Game Reviews

Skiing Yeti Mountain

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Skiing Yeti Mountain

Truly great sports games succeed in one thing above all else -they nail a sense of what it's like to perform the activity they're representing.

Touchgrind Skate 2 captured the flicks of feet on a board, FIFA recreates the tactics and atmosphere of football, and Gran Turismo conveys a sense of ownership and obsession other racers don't.

You can add Skiing Yeti Mountain to that mighty list, as Featherweight's new top-down skiing game bottles the Zen-like experience of weaving through the white stuff better than any other game since SSX.

Ascent

You begin at the peak of the mountain, and using a single thumb you gently swipe across the bottom of the screen to turn the angle of your avatar.

You're timed on the way down, but as long as you complete each stage by passing the flags on the correct sides (and not hitting anything along the way) the time you complete it in simply counts towards how much experience you gain.

As you level up you unlock more gear to kit out your skier. The differences are cosmetic, but include everything from a gold protective helmet, to jet black skis, to lurid coloured yuppie skiing outfits.

The feeling here is second-to-none. A small movement of your thumb begins a graceful minor turn, a larger movement starts a satisfying carve through the snow.

Turn too much and you'll lose speed, but you'll often need to take such drastic measures in order to make a tough turn, avoid passing wildlife, or compensate for the ice you've just gone over.

Avalanche

As you make your way down the hill you meet a diverse cast of characters, including a twitchy survivalist, hippy dippy new-ager, and a marketing man.

There's a story to Yeti Mountain, and it gradually reveals itself across the 800 or so levels included. The delightful pixel art visuals run at a smooth frame rate, and are accompanied by the pleasant sound of skis through powder.

While it may be easy to chalk it up as a spiritual successor to SkiFree, Skiing Yeti Mountain is much much more than that. It's an ultra compelling arcade game, with excellent presentation, and a wholly admirable charity aspect.

And it's ultimately utterly essential.

Skiing Yeti Mountain

Skiing Yeti Mountain is a future classic. The quintessential winter sports experience on mobile
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Peter Willington
Peter Willington
Die hard Suda 51 fan and professed Cherry Coke addict, freelancer Peter Willington was initially set for a career in showbiz, training for half a decade to walk the boards. Realising that there's no money in acting, he decided instead to make his fortune in writing about video games. Peter never learns from his mistakes.