The late 90s and early 2000s were the times to be gaming when it came to the extreme sports front. The skateboarding genre was dominated by the revolutionary Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, while there were decent options for rollerblading fans with Aggressive Inline and Jet Set Radio. There was a fair share of hit snowboarding titles as SSX led the way on PlayStation 2, with even Nintendo getting in on the action as it brought 1080 Snowboarding to Nintendo 64. UEP Systems’ Cool Boarders kickstarted this wave of snowy racers as far back as 1996 and, alongside Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos, returns again as one of the first ports in Hamster’s Console Archives series.
Snowboarding isn’t the most accessible sport around for many people, so it’s no wonder video game depictions became so popular. Letting players shred the slopes in style by flipping, spinning, and grabbing their boards over a descending stage with jumps, drops, cliffs, and hazards delivered an intensity like few other arcade style racers. This is what drove the success of Cool Boarders, and playing it all these years later, it is easy to see why it kicked off a trend.
It is simple enough to pull off tricks, with quick button presses required once air is caught to show off the moves and accumulate points, but there is certainly a learning curve to proceedings, as things get clunky once momentum is lost. Mastery of the drift manoeuvre is a must in order to take corners at speed, otherwise there will be a lot of frustration on the advanced and expert stages, with steep drops a more common occurrence that only serve to ruin a record-chasing run.
As an arcade style game, the clock is constantly ticking, but there are two goals to aim for: the best time and the most trick points. Beating the records will eventually unlock a couple of extra courses, although it really does require dedication to the cause. Picking the best board is key to conquering the target being chased; some boards will provide better speed, while others cater to the trick styler. A choice between one male and one female racer makes no difference to the gameplay.
Unless there is a great deal of nostalgia for it, Cool Boarders is unlikely to offer much once the record chasing is exhausted. The lack of multiplayer options means the solo-centric challenges run their course fairly quickly, but there is still something to be admired about the technical gameplay on show. Those with patience and a heavy interest in the sport may get a bit more mileage out of it.
