Shaun Palmers Pro Snowboarder
Review of Shaun Palmers Pro Snowboarder
After reviewing SSX Tricky, which I thought was pretty damn awesome, I was very excited to test drive Shaun Palmer’s Pro Snowboarder. The first difference I noticed was the looks of the game. SSX is a little more cartoony (which is perfectly fine in my book) where as SP is more surreal. The characters of SP are very detailed and much more human-like. Like SSX, the scenery is just beautiful and seems as if you can see for miles. When the boarders are in action, their hair and clothes are flapping in the wind, the powdery snow is kicking up, and the board is leaving nice trails behind the boarder, you can also see shadows of the rider even when they are air-born. One cool feature SP has that SSX Tricky doesn’t is the option to “create a boarder”. To create a boarder, the player will need to pick a sex (male or female), then a type of face, hair-color, hairstyle, and clothing. Name that bad boy or girl….and SHAZAAM….you created a freak, I mean a boarder. The player can build an army of new boarders if they like, up to at least 10 boarders. The new boarders can be played in any mode and to take this concept one step further you can also set their stats. Increasing spin, speed, landing, and balance will increase that boarder’s performance. WOW…this is really cool stuff!!
Now I was ready to take my personalized boarder for a ride. I named my rider RETT, she had crazy red hair, and looks to kill. We started out in Freeride mode. For some, Freeride is just practice, but I really enjoy freeriding verses racing so I can go crazy with tricks and explore with no pressure. There is plenty to discover; such as riding ramps, pipes, rails, rooftops, and any other objects on the slope like, ski lifts, boulders, ladders, etc. Another words….the sky is the limit. Like SSX Tricky the boarder can also find shortcuts, smash into things and break them and even run over a pedestrian along the way, YAHOO! Don’t fret if you are now at the bottom of the slope, find a snowmobile and get teleported back up to the top of the mountain.
Career mode is really the nuts and bolts of the game but a bit more stressful. Show off your skills, race against the Pros, gain respect, explore different countries, and unlock your rewards. The difference is the player will be timed and will need to complete certain tasks before time runs out. The courses take place at real world locations. The slopes are intriguing and awesome to explore like Lake Tahoe (home to Shaun Palmer), Aspen, Kirkwood, or even Squaw Valley – home to the 1960 Winter Olympics.
The trick controls are a little complicated. Landing and balancing is the key to successfully winning points. The boarder has the capability of doing flips, grabs, slides, and handplants. The player will also need to pull off multiple D Pad movements to accomplish the more complicated higher scoring maneuvers.
The soundtrack of SP features artist like Spineshank, Static X, and Papa Roach. I personally never heard of these groups but the music rocks and groves to gameplay just fine. The sound effects are good but not as good as SSX. The surface sounds, character voices, and sayings are not nearly as interesting as SSX Tricky. Oh well!!
OUR PLEDGE: We promise that we have fully played 'Shaun Palmers Pro Snowboarder' before writing this review. The scores given above are our honest opinion and were not influenced in any way by the manufacturer or distributor of the game.
This review was written by Loretta Mattie © Absolute PlayStation
Click here to view our 6 Shaun Palmers Pro Snowboarder in-game screenshot slideshow
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