Overall: 8.6
Design: 6
Audio / Music: 8
Challenge: 8
Gameplay: 7
World: 7
Story: 4
Characters: 6

At the time of its release, this was the best looking snowboarding game out there. Gameplay has always had mixed opinions among players but I personally enjoyed the nod towards realistic controls and physics-based approach versus arcadey gameplay. Just like with Wave Race 64, the key was being patient in order to put time to understand the weight of the characters and how the different types of snow surfaces and types of mounds affected racing down the slopes.

Upon learning how physics worked in this game you are able to come up with some nifty tricks and shortcuts on different levels. One that personally stood out for me was at the last stage where the shortcut was massive and required riding the snowboard on bare rock surface down the mountain but it was a huge time saver and a really fun shortcut to discover.

Graphics and presentation were top notch for the time with "realistic" character models and incredible looking snow effects depending on the type of surface (powder, regular snow, ice, etc.).

Despite carrying the name of a trick in its title, I personally never enjoyed much the trick scoring mode and the controls and commands for pulling some of the best tricks were simply not very intuitive and plain challenging and frustrating just for the sake of it (was only able to pull a 1080 trick once or twice).

All in all 1080 Snowboarding was a great title to explore when it came out back in the day and I have tons of good memories playing the game.

At first, I thought very little of this game. You go in, you either know snowboarding gameplay or you don't, you get smoked getting used to the way the game plays, you actually learn it, you figure out pretty much the whole racing mode just requires the Z-button and the control stick outside of the very few times you need to jump (getting killed by a 1-inch curb on Mountain Village was very funny), it works. However, the game has a VERY good use of rumble - which is a weird compliment to give in modern times, but the feel of going over snow, ice, grass, or brick is all very distinct and gives each texture a different feel in how you handle over it, in spite of keeping the same speed over each. As not-a-snowboarding-guy, this felt neat and fun and incredibly technically impressive for '98, trying to match the board to each surface in order to get a clean run to shave tenths of seconds off individual sections. Would make for an incredibly fun arcade experience, I thought.

Then the game hits you with the Ice Man.

The Ice Man does not care if you have fun or not. The Ice Man wants to work your body as hard as possible as he challenges you to a death course that you've never seen before, where you START and the first drop is so weirdly conveyed you are almost guaranteed to faceplant right into the snow. As he shreds down the ICE VALLEY HALFPIPE while you flounder about with the rockiest of terrains, wondering if he even makes mistakes (he does). Trying to figure out which one of these paths might be the fastest as you wipe to his cold, unfeeling non-gaze. And then realize oh, I don't get to challenge the Ice Man again unless I beat all five of the prior heats. And then you go and actually learn Deadly Fall and figure out some good angles and compare your best times and hope it's solid enough to overcome the Ice Man and then I start looking up strategies and realize holy crap I actually really care about 1080 Snowboarding.

There is NOT a lot of meat on the bone. Tricks are stiff and executed by either Mortal Kombat inputs or an SPD if you wanna do the big spinny, and are actively useless on the main racing mode. The actual number of modes feels very limiting, there's a lack of sauce in 1080. Instead, the game devotes all of its focus into making the process of letting the board hit the snow feel like you're properly fighting against a mountain to let it go. And it feels pretty damn good! Definitely a bit of a learning curve, but I was surprised coming off of this game really appreciating it as a great time trial machine! Thank you Ice Man, I hate you, but you made me care!

1080 Snowboarding is one of those games whose modern appeal can be difficult to contextualize; at the time a game-changer and universally praised, now outdated and lacking in character. While largely influential at its time, this game doesn't have anything significant to offer to new players in the current day apart from its enjoyable soundtrack and unique environmental aspects.

Released in 1998, the snowboarding game genre was just beginning to pick up steam, but the sport still lacked the popularity it does today, especially in the west. One of the most appreciable things about 1080 is that it ditched the "arcade racer" vibe that a lot of early snowboarding-and, indeed, most extreme sports games in general-were going for, and focused more on attempting to make a more "realistic" snowboarding game. Now, being 1998, the results were bound to age poorly, however, it's those realistic aspects that are the most interesting aspects of the game to this day. The various levels of snow and ice affect the way you ride down the track, and courses end up feeling more dynamic as a result.

Sadly, the rest of the game doesn't hold up as well. It's an incredibly brief game, and even with multiplayer content, there isn't much room for replayability in this game if you have something else to play. This would not be an issue, except that (with exception to what was mentioned above), 1080 doesn't have any distinguishing factor that would make it replayable, so it's short both in length and in ideas. The game is also relatively unforgiving, and you might find yourself crashing while turning or performing tricks, when it doesn't feel like you should have; the physics engine in general is quite wonky. The controls have aged poorly as well, and aren't intuitive, so there's a lot of trial and error that can go into playing this game before you figure out what the game wants you to do. Graphically, while the pinnacle of realism at the time, the game has also aged poorly, and has fallen behind other N64 games as time has gone on.

1080 Snowboarding was an important game to the snowboarding genre, and its influence upon later releases is noticeable, but it's a game that feels like all it has to offer is that it used to be important. For the snowboarding super fan, this game is interesting enough to be worth checking out, but for everyone else, there are far more rewarding games to play.

Pros: I like, I like that, there goes the boom!! Nonsensical lyrics aside, this game is cool. A downhill snowboarding trick/racing game, with nice snow effects, acting as a somewhat continuation of Nintendo's extreme sports series that feature impressive environmental effects, following Wave Race 64. This one has a really nice snowboarder punk aesthetic that you wouldn't expect from an internally developed Nintendo title, but it was! And a nice companion title to Tony Hawk Pro Skater at the time. Dash down snowy mountains, get some air time from ramps or half pipes, and do some tricks and spins, even try to pull off a 1080, as you gather scores for when you pass the finish line at the bottom of the mountain trail. The snow effects in particular stood out at the time. Generally, it all plays great, and there's plenty of characters and courses to play on. A bit of Nintendo-y fun too. Like, just as you could ride a dolphin in Wave Race, in 1080... You could ride a penguin, heh... While wearing a panda head for whatever reason!

Cons: the controls, in my experience, did feel a little stiff, shifting from left to right, and doing spins in the air, it doesn't always look or feel the smoothest, somewhat mechanical even. But you mostly get what you're asking for with this one, and the style is what you come away with most of all... And some oddly sensual singing in the soundtrack.

What it means to me: I had my share of fun with this one, but I can't say it glued me like most other N64 games did. I recall my older bother getting into this one a bit more, so I had plenty of time to listen in on that wacky score.

I can file this alongside the likes of Street Fighter, NBA 2K, and most racing games, as titles that I really enjoy, but completely suck at. I have played this prior to its recent release on the NSO N64 app, however it was only borrowed off a friend, way back when the system was current gen. I thought I owned this, but somehow I got it mixed up with Snowboard Kids.

But since its release on the switch, I have been having a real blast with this. I've only managed to complete the easy mode so far, and I'm fucking awful at tricks. I'm lucky if I land a normal jump, let alone a 720° stiffy to nose grab to melon. I'm utterly abysmal. Yet I'm still having a hoot.

It's as much the look and sound of the game that's keeping me invested. For something pushing 30, it looks great, has a cracking soundtrack and astonishes me with just how well it plays. Despite me having zero nostalgia for this title specifically, it takes me back to being 14 year old me, sat playing Cool Boarders on my PlayStation, thinking this is one of the best sports to ever be made into a videogame. One day I'll get it, and I might end up bumping this up to 5 stars.

Gotta say, this recent drop of N64 games on switch is probably the best one since the app launched. I'm still playing all 3 games.