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A.P.I Review:	PHAT AIR Extreme Snowboarding
Developer:	Funsoft	OPTIONS:	SCREENSHOTS: No.1   No.2   No.3
Distributor:	TV Tokyo	1-2 Player
Game Type:	Snowboarding	Memory Card
Review Date:	October 1998	Standard Joypad

Setting the Scene

Snowboarding is now an official discipline for the Olympics, and 
has become one of the most popular sports of the nineties.  Phat 
Air Extreme Snowboarding takes the sport of the piste and slides 
it onto the Playstation.  It includes all of the familiar jumps, 
tricks, turns and of course those times when you fall flat on your 
face.  

There are six different disciplines which are split into nine 
different levels.  From this choice there are also five characters 
to choose from who all have different techniques and styles.

Phat Air Extreme Snowboarding is the latest game trying to 
capitalize on the ever-growing interest in snow boarding games.

Select your board, put on your best duds and get ready to do some
shredding!

Genre

Phat Air Extreme Snowboarding is a one or two player X'treme-style 
sporting game.

Graphics

To start off, Phat Air Extreme Snowboarding does not have any sort of 
opening FMV, it simply kicks you right into the main menu.  Now I realize 
that this doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things but I much 
prefer to get psyched up to play a game with a real good opening.   
Like you get with NHL '98.  

The graphics throughout the game are quite decent doing the job of
representing the sport of snow boarding .  The courses are easy to 
follow and the players have good animation during moves but there 
were a couple of flaws. 

First, the crowds along the slopes look like cardboard cutouts propped 
up in some old ghost town.  It's as if they are trying to fool Big Bad 
Bart into thinking there are more townspeople than there actually are.  

Another thing is when you veer slightly off course and collide with the 
rocks, or fence (which I did many times), there is an awful amount of 
polygon seaming and clipping going on.  

Overall the graphics weren't too bad but there is room for improvement.

Sounds and Effects

The music for this game is actually pretty good.  There is approximately 
eight different songs to choose from in the Configuration menu and all of
them can get your blood pumping.

However, there is an announcer throughout the game that becomes a bit of
a nuisance.  He has an extremely annoying voice and if you play the game
long enough he will drive you completely insane.

The overall sound effects are fairly accurate in imitating the sounds that 
you would expect to hear in a sport of this sort.  Cool snow shredding
sounds, painful thuds as you slam into a wall or snow bank.  You know...
the usual stuff.

Playability

Phat Air Extreme Snowboarding has four different playable modes to 
choose from, Championship, Time Competition, Free Style, and VS Modes.  

The Championship mode is obviously the most comprehensive of the bunch.
You start by picking the particular boarder you want.  There are five
different people to choose from with varying skills.  Once you have
selected a boarder you proceed to the first race.  There are eight races
and depending on how well you do, you get points to upgrade your skills
between races.  Championship Mode touches the full gamut of courses from
downhill to half pipe with slalom and freestyle jumping in between.

The Free Style mode allows you to pick the particular course you want to
race on and then compete for the highest point value (trick points and
speed).  What I enjoyed about this mode was the free style jump course.  
It affords a setting in which to practice your jump moves, and
they are not easy.  You have to hold down particular buttons while
simultaneously moving the D-Pad, but only after you jump properly!
Eventually you get used to it... but the developers don't make it easy.

The Time Competition mode is just as it sounds.  You race simply for the
best time.

I always enjoy competing against friends but I was a little disappointed
in the VS mode.  In this mode you race against a friend but with a side
by side - vertical split screen.  This may not sound like a big deal but
it gets very confusing when you start bumping into things and seeing
through walls, which I mentioned earlier.  VS mode is fun but it will
definitely screw with your eyes.

Value for Money

Phat Air Extreme Snowboarding is your typical run of the mill sporting 
game for Playstation.  It can grab your attention for a short while as 
you learn the moves and skills, but it fails to hold your interest 
enough to keep coming back for more.  It's the kind of game that is 
fun to play every once in a while, but not nearly exciting enough to 
play everyday.
  
I would recommend you give Phat Air Extreme Snowboarding a rental 
before purchasing.