Cool Boarders 2001 Review
From both a technical and aesthetic standpoint, Cool Boarders 2001 is like a winter without snow - a drag.
It wasn't that long ago that people were arguing that Cool Boarders was better than Nintendo's 1080 Snowboarding and vice versa. While the argument was a lot closer back then, Cool Boarders 2001 serves as a rather large "I told you so" for the side that always preferred 1080's more realistic feel. This is one PlayStation game that, like the Buffalo Bills of the early '90s, never quite makes it.
It's pointless to place the trimmings on a turkey that still isn't cooked on the inside, and this analogy fits Cool Boarders 2001 like a glove. There just aren't enough modes to explore. You may either play the career mode - where you pick a pro boarder or create your own and begin tearing up the pro circuit - or a quick race. That's it. As you play through the career mode, new boards, riders, and courses are opened up. You earn attribute points if you finish high in the standings, but they are automatically applied to your character in whichever way the computer deems appropriate. For a game that is already low in the options department, a simple thing like allocating your own hard-earned attribute points would have helped in making you actually care. But alas, it's done for you, so you don't.
Under the career mode, there are six different events to choose from. Gates requires that you finish first while negotiating a slalom course, board park places obstacles in a sequence down the hill that must be hit in order, CBX is a Road Rash-inspired bash-and-race affair, and big air gives you one massive hit to perform your most burly tricks. Pipe gives you three runs down a massive chute, complete with two feet of vert, while downhill points run is a simple race from the top of the mountain to the lodge. Earlier previewable versions of the game had a pro boarder challenge where you took on real-world pros in specific events, but this option has been changed so that you simply have certain objectives to accomplish. The most glaring omission is a free ride option. This goes against the very nature of the sport, and considering that a fighting interface has been included instead, this is one game where the developers simply don't understand the subject matter. There is enough variety to keep things fresh for a while, but the execution of the gameplay reduces all of these modes to the point of worthlessness.
The trick system is severely flawed. In order to perform a simple grab, you must first hit the X button and then any direction on the analog stick. If you press the direction first, or even at the same time, the desired trick is not performed. This becomes incredibly annoying when attempting to perform any sort of combo where you're not repeating a trick that was already landed. After a short period of time, it becomes akin to scraping your nails down a chalkboard, as the gameplay quickly turns into bouts of extreme button mashing.
Cool Boarders 2001 Quick Links
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Player Reviews
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like most coolbaorder games. Fun only when playing against friends. Continue »
Critic Scores
- IGN 4 / 10
- TechTV 3 / 5
- Cheat Code Central 2 / 5
- Da GameBoyz 6.2 / 10
- Absolute PlayStation 93 / 100
- Electric Playground 3 / 10
- Game Vortex 78 / 100
- GamePen 4 / 5
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