SSX: On Tour tries hard to replicate its console counterpart but fails in the process.
One of the things the SSX series is best known for is bright colors and over the top track design. The tracks for On Tour are lifted from SSX 3. This is both a good and bad thing. It's good because those tracks were well designed and fun to ride. It’s bad because they are the same exact courses from the game you played nearly two years ago. There are no additions to the tracks - cosmetically or technically. The only additions to the courses are some Native American inspired totem poles. Things taken out from the courses are any product placements that were in SSX 3 and the celebratory fireworks as you reach the finish line or approach a big jump. This takes away both character and the excitement from the courses. Another issue is that the courses don't feel as big as they did in the console version. You don't get that grand scale as you ride down the mountain and approach a jump and plummet back to the ground. This may have been due to the technical capabilities of the PSP but it does take out some of the character from the game. The technical capability of the PSP is also at fault for some other problems in the game.
The PSP is quite capable of doing PS2 quality graphics and for the most part SSX On Tour is a graphically decent title. The biggest problem however is that the game has some sort of grainy look to the graphics that is very apparent in some parts of the game. This may be due to compressing a lot of data onto the UMD but the grainy graphics problem doesn't appear in other data heavy titles such as GTA. This must clearly be an issue with EA. Other than the grainy graphics the game is somewhat typical. The character models are simply detailed and are a bit bland looking and the courses stream nicely as you ride down with very little pop up or fog. The courses themselves look okay technically but visually look bland due to poor art direction. The snow, trees and rocks in the game look good and the textures as a whole look good but could've use some more detail. The animations are good but the tricks & moves are simply pulled from SSX 3 so don't be expecting anything new.
The controls for On Tour mirror its console counterpart for the exception of an extra pair of shoulder buttons, but the game doesn't match the responsiveness that the console version has. Riding down the mountain using the analog nub is ok but it can be a bit hard to use when doing sharp turns and it’s a bit to easy to wipe out if you're pressing a bit too much on the analog nub. The lack of L2 and R2 buttons does hurt the game. Using only two shoulder buttons for tricks makes the game feel a bit repetitive after awhile. However it is easy to pull off tricks for the most part. The problem is that the game and the booklet for the game doesn’t give you any help or hints to pull off monster tricks so basically you resort to mashing the buttons and hoping something good happens. There is also a glitch in the game which allows the player to do a hand plant on any rail as long as it’s not taller than he is.
The sound for the game is very lackluster. None of the characters have any voices and that means they have no personality. As you ride down the mountain expect to hear nothing other than the sound effects of your board on the snow and the same soundtrack as the console version of On Tour. The soundtrack is quite good as it features Iron Maiden, Dio, The Hives, LCD Soundsystem and Chuck D. There are no new tracks or remixes added to the soundtrack and the custom track selection is a bit cheap since you can’t edit some songs until the song is over and you can't skip a song during a race. If you are a big fan of the soundtrack the game supports EA pocket trax so you can just listen to the music if you want to. It is a bit annoying however that during gameplay the pocket trax title will pop up whenever a new song starts. On the PSP’s small screen it gets in the way of gameplay.
The gameplay for On Tour is basically a copy of its console counterpart. You compete in different styles of events such as race, shred, slopestyle and trick with the goal to become number one on the leader board. In this version however you cannot freely choose between the different events at any time. For example you can't compete in one style of race until you get all gold medals in another style. This makes the game feel more repetitive than it should. The game is also a bit on the easy side since in most races I never saw any of my opponents after I exited the starting gate. This causes some monotony since it never feels like you're in a particular event. It’s either get to the finish first or score more points than the other guys. There are challenge events in the game such as grinding a specific distance etc, but those are a bit boring and it really is nothing new. Another problem with the game is the camera. The camera has a problem reorienting itself behind the player properly. When doing sharp turns or coming to back the ground from a jump the camera is usually pointing down at the ground. This leave the player unable to see any of the oncoming course. This also causes some confusion as you try to figure which direction you’re pointing in. Just like the console version On Tour allows the player to make their own character. While the console version was a bit limited in its selection this version is far worse than that. The player chooses a skin for their boarder and that’s it. Upgraded attributes are given by new skins which are unlocked during the tour mode. These skins may have better speed, trick ability etc.
SSX: On Tour tries hard to capture the SSX feel but it comes off as a generic snowboarding game. If you took away the name SSX from the title and showed it to people they would probably think it’s the new Cool Boarders. The game feels rushed and sloppily put together and that’s sad because the SSX franchise and its fans deserve better. People who own the console version and are interested in this should only rent the game. The game brings nothing new to the table and will only leave a bad feeling after playing especially if you're a big fan of the series. Simply put this tour should be skipped.