Val D'Isere Skiing and Snowboarding by Virtual Studio and Atari
Mow Snow!
Description: Watch out for trees, snowmobiles and sno-cats as you barrel down windswept mountainsides, black ice, and moguls. So adjust your bindings or wax your board, and plow!
This game starts off on the right foot with a smooth menu screen where you can select from 3 game modes in one of the 2 sport types; Freeride, Practice, or Competition as a skier or snowboarder. There is a very useful joypad configuration screen so you can adjust the controls to your liking. I had a problem with the old Jaguar pad jumping on me when I'd move back and forth. I simply used the config. screen to enable the "a" button to jump. When you get everything else taken care of and get into the gameplay, you'll notice a few things. First off, you'll notice that the game looks rather average. I also noticed that this game was sponsered by FILA from the signs indicating that. When the lights give you the signal to jump out of the gate, you'll see the smooth 60 frames per second scaling in your face. Almost flawless scaling goes along with the nice and detailed textures that fly by underneath your board or skis. Another point on the graphics are the sprites that whizz by you as you cut the steep slopes. The sprites could've used more detail, but they don't look bad. As you play, mid-track is nicely detailed and there are usually quite a few things going on. Sno-cats, skiers(some women wearing only swimsuits....burrrr), rocks trees, moguls, power-ups, full-sized jumps and more will be in front of you as you haul hanes down the mountainside. On the other hand, the sides of the track are very bare. That's a bit disappointing becuase that could've changed the 'first impression' factor of the game. The background is a digitized pic of the mountains surrounding the ski resort. This looks a bit like wallpaper, but at least it scrolls around and up and down. I would've really like to have seen a few layers of parallax in there scrolling around. The animation in the characters is right on, and doesn't appear cheesy like some of the other sports games I've played. Smooth still shots will come into view during intervals between gameplay. Soundwise, it's a mixed bag. The music, although upbeat and suiting to the game's theme, is slightly cheesy. The tunes do repeat more than some of the better Jag games out there, but I wasn't bothered too much by it. Sound effects are a cool part of the game. Swishing and cutting the ice effects accompany your movements. If (haha....when) you bite the dust, the bass will flow freely through your speakers. There are lots of digitized voice-overs that go along with power-ups, tricks, and race finishes. These voices were carried out by multiple actors or whatever. One sample is notably corny. The guy attempts to say "shield" and ends up saying "shiewd"....like some 2 year old just learning to talk. The other voices are, of course, not that bad. Control is slippery....which suits the theme. This gives you a realistic feeling. The config. and everything else makes this category a breeze. You may have to get used to tracking your way down the path, because the spped may catch you off-guard at first. There is plenty to do with all of the events: Slalom, Gaint slalom and Downhill events. Plus, you'll be able to make your way down the hillside in segments in the freeride mode where you race against the clock. Practice lets you hone your skills for the competition mode. Great game!
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