I really wish I'd played more of the critically acclaimed PS2 launch title so I could make a good comparison. Unfortunately, I sold my PS2 pre-order for a little extra emergency cash and have yet to pick up a PS2 so I went into today a SSX virgin (ok, so I played a few minutes of an in-store demo, but that's not much to go on). The only snowboarding games I'd played prior to this were 1080 on the N64 (duh) and Coolboarders 2 for the PSX. So, how was my first (real) time with SSX? As is often the case with first times, a bit awkward, but quite enjoyable.

The GameCube version of SSX Tricky was still 3 weeks away from Alpha so it was a bit rough. Graphically, the PS2 version was much more polished. The framerates on the GameCube version fluctuated and the lighting needed a lot of work, but the dev team is well aware of these issues and will not be a problem with the final product. In fact, the framerate was hindered by debug code still being in this build. So, any real judgement of the game's graphical abilities is somewhat tainted at this point in time. Still, the levels looked fairly impressive (in size and overall design) and there was a particularly nice area with cool volumetric fog. All in all, the look of the game should be on par with (and possibly better in some areas) the versions on the PS2 and Xbox.

The gameplay looks to be strong, too. While I wasn't able to do much being an SSX newbie, the overall design promises to offer 2 distinct approaches, racing and stunt. Had I been more adept, I might have been able to pull of tricks to rack up points and build up my adrenaline allowing me to win with style. But, with my lack of skills, I was only able to stick with very basic stuff while hunting for shortcuts to help my cause. I managed to race fairly well that way, though, more often than not, I'd try some ambitious tricks on a huge jump near the course's end which would quickly drop me from 1st place to 5th. Today was not a good day for showcasing any L33T skilz that I might possess.

Besides accommodating 2 styles of gameplay, SSX Tricky looks to offer more depth with the various relations between the game's characters. There are preset personalities and relationships with the characters that are affected by how you treat them in a race. If you consistently knock over the other boarders and harass them, they'll remember that and react accordingly in later races. So theoretically, you could win by knocking over your opponents in the first few races but then find yourself being gang up on in later races. Unfortunately, this was not implemented yet in the current build of the game (pre-Alpha, remember), but it will be there when all is said and done.

Pulling off tricks was a bit, um, tricky. The Z-button is used in tandem with the L and R buttons and was a bit beyond my current skill level to execute on a consistent basis. This might be one area in which the PS2 version remains superior as all 4 of the Dual Shock 2's shoulder buttons are utilized for tricks so some adjustments were necessary for using the GameCube controller. Another note on the control scheme, the current default uses the smaller B button for jumping rather than the A button. Being the primary button, it seems that the larger A button would be more natural. Of course, this is still being tweaked and the control scheme is definitely not final.

On the whole, SSX Tricky for the GameCube is still kind of rough, but given that it's not due to ship until November or December, there should be plenty of time to tweak and polish things. The depth of gameplay alone should be enough to please any snowboarding fans and with the graphics polished up to PS2's standards (or better) and a soundtrack (featuring Mix Master Mike, Aphrodite, The Plump DJ’s, and more) that should be as good as the original's, casual gamer's are sure to give SSX Tricky a look, too. So, as with Madden NFL 2002, EA will add another solid title to the GameCube's early library.