SSX 3 review

The first SSX was released in October 2000. Back then it was praised by critics worldwide and with good reason. A year later a remake of SSX was released: SSX Tricky, which originally was meant to be an update of SSX. Actually it was more of a brand new game with new maps and content, making SSX Tricky an even bigger success and becoming a must have for every fan.

Now the third installment in the series has arrived. Can it live up to the expectations created by its predecessors?

Welcome to the mountain

The previous two SSX games had courses situated all over the world, upon which you could contest in Freeride, Freestyle, Race and Time Challenge modes. This time around it’s a different story. In SSX 3 there’s one mountain with three peaks for your snowboarding pleasure. Each peak has its own different Freestyle and Race events where you can earn respect and recognition. The Freestyle tracks are divided into three sub-categories: Big Air, Super Pipe and Slopestyle. The Big Air tracks are short with a few giant jumps that are guaranteed to make your jaw drop. Super Pipe is classic half-pipe action, while Slopestyle is similar to the original SSX, consisting of a single course on which you can ski in different ways trying to get the most points.

Triplet peaks

You get a good view of the landscape

On top of the Freestyle and Race tracks, each peak has a ski run or Backcountry as it is aptly named, where you don’t need to take any specific route, it’s just you against wild nature.

On each peak you must defeat an opponent in order to advance to the next peak. You start out in a Backcountry one-on-one, where you must finish first or get more points than your opponent, depending on whether you are competing in Race or Freestyle. After that you need to break your opponent’s record in a long race, stretching from the very top of the peak down to the bottom. This is particularly fun on peak three, where you race down the entire mountain spanning all three peaks. Unfortunately this race can’t be accessed in two-player mode, which is a big drawback.

Big challenge

This could be a crash in the making.

Freeride mode contains a vast number of challenges. You can practically take on the entire mountain in Freeride and every course has a so-called Big Challenge, which are activated by hitting glowing posts on the courses. The challenges can be everything from jumping through a couple of hoops, crossing dangerous terrain, hitting balloon animals and so forth. You also need to claim collectibles all around to receive money for new equipment.

Once you’ve completed a certain number of Big Challenges you are rewarded with medals and money plus bonus items. There are between three and eight Big Challenges for every course.

Shop till you drop

If you want to get the cool gear, you need to buy it yourself and the only way to get the money is by successful snowboarding on the courses. At different stations you can buy outfits, cool stuff and even better stats for your snowboarder. You can even buy your own play list, enabling you to select your own music to accompany you on the courses. The majority of extra gear does not change your snowboarder’s abilities as opposed to the previous games; here the purpose is solely to make your character the coolest person on the snow.

Super Über

Take the rail over the edge and pray.

In SSX 3 there are three different types of super moves called Über-tricks. The first couple are accessed by maxing up your boost, after which you will receive a letter for each successful trick you perform. When you’ve spelled Ü-B-E-R you are able to perform Über-2-tricks for more points, but it doesn’t end here. Spell S-U-P-E-R and you can perform even crazier combos. You can even use the rails in your über-combos.

As a new thing you can perform a couple of skateboard-like stunts as well as the hardplant-trick, which enables you to get to places that would otherwise be impossible to reach. You can use this whenever there’s something for you to grab a hold of and it’s actually not that difficult to do.

Style for your eyes and ears

Like every good snowboarding game SSX 3 is packed with groovy tunes from artists such as Black Eyed Peas, Chemical Brothers and Red Hot Chili Peppers to name a few. It’s perfect snowboarding music and - as with the sound effects - it contributes greatly to the feel of the game. As in the previous games there’s a lot of trash talk between the snowboarders and you can also beat up your opponents. The DJ no longer announces which tricks you perform though, maybe as a result of a switch to a new DJ called Atomica.

The graphics are simply flawless. When you speed your way down the mountain under some rocks and then emerge to see the bright morning sun shining you right in the eyes, it’s just beautiful. Peak 2 has a Backcountry course with a violent snowstorm and you can almost feel the chilling cold even while you sit comfortably in you couch with your joypad and a nice cup of hot chocolate.

The level design is nothing short of amazing, keeping to the futuristic style with lots of outrageous colours and details that have become a trademark of the SSX series.

All the Little Things

Tweak your board for extra points.

Even though this is a high quality product with great attention to detail, there are, however, some points of annoyance. In two-player mode each player has to create their own profile if you want to play with two different names. You can’t just write a different name on the record screen, which is mildly irritating. Loading times are also a pain in the behind, but you’ll quickly forget about them when you are immersed in the great gameplay that makes up SSX 3. The game can also be played online, if you have the necessary hardware.

If you are a snowboard fan, you probably already have this game. If you don’t have this gem yet, maybe now it’s time to kill the piggybank and pay a visit to your local game store. You really don’t want to miss out on this game.


Translated by Julian Henlov (Progrock)