Instead of going for an accurate simulation of snowboarding, as it has in the past, Konami has taken a distinctly different approach with its latest re-creation of the popular winter sport--Evolution Snowboarding for the GameCube--by fusing the basic mechanics of snowboarding with combat. On paper, it sounds like an interesting combination, similar to Electronic Arts' popular Road Rash series of motorcycle combat games, but Evolution Snowboarding ultimately falls short of its potential with sluggish controls, mostly bland visuals, and a relatively low difficultly level.
Evolution Snowboarding includes evolution, duel, and quick mode options. The evolution mode is essentially the career mode of the game, in which you start off with a relatively unskilled rider who has low ratings in various statistics ranging from attack power and defense to speed and technical capabilities. By completing one of the 10 missions in the unlocked environments (you unlock more courses by completing more missions), you'll receive points based on how well you performed, which can then be used to boost your rider's individual statistics. Most of the missions in Evolution Snowboarding revolve around collecting items, reaching checkpoints before time runs out, reaching a certain point total by collecting even more items, or defeating several enemies before reaching the end of the course. Unfortunately, these missions tend to get a little repetitive by the time you unlock the fourth or fifth course, simply because you've been completing the same objectives in every course. However, the one aspect of the game that makes this repetition tolerable is the boss battles. After completing four missions in one course, you'll get to take on the boss of the area, which usually has some sort of special attack and can generally dish out substantial amounts of damage that will quickly deplete your health. You really have to pay attention to the types of attacks that the boss is using and adjust your strategy accordingly.
In fact, there's a deceptive level of depth to the combat system, at least when it comes to the boss battles. By looking at an enemy's stance, you can determine the direction that his attacks are coming from, so you can maneuver your rider alongside the enemy's blind side and swat at him without worrying about a counterattack. This strategy really doesn't apply to the basic enemy drones that you'll encounter during a mission, since they're so much easier to defeat and they don't have particularly strong attacks. In addition, the weapons in the game have a wide contact area, so basic enemies on your blind side can easily be taken out with a quick swing of the nail-laden baseball bat or steel chain, but using some strategy during boss battles is pretty important, regardless of whether or not you have weapons.
Thankfully, it's quite easy to use weapons, punches, or kicks in the game since they only require a single press of one of the face buttons, but beyond that, Evolution Snowboarding's controls quickly fall apart. Navigating around an environment can be incredibly frustrating, particularly when maneuvering through small passages or in between obstacles in the environment, because you can't really make precise movements. This becomes particularly problematic in the time attack missions, where precious seconds are often lost because of poor controls instead of high difficulty or a lack of skill. Combine that with some shoddy collision detection that bounces you around the area like a pinball, and Evolution Snowboarding quickly becomes more frustrating than enjoyable.
Like in the PlayStation 2 version of the game, there are a couple of really nice-looking levels in the game, particularly a Castlevania-inspired level complete with giant chandeliers, enormous tolling bells, and stained-glass windows. However, many of the other levels are bland and uninspired--particularly the medieval Japanese fortress level, which that looks downright barren in some areas--but, to the game's credit, most of the courses are quite large and feature a number of different paths. All the character models in the game, with the exception of the professional riders you save in each course, look pretty blocky, which is unacceptable considering the hardware this game is running on. Some of the textures on the rider faces are horribly pixilated, and there are some pretty visible draw-in problems on some levels, with objects in the background just jumping into view. As if that weren't enough, the stuttering frame rate also tends to be a problem, though it seems to remain fairly steady in the two-player split-screen duel mode.
The soundtrack in Evolution Snowboarding is made up largely of licensed music from bands such as Slipknot, Murderdolls, Stone Sour, and 36 Crazyfists, most of which fits in perfectly with the violent nature of the game. You can also unlock music tracks from some of Konami's classic games. The sound in the game isn't especially noteworthy--most of it is simply made up of various grunts, and the boss characters speak the same line repeatedly when you're in battle.
Evolution Snowboarding features a promising concept that breaks away from the current trend of creating snowboarding games that focus on trick systems, but unfortunately it's just not executed very well. With some tweaking to the controls, some additional polish in some areas (such as the collision detection), and a better visual presentation, Evolution Snowboarding could've easily been one of the more entertaining snowboarding games for the GameCube. As it stands, Evolution Snowboarding definitely isn't worth a purchase. At best, it might be worth a rental for those who are absolutely starving for a different take on the snowboarding subgenre.
