Genre: Extreme Sports
Developer: Nintendo Software Technology (NST)
Publisher: Nintendo
# of Players: 1 - 4
Memory: 3 blocks
ERSB: Everyone
Released On: December, 2003
Features: Four-player LAN
Supports: Progressive Scan, Dolby Pro Logic II
MSRP: $49.99
Also On: None
Website: http://www.nintendo.com/gamemini?gameid=m-Game-0000-810

The Nintendo 64’s 1080° Snowboarding is a game that enthralled thousands of gamers many years ago; a game which showed that not only can Nintendo develop innovating and fun games but also ones with style, luring in a new kind of Nintendo fan. Years later, at 2003’s end, Nintendo and first party developer NST managed to release a long awaited sequel to the Nintendo 64 favorite, 1080°: Avalanche. However, these snow filled mountains are home to some stiff competition. With Electronic Arts’ highly acclaimed SSX3 and Microsoft’s Amped 2 making some noise, Nintendo has to do much more than simply rehash the Nintendo 64 classic, as they’ve unfortunately done with Mario Kart: Double Dash, Nintendo’s biggest title of 2003…

Presentation
Nintendo Software Technology is easily becoming one of my personal favorite internal developers at Nintendo. With the GameCube launch title Wave Race: Blue Storm and now with 1080°: Avalanche under their belt, they’ve proven, that unlike Nintendo’s often praised EAD, GameCube games can have a nice “modern” style to them that doesn’t only appeal to the select gaming crowd Nintendo has catered to for the past twenty years with EAD’s Super Mario Sunshine and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

This “modern” style can be seen throughout 1080°: Avalanche. The game’s visual style, title screens, soundtrack, and its attitude as a whole is much more respectable than overdone and high spirited Mario Kart: Double Dash. However, I find it odd that seeing how both Wave Race and 1080° franchises were initially conceived within Nintendo’s EAD, that since the GameCube’s launch, EAD has wasted their time on pointless gaming endeavors that emphasize on GameCube/GBA connectivity, a feature that is undoubtedly the most dim-witted Nintendo venture since the laughable Virtual Boy.

Graphics
When looking at still images, 1080°: Avalanche looks horrible. Perhaps it’s Nintendo’s poor image capturing techniques or just the fact that the game looks much better in motion, but even when I take a look at still images of 1080°: Avalanche after just playing the game for an hour or two, I’m tricked by my own eyes into believing this game looks no more pleasing to the eye than a steaming pile of horse droppings. However, this isn’t the case at all.

In motion, 1080°: Avalanche is one beautiful looking game. While it may not necessarily share the same “awe” factor as the Xbox’s Amped 2, the subtleties found throughout the game are sure to make many graphics whores smile. The way the clothes of the riders ripple in strong gusts of wind; the way snow particles gather on their clothing; the way woodland creatures such as squirrels, eagles, and deer frolic across each of the game’s nicely designed tracks; and the pure chaos that is set in motion during one of the game’s adrenaline pumping avalanches makes 1080°: Avalanche an astounding visual undertaking. However, while during the most chaotic times the game’s frame rate manages to stay at a bearable rate in single player, during multiplayer the game’s framerate becomes almost unbearable and that my friends isn’t a good thing.

Sound
How many Nintendo games have you ever played that feature a soundtrack comprised of licensed music? Nothing comes to mind does it? Well folks, before the release of 1080°: Avalanche, none existed. 1080°: Avalanche is the first internally developed Nintendo game to ever a feature a soundtrack comprised of licensed music. Seeing how every other Extreme Sports title features licensed music, NST’s Snowboarder shouldn’t be an exception.

While not as broad appealing as EA’s soundtrack to SSX3, Avalanche’s is surprisingly very well done. The tracks featured from artists such as Finger Eleven, Seether, Cauterize, and Boysetsfire (along with a large amount of original tracks) fit the game’s atmosphere well, and on the plus side, also are pretty good. Though, the game’s soundtrack isn’t Avalanche’s strongest sonic aspect…

The sounds of 1080° are simply overwhelming. In particular, the sheer chaos that ensues during one of the game’s avalanches downright attacks your sense of sound like no game you’ve ever come across before. On top of that, you’ll notice the loud drumming of a freight train speeding down the mountainside, the authentic skidding of your rider tearing up the game’s courses, and even the scream of an eagle as it soars above your head. The only thing holding me back from giving Avalanche an even better score in this area is the fact that the voice-overs done for the game’s characters are a bit dry. Cheesy one-liners just don’t cut it.

Gameplay
Unlike the other Snowboarding titles on the market, 1080°: Avalanche is more about speed than performing insane stunts. So depending on what you prefer, if you prefer anything at all, 1080° may possibly worth your time and money, but it could also be a big disappointment.

First, I’d like to mention that Avalanche features some of the best level design in any title of the same genre, featuring some very nice and innovative touches, many of which are unseen of in a Snowboarding game. The game’s environments are destructible (in a predetermined fashion)… which in return allows for a number of multiple paths to take; many of which can make or break a race against a human or CPU opponent. For instance, triggering some explosives can blow a hole in the mountainside, unveiling a new ice tunnel, or in another instance jumping through a hole in a bridge tunnel can lead to a frozen valley stream that easily puts you ahead of your opponent. With all these choices, each of the game’s levels will continue to strike some interest with more hardcore gamers, with them analyzing each pathway, seeing which one can benefit most in-race.

Making things all the more intense are the amount of moving obstacles that willll cross your path, which includes swinging tree logs, tumbling boulders, cars, deer, and even squirrels. Running into any of these can easily set you off course, causing quite the bit of frustration. But if you analyze the movements of deer for instance, in whichever track you see them on, you’ll notice that they always move in the same lines, meaning if you were to play the track again, the deer will move along the same path as in the previous race.

Now, the incredible speed of the game amplifies this all to extent that it cannot be properly described (by me at least) in this review… As you go faster and faster down one of the games’s tracks, the screen begins to shake, the controller begins to rumble intensely, and as a result you get such a rush that you won’t mind hitting the slopes many times over. An experience only rivaled (on the GameCube) by Burnout 2: Point of Impact, and Amusement Vision’s F-ZERO GX. However, the downside to it all is that the amount of time you’ll be spending on each track, on average, is about two minutes, and compared to the sometimes twenty minute endurance races of SSX3, Avalanche disappoints.

As for where the game gets its namesake… Avalanche stages cap off each of the game’s circuits, and unfortunately only four of them exist. In a Avalanche stage, pure chaos ensues, as tons and tons of snow, boulders, collapsing trees, anything and everything you can possibly imagine, begins to tail your from behind, falling front you, with the sole intent of consuming your body into a snowy white grave. These avalanches pose quite the threat, and to make things even more intense is the constant rattling of the game screen, causing you to lose track of where the hell your rider is located, but luckily for those less patient gamers, the game gives you an unlimited amount of retries for the Avalanche stages, whereas the game limits you to three “lives” in total for use across all previous stages in a circuit.

Avalanche’s single-player gameplay modes include Match Race, Gate Challenge, Trick Attack, and Time Trial. Normally, I would start off by saying something like “Match Race is the area in which gamers will be spending the bulk of their time in Avalanche,” although, while isn’t necessarily a false statement, each gameplay mode provides an enjoyable experience whose appeal is pretty much equal to the next. In Match Race you and your rider of choice hit the slopes on four different difficulty levels across fifteen different tracks, and six mirror stages on the most Extreme difficulty. Unlike other Snowboarding games, in Match Race, you’ll only compete with one opponent per track. I’m not sure if it’s due to graphical limitations or the fact that there are only five different riders in the game, but one on one races leave much to be desired… Also leaving much to be desired is the fact Match Race is relatively short. The first three difficulty settings (Novice, Hard, & Expert) can easily be completed within an hour. As for Extreme, since it is the hardest of settings, you’ll be retrying the circuit many times over. However, you’ll soon come to realize that in order to complete the Extreme difficulty setting (if you will) with ease, you’ll need to delve into the other gameplay modes, whose purpose at first seems to be solely for unlocking better boards, which increase your rider’s overall stats and performance. These modes are Gate Challenge, Time Trial, and Trick Attack. In Gate Challenge your wits are put to the test, as you take your rider through flagged gates placed on a track’s fastest path; zooming down slopes at incredible speeds with the intention of making it through each and every gate in order to earn that First Place trophy, and enough of them to unlock some gimmick boards, including one that resembles the classic NES game pad. Time Trial is very similar. While its purpose is supposedly to see how fast you can make through each of the game’s tracks, five pieces of a shatter coin are placed along each track’s fastest path. Getting all five pieces of the “Time Trial” coin not only helps earn you a new board, but also helps you master the game’s tracks, mentally solidifying which path is best in-race. As for the Trick Attack mode, it’s the one exception to the comment I made earlier about each gameplay mode being an “enjoyable experience whose appeal is pretty much equal to the next”, because quite simply, Trick Attack is weak in every area. Basically all you do is jump off a ramp and attempt to pull of some high scoring trick combos before landing. Just like the original 1080, Avalanche isn’t too strong in the tricking area, in fact it’s just plain horrible, but luckily, the game doesn’t emphasize on it much.

A generation ago, Nintendo could’ve been called “The King of Multiplayer,” but things seemed to have changed, or more appropriately, nothing has changed. 1080°: Avalanche is pretty lackluster in multiplayer area. In theory, racing with up to four friends across the game’s fifteen courses should be a blast, but with four friends plugged in for some split-screen multiplayer action, Avalanche’s framerate takes an unfortunate dive. Although, those who can get some LAN play in cession may be able to enjoy the game’s multiplayer aspect (despite still only allowing four racers onscreen), and things become even better for those who can take advantage of Warp Pipe for some pseudo-online gaming.

Final Thoughts
After many hours of controller tossing, curse spewing, Snowboard action, I’ve come to the conclusion that 1080°: Avalanche is a great game that is hindered by a few shortcomings that can easily be overlooked by those looking for a simple and fun racing game for the GameCube. As far as it goes when comparing Avalanche to other games in the genre, I will not say that I prefer one title over the other. Avalanche is unique. It’s fast, it’s fun and has more in common with an Arcade Racer than Electronic Arts’ SSX3. If you think you’ll enjoy it then by all means give it a shot.