If you liked the old Snowboard Kids games, you'll like this.
The first time I popped the game into my DS, I was not impressed. I played it all the way home as my mother drove me from Gamestop. It seemed rather difficult at first, but after I had played it a little more that night and the next day, I realized how truly easy the game was (at least the C [lowest level] story mode). Furthermore, as I continued to play, I began to appreciate the game more and I learned to like it; it grew on me. SBK: DS preserves most of the classic Snowboard Kids gameplay from the N64 games, but it uses the DS's touch screen and microphone to vary the gameplay somewhat.
The technical aspects of the game (graphics and sound) are, for the most part, standard Snowboard Kids stuff. The only noticeable difference in the style of graphics and sound from SBK: DS to the SBK games of old is the character design. The characters actually look sort of realistic, unlike the characters from SBK games on the N64, who had a certain fame for their large noses or other noteworthy features. A nice feature is that you can press the Select button during races (or boss battles and slalom runs, two other types of gameplay SBK: DS has to offer) to cycle through the music the game plays during race gameplay; there is no set melody that plays with every course.
The game offers a "World Tour Challenge" mode for single player gameplay, where the player goes through exhibition races, slalom runs, boss battles, and a trick competition to try to finish on top after all the snowboarding is done. This comes in three different difficulty levels, A, B, and C, with A being the highest. It is also possible to play the aforementioned slalom runs and boss battles separately. Exhibition races and trick competitions can be played under versus mode from the main menu, either single player or multiplayer. For single player versus mode gaming, just set yourself to be the "Leader" DS system and advance past the screens to select your gametype and character and race course without setting up any other slots for any other human players to play.
After playing for a while, as I mentioned before, the game becomes very easy, and even A-level stuff won't be that much of a challenge. I have yet to race against S-level computers in the aforementioned exhibition mode.
SBK comes with many unlockables to keep you playing for a good while.
All in all, the DS version of SBK is an enjoyable alternative racing game that just about anyone can pick up and play.
(I give the value a 9 because of the potential this game has to become very rare.)