|
|
Rippin' Riders
|
|
|
|
|
|
Graphics & Sound:
The locations in Rippin' Riders are breathtaking. Rippin' Riders shows off the beauty that the Dreamcast is capable of. You'll get to snowboard through lush forests, huge temples, snow covered cities... not to mention huge, elaborate "Superpipes." I found myself awestruck by some of the water effects in Rippin' Riders. The sound is also nicely done, with each snowboarder having music that matches their style and attitudes. Each character has different sayings during different events, but there's also a narrator who consistently comments every time you mess up (or, occasionally, do good). The characters are all stylized; personable characters, with their own strengths, weaknesses, and attitudes. Rippin' Riders has some excellent character design here.
|
|
|
Gameplay:
In general, excellent. The levels are challenging, and the pace is fast. The beauty of the levels makes having to play a level over acceptable (and even enjoyable), and the fact that you can pause the game and easily restart it immediately makes the agony of defeat a little easier to handle. Rippin' Riders is made by UEP Systems. If you're familiar with Cool Boarders (1&2), you know that Rippin' Riders comes from a family of good snowboarding games. It seems UEP put everything they learned from Cool Boarders 1 & 2 into Rippin' Riders. The only problem I had with the gameplay, in fact, was that at certain times, the game would slow down (considerably). This seemed to always be when riding close to the edge of a cliff, and therefore, is presumably caused by some routine which is checking to see if you should be falling or not. Not only does this interrupt the pace of the game, it reminds me a little too much of a Monty Python scene. [English Accent, "I'm not quite dead." "He's ALMOST dead." "I'm feeling better."] The good side? Sometimes the slowdown gives you the extra response time to save yourself from a fall. The bad side? Sometimes you still fall, you just get more time to realize you messed up... Big.
|
|
|
Difficulty:
I assume if you buy a game, you want to play it. At least if the gameplay is good. Well, Rippin' Riders has good gameplay, and the difficulty will assure you lots of opportunities to try a level over again. The levels are nicely designed so that each one is more difficult than the last. The Mountain Review level will take practice to advance, but will give you a pretty good handle on the basics. Emerald Forest will then show you that, indeed, there are more challenges to face than just the basics. Pass that, and Urban Assault will prove to you that the level designers were very artistic, talented, and on crack. Imagine snowboarding at a rapid pace, through a snow covered back alley in a crowded town, only to fall through a roof and continue in an industrial styled underground leg of the race. Too wild? Yes. Difficult? Definitely. Fun? You bet!
|
|
|
Game Mechanics:
What do you get when you mix a beautiful graphics engine with nice character design, imaginative and challenging levels, and modifiers based on individual character attributes, board attributes, speed, and depth of snow? Rippin' Riders. A very fun, challenging snowboarding game. The only problem it has is a tendency to "slow down" in certain areas - most often, when snowboarding near the edge of a cliff. This is probably the result of a routine which determines when you're too far gone. This is a disappointing problem, but one you can get used to.
|
|
|
-Geck0, GameVortex Communications AKA Robert Perkins |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
