If you were interested in multiplayer games during the 32-bit generation then chances are you had a Nintendo 64. With four controller ports and hits like Mario Kart 64 right out of the gate this was the party console no matter how you spin it. I spent days at a time playing titles like Goldeneye 007 with friends, and we were always on the look out for the next big multiplayer title. This is why I’m genuinely surprised Snowboard Kids went under my radar. This lighthearted snowboarding multiplayer game made big waves on the platform. I’m finally setting things right today sitting down to review this quirky and charming racer.
There’s no story to speak of here. You simply choose a game mode, character, snowboard, and are then thrust right into the action! It’s arcade gameplay at its finest. Snowboard Kids is a behind the back arcade style racing game set to a winter wonderland snowboarding motif. It’s also a very cute game with the cast consisting entirely of disproportioned children with intentionally goofy designs. In the beginning you get five different characters to choose from, and you unlock more as you complete events. Each has their own set of stats including speed and turning. These translate well to the gameplay as you can really tell the differences between them. They even have unique tricks.
Additionally you can also select which snowboard you would like to use in an event. These too have their differences, and more are acquired from the in-game shop. Remember back when video games didn’t require micro transactions and instead you earned the currency in-game? Well, Snowboard Kids has your back. The ability to fine tune your gameplay style is pretty cool in my opinion. It’s an entire generation ahead of what Mario Kart was offering back then. I really do like how much your decisions affect gameplay, and it really helps to elongate the time you’ll spend with Snowboard Kids.
I’m not a fan of snowboarding games. That’s not my Snowboard Kids sucked me in. It grabbed me and didn’t let me go because of its arcade mechanics. This is a racing game wherein you select a map and then compete to finish a specific number of laps ahead of your opponents. Snowboard Kids is fully 3D and you view the action from behind your character. Out of the box you can jump and turn only which sounds limited but it’s still snowboarding after all. Littered around each downhill course are coins and these play a pretty big role in how you play. The game has power-ups scattered throughout each level but you can only collect these by spending coins. If you don’t have any then you bounce off of the item like it’s an obstacle.
These items are functionally similar to those that you would find in Mario Kart. There’s a speed boost, various projectiles, weapon that targets the character in first place, another that slows an opponent down, etc. I especially like that you can freeze foes with the ice item. If you use this strategically you can freeze one foe and cause another to crash into the iceberg. Most of these feel a bit contrived but they’re incorporated well enough that I can’t really complain. It is however terribly annoying when you’re about to cross the finish line and get hit by a foe. The rubber banding AI does this game no favors with this. You never seem to gain a sizeable lead because of this which is annoying.
Snowboard Kids also has a simple trick system, and the rewards are worth it. You can use the C buttons on the controller whenever you hit one of the well placed jumps. While each character has tricks all their own typically these are grabs, spins, or flips. The problem is you have to land at just the right angle or else you’ll fall and lose some time. Successfully performing these tricks grants you additional money which is pretty neat. Some areas in Snowboard Kids are a little stingy when it comes to coins so you’ll need to rely on your abiltity to perform these tricks in order to gain the use of items.
So what makes Snowboard Kids such a great game? It’s the multiplayer. You can compete against three other friends in a race on any of the courses. Believe you me it’s a real blast. With the way the game is designed it feels like the human players never get too far away from each other. Unless you’re really bad, that is. Snowboard Kids is just as fast and frenetic as Mario Kart 64 in my opinion. The best part of the game is that in order to complete ‘laps’ in this game you need to use the ski lift at the bottom, and only one rider can fit in at a time. This causes a lot of laughs when you’re playing with human opponents and rushing to board the lift first.
The racing mechanics are pretty sound. The only thing I don’t like is how awkward changing directions, or building momentum can be. Hey, that’s snowboarding for you, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. Some of the slopes offer only a small play area and the handling of your board doesn’t work well with this. I found myself falling off in sections like this frequently, but maybe that’s because I generally choose speed over handling. Thematically things get a bit strange and move away from the snowy slopes. One course is a desert where you’re boarding down sand for crying out loud! It sounds cheesy, and it is, but I liked it overall. Each course has hidden shortcuts which are entirely unrealistic but the effort of finding them is worth it.
Snowboard Kids isn’t the prettiest Nintendo 64 game. The visuals are on the blurry side, and the characters are obviously low in polygons. The slightly abstract and goofy style of the game was clearly something used to make the hardware limitations less obvious and honestly it works pretty well. Snowboard Kids isn’t impressive technically but it looks good enough. The lighting is great looking in the lantern lit caves, and the sunsets are nice and vibrant. The framerate suffers a little when you’re playing multiplayer, but it’s still adequate. The soundtrack is pretty lame. Everything sounds muffled and I really don’t enjoy the music. The bouncy tracks are lost on me because of the low playback quality.
The Nintendo 64 was the best console of its time for party games. Snowboard Kids is clearly one of the very best of the bunch. For such a low key release it has quite the following, and deservedly so. These days I would rather play Snowboard Kids than Mario Kart 64. That’s really saying something. The fact that this hasn’t been re-released for any modern console means you’ll need to keep the 64-bit behemoth hooked up if you want to hit the slopes with some friends. I wouldn’t blame you if this was the game that you kept it connected for.
