Snowboard Kids

About Snowboard Kids

Snowboard Kids (1997) is Racdym's cartoon snowboarding racer for the Nintendo 64, with weapons, items and courses through amusement parks and deserts, widely compared to Mario Kart and a European million-seller.

Snowboard Kids in Depth

Alongside the usual snowboarding, it adds "Shots", special weapons for attacking other riders, and items that help the player, hinder others or both. Riders have two item slots, one for a shooting item and one for a support item such as a rock or invisibility, and each item costs 100 gold during a race, earned by performing tricks or collecting coins on the course. Races run for several laps: at the bottom of the hill, riders pass through a lift gate that carries them back to the top, during which they cannot be attacked. Modes include a single-player adventure, head-to-head racing for up to four players, and time trials.

The nine main courses each have their own shape, obstacles, hazards and shortcuts, and many are snowy mountains, but others are unorthodox places to snowboard, including an amusement park, a desert, a vast valley, a dark highway and a Japanese village during the cherry blossom festival. Six characters, Slash, Nancy, Jam, Linda, Tommy and the unlockable Shinobin, available after all nine tracks are completed, differ in speed, cornering and trick ability, which determines their hang time for tricks that earn coins.

Making Snowboard Kids

Racdym developed Snowboard Kids and Atlus published it for the Nintendo 64. It was generally well received, though the most common criticism was a lack of originality, with most reviewers calling it a Mario Kart clone; most still concluded it was a good game, praising its smooth controls, inventive courses and the depth and replay value of its modes and minigames. IGN called it "a satisfyingly cute snow racer" for players wanting a simple ride rather than realism, and Next Generation said that despite its lack of originality it "does most things right". Computer and Video Games dismissed it as "very average", and GamePro warned of its "stifling kiddie atmosphere" while finding it fun, especially in multiplayer. EGM's reviewers were more enthusiastic, Dan Hsu calling it a "sleeper hit" that was "more than just a Mario Kart wanna-be", and Nintendo Life later found it "worthy of a place in anyone's collection". Snowboard Kids 2 followed in 1999 and SBK: Snowboard Kids on the DS in 2005.