POV: It’s Tricky to Rock a Rhyme That’s Right on Time
The SSX franchise is the Tony Hawk’s Skateboarding of the snow (sorry Shawn White). Fast-paced, meticulous focus on gameplay, absolutely amazing soundtracks and a few failures recently with the franchise… But I am not here to tell you about all the bad with SSX, I’m here to spout about the pure brilliance that is SSX Tricky.
Over the weekend, I went home for Bonfire Night. I couldn’t go home without whipping out my GameCube and playing this gem with my brother who has played it at least once a month since it came out in 2001. The basis of SSX Tricky is a snowboarding game. You choose one of two game modes: either a race to the finish or a trick competition where you try to get the most points you can by doing the best tricks as you make your way down the slopes. The best part of SSX Tricky is, well, the tricks. You can do some pretty inhuman things such as a double misty on a rail whilst going uphill. Equally the uber tricks (available once you have filled up your Tricky meter) are absolutely wild, such as spinning the board around in your hand whilst flying through the air and somehow landing on two feet.
You can choose from a variety of characters and level them up individually, choosing which stats you want to improve and thus determining what each character specialises in. They each excel at different things, with Marty, the best at tricks, being my favourite. I have completed every slope on gold countless times and would happily do it again whilst jamming along to RUN D.M.C’s “It’s Tricky” and constantly being told to “bronze those thumbs”. I don’t know what else I could ask for in a sports game. Insanely over the top tricks, a plethora of maps, amazing music and a stupid amount of customisation, it really does stand the test of time.
The one complaint I have is after a while pulling off complex tricks can hurt my thumbs but I guess that’s just something I have to live with. If you are a fan of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, I highly recommend checking this out. Don’t bother with the other SSX games, Tricky is the holy grail of this now dead franchise. All I can hope for now is a remake, but with EA owning the rights to it, I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Other than that I hope you all have a great week and be sure to check out Death Stranding, out on the day of this publication. I am extremely hyped for potentially another Kojima gem and I hope you are too!
