Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarding

UEP Systems is no stranger to snowboarding games. The studio created the Cool Boarders franchise and developed several versions on the PlayStation as well as the first Cool Boarders for the PlayStation 2 in Japan, Code Alien. Activision has commissioned UEP to develop the snowboarding version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and it's dusting off the Code Alien engine to deliver Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder for the PlayStation 2. Many snowboarding games have tried to duplicate the Tony Hawk formula, but the nature of the sport has made it difficult to mimic the combo-based gameplay that makes Activision's other extreme sports series such a winner. While most have ultimately decided to take another route altogether, Shaun Palmer's is trying to make the system work.

The shift from street to snow has not affected the big-air possible through the Tony Hawk engine.

The game is divided into a variety of different play modes. Like its skateboarding cousin's career mode, though, Shaun Palmer's career mode is where most of you will roll up the hours of gameplay. Each of the game's eight stages features ten varied mission objectives. Some objectives are points-based, while others ask you to find hidden areas, knock over specific objects, or bust tricks on predetermined obstacles. As you complete objectives, you are awarded with new authentic sponsors that will give you improved gear that increases your rider's attributes. Because most of the courses are set on downhill paths, warp points, designated by snowmobiles and hill groomers, are located throughout the courses. Simply riding into a warp point will return you to a previous point in the mountain.

In addition to the career mode, there are a variety of multiplayer modes in which you can challenge a friend: trick attack, trick boost, horse, and the game's unique push mode. The trick attack mode is a contest to see who can accumulate the most points in one trip down the mountain. Trick boost rewards your rider with increased attributes as you land tricks. The more you rip, the greater the chance you have of really pulling off some sick maneuvers. For those who really like to rub their superior riding skills in their friends' faces, the horse mode asks riders to compete trick-for-trick. The push mode is probably the most addictive of the multiplayer modes. As you land each trick, your competitor's window grows smaller until his window is reduced to nothing. While there's no park editor included, you can create your own rider by choosing from dozens of body parts and clothing ensembles.

The game's pro boarders will be decked out in all kinds of real-life snowboarding gear.

A snowboarding game would be pointless without tricks, and Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder includes more than 75 different moves in its pre-alpha state. For the Tony Hawk combo formula to work in any extreme sports game, there have to be plenty of obstacles in close proximity to one another. To accommodate this gameplay system, UEP has peppered the courses with obstacles to grind and "hits" to launch off of. It makes the game lose some of its authenticity, but the trade-off is well worth it. Even if some obstacles are situated in an awkward manner, it's still possible to link tricks together by using manuals and butters on the flat ground.