SSX On Tour

Rating ESRB: Everyone Genre sports Publisher Electronic Arts External Links Official SSX On Tour Website Official Electronic Arts Website

The SSX series premiered on the PlayStation 2, launching simultaneously with the console in late 2000. Forget Madden NFL 2001 or Midnight Club Street Racing - SSX was the real must-have of the launch titles. I remember being in awe of the speed and glorious visuals, not to mention the whole next-generation feel of it. SSX took the critical and commercial snowboarding crown away from 1080 Snowboarding and never looked back. Follow-ups SSX Tricky and SSX 3 took the series multi-platform, establishing it as a gaming juggernaut of its own.

Until the launch of the PlayStation Portable, handheld systems simply could now recreate the console experience of the SSX series. Previous versions on the Game Boy Advance and N-Gage systems were critical failures and were luckily ignored by most gamers. Though SSX On Tour missed the PSP launch last spring, it is a visually stunning game that makes good on the promise of a handheld SSX. Though the game has been simplified for portable play, there is more than enough here to recommend a purchase for extreme sports buffs.

For the first time in the series, SSX On Tour introduces skiing as an additional way to get down the mountain. Though there might be a major difference in the real world, the two are incredibly similar in the game. Both use the same control scheme, though you can ride backwards on skis. Riding on skis seemed to be a slightly more stable experience, but otherwise, the difference is purely visual. SSX On Tour replaces the amusing characters of games past with a create-a-player mode... which apparently did not make its way to the PSP version. Instead, you play as "random guy in a sweater." Enjoy!

The bulk of your time will be spent playing The Tour, in which you take on individual events as you make your way to the top of the leaderboard. Some type of dedicated story mode would have been more exciting, but the system in place works well on a handheld. Making progress in the events increases your rider's attributes, including speed and edging. Track selection is surprisingly limited during your first few hours of play, so the events can become a bit monotonous. Luckily, the gameplay is loose and fun, so the hours spent plugging away at it should still be enjoyable.

As I noted previously, the game is extremely impressive in the graphics department. SSX On Tour looks at least as good as a first-generation PlayStation 2 title, despite the limitations of the PSP hardware. Visuals are so important to a snowboarding game, which is why the previous SSX games failed on weaker portable systems. You will barrel down the mountain for three or four minutes at a time, never experiencing slow down or major graphical glitches. Like most other PSP games, the polygon models have a bit of a jagged look at times, but I attribute that more to the screen size than bad programming.

SSX On Tour contains the entire licensed soundtrack of the console version, featuring a whopping 41 tracks from classic and current artists. Def Leppard, Scorpions, and Iron Maiden represent the old-school, while We Are Scientists, Paul Wall, and LCD Soundsystem help make up the roster of newer artists. The songs pop up during the menu screens and gameplay, but can also be listened to via the Pocket Trax menu option. Electronic Arts has dropped the ball on some of their soundtracks, but SSX On Tour has enough quantity and variety to please most gamers. I occasionally noticed a second of slowdown when the track changed during gameplay, but it was not a major issue.

Aside from some occasional glitches, the game works wonderfully on the PSP. I would have preferred some more gameplay variety, but what the game does, it does well. While Amped 3 on the Xbox 360 is a better overall title, the SSX series continues to provide fast, fun board (and ski!) action on multiple platforms. The PSP iteration of SSX On Tour is a commendable effort, and joins Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix as yet another worthwhile extreme-sports title on the system.