SSX On Tour

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• Fly down the all-new tracks, and master the new monster tricks for both boarding and skiing
• Revolutionary new speed-sensitive cameras, motion blur, and controller feedback -- you'll feel the speed as you whip past the crowd
• Develop your skills and your rep as you go from slope-side wannabe to a black-diamond-dominating rockstar
• Experience life on the mountain like never before with fresh art, pumping music, grown-up bosses, and new Monsters of Metal and Style Blaster events

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000AOEUOI
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches ; 4 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 8, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,552 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: PlayStation2

From the Manufacturer

Reach breakneck speeds, catch huge air, and become an icon with SSX: On Tour. Create a rider or skier and build a career as you progress from a slope-side wannabe to a black-diamond-dominating rockstar. Compete for medals or just tear up the massive new mountain, but make sure you look good doing it because your reputation is always on the line. Pull off jaw-dropping monster tricks to out-style your competitors while hurtling down the slopes at supersonic speeds. You create the hype--the hype creates a legend in SSX: On Tour.

Features:

• The Tour: Create a snow-slicing, gravity-defying mountain icon and dominate the all-new shred challenges to earn your invitation to the tour. Climb the ranks of the circuit and become the ultimate black-diamond rockstar.
• The Fastest Game on Snow: fly down 12 new tracks and whip past the snowplowing masses as you experience breakneck speeds with revolutionary new speed-sensitive cameras, motion blur, and controller feedback.
• Huge Air and Monster Tricks: show off your skills by catching big air and throwing down massive new snowboarding and skiing monster tricks.
• The Culture Comes Alive: experience life on the mountain like never before with fresh art, pumping music, grown-up bosses, and new Monsters of Metal and Style Blaster events.

Product Description

Reach breakneck speeds, catch huge air, and become an icon with SSX On Tour. Create a rider or skier and build a career as you progress from a slope-side wannabe to a black-diamond-dominating rockstar. Compete for medals or just tear up the massive new mountain, but make sure you look good doing it because your reputation is always on the line. Pull off jaw-dropping monster tricks to out-style your competitors while hurtling down the slopes at supersonic speeds. You create the hype - the hype creates a legend in SSX On Tour. Building on the critically acclaimed gameplay of the SSX franchise, SSX On Tour features all-new player customization that gives you the chance to join The Tour. SSX On Tour is packed with all-new highly detailed tracks, new stylish player customization options, new monster tricks, and multiplayer options.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One step forward, two steps back, October 14, 2005

By 

Brian Forrester "Brian Forrester, Noblesville IN" (Indianapolis, Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: SSX On Tour (Video Game)

Before I get started, let me just say that I really enjoy the gameplay of this game. I'm not, however, a big fan of the new menu system. I really liked the system implemented in SSX 3. I liked the 'Big Mountain' feel. I liked the ability to freeride from the top of Peak 3, to the bottom of Peak 1 if that was what I so desired. I loved the above the treeline skiing at the tops of the three peaks in SSX 3. All of those are missing in On Tour. I could really care less about the art work and character customization as decried by other reviewers...I play the games for the game play, bottom line. Let's do a pro/con breakdown, shall we?

Pros:

- The addition of skiiers! I'm a skiier, I've never ridden a snowboard in my life. I was really excited at the news of this addition. I just find the mechanics of skiing to be more aesthetically pleasing than snowboarding. Plus the additional tricks you can do on skis adds more variety to the game. You can take off or land switch (skiing backwards), and switching between the two is a simple flick of the Right analog stick.

- The courses (levels?) have a bigger feel to them than did the courses in SSX 3. There just seem to be an almost infinite number of lines you can run in any given course.

- The addition of ski patrol and other skiiers, outside of those competing against you. Anyone that skis or rides knows the risk of patrol pulling your lift ticket for speeding! Plus I've always loved playing "Kiddie Slalom" on the snow. Now I can do it on a video game! NOTE: On the real mountains, ski with respect for others. Always remember that the person downhill has the right of way (as they don't have eyes in the backs of their heads). Always ski and ride with respect to the safety of yourself and others!

- The trick stick makes the Monster Tricks (uber tricks on SSX 3) much easier to pull off. While they weren't all that difficult in SSX 3, they're even easier now.

- A crap load of available tasks. Collect items, knock over skiiers, avoid patrol...I haven't played enough of the game to list them all. Again, a lot of variety in the gameplay.

- Gear made by actual manufacturers. It's cool to be able to pick out a set of the K2 Public Enemies, or the Made 'n AK boards. I wish, though, that more ski and snowboard manufacturers were represented. It looks like Line and K2 were the only ski gear available. I could be mistaken though.

Cons:

- The menu system, to me, just isn't as slick as that found in SSX 3. I just liked the big mountain feel. The ability to transport to different sections of the mountain on a whim.

- The damned audio playing backwards when levels are loading. I hope I'm not the only person that finds reverse audio to be creepy.

- I liked the DJ and the music in SSX 3. It was just so well put together and everything just fit with everything else. Even the intro to SSX 3 was almost chill inducing, not quite like Gran Turismo, but it was one of the best intros to a video game.

- The menu art work. While this doesn't really bother me, as it doesn't detract from the actual game play, it isn't what I would call beautiful. A lot of the game's aspects seem like they're aimed towards the park and pipe punks.

- The depth of the characters. As one other reviewer mentioned, the characters all seem pretty generic. While this doesn't bother me much, it's still a slight shortcoming.


Yeah, there were some slight disappointments to the game when I first fired it up. That all ended when I started my first race, with two sticks attached to my feet rather than one. Some of the presentation is a step backwards, in my opionion, but the true stars in the game, the levels themselves, shine every bit as brightly as the previous iterations in the SSX franchise.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Small dissapointments- but you can live with them, October 18, 2005

A Kid's Review

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: SSX On Tour (Video Game)

First off, let me say this. SSX 3 is by far the best snowboarding game ever. On Tour takes a few steps back, as well as a few steps forward. When you first put the disk in the PS2, you will see that the game has a very unique and cool art style based on heavy metal. It is basically Napoleon Dynamite's sketches, if he were obsessed with the rock-on hand symbol or unicorns playing double-neck guitars. Some of the art is cool and imaginative, and some is just plain stupid. Going with the Metal theme, all of the uncreated riders present themselves like rock stars. Remember Psymon the fugitive from Tricky and 3? He's back, but he has a huge pink Mohawk. The gameplay is pretty much like any SSX game, but it has a few major changes. For one, the right analog stick is now used to do Monster tricks(no more uber tricks). While Performing a monster trick, the camera will slow down and move to the rider's side. Just moving the stick in any direction will make the rider take a foot off of their board. Good tricks cost event reward money, but it is worth it to see your rider take off his board and play it like a guitar. You can also make your rider a skier, but the only difference between skiing and boarding are the different tricks. On tour has a great soundtrack and sound effects. The soundtrack features a lot of Indie rock, classic heavy metal(including Motorhead, Iron Maiden and Def Leppard) and some rap. The sound effects are great, including great WHOOSH sounds when you are going extremely fast. The graphics are the same as SSX 3, but the Blur effects are better and the created characters don't look as sharply as they should. In the Tour mode, you create your own boarder and do Big challenges (now called SHRED events) and medal events until you are ranked the best rider on the tour. It is a lot of fun and it will take you a long time to complete. The character customazation isn't as good as, say, NBA Street V3, but there are good amounts of clothes and goofy costumes that you will like. You can still ride down the mountain freely, but you can't choose any events to do. There is still splitscreen Multiplayer, but online play has been cut out. That is fine, as the Tour mode is the main mode of play. There are now other riders on the mountain that are like traffic in the Burnout games. You can hit them or narrowly avoid them for an extra boost. Overall, SSX On Tour is a great snowboarding game. Anyone who is interested in skiing, snowboarding or the SSX series should definately check this game out

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What in the name happened with SSX on Tour, EA?, December 29, 2005

By 

P. Hardy (USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: SSX On Tour (Video Game)

This is just a simple overview of how the game looks and feels, because I am no where near beating this game -- assuming you can actually beat SSX ON TOUR. When you see the advertisements for this video game your probably thing the cartoonish art is just for advertisement purposes. But the moment you pop the game into your PSII you discover the ugly truth which will haunt you for the rest your days so long as you continue to play SSX:OT. The horrible cartoonish art I haven't seen since I've looked at the edges of my brother's notebooks plagues the game. Scribbles and poorly drawn characters are what greet you when this game begins.


There are three modes within the game itself:

1): The Tour - The supposed story mode of the game.

2): Quick Game - A free ride around the snowy mountain side, wherever they may be.

3): EXTRAS - Cheat codes, credits, and other things that aren't directly tied into the game until after you beat it.


"THE TOUR" Begins you on an airless storyline of bringing a snowboarder or "Skier" --A new feature in the SSX series -- to stardom if you complete all the challenges and ON TOUR Modes. Along the way you will be challenged by the original SSX characters (Physmon - Nate - Kaori - Elise Riggs - Mac, etc), who had have also taken a step down in the looks department as opposed to their design in SSX3. None of them really look like their former selves (though I know this is what happens you use better graphics but this time its just plain insulting): Kaori looks nothing like a Japanese female (she also lost the quirky voice-over that spewed Japanese at you as you raced) and appears as though she got a plastic surgery job done on her nose and lips which stick out more than her overall face. Nate looks like some bum that just crawled off his couch to snowboard, stringy hair, gruff face (as before), and clothes that resembles Mac's wardrobe from SSX3. Mac has lost the charming appearance he once had, donning a much bulkier, blockier appearance, a bright green/yellow stripe shirt and a shaven head poorly hidden by his baseball cap. Elise looks pretty much the same, just a bit on the beefy side if anything with shorter blonde hair. And the major change that really got me riled up was Physmon: He had someone reverted from being Black (or African-American respectfully) to a Caucasian man donning a white "wife-beater" Sleeveless shirt, tattered pants and a flaming red mowhawk. This in my eyes was a major offense! They didn't even keep the voice actor used in SSX3. So far, The Tour mode does not allow you to use these characters, only characters you make with race and gender adjustments -- aka Original characters created by you the gamer. While this is a nice touch, I would've liked to play with the original cast and saved the "create a character" for afterwards.


The major problems with this gameplay is that its insultingly easy to beat your opponent to 1ST place. The Challenges are short lived moments in the game at best: Most of the objectives will have you collecting items -- pulling off "Monster Tricks" (which has become far easy to pull off unlike SSX3 which made you work for your "Monster Trick") - and grinding rails. The items part of the game where you buy experience, clothes, hair styles, gear and boards/ski's, is a step down in the earning department. Simple things like T-shirts cost a lot more than you've like. Another problem everyone's probably expressed is the lack of touring other places in SSX-ON TOUR. You seem to be stuck in the same blessed place throughout the game. The controls are clunky and unresponsive at best. It takes pressing down hard on the Triangle button to get the character to perform a simple forward/backward flip before crashing to the ground in defeat. While maneuvering controls have gotten better, there are far too many trees and buildings clustered together in this game posing as an obstacle your sure to hit.


The Graphics are a major upgrade from SSX3, environment wise. The snow looks a lot better with the loss of depth, the major problems with the look and feel of SSX:OT is that the atmosphere of the game reminds you too much of the AMPED snowboarding series (which also holds a reputation for the "punker" snowboard theme) with the unresponsive controls and clunky behavior of the characters, along with their appearance as well. The music has fallen into what I like to call "EA's Modern Rock/pop/metal cursefad" that has plagued so many of their present games (Most notably their racing games, Need for speed and Burnout. Their sports series too).





Gone is the wide variety of techno/actual-rock/pop/dance music from SSX3 and SSX-Tricky. It is replaced with modern rock/pop/heavy metal bands that should've been shot for playing their instruments so badly and singing so off key. Modern rock fans will naturally disagree with me, but being someone whose been here beyond 2002 (when this fad really got going), I know good rock music and the occasional heavy metal music when I hear it.


All in all, SSX ON TOUR is for those unfamiliar with the SSX series because in all honesty this feel like a branch off from the series itself and a new game entirely for the SSX-uneducated. Another thing is to wait for it to become a cheaper priced game under $20/30.00. --- [a 3 out of 5]

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