• ID = PS0132
• STYLE = Snowboarding
• DEV. = Idol Minds, L.L.C.
• PUB. = Sony CEA, Inc.
• R-DATE = Dec-01-2000
• ESRB = E / For Everyone
• PLAYERS = 1-2 players
• LIST PRICE = $19.99
  

COOL BOARDERS 2001 brings all of the snowboarding action you could ever want to the PlayStation 2. Choose from one of 10 real boarders: Todd Richards, Barrett Christy, Tara Dakides, Michele Taggart, Nate Cole, Scotty Wittlake, Jeremy Jones, Kevin Jones, Jussi Oksanen, and Travis Parker. If you don’t like any of these guys, create your own rider, and then hit the slopes in seven events.

CBX, downhill gates, and downhill checkpoint are speed events that require you to be the fastest one down the hill. Halfpipe, big air, board park, and trickmaster are finesse events with lots of big tricks. Have your best buds join in the action with the Two-Player mode. With COOL BOARDERS 2001, you will be pulling off 1080 Japan airs in no time.

Features:
• 10 real boarders.
• Create your own rider.
• Seven events.
• Two-Player mode.

Amazon.com Preview
The Cool Boarders series has carved a track through several renditions on the PlayStation. By the time Cool Boarders 4 hit the slopes, the series was way out of bounds and buried in an avalanche of criticism. But now that UEP Systems--the developer of the well-received original version is in control once again, PlayStation2 fans might think twice before instinctively picking up SSX to get their boarding fix.

Cool Boarders 2001 introduces previously unseen snowboarding features to the PS2 system. Seven play modes are available: Extreme, Trick, S.B.C., Extreme vs., Trick vs., Trick Master, and License. In Extreme mode, riders race and trick their way through a long course filled with shortcuts.

Success comes from blending speed and stunts. Trick mode lifts players to a boarder's paradise chock-full of rails, jumps, and other strategically placed objects. S.B.C., or Snow Boarding Combined, is a two-stage challenge in which riders complete a trick session and speed session to advance. This mode is enhanced in the License challenge--players progress through a series of S.B.C. stages, achieving a license to compete after beating fellow riders to the base of the slope.

Can Cool Boarders 2001 overtake SSX? That remains to be seen. But with unique gameplay features, both releases may reach a photo finish in their own unique style--and with equal appeal. --Eric Twelker