Now here is a title that never really managed to find a market. 1080° Snowboarding for the N64 is considered by many to be one of the first really good Snowboarding titles and one of the most influential to future Snowboarding titles. But the sequel just never managed to be as big a title as the original. This is partialy due to the Gamecube not being the most popular of machine, but mainly due to other games such as those in the SSX series already having a large foothold on the market.
That besides the point, 1080° Avalanche is still a good game overall. I got it since I wanted something a little different and unique in it's own way and as a whole I have enjoyed the game. So with winter coming up I figured why not revisit it and let you all know my thoughts.
Now 1080° Avalanche is more of an older style in terms of setup. There is no free roam mode like in the SSX games. Instead you just pick the course you want to run and go. You can do Time Trials, Match Races, and Gate Challenges. There also is a mode for trying out the tricks naturally called Trick Attack. Needless to say there are a fair amount of things to do in the game and while it may not be as deep as the SSX games there still is plenty here to keep you entertained.
The game itself has very nice visuals for it's time. All the tracks have nice effects and touches to them that make them all feel unique. There are some tracks with dynamic weather changes which all look very nice and the effects on the Avalanches are very well done, it really looks and feels like you have a big pack of snow following you at times.
The Controls are also pretty good as a whole. It is easy to navigate the courses, easy to pull off tricks and as a whole works very well. Although it can be a bit tricky when trying to link multiple trick together. The camera also works very well, you never lose site of your ridder which is very important in a game like this. So as a whole controls and camera work very well.
We have good graphics and good controls, but that is not to say the game is all good since there are some downsides. For one while the tracks are nice there just is not enough of them and they are not very large. Compared to the tracks in the SSX games these just feel too constricted. Another little grip I have is that the developers did not really add much new to the gameplay outside of the addition of a balance recovery ability. With all SSX has added to the gameplay of Snowboarding games 1080° Avalanche just feels dated at times in terms of overall gameplay.
After this revisit I do have to admit 1080° Avalanche is as a whole one of the more undersppriciated Gamecube games out there. There is a lot of fun to be had here and the game itself is very well made. While yes it may not have all the bells and whistles of the SSX series, it still is at it's core a solid Snowboarding title. This one is well worth the pickup IMO especially at the reduced price you can find it for now a days.