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Life’s too hectic in the real world, so relaxand indulge in a spot of mountain biking, speed-gliding, snowboarding andmuch more from the comfort of your own armchair.Fans of arcade games like Alpine Skier, or any kind of 4-wheel driveenterprise should initially appear to be well-catered for. The first level ofthe Championship Race, for example, takes you through three tough contests -riding your board down the steep, snowy slopes of what feels like Ben Nevisfor quite some time, then taking on a brief spot of hang-gliding throughsimilar rocky textures and finally zooming along on your quad-bike in a raceto the finish.
There’s some great fun to be had, particularly in the snowboarding as you gain points by performingtricky moves, the exhilaration of kissing the sky as you go providing a great thrill while leaping overa road and – almost – into the path of an oncoming truck, quickening the heartbeat. It’s possible tojump on metal railings, occasionally around, to boost your speed, but you can get hit by fellowcontestants if you rub shoulders while heading down destiny’s highway.
The graphics help out a great deal by being both fast and realistic, with gorgeous sun flares ahead,although you find there’s not so much pop-up appearing in front as “pop-down” – as you ride yourquad-bike towards lowering terrain, the ground morphs into a new shape as if it’s one of JamesCameron’s special effects inTerminator 2! Thesound is fairly standard though. A voice shouts to you when your time is runningout, but the this section finds your vehicle emitting noises to rival TheFlight of the Bumblebee.
I found one unrealistic aspect which is prevalent in many racing games. You can be topping 100km/h,but fall slightly off the straight and narrow and rather than part company with your bike, as you’dexpect to in real life, you’ll just come to a complete dead stop, the game will try to move you sidewaysback on course and then you can carry on. However, idiosyncracies like this do mar the performancesomewhat.
There are four players to choose from, each in their own brand of designer gear, but of course findingyourself in the wrong outfit in which to be seen is no excuse for being a terrible sportsman. If you lose,it’s your fault but practice does make perfect.
Internet access is also available, where you can upload your scores and win prizes, but overall it’s agame which gets too samey too soon. Best to rent it first. You’ll know within an hour whether thecredit card will be extracted from your wallet.
Overall: 3½/5
This review was on Freeloader.com but that site has now closed.
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.