1080: Avalanche

1080: Avalanche Description

Many moons ago, 1080 Snowboarding was a massive hit on the Nintendo 64. It invented the snowboarding videogame, it's as simple as that, and everything else that followed was merely trying - sometimes successfully, other times not - to emulate it's better features. For some strange reason, Avalanche, available exclusively for Nintendo's GameCube, is nothing whatsoever like its predecessor. The original ladled a heavy serving of pseudo-realism onto swish gameplay. Avalanche is a complete break from this. In fact, the two couldn't be more different if they tried. 1080 for GameCube is an arcade game, the likes of which have graced (and shamed) coin-operated gaming emporiums across the planet. And in common with the critically acclaimed F-Zero GX/AX, it's ludicrously fast. The point of the game is essentially to board through an array of massive avalanches, as you may have guessed from the title. It's more than just a racer with tricks 'thrown in for effect'-type of game. You have to find your way to the bottom of the slope, and to safety, before you are engulfed in a ton of snow. The twist is that everything you do that isn't snowboarding makes you travel faster. Think obscene rail slides and hopping from chalet rooftop, smashing through the middle of a packed restaurant, and you get the picture. One of the most anticipated of all the GameCube's N64 re-makes, it certainly is a change. Whether or not that change is for the better is up to you to decide?

Race through realistic natural environments, complete with powder drifts, ice patches and groomed hardpack ... but don't get comfortable. You will have to contend with massive avalanches, rockslides, cave-ins, bridge collapses and environments teeming with wildlife and other skiers.

Experience the unique character-balancing system, which allows you to keep the on-screen character on his or her board. Take advantage of a deep trick system, which lets you flip, spin, grab, grind and tweak your way to glory.

Master a big catalogue of crazy tricks as you experience the speed rush of big mountain racing. Slalom skills better be tuned as you go head-to-head with CPU-controlled masters or other players.