Big Mountain 2000 Preview

Originally released as Snow Speeder in Japan, SouthPeak and Imagineer's Big Mountain 2000 is the first Nintendo 64 title to have both skiing and snowboarding available on the same cartridge. You'll choose from several skiers/boarders (one of whom is named Claire Winslet). You'll deck your rider out in licensed wear and boards from Solomon, Vans, and Bonfire, decide whether he should roam the hill freely or compete in one of two slalom events, and then hit the snow.

Similar to San Francisco Rush or Hydro Thunder, Big Mountain 2000 has multiple pathways, in case you're looking for the fastest line down the course. Though the shortcut-enhancing jumps of the two similar titles are missing, Big Mountain 2000 offers players designated jumping areas at several points through each run, where you can perform all sorts of aerial tricks and flips. New to the arcade downhill racing genre is the addition of a stamina meter: The meter begins at full power at the start of your race, but decreases in strength with each collision or wipeout. The stamina meter directly affects the player's ability to race the course. As the meter decreases, you will have an increasingly difficult time maintaining high speeds or carving tight turns.

Though we commend SouthPeak and Imagineer for introducing the meter (racing gameplay developments are becoming increasingly rare), we're not too sure how well North American players will respond. While it does put the burden on you to learn the tracks well - crashing through trees and rocks puts an instant damper on the race - we're rather confident that you won't appreciate being penalized for an entire race if an NPC crashes into you without warning as soon as you leave the starting block. But the use of deep powder is a nice touch, and you'll find that you'll lose significant amounts of speed when blazing trails as compared to when you're whipping down the tractor-groomed runs.

On the sensory front, Big Mountain 2000 still needs last-minute tweaking. Though Imagineer has made creative use of the Nintendo 64's dynamic lighting - moonlight tracks, pink rays from a sunset - there are still occasional instances of unmistakable (and unforgivable) pop-up. On one track, an entire tunnel entrance suddenly warps into view, brazenly replacing the white snow that had been on the screen. Sound effects are spot-on: The slick sounds of fiberglass chewing through ice will jog the minds of any gamer-skiers/snowboarders who happen to play this title.

With 989 Studios' Cool Boarders 4 recently out on the PlayStation, SouthPeak's Big Mountain 2000, which will arrive in North America by the holiday season, will have an established, albeit not flawless, series to compete with.