1080 Snowboarding

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JaySevenZero
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1080 Snowboarding

Post by JaySevenZero »

Here's where you can leave your thoughts regarding 1080 Snowboarding and 1080 Avalanche for possible inclusion in the podcast when it's recorded.
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Suits
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Re: 304: 1080 Snowboarding and 1080 Avalanche

Post by Suits »

I only just realised that this was both games, no problem, just means I have to play both games now :lol: .
paddy gamer

Re: Our next podcast recording (27.1.18) - 304: 1080 Snowboarding and 1080 Avalanche

Post by paddy gamer »

The first 1080 on the N64 never really clicked with me, I rented it out and I found the controls very fiddly and unfair at times, just landing after a jump was tricky! I'm sure if I had put more time into I could have improved my skills but after renting this for a few days I gladly returned it.

When 1080 Avalanche was announced I wasn't that bothered about picking it up initially due to my memories of the previous game. At the time though I would regularly read NGC magazine and the previews of this game got me interested in giving the series a second chance, my then girlfriend bought this for me as an early Christmas present and I remember the first time I turned it on and the guitars started wailing away on the menu screens, through the 5.1 surround sound I had recently bought, it had me hooked.

Once the game started I found the controls much more agreeable than the N64 game, I tried out all of the different characters but my favourite is still the all-rounder Rob Haywood, I did like that they had some of the same characters from Waverace Blue Storm as well, which was a cool idea at the time. The Gamecube controller is still one of my favourite controllers and racing down each track using just the L trigger and A button mainly (before I figured out how to do tricks) was really easy, also the rumble in this game was excellent, especially in later levels when there were actual avalanches chasing you.

I spent a lot of time over that Christmas playing Avalanche and trying to unlock everything, the tracks were there to be memorised and mastered, finding the quickest way to the bottom was how I played it first but then when I figured out how to do grinds and tricks and land bigger jumps to boost my power bar, which makes you quicker and also invulnerable for a short time, then it became a case of finding the best route which would allow you to power up quickly and then fly down the course.

Using the time trials then to learn the tracks and find the coins that let you unlock better boards was very clever as it taught you how to get to various parts of the tracks and helped learn the best routes, I didn't spend much time playing the trick attack mode as I found trying to chain the moves difficult and never had the patience to learn how to do it properly, I much prefered racing down the mountains.

The multiplayer got a lot of play in my house, growing up with 3 younger brothers meant the Gamecube and the N64 before it were our multiplayer consoles of choice, with Smash Bros, Mario Kart and 1080 getting a lot of play on the Gamecube. The lack of all of the single player tracks being available in multiplayer was disappointing but we made do with the tracks we had, after a while we all became quite good at this game and would have some epic races, the start of the race when you get that little boost by pushing forward on the analogue stick was crucial, if you could get out in front and power up so you couldn't be knocked over easily you had a good chance of winning, the tracks that had a few different routes made for some really tense races as you all converge at the part of the track just before the line hoping to get there a split second before the other or pulling off one last trick or grind to become invunerable and knock the other guy over and steal the win! We only recently played this again and even all these years later we all had a lot of fun playing it in multiplayer.

The Match race was the mode I spent most of my time and trying to beat the computer characters through each track in the varying difficulty modes was a lot of fun, with the tracks becoming more and more expansive as you unlocked them. I really enjoyed the little set pieces in the longer tracks and of course the final challenge courses which had various things like a jet flying past to create the avalanche of the title, all culminating with the final track where you jump off a cliff into a helicopter in slow mo after being chased down a mountain by an avalanche! The first time I did this I thought it was really cool with the cheesy rock blaring in the background, an ending any 90's action movie would have been proud of.

A special menton goes to that cheesy rock soundtrack, I loved Choke and Killing me by Cauterize but I played so much of this game all of these tracks are stuck in my head forever and I still listen to this soundtrack every now and again.

Overall I'm glad I didn't let my experience with the first 1080 game stop me from picking Avalanche up as it's one of my favourite games ever, I still enjoy playing through it with headphones on and the soundtracking blaring, it's even possible to play this through the Wii or WiiU with a widescreen setting enabled and it uses my own disc thanks to the homebrew channel that works for both consoles!
paddy gamer

Re: Our next podcast recording (27.1.18) - 304: 1080 Snowboarding and 1080 Avalanche

Post by paddy gamer »

Three word review:
Epic avalanche chases!
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Suits
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Re: Our next podcast recording (29.1.18) - 304: 1080 Snowboarding and 1080 Avalanche

Post by Suits »

I've gone back and played these over the last few weeks in fits and starts but am sorry to say, I don't think I have too much constructive or interesting to say about them both.

Being my first real experiences with the games it was hard to find an affection that was hamstrung by other similar games (Cool Boarders 2 being the main culprit).

I gravitated towards Avalanche, more that 1080 and found my muscle memory being teased to go towards other control methods that I am more accustom too and really didn't enjoy the L trigger being such an integral control for the game.

It being L wasn't an issue but perhaps the unique style of the way it's functionality was on the GameCube was.

That said, it was good fun to play them and enjoyable to read to Paddy Gamers thoughts and experiences, I'm looking forward to the podcast.
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Re: Our next podcast recording (4.2.18) - 305: 1080 Snowboarding and 1080 Avalanche

Post by Quiet Paul »

First off, I’d like to apologise for not posting for some amount of time! I was on the toilet. Having had some free time recently I’ve been listening to the podcast and catching up on some games too! Thought I’d get that out on the Open Air first.

Around late November/ early December ‘17 I went through my annual Melancholy want for nostalgia kicks and decided to fish out and dust off my old N64. Played a whole plethora of games I remember to have loved in my youth including: Shadow Man, Mystical Ninja, FIFA 98, Perfect Dark/Goldeneye as well as 1080 Snowboarding. Still in it’s bloody box after all this time! I remember not getting far in it but still having some fun with it.

I jumped straight into the training slope where I quickly learned that it’s going to take some time and finesse to get far in this game. No matter what Method I used, I struggled to get my head around it. It was as welcoming as an inopportune Stiffy. As a hard outer shell, maybe I just don’t have the patience to crack it again, which is annoying as I felt I used to enjoy this game a lot but does explain why I never got far in it. After smashing my characters face on the icy floor a few more times I moved to the races where I got annihilated.

After a few tries and giving my approach a wee Tweak, I did start winning races eventually but by that point I was ready for something a bit more mindless and shooty-shooty-gun-bang.

Perhaps the knowledge that this was a fleeting nostalgic wave was what left me too impatient to re-master it but my memory of the game is fond. For its age it looks graphically alright! The trail in the snow behind the board, the surrounding environments and the nice skyboxes (Golden Forest was especially nice) give it a few pass marks. Although I found it to be one tough cookie of a game to get good at, I did enjoy my re-visit to the N64 slopes; it made for a good laugh. This old ‘98 gem is definitely no Stalefish.
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