As a child, this game impacted me greatly for what an EA published game could do if given some creative inspiration and not taking itself too seriously (remember when EA was good kids?)

I remember finding it somewhat difficult, having a fun soundtrack, and compelling gameplay loop.

Now with almost 20 years of hindsight, does this hold up? Sorta?

What now sticks with me is the attempt… distracted by all kinds of blemishes that I can’t pretend to not see (excluding emulating this game on a steamdeck, which lead to some bugs either in z-axis fighting, textures not loading, or running sub 60 fps). Character collisions either with each other or with the map have all kinds of issues; sharp corners that kill your momentum out of nowhere, running over downed players will sometimes cause you to fall (even though logically in an arcade game you should target them to stay down longer). From the trick side, this feels less developed than Tony Hawk’s Underground or an equivalent, with the tricks very limited, differentiating themselves solely by adding Square/X mid trick to turn it from one of the base 10 moves into 20. Uber Tricks are obviously great. Fine fine fine.

There is also no real end game. In about 6-8 hours I was able to take Eddie from Garibaldi all the way to Untracked and Pipedream, and that’s it really. You can either grind out the bizarre trick book (which has no on-screen display to track causing you to either write down the trick or memorize) for better outfits but I didn’t feel compelled. Even THPS1 had all the secrets in each level that made me want to find them, here, the game just sorta ends. The only real reason to continue playing is because your friend killed you in a show off competition and now you know that getting a 400k+ score is possible (if your boarder has the proper stats). Seeing 3 mil on the global high score charts is absolutely insane btw.

Ok ok, what about artistry? It’s fine. No Okami (which I don’t love the gameplay of FWIW), or JSR here. It’s colors are fairly saturated, with some mix of 90s future here and there. The soundtrack, which I remember loving as a kid, just doesn’t hold a candle to JSR/JSRF. Aside from the excellently bombastic Run DMC title track. No one is dressing up in Bushwick as SSX Tricky characters or quoting the global vernacular of Rahzel saying “genkikai!!” (or maybe because Canada will never achieve the level of fandom as Japan).

So am I happy with my 3 hours of setup and 8 hours of play? Sorta. But more as a discussion piece with other people who copped an OLED Steamdeck as an emulation hub to relive their childhood memories.

The rehashing of the trick system in this sequel is something that should go down in history as one of the greatest decisions ever made in gaming. It turned a relatively average snowboarding game into a loud and in your face powerhouse of a title, with bright unique visuals and banger tracks that perfectly accentuate the addictive trick-lining and adrenaline-filled racing that's tailor made to give you a perfect rush that'll keep you coming back for more. If you're at all curious about a foundational game like this, give it a shot and you won't be disappointed.

Played as Elise Riggs because there's something about narcissistic Canadians that push their friends off cliffs and then go "you gotta get over it, honey" that I am drawn to.

I've never played an SSX game before, but Tricky has existed in the back of my mind ever since seeing the commercials for it back in the early 2000s. They don't make advertising like this for games anymore and we're all poorer for it. Don't give me some cinematic drivel, show me action, and cut it up with footage of kids spinning around really, really fast! SSX Tricky's attitude and the use of Run DMC's It's Tricky definitely made the game memorable, so on some level this advertising campaign worked... I just didn't buy it and instead thought about it for 20+ years.

Well now I have a hard drive I can load up with whatever the hell I want, and SSX Tricky is one of only two snowboarding games I threw on there, the other being SSX 3. Look I know about these and 1080 Avalanche, the only ice I've shredded prior has been in Sonic Adventure and freaking Snowboard Kids, which probably explains why I'm not all that good at Tricky. Clawing the controller like I'm trying to tear a crab in half with my bare hands felt awkward, but I eventually got enough tricks down to beat the game, and as Elise rose up the ranks, I too started to feel like the villain of some 90s snowboarding movie.

The learning curve for Tricky's stunt system meant I had more fun in races, although some courses overstay their welcome. They are made more interesting by a sort of protoplasmic Nemesis System, wherein some opponents may be friendly towards you or be out for blood depending on how their character relates to yours and what actions you take against them. Start shoving one particular opponent off cliffs and into walls and you might find that they're kind of pissed at you in the next race. Elise thinks it's funny because Elise is a fucking sociopath. At least she's not Psymon, this freak's all hunched over standing three feet from the camera, examining you like a piece of meat, I don't want to know what his deal is.

It's too bad the series died after 2012's SSX, because snowboarding games are such a rare breed now, and they're all lacking in personality. It's all stuff like Riders Republic, which looks stylish if you're judging a game by its cover, but is an Ubisoft game to the bone. I need more of this early-2000s edge, I want to see Elise crack Marisol in the knees with a ballpeen hammer so she can climb her way to the top of SSX. You say I dislike modern gaming because of undiagnosed depression, I say I dislike modern gaming because they don't put SSX games out anymore.

is it a faux pas to say that sports games used to be really fun and do well with the nerd crowd? sure, your older brother and all his friends loved tony hawk's pro skater, but there's an enduring audience of people who still talk about and play these games to an insanely technical degree. you don't see the same level of adoration and dedication for games like FIFA and whatever the fuck else franchise sports games there are that just exist for celebrity appearances. the biggest separation between sports games back then and sports games now is the eschewing of realism in favor of over-the-top antics. the decision to say that realism fails where style succeeds. and, if nothing else, SSX Tricky has stood the test of time and shown that it is the ur example of realism not mattering.

if anything, trying to emulate reality is what has likely stagnated the sports genre to the degree where sports games are now synonymous with cosplaying as the new york mets. there's no fun, no invigorating "larger than life" attitude. just. . . egotism. why would i want to play something like soccer in a conventional way when games like SSX Tricky show that creativity is just around the corner, just a little bit past grounding? you can see indie titles take advantage of not being beholden to realism and succeed as a result (i.e. rocket league, pyre, etc.). i don't think there's anything wrong with realism in sports games, but when it's the only thing we're given, i feel starved of nourishment.

if nothing else, playing this game feels like a thick, cold slushie on a warm summer day. it's a treat i allow myself once in a blue moon to remind myself that there are sweet things in this world, you just have to look for them.

End of the Year Catch up #4 SSX Tricky

EA SPORTS........ BIG! IT'S TRICKY!

Engraved in the mind 20 years later. SSX Tricky does not disappoint. I would say this is probably my personal favorite Snowboarding game, but I am not gonna deny that SSX 3 is the superior game. They go balls to the wall here. It oozes style. From its characters on the character select screen, to all the courses being unique in their own way, to the classic sounds of Run DMC and its catchy "It's Tricky" while you pull off gnarly combo moves. Makes me miss the early 2000 aesthetics.

Racing or Showoff, this game has it all for you and your favorite rider. So much charm to it and I always try to comeback and play it every year. This is a certified hood classic!

This is THE definitive extreme sports game. Everything you could want is right here. Larger than life characters. Incredible, intense speed. Pulsing, blood-pumping music. Smooth, addictive gameplay. Flashy courses with monstrous drops and BIG air. Out of this world presentation & charm. Some of the highest levels of spectacle in a game. It's got it all. It's got it ALL.

Now if you played the original SSX in 2000 you may at first think that the game's returning characters, soundtrack and maps make it just a slight upgrade, but no. No, no no no. The characters have a mountain's worth of personality added, as well as a slew of new characters to check out (my favorites are both newcomers: Eddie and Psymon). There is a new "rival" system where each character has preset friends and enemies, and can improve or worsen relationships by how you interact with them in matches. The maps have all been updated with significantly better design decisions, as well as the new stages, the fantastic Garibaldi and Alaska maps, giving a solid beginning and ending to the newly improved World Circuit. These additions make a definitive version of this game; a perfect first taste for Gamecube and Xbox compared to the PS2-exclusive original.

But despite all these great additions, there is one thing that sets it far apart: a new mechanic that set the standard for every SSX game that followed, and wished it could top. This game's true crowning jewel is in it's name. "Tricky".

The already-ingenious boost/trick system is taken to lengths far above your wildest dreams with the new Tricky meter. Like the original game, when you do tricks you gain more boost energy, which incentivizes doing tricks and getting big air during races. But now when the boost is maxed out, the Tricky meter lights up and Run DMC's "It's Tricky" begins to play. Now you can do "UBER Tricks", granting you access to some of the most insane shit you've ever seen, before or after, fiction or non-fiction. Your character will take the board off of their feet and do things you never knew could be done with a snowboard. These tricks, as flashy and intense as they are, are not easy to pull off as they need to be timed just right and let their animations play out before you land, or else you bail. But when you time it right, you get the game yelling "TRICKAYYY HUH!" and a letter added to the word "Tricky" above the boost meter. When you do enough tricks to spell the whole word, you now have infinite boost meter and can speed your way to victory. Btw, every character has a signature trick, so you're gonna want to check them all out and master every character. You won't regret it either; every signature trick is specialized to accentuate each character's loud personality. IE, Eddie does the worm on his like he's at a disco party, and Psymon spins the board around his neck like a maniac. It's fucking glorious.

SSX Tricky does basically everything right. It's a triumph, it's a party, it's a hit, it's in-your-face, and it's a banger. It's the cream of the crop of extreme sports games, and most games in general should bow to it. No one does it like Tricky.

Tricky's only real flaws are as follows:
1. The rail detection when grinding is spotty (improved in the sequels)
2. You WILL want more of it's whole thing specifically but unfortunately the game ends (not improved in the sequels)
3. EA refuses to remake/rerelease it (fuck EA) or do anything with the SSX franchise at all (do I need to say it again)

Do not shy away. Play this game as frequently as possible. Then as it becomes easier for you, play this game once a day, or as needed. This perscription's my recital. I think it's very vital. To rock (a rhyme) that's right (on time) it's TRICKY ITS-HUH-HUH HERE WE GO