1080

Hit the slopes with the five different Avalanche characters, some of whom will be extremely familiar to seasoned gamers that have played the original 1080 and the Wave Race series. The line-up includes Akari Hayami

 

I am not lying when I tell you that NST has enlisted the work of rock groups such as Cauterize, Finger Eleven and Seether in order to help give a 'cool' feel to the whole experience of Avalanche...and overall it works splendidly. Nintendo proves that even though the style of music is not the usual it deals with, it can still manipulate and choose the correct tracks to suit the in-game menus and the actual courses themselves. In fact, the most impressive use has to be in the intro for the game, where the song rocks along and the game action shown in the background exactly fits in with the changing pace of the tune, giving the effect of a promotional movie clip rather than a simple computer game! Even when you come across some of the slower songs further into the game, they seem to suit the level you are on at the time, so instead of quickly zooming down the slopes you will feel like you are gracefully gliding along in the snow with birds flying overhead and the sun beating down on you from above. It is all very well implemented and shows just how intelligent developers can be when incorporating any type of music into a gaming product. There are some voice samples thrown into the mix as well, and the little quips from characters, whilst quite cheesy, do in fact suit the rest of the ambiance found in Avalanche

 

Avalanche is not really the sort of game where you can pick up a controller and be an instant master of the title. But that is not to say that the game is not intuitive in the long-term. In fact, give it about half-an-hour and you will find that the controls do start to become quite natural, learning that when you press the crouch button to gather extra speed you cannot turn corners as sharply as when stood straight, remembering to time your jumps perfectly so you can access little short-cuts or even launch yourself over small obstacles en-route and then quickly tapping the L-shoulder button to make sure your character does not topple over into the candy-floss-like snow beneath you as well as hastily spinning the analogue stick round in a circle in order to correct your landing and avoid toppling over when you have come to rest awkwardly on the ground, sending your boarder into a dazed spin. Things like this make the whole experience of Avalanche a pleasure to behold and partake in. But in order to become a true master of the slopes you will need to put in many hours of play time, as there are different approaches to the racing that need to be taken, all depending upon which mode you are playing in.

There are five different game modes: Match Race, Gate Challenge, Time Trial, Trick Attack and Multi-player. Match Race pits you against only one computer opponent across a total of fifteen highly entertaining and well thought-out courses that are riddled with short-cuts and hazards. Once you beat the Novice mode, you uncover the Hard and then Expert courses and the experience is one of great pleasure, while it lasts, though

 

So, in conclusion, all is not lost with 1080