Cool Boarders 2001

And at first glance, it doesn’t look like much, especially compared to SSX. However, when you start to make your way through the lengthy Career mode, this game’s modest charms begin to reveal themselves. There are just so many different kinds of levels and challenges to tackle. While some may be quick to write this game off due to its lack of visual flair, I prefer to think of Cool Boarders as an aging big league hurler, making up for its lack of heat by relying on smarts, craft, and nasty curveballs.

While the gameplay is easy to manhandle, the physics are suspect and the collision fields are sometimes off the mark. Cool Boarders lacks polish, but not style. The varied gameplay proves to be savagely addictive and just as wild as SSX.

Cool Boarders 2001 was much better than I ever expected it to be. The game never ditches its roots entirely for SSX, but it borrows just enough from it, and stays consistent with just enough of the basics -- framerate, looks, control, etc. -- to push the series a little step forward. I still prefer SSX to this by a long shot, but Cool Boarders 2001 holds it own. Cool Boarders may never achieve greatness, but in this version it has at least achieved goodness.

Coolboarders 2001 is zeker geen misselijke game. Helaas voor de makers is SSX op dit moment de standaard voor snowboardgames op de PS2...

Fans of the Cool Boarders series will find a lot to like in this first PlayStation 2 outing. The trick system and controls are deep yet manageable; there is a multitude of events, riders, and courses to unlock; the multiplayer mode is extensive; and the graphics are solid. For those who think SSX is too simplified and that ESPN X-Games Snowboarding is too difficult, Cool Boarders 2001 is a perfect compromise. After a few years spent aloof, the Cool Boarders franchise is finally back on solid footing.

Le dernier jeu de snowboard de 989 Studios États-Unis a pour principale qualité de gommer les défauts de Cool Boarders 4. Mais surtout, il ajoute à la série la dose de challenge qui manquait depuis le troisième volet. Le gameplay reste identique, même si une plus grande souplesse est à noter. Le mode "carrière" constitue le véritable intérêt du jeu, grâce à ses défis aussi nombreux que variés. Cool Boarder 2001 place la barre encore un peu plus haut dans le secteur des jeux de snowboard.

On the graphical front, nothing really jumps out, and to be quite frank, the collision fields are serious monstrosities. Annoying graphical flickers appear all the time, and the camera is always a nuisance. However, the gameplay is something to admire. Adding a great deal of variance to the mix, the play continually shifts between events, offering something a little different with each run. The trick system has also been simplified to give players the utmost control. At the very most, this is a fair rainy-day game, for a time when there’s nothing else to play.

It's not that Cool Boarders 2001 is really terrible, it's just so all together average and doesn't have that extra little something that makes you want to come back to it again and again. It's a nice diversion for a while; it just doesn't have the depth to make it anything more than a weekend rental.

There has been a steady decline in this game’s quality over the years. This is one ugly-looking game. The animation is pure terror and the playcontrol is equally as scary.

Cool Boarders 2001 is another mediocre game and, at times, a pain. However, it does have some cool moments and will easily consume a couple of free hours. As a rental this game is good for a night's worth of entertainment, but as a purchase, this game is good for maybe a broken controller and a wasted 50 bucks.

The most obvious problem with Cool Boarders 2001 is that it fails to represent snowboarding in an accurate way on any front. The free flowing nature of the sport is stifled, and it all comes off as if the developers have never strapped a board to their feet and headed down the mountain, let alone hung out with a crew of real riders to find out where they're coming from. From both a technical and aesthetic standpoint, Cool Boarders 2001 is like a winter without snow - a drag. If you're looking to add a snowboarding game to your PlayStation collection, MTV's Pure Ride more accurately captures the spirit of the sport and is much more fun to play. Cool Boarders 2001 is an aggravating example of what not to do when developing a snowboarding game.

Overall, Cool Boarders 2001 had a ton of potential but was doomed by its rigid objectives and unreasonable difficulty. I'm not surprised that this long-running series met its demise with this ill-advised chapter.