The PlayStation 2 was the start of many series, including the game published by EA Sports Big in 2000, SSX. The snowboarding game was not just about completing a race, it was also about performing cool tricks and gaining more speed.
The game debuted with the PlayStation 2 console back in 2000 and immediately caught the attention of snowboarding fans and those who did not even follow snowboarding. The game was a lot more than just finishing in first place and the success quickly led to other releases. But the latest release was in 2012 and now fans are wondering where the SSX games went.
In SSX games, players have a number of snowboarders to choose from. The characters have different styles and stats. All the courses have ramps, rails and other objects to perform tricks, which increase your boost meter so you can accelerate more as you’re racing down the course.
SSX Games
The first SSX game, developed by EA Canada, was released exclusively on the PS2. The game received great reviews and the studio decided to release another game the following year. This time it was called SSX Tricky and it was no longer an exclusive. SSX Tricky was released for the PS2, GameCube, Xbox and Game Boy Advance. The first two games were similar but the studio continued to improve them and make small changes to the gameplay.
The series returned in 2003, with SSX 3. The game arrived with some changes, including the location. Instead of taking place in tracks around the world, the game was now all about racing and performing tricks on one mountain. SSX 3 could also be played online, a feature which was removed three years later as the game developer decided to shut down the servers.
Two years later, SSX on Tour was released. The fourth title in the series was now available for the PSP, PS2, Xbox and GameCube. The game brought a number of improvements on the gameplay. Online play, which was featured in the previous game, was not part of this game. GameCube players also had one more track and could play with some Nintendo’s most popular characters (Peach, Mario and Luigi). NBA Street V3, which was also published by EA Sports BIG, also featured Nintendo characters for the GameCube version. Nintendo and EA Sports had a deal at the time in which their characters could appear in their games.
Latest Release
In 2007, SSX Blur was released on the Wii. Like most of the Wii games at the time, players could use the motions control to play the game. Performing tricks and moving your character could be done by moving your Wii remote in a certain direction.
After the Wii game, the series took a five year break. A new game was announced in 2010 and was released in 2012. SSX (2012) featured real world environments, with the story following nine characters.
New Game?
The current generation consoles don’t have many snowboarding games out and fans are still waiting for a new SSX game. The series did take a five year break after SSX Blur in 2007 but the PS2 releases were well received by fans and critics, so whenever snowboarding games are talked about, the SSX titles are usually mentioned. The PS4 and Xbox One are working on adding classics from the previous consoles. The Xbox One has a bigger lineup with its backward compatibility feature but the PS4 has also added a few PS2 classics to the PS Store.
Fans have also requested a remastered version of the SSX games. We have recently seen this with other games, especially classics released for the previous consoles. There is a similar skiing and snowboarding game coming in the future. It is called Snow and will be released for the PC and PS4. A release date has not been announced but with little snowboarding games out on the current generation consoles, fans are waiting to hear more on this game.
They did say the next SSX wont take longer than 5 years in a interview I found not to long ago.
It’s such a shame extreme sports games are basically non-existant. I loved gaming before hd came out in the mid 2000’s because there was so many racing and extreme sports games. Too many shooters we need some of this stuff!
Imagine SSX on the Frosbite 3 Engine? It would be a silly move for EA not to release one soon…but I think we will definatly see one before the ps5 comes out…(SSX 2012) did come out a year before the PS4….
And put MAC on the next cover!
Snow has always been an early access buggy fest, I initially thought it could be great but months and months went on and most of the problems that game had since the start are still present, only recently they added snowboards, it also aims to be realistic so it is in no way a replacement the SSX at all; and now there is “Steep”, it seems to be a lot better, but, now, I don’t know exactly, but all the mountains seem to be procedurally generated just like The Crew because they are all lifeless as something, I don’t think I could play that for long without getting bored, it is also an arcade-ish hybrid just like The Crew, you can’t pull big tricks, the pacing is slow, the animations are what you would expect from a SIM, if you hit obstacles you will lose all your momentum, and etc… I would rather play one of those old SSXs on an emulator than any of these recent titles honestly.
I rarely comment in this type of threads, I just feel I have to say SSX3 was almost more than a game for me. I spent so much time and heart in that world. It was such a celebration of everything a game can be. There where other games back then, but this game alone was one of the main reasons for me buying a xbox, let alone getting pulled back in to gaming after years and years of absence. It’s a pity how EA BIG, was dissolved… The new Snowboard games indeed look bland and failing. Bring back the magic once again and Maybe I’ll dive in to consoles once more… The only decent Snowboard game I played since then is actually a tiny iPhone game named ‘Alto’. Peace
I have been a big fan of the SSX series since GameCube. I even got multiple copies just so I could compare and contrast the different console releases. Man, if I had a youtube account back then… I still play the latest edition of SSX on Xbox 360. The music alone is enough to keep you coming back. I do miss the extra unlocks from the PlayStation 2 and Xbox (OG), the behind the scenes and voice acting clips. I do miss Luther with Oliver Platt doing the voice acting. I am glad that they kept Psymon, even if they didn’t keep Jim Rose (he did do the part justice though). I really hope that EA Sports continues the series into next gen.
The SSX franchise was such a staple in my childhood with the 2012 game being the biggest influence in my extracurriculars in middle and high school. That game single handedly got me involved in both the snow club and the wakeboarding club. It would be a shame to not see a new release of the SSX franchise on this new line of consoles and the PC especially. With games like steep taking steam out of the SSX franchise, I feel that they should act know or accept their place in gaming history and move on.
If they ever drop something like ssx3 that will be the day I buy another console, no doubt.