I think that SSX is quite an underappreciated gaming franchise. The original SSX was an unexpected cornerstone of the PS2 launch lineup. It's sequel, SSX Tricky is (almost) unquestionably the apex of the series. Unfortunately, by the time SSX3 came about, EA seemed to be trying to force all their game franchises to support some type of open world model, and the simplicity that made the first 2 SSX games so enjoyable was essentially lost in the name of realism and "freedom".
When SSX was revived during the PS3 era, EA dug their heels in regarding the open world design (insisting that all tracks had to be part of one contiguous mountain). What's worse is that in this iteration (aptly named "Deadly Decent") every track had some type of trap (whether it be an avalanche or an unexpected cliff) that would land you a game over if you didn't account for it. Not something I want to be forced to focus on in lieu of speed & sick flips & tricks.
Should SSX be left dead and buried? In my opinion, no, but some things need to change (or revert in many respects). Here are some of my ideas:
Ditch Realism
I don't want realistic snowboarding courses; I want the outrageous ramps, pipes and straightaways that made the original & Tricky so exciting; such simple FUN!
Ditch Open-world
When they started with the contiguous mountain is when SSX seemed to be veering off-course (pardon the pun).
First, the gameplay formula that made the first 2 games so successful doesn't leave room for the player having to worry about staying on-course. It's a pointless nuisance that gets in the way of the fun IMHO (I actually have the same complaint about Burnout Paradise, but I realize that game was somewhat successful. I very much prefer Burnout Revenge, though).
Secondly, there needs to be more variety in terms of the visual presentation of each course. If everything is taking place on a mountain that is presented as realistic, that unnecessarily limits the amount that each course can visually differ from the others.
Create-a-boarder
Here's a great way to allow players to express their creativity as well as monetize easy-to-create assets. The outlandish boarders from the original 2 games were definitely part of the appeal. Nowadays, I imagine that it would be relatively trivial to allow players to create characters of their own from scratch without impacting the complexity of the gameplay (unlike the WWE games, where superstars' unique gimmicks force developers to inject an endless collection of shims to allow for those deviations).
Course Creator
You get to create your own courses, and upload 'em. Other players can try them out and rate them on fun, difficulty, etc. There could be leaderboards & whatnot for each one as well.
Go back to the roots of SSX
This definitely ties into the first two suggestions I made. SSX is supposed to be about going as fast as you can and/or chaining together as many sick tricks as you can. That's all I want to worry about when playing SSX. I don't want to worry about track conditions. I don't want to worry about "leaving the course"; just re-spawn me for crying out loud!
Thoughts?
When SSX was revived during the PS3 era, EA dug their heels in regarding the open world design (insisting that all tracks had to be part of one contiguous mountain). What's worse is that in this iteration (aptly named "Deadly Decent") every track had some type of trap (whether it be an avalanche or an unexpected cliff) that would land you a game over if you didn't account for it. Not something I want to be forced to focus on in lieu of speed & sick flips & tricks.
Should SSX be left dead and buried? In my opinion, no, but some things need to change (or revert in many respects). Here are some of my ideas:
Ditch Realism
I don't want realistic snowboarding courses; I want the outrageous ramps, pipes and straightaways that made the original & Tricky so exciting; such simple FUN!
Ditch Open-world
When they started with the contiguous mountain is when SSX seemed to be veering off-course (pardon the pun).
First, the gameplay formula that made the first 2 games so successful doesn't leave room for the player having to worry about staying on-course. It's a pointless nuisance that gets in the way of the fun IMHO (I actually have the same complaint about Burnout Paradise, but I realize that game was somewhat successful. I very much prefer Burnout Revenge, though).
Secondly, there needs to be more variety in terms of the visual presentation of each course. If everything is taking place on a mountain that is presented as realistic, that unnecessarily limits the amount that each course can visually differ from the others.
Create-a-boarder
Here's a great way to allow players to express their creativity as well as monetize easy-to-create assets. The outlandish boarders from the original 2 games were definitely part of the appeal. Nowadays, I imagine that it would be relatively trivial to allow players to create characters of their own from scratch without impacting the complexity of the gameplay (unlike the WWE games, where superstars' unique gimmicks force developers to inject an endless collection of shims to allow for those deviations).
Course Creator
You get to create your own courses, and upload 'em. Other players can try them out and rate them on fun, difficulty, etc. There could be leaderboards & whatnot for each one as well.
Go back to the roots of SSX
This definitely ties into the first two suggestions I made. SSX is supposed to be about going as fast as you can and/or chaining together as many sick tricks as you can. That's all I want to worry about when playing SSX. I don't want to worry about track conditions. I don't want to worry about "leaving the course"; just re-spawn me for crying out loud!
Thoughts?
