LogFAQs > #949434025

I mean, I guess I'll post two in a row, whatever.

#71 - SSX3 (PS2, 2003)



I never played the original SSX; in fact I had never even seen what it was like, so Im not sure why I was drawn to buying SSX Tricky for my shiny new Gamecube so early in its life cycle, but it was a truly amazing experience. It had awesome characters, amazing levels, and a perfect arcade-y snowboard draw to it that I hadnt felt since the Snowboard Kids days. And it came out of nowhere for me. Choosing Psymon and navigating him down the various slopes while he yelled psychotic things at everyone and everything around him was a grand old time. And those levels! Aloha Ice Jam, Snowdream, and the Tokyo Megaplex are ridiculously memorable stages that have stuck with me 20 years later. How could they top such a high bar?!

With SSX3, thats how. Instead of a handful of levels, they made one big mountain. Hows that better, you ask? Because that mountain is divided into 3 peaks, each of those peaks are considerably different from each other, and also house about 7 levels worth of content each. And you can just snowboard in between them. You can just go start at the top and skate all the way down to the bottom. Itll take a good half hour to do it, but you can. They pulled this off in 2003. Thats some 2010s level shit they did!

Theres also several new gameplay mechanics that were introduced that SSX just doesnt feel complete without anymore, like board presses and handplants. They made it possible to indefinitely continue a combo as long as youre good enough to keep it going. I still think Tricky has the more memorable levels, but my biggest SSX memories will always be running down one of 3s slopes listening to the DJ talk about my wipeouts as he transitions from Red Hot Chili Peppers to Autopilot Off.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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