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 I was really worried by the fact that I was able to complete this
game in one night, because it means that your average gamer would be able to finish it in
under an hour. There are three levels and three tracks in each level. The nine tracks are
all quite short with no more than five laps for a race. There is no clock and no time to
beat; it is just a matter of coming in first in every race to win.
The snomobiles handle quite nicely. Your snomobiles respond well to the control pad. Gameplay is fairly straightfoward, A button for acceleration, and the B button for brakes (which you will never use). On a few tracks there are some shortcuts through the forest, but that's about it.
I couldn't find anything to really excite me about this game. There are a lot of little flourishes, like a spinning 3D snomobile during the customize stage of the game, and of course the rumble pack, that really don't add up to much. There is the option to play head to head, but that would necessitate buying two copies of the game and it just isn't good enough as a solo game to recommend purchasing a second copy. Snomobile afficianados and race game lovers will probably enjoy the game, but the lack of a clock really diminishes the replayability. There's no motivation to do your best, you just have to be better than the next guy (did I just write that?). |
The nine tracks are divided into three
categories: amateur, semi-pro, and pro. Within the categories you do not have to beat the
tracks in any particular order, you just have to beat all of them to move up to the next
level. This is great if you find one track particularly frustrating and need a change of
pace. With each level you beat you get a new, more advanced snomobile, which essentially
means your snomobile changes color every three tracks. If you win all nine tracks (the
only way you wouldn't complete the game is if you got too bored) you are rewarded with,
now hold your breath, a tenth track. Not a tenth race, but a tenth track. This is
essentially an obstacle course for snomobiles, there's no goal and you just ride around
for fun.
For each victory
you receive a point to enhance your snomobile in one of three areas: acceleration, top
speed, and traction. The secret of the game is in properly distributing your victory
points. If there are a lot of turns on the track you'll want high traction and
acceleration; if you have some fairly long straight stretches speed will serve you better.
The big selling
point of the game is going to be the built-in rumble pack. Don't let it seduce you. The
rumbling is more of a grumble than anything. The rumble pack makes more noise than
vibrations and does little to enhance gameplay. In fact, if you turn both the music and
the rumble function off, it is a surprisingly quiet game.