The box art will definitely lie to you about being "Just like the original". Unoriginal story and lackluster control...
After playing this version, I honestly must say I feel completely embarassed that I was actually hyped for this game to come out, I finally get it, and the game's "new" path has taken a toll for the worse...
Gameplay:
Compared to the more clean and slicker controls that were made for the N64 versions, this game's handling will make you want to bite your hands off. Jumping in this game is a lot different, as is even landing, even turning correctly must be done with another button! For a person just trying to start getting into the SBK series, they may have a bit of an advantage for trying to get used to the controls, but a veteran player will suffer at the lack of freedom of movement during tricks, and the horrendous amount of slip-ups they will encounter right at the start of the game. Getting used to the heavy amount of dependency on the touch screen for this game also runs veteran gamers up a wall. Just like the original? Definitely not.
Adding to the fire here, I want to bring up the game's previous environment, specifically in Snowboard Kids 2, where it gives the player more of a unique feeling, being able to walk through a city and do various things revolving around the game's genre (Shot, Trick, Speed, etc); this element is absent in this game. Personally the game could have benefitted by giving more emphasis on that, even break open the opportunities for a more dynamic game style.
Further steaming up the windows, the game's storyline is lacking and unoriginal. Anyone can come up with a simple tournament storyline as well as love interests within, this is probably what irked me the most, as the previous game's playful and whimsical element has been completely garbled and washed away by this new "serious and hard" element that truly fails to achieve what it meant to.
Graphics:
Right when the game's first silhouette was revealed, people had mixed reactions to the game's new artstyle and environment. The kids lost their traditional "big nose" look, for a more "slick and attractive" look; while it may appeal to some, veterans of the game whom have grown to enjoy the previous art style are insulted by this "attempt to look trendy". Even worse is that the characters are heavily stereotyped!
In the actual graphics look, the game seems rather pixelated, not much is done in the way of showing character emotion, much of the simple tricks look plain and unoriginal, even the levels tend to bother your eyes at first glance.
Sound:
Simply put... *Groan*
Oh when I began to hear the repetitivity of this game's sounds and voices, I was quite tempted to pull a screwdriver from my desk and stab my ears with it. The voices in the game are rather bad, to the degree of annoying or as I have said before, heavily stereotyped. I got annoyed with the game quite quickly when I began to hear my character repeatedly saying the same phrase over and over again as they shoot people.
Overall:
I really wanted to like this game, I really did, but out of all of the Snowboard Kids Games, even all the racing games i've played, this game just made me want to cry. I wanted to see this game grow and be made into a unique and innovative game, but with the interface looking like something that was taken out of SSX, to the lackluster controls that encourage too heavily on the touch screen, this is quite frankly one of my least favorite racing games that I own. Had the game stayed with its original characters, perhaps added a new element or two along the lines of its former environment already laid out, and had focused a LOT less on the touch screen, the game could have gotten more of my attention, but right now, being honest, after hyping over this game, then seeing its result, I am beginning to feel as if I really should have bought the game in the first place.