is the Challenge race. This is a timed race where you have to reach the end of the course before the clock runs out. Unlike the main races, the key here is avoiding obstacles that are thrown at you such as falling trees, massive avalanches and blinding squalls. These races are quite difficult because the clock time leaves very little room for error. While the initial level is a cakewalk, even experienced players will find the latter two stages to be difficult and challenging. Several additional modes allow you to jump right into the action. In Gate Challenge, you have to race through a series of slalom gates. This is difficult, because the time is limited, but you can increase your time by clearing gates and reaching the checkpoints without missing one. There's also a Trick Attack mode where the action takes place on special trick courses, here the object is rack up the most points by performing tricks and combos. There's also an expected Time Trial mode where you can race against the clock to mark the best time on the mark. Gamers can choose to play solo or against a friend in split-screen mode. However, you can also connect up to 4 Gamecube consoles together for intense LAN play in multiplayer mode. While none of them are revolutionary, 1080º Avalanche includes a solid selection of modes that should keep you busy for quite awhile. When players collide with other riders or crash into objects, their damage meter increases. When this meter fills up, the run and race is over so you have to be careful not to smash into too many things during each run. The rival racers can also be brutal, punching and kicking at you if you get too close to them. In addition to battling rival boarders, the treacherous environments also play a huge role in each match. These obstacles give the game a unique feel and add to the challenge. Players will face massive drops, sharp turns, falling trees, collapsing bridges, and roaming animals. Since there are multiple paths on each course, you may want to play through each course multiple times to find the fastest way down. Weather is another major factor, with blizzards and snowstorms occurring frequently to limit your visibility. During the game, players can also trigger massive avalanches, which roar at the player with incredible speed. Obviously, you'll have to escape these, by moving down the mountain at a fast clip. The interactive environments definitely add to the challenge, and the courses themselves are quite large and expansive, making each run satisfyingly long. Controlling your boarder is relatively simple with steering and turning mapped to the control stick. By pressing down on the left shift button, your boarder bends down. This increases their speed, but reduces turning ability. Likewise, the grinding system is also remarkably simple and intuitive, just press the left shift button when you approach a rail. To keep your balance when grinding, all you have to do is move the control stick left or right. The Jumping and Tricks systems work similarly, which is a good thing. In order to jump, you have to wait until you reach a ramp and can then perform tricks by holding down the A button. This also increases your trick meter. All you have to do at this point is wait until you reach a ramp, then release the shift button as your trick meter reaches the top. You can then perform moves such as grabs and spins. There are several types of moves available and players can earn a point multiplier by chaining these moves together. Sometimes, you may land awkwardly and come out of a landing dizzy and unbalanced. To get back on your feet, all you have to do is spin the yellow camera stick rapidly, which helps you regain your balance. You can also build up your trick meter until your character begins to glow. When this is enabled, you can knock over opponents. The controls are relatively easy to understand, and they feel intuitive in practice. Most moves and tricks are easy to perform successfully. Unfortunately, the number of moves and combos is severely limited, with only a few grinds, grabs and spins for each character. However, when compared to contemporary snowboard titles on other systems like SSX and Amped, it feels quite limited. Even though 1080º Avalanche emphasizes speed and racing, the lack of moves makes the gameplay feel stunted and limiting. 1080º Avalanche's presentation shines with richly detailed environments that are large and impressive. From an aesthetic standpoint, this is definitely one of the best-looking Gamecube titles to date. The graphics engine is excellent with seamless character animations, detailed environments and a smooth frame rate that create an impressive sense of speed. This makes for an intense game, but there are also beautiful texture maps, brilliant light-sourcing and weather effects giving the game a realistic appearance. The shadows are good and you can see the paths you make on the way down imprinted on the snow, which is a cool effect. The interactive environments with avalanches and falling trees are quite impressive. The courses feel alive and are populated by a variety of skiers and snowboarders. There are also some impressive special effects such as wind streaks that appear on the side of the screen when you reach high speeds and adds to the intensity. Players can change camera viewpoints easily by using the camera stick, and most of these are quite effective. The music offerings include an array of alternative and pop punk bands such as Cauterize, Finger Eleven and, Seether that compliment the action perfectly. As you progress in the game, additional music tracks become available, reducing the repetitiveness. Overall, the game looks solid and sounds contemporary but unfortunately, the game is still somewhat of a disappointment. Despite its graphical polish, there are
several key areas where 1080º Avalanche falls short of the mark. The biggest
problem lies in the number of options available to players, with only 5 playable
boarders and a limited number of courses in the game. There are branching course
layouts and players can unlock new boards, but the game's longevity feels very
limited. On the bright side, the remarkably intuitive controls and frenetic
speed definitely spark an intense experience, but the thrill quickly subsides.
Players who have become accustomed to more sophisticated extreme sports titles
with deep moves lists, endless selection of boards and dozens of courses are
bound to find the gameplay here extremely limited. While this is a solid game
from a technical standpoint, the lack of unlockable content such as new
characters keeps the appeal frozen in place. Despite the production polish,
there's not a lot of substance in 1080º Avalanche's gameplay once you get
beyond the first few levels, making for a disappointing experience overall.
Gamecube owners should probably rent this one or wait until it comes down in
price.
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