Crazy Snowboarding

Any snowboarder knows that powdery snow makes for the best shredding. Slipping and sliding around on iced-over slopes is not only unpredictable, it's downright treacherous. Wet snow and slush aren't any better, which means on a mountain covered with solidified water the situation's got to be powdery.

Crazy Snowboarding entertains some of the slushiest slopes around: plain levels, no racing, and deficient controls. Easily pulled tricks and customisable boarders can't save this stale game from a killer wipe out.

The slopes are the unsung heroes of a good snowboarding game, too often overlooked in favour of fancy tricks or customizable characters. Without well-groomed slopes, you're essentially modelling down the mountainside.

It's tragically clear from the start that Crazy Snowboarding overlooks this vital aspect, since the tracks aren't much more than sheets of white lifelessness.

The odd jump whistles past as you burn cold powder, priming you for any of several tricks. Holding the bottom right corner of the touchscreen crouches your 'boarder - ready to ollie when the invisible button is released.

Once in the air, pressing the four corners of the touchscreen activates a set of prerequisite tricks, which are played out quite effectively in slow motion until released (or you faceplant into the snow).

While this aspect of control is slick and accessible, steering is coarse and terminally unresponsive. Regardless of how much your tip your handset, your snowboarder turns at the same angle every time in binary fashion. It feels like a real chore trying to navigate the slopes using such insensitive controls when we know better is possible.

Crazy Snowboarding frustrates in the sense that its potential goes wasted. Shoring up high scores through strings of tricks, speeding through slalom gates or picking up collectables as you make you way down the slope could come together for a great winter sports challenge.

Instead, the poor controls prevent it from stepping foot out of the lodge. The complete lack of a racing mode deserves mention as well, which is a glaring omission.

Graphically, it's a bit stunted too. Not to suggest Crazy Snowboarding looks bad, but it definitely doesn't leap off the screen. Which is a real shame, since the 30 levels are diverse enough to keep you playing longer than your tolerance would normally allow.