I was a massive fan of the original SSX, and loved SSX Tricky, so I was very keen to start SSX up for the first time in years. Upon being greeted with the title screen, it’s apparent EA are trying to give it a new style and branding, the intro made this all the more apparent. “SSX” stands for ‘Snowboarding, Surfing and Motocross’, a far cry from the ‘Super Snowcross’ from yesteryear, which is thrown in our face at every opportunity at the start of the game.This gives me the feeling that EA may start trying to push into other sports soon, something rather risky, but this is only my initial impression on what I’ve played so far.

I’ve played the game for over an hour now, and I must say, I really am not enjoying myself. Not once have I felt in control of the action, and feel constantly confused about what I’m meant to do next. The control scheme is similar to what I’m used to, albeit extremely tempermental, (Characters either turn too much or too little, which causes all kind of havoc on the new “deadly descent” courses.) I feel my biggest concern are that the courses just aren’t as enjoyable as they were in the PS2 era. Every level in the retro games felt tailored to anyones play style. I was always able to win races on Tricky from doing lots of tricks to get my Tricky meter full, then boost ahead from the unlimited boost. SSX on the other hand does not cater to my play style. I find myself constantly losing to AI because I’m concentrating too much on tricks, and even when I do get Tricky, the boost doesn’t last long. It seems races are just that: Racing, diverge too much from the race and you find yourself in a sticky situation.
I may find myself getting better with time, but for now, until I bring myself to play more, I really do not like SSX.