Game Reviews

Snowboard Party 2 - Ain't no party like a snowboard party

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|
iOS
| Snowboard Party 2
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Snowboard Party 2 - Ain't no party like a snowboard party
|
iOS
| Snowboard Party 2
Well, that's a very traditional looking snowboarding game

Yup, traditional is the right word for Snowboard Party 2. It makes some concessions for mobile, with a simplified control system and some gentler handling, but you wouldn't be surprised if someone told you this was a port of a PS2 game.

Is it?

No, that would be weird. But much like the glory days of the extreme sports sim, here you're pelting down a variety of mountains to the pounding beats of alternative tunes, throwing yourself in the air, flipping around, and trying to break as few bones as possible.

Or at least avoid embarrassing moments when your bum connects with the ground.

I hate bum-to-ground moments

Me too. Luckily there's a generosity to the controls here that means those moments are reasonably rare. You've got a stick on one side of the screen and a few buttons on the other. The buttons control your tricks, letting you jump, grab the board with either hand, and grind along rails.

Let me guess - pressing a direction changes the trick

Yup. When you're airborne you can spin around, flip, and change the grab you're performing. You can put together insane chains of wobbly, swooshing, gravity defying tricks, and so long as you let go of the joystick and buttons before you land the game will automatically right you.

That's nice of it

It's important to be nice. There are four different modes here. Freestyle is all about heading down a slope, finding lines and pulling tricks. Halfpipe and Big Air are about pulling off as many tricks as possible in halfpipes and over giant jumps, and time attack is about beating the clock.

What else is there?

Each level has five challenges as well. Complete four of these and you unlock the next level. They involve scoring a set number of points, collecting the letters of the word party, and sliding through or round specific obstacles.

I guess they keep things interesting

Yeah, it's basically impossible to complete them all in one run though, so you'll need to hit the same level multiple times. It's not exactly grindy, but the levels aren't super exciting. And quite often you feel like you're just mashing the screen to make incredible things happen.

Worth a crack then?

There's definitely fun to be had here, and the multiplayer adds a bit of longevity, but it's got some of the same problems as its predecessor. This is an entertaining slice of silly sliding, but you can't help but feel with a few refinements it could have been essential.

Snowboard Party 2 - Ain't no party like a snowboard party

A solid snowboarding experience, but one that doesn't quite have the bite to make it a classic
Score
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.