The Snowboard Kids series was mildly popular when it came out on the N64 many years back, and it’s sequel was equally good. Now after many years of no Snowboard Kids(except for a remake of the second one on the Playstation, which few people know of), Atlus finally decides to release a new version of the series on the Nintendo DS, and it doesn’t disappoint.

Well that’s maybe the only point Snowboard Kids fans might not like. The style of the characters was changed from chibi big-nosed kids to more realistic teenager-looking characters. If you really like the old style chances are you might not like this one. I like it though, although I loved the old style a lot too. My only big gripe with the graphics is the face of the characters on the character models, most of them look horrible.
As for the levels, the designs are pretty normal. While the original Snowboard Kids games seemed to have more themed race tracks and lots of variety, this one features only normal mountains with snow, with some occasionnal fun props.

This is where the game shines. The gameplay is fantastic. Think SSX with bombs, or Mario Kart with Snowboards. If you played the original Snowboard Kids games, this one will seem pretty familiar to you. The base gameplay was mostly untouched. Read further for details for each gameplay element.

First off the controls. They are quite simple to understand, and the learning curve is no more than 1 hour.
A : Nothing when riding, but you do a grab while you are in the air.
B : Press to crouch, release to jump. Also does a Grab in the air.
Y : Lets you make sharper turns, as well as a grab in the air.
X : Use an Item you got in an item box. Also does a grab while in the air.
D-pad : Turn. Also you can spin in the air and do front-flips and back-flips.
L : Use an item you got in an item box.
R : Use your shot.
Touch Screen : Tap it when you are are prompted to tap it, which is when you are somehow going too slow, or at the beginning of the race for a boost start. Also used to do special tricks.
Microphone : Blow in it to remove fog in your goggles or to wake up your character.

Tricks

There are 3 different things you can do when tricking : Spinning, grabbing and flipping. You can also do each of those in combination. You have many occasions to do tricks during races. You can jump and do some tricks while just going down the slope normally, and sometimes there are big jumps, which enable you to do some bigger, more impressive tricks. Tricking raises your SBK meter. As your SBK meter gets higher, your shot powers-up, and when it’s maxed out you get to do a nicely animated super special trick, which is done by using the touch sceren in a few ways : Either tapping different parts of the screen, tapping the screen a few times, or pressing different parts of the screen a few times. You also get a special move when your meter is almost maxed out, which gives more points. Also, when you do the super special trick and land it, you get a small speed boost and the item you are currently holding gets powered-up.