1080 Avalanche has been a subject of hot debate in past months, as the version demoed at the Cube Clubs was considered to be far less than impressive. Developed by the staff at NST (with some help from Digipen students), the game has improved tremendously.

The E3 demo version is still limited in the number of slopes and boarders that are available, but what is being shown is mighty impressive. The graphics have been vastly improved, with tons of detail from the snow, to the trees, to the various buildings and structures you’ll find all around. The game moves at a fairly speedy 60 frames per second, and while there is a bit of slowdown at times, the game is still under development, and this will very likely be reduced (if not eliminated altogether). One thing that is sure to catch your eye is the incredibly realistic manner in which the character’s clothing ripples and waves as you streak down the mountain at a break-neck pace.

There is a lot going on in the 1080 world. As you make your way down a slope, you’ll see other boarders and skiers that you’ll need to avoid, buildings you can either go around or through, and multiple pathways down every mountain. You can even trigger events that will open additional pathways, like the ability to cause an avalanche in some areas that will open icy caves or forested clearings that you can turn into a shortcut. It’s a fun way to interact with your environment, and the game rewards you for exploring by giving you an advantage against your competition.

The mountain has a lot of texture, just as you’d expect from a snowboarding game this generation. You can feel a vast difference between hard-packed snow, fresh powder, and icy patches, and it will definitely challenge your reflexes and control. One area that could still stand some improvement is the control scheme itself, which is still a far cry from its predecessor on the N64. There are on screen icons that will appear when you need to regain your balance or get control of your board on slick icy stretches of track, but the trick system has been very much dumbed down from the cartridge variant, including an automatic spin system initiated by simply holding down the “R” button. It’s hopeful that the control might be tweaked and adjusted to allow for a more complex, and ultimately more rewarding system, as in its earlier incarnation, but as it stands, tricks are pretty much just a matter of charging your jump, then pressing another button (or button combination).

Much of the rather goofy sound effects have been pulled, and either replaced with much better samples, or simply nixed. In what feels like an attempt to separate the game from over-the-top games such as SSX Tricky, the announcer calling your tricks is now blissfully mute. In fact, the entire game seems to handle the sport with more respect than the wacky style SSX portrays. That’s not to say that SSX isn’t a great game, because it is. There’s definitely room for an “arcadey” version of the sport as well as a more true-to-life take on the genre.

Overall, it’s heartening to see the progress NST has made on the project, and while there’s a fair amount of work left to be done, I’m confident that we’ll see another Nintendo-backed snowboarding title that will give games like Cool Boarders and SSX a run for their money.