Game Description

Accolade and Pitbull Syndicate have teamed up for Big Air, another take on the snowboarding genre that has you participating on thirty courses throughout six different countries including France, Japan, Scotland, Switzerland, the United States, and Germany. There are quite a few game play options in addition to the typical snowboarding fare including the World Tour, Training, One-Player and Two-Player modes.

Training mode is there for new players to get used to the various game play options and controls whereas the One-Player mode allows you to compete against another contestant in a series of competitions. Among the different game types include the Freeride Race, Freeride Trick, Half Pipe, Big Air, and Boardercross. The Freeride Race has you racing against an opponent for the best possible time; no points are awarded for performing tricks. Points are awarded, however, for tricks in the Freeride Trick mode. You're also graded on the race time remaining at the end of the competition.

While on the U-shaped Half Pipe, players are ranked on their ability to perform tricks and style. You'll want to keep momentum while performing tricks on this course as you'll earn points in regard to how difficult certain maneuvers are to pull off. The Big Air mode gives out points based on successful aerial tricks; the more impressive and difficult your moves are, the more points you'll earn! Boardercross is a race against multiple riders through courses that have everything from jumps and fierce turns to hazardous obstacles.

Combining all these different game types together is the World Tour mode. Spanning three difficulty brackets (easy, medium, and hard), your objective is to earn a number of points by winning competitions and meeting that division's boss character. On the Easy mode, you'll need a thousand points to elevate yourself to the next season; you'll be tested on random trickery events such as the Big Air and Half Pipe. By finishing each season, you'll not only move on to bigger and better (and harder) things, but also unlock various courses!

Finally, the Two-Player mode is a no-frills option for you and a fellow snowboarding enthusiast. You'll compete across a variety of courses and events for the ultimate title of Snowboarding King. Although you can perform tricks in any of the said events, points are only calculated on trick-based competitions. You can execute a multitude of flips, grabs, the impressive 180, and other dangerous maneuvers; let's see your friend try and out maneuver you!

Big Air also features over eighty realistically modeled snowboards and apparel from actual manufacturers including Palmer Snowboards, Ride Snowboards, Morrow Snowboards, Inc., Joyride Snowboards, Arbor Snowboards, Maui and Sons International, Burton Snowboards, Sessions, and Westbeach Apparel. The developers also included a blistering punk-filled sound track including Blink 182, Limp, Snuff, Diesel Boy, Leatherface, and The Odd Numbers.

It also supports a Dual Shock Analog Controller for both analog controls and the vibration function as well as a memory card for saving game data. ~ Mark Kanarick, All Game Guide

Roots & Influences

Big Air is another snowboarding game whose popularity owes a debt to the original Cool Boarders. Big Air for the PlayStation competed with Cool Boarders 2 and Cool Boarders 3 in 1998. One of the first televised snowboarding tournaments took place on ESPN's X Games segments. ~ Mark Kanarick, All Game Guide

Review: Enjoyment

Unresponsive controls, combined with slow gameplay and a lack of maneuvers, don't add up. ~ Mark Kanarick, All Game Guide

Production Credits

PITBULL SYNDICATE

Programming: Ian Copeland, James Parr, Daz T

Texture 2D Artists: Kevin Preston, John Steele

3D Artists: Steve Dietz, Gareth Pugh, Darren Abbott

Sound Engineer: peter Hewiston

Head Tester: Tony Charlton

Head of AI: Daren Kelly

ACCOLADE

Executive Producer: Chris Downend

Produced by: Montgomery Singman

Associate Producers: Daniel Tyrrell, Michael "Spider" Person

Product Marketing Manager: Laddie Ervin

Marketing and Licensing Assistant: Rachel Kram

Accolade Track Design and Production: Bill Spence, Tracey Madden, Juan Ortiz, Shawn "Beanie" Monroe

Scot Boyd, John Xu, Todd Rosenthal, Michael Parisi, Dan Fuller, Troy San Jose, Andreas Arellano

Sound Designer: W. Scott Snyder

Lead QA Analyst: Erik Johnson

QA Analysts: Jason Cordero, Arnold Galano, Alex Jones, Ezequiel Nunez, Greg Reimche, Josh Simpson, James Strawn, James Tarver, Ted Tomasko

International Liaison: Jason Cohen

Documentation: W.D. Robinson

Licensing Manager: Gabrielle Benham

Licensing and Media Specialist: Christine Lugton

Director of Corporate Communications: Erica Krishnamurthy

Public Relations Specialist: Jack Symon

Online Marketing Supervisor: Ray Massa

Online Marketing Associate: Daniel Grove

Marketing Services: Jill Dos Santos, Mark Glover, Matt Abrams

BIG AIR VIDEOS

Director: John Lymberg

Editor: Leslie Valentino

Producers, Kenwood Group: Jean Raymond, Chris Kelly

Producer, Accolade: Laddie Ervin

Pro Snowboarding Consultants: Mike Beallo, Ian Spiro

Character Bios: Ken McCoy

SPECIAL THANKS

Thanks: Brian Archer, Jim Barnett, Amy Barrett, Mike Beallo, Greta Brumbach, Cindi Busenhart, Peter Carlisle, Bob Carlson, Eddie Chan, David Costello, Moye Daniel, Brian Gilmer, Matt Guzenda, Stefan Jeremiass, Bryan Johnston, Neil Johnston, Kevin Keenan, Bob Klein, Rachel Kram, Jurg Kunz, Chris Kuster, Amy Lynch, Devin Mauldin, Curtis Meacham, Heidi McCory, Chris McQuinn, David Minnick, Seth Neary, Shaun Palmer, Jim Pawlika, Eraina Phillips, Anton Pogue, Ross powers, Denise Ransome, Cameron Ray, Fran Richards, Stan Roach, Fabien Rohrer, Tim Sanders, Ian Spiro, Ray Stevens II, Vince Stinson, Jason Stokke, Frankie Stubbs, Marc Tamo, Don Terbush, Nicola Thost, John Vance, Rhoda Wawrzynski, Brent Wilkinson, Steve "Chief" Zupan ~ Joe Lamb, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

In this humble reviewer's estimation, Big Air is nothing more than a Cool Boarders wannabe. Although there are some nice features to the game, one could call it a failure in the overall picture.

Starting off with the goods first, the coolest thing about Big Air is the fully licensed game play. All of the popular apparel and snowboarding companies have lent their gear designs to the creation of the game! Among the brands represented are Arette, Burton Snowboards, Westbeach Apparel, K2 Snowboards, Wave Rave Outerwear, and many more. Being able to choose a variety of distinctive boards is a very cool feature and adds some longevity to the game play as each board has its own statistics; you can choose a snowboard based on how you think it will affect your ability to execute maneuvers.

The only problem with having so many boards and outfits in which to choose is that it can be somewhat difficult to wade through it all; equipment and apparel items are segmented into different categories by their brand name. Some gamers may not want to search through the various brands to find one they like, instead being more inclined to choose one randomly.

Another good feature in Big Air is the sound track. With a wide variety of punk bands including Blink 182, Caustic Notions, and Diesel Boy, the game is chock-full of alternative goodness and pumps up the adrenaline prior to and throughout the races. If only the game play could have been as good!



The first thing you'll notice about the game play is how poorly the controls serve your needs. They are extremely unresponsive; when your character is in position to perform a jump, turn or a trick, you'll notice that he or she will either go way too far in their motion or completely miss the opportunity to execute a maneuver. Jumping in particular is a hassle because in most courses you can never be too sure when exactly you are going to want to jump. Keeping your finger on the jump button does nothing but slow you down.

Executing tricks is another problem. Because of the unresponsive controls, pulling them off is an extremely complicated task, especially the more advanced moves. Had the button combinations been as intuitive as those found within the Cool Boarders series, it would have been okay; instead, you'll have to press a ridiculous five-button sequence to pull a simplistic front-side 540 degree turn. Oh, it gets worse. Landing your snowboard after executing a trick is frustrating as you'll be lucky to hit three out of every five landings.

Finally, there isn't enough variety in the moves. Whereas other snowboarding games have tons of grabs, aerial flips and spins, Big Air has a whopping total of twenty moves (give or take a few). When you combine this with the awful controls and difficult game play, this game is a very trying experience. I'd suggest that potential buyers looking for another snowboarding game rent this game and Cool Boarders 4 at the same time. While there can be some enjoyment with this title, you'll more than likely find yourself siding with the latter. ~ Mark Kanarick, All Game Guide

Review: Graphics

While character models look pretty good standing still, their motions are quite poor and the trickery animation is lacking. ~ Mark Kanarick, All Game Guide

Review: Sound

The variety of (mostly) underground punk bands comprising the soundtrack, Big Air, gets your adrenaline pumping! ~ Mark Kanarick, All Game Guide

Review: Replay Value

The multi-player and World Tour options are the only things with any replay value, but the lousy controls will annoy you. ~ Mark Kanarick, All Game Guide

Review: Documentation

The instruction manual covers the important stuff and includes company addresses and band contacts. ~ Mark Kanarick, All Game Guide