With the Winter Olympics around the corner, it is no coincidence that the console market has been flooded with snowboard games this holiday season. Each title attempts to throw a different take on the popular sport. From the highly wild ubertricks in SSX Tricky to a sad attempt at RPG boarding in Dark Summit, there seems to be a little of something for everyone. This brings us to Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder. Who will it attract? We are not entirely sure as what you essentially have here is a hybrid mix of the Tony Hawk engine with a little SSX thrown in. This sounds great. Unfortunately, it does not mix well and the end result is a broken game.

The visual experience in SPPS is not quite on par when compared to Activision's marquee Tony Hawk 3. This by no means things are bad but rather unpolished in many areas. The courses are initially nice to look at and are alive with all sorts of neat details. The problem is when you start getting into them, they become cumbersome to navigate. The camera angles leave a lot to be desired and this appears to be an issue the developer UEP Systems has been trying to sort out for some years now. On the other hand, the character models are nicely done. The numerous tricks are animated quite well but lack the fluidity found in SSX Tricky. UEP Systems has also utilized some of the PS2's advanced visual features such as lens flares and subtle particle effects. The game does zip along and slow down or pop-up is not an issue when it comes down to gameplay. The soundtrack is admirable and includes an eclectic mix of punk to heavy metal to alternative rock. Included are the likes of Spineshank, Static X, Alien Ant Farm and Powerman 5000. Sound and environmental effects are standard fare for the genre.

Where the THPS engine allowed players to roam relatively free and perform endless trick streams, Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder takes on a more real-world approach. As a result, level goals become cumbersome and too frequently down right hard and borderline ridiculous. For example, if you miss a certain objective you must find a ski lift or abandoned snowmobile to take you back up the run. What should be more trick based and fun, turns into a lot of unnecessary exploration. Even though the environments at times look half decent, the gameplay renders them useless as sense of speed and just pure fun is absent. Get past this unbalance and you have a half decent effort. Players are able to ride as Palmer himself or one of nine other top boarders. As already mentioned the control mechanism is similar to the Tony Hawk series except there is a heavy emphasis of tricking off virtually anything in the environment. The ability to revert is a nice addition and allows for some lengthy combo strings. The tricks themselves usually stem from variations of flips, grabs, slides and hand plants.

SPPS offers more modes to two-players than one. If you playing alone, you are basically stuck with a career mode or free ride mode. In the career mode you must put your skills to the test over 8 courses in order to gain experience, improve ability and unlock items such as boards and courses. Two-player modes on the other hand offer a little more depth. Choices include: Freestyle, Palmer X, Push and Horse. Fans of THPS know that Push is joyfully engaging against friends. As one player lands hotter tricks more and more of the opponent's screen decreases until one player pushes the other off the screen completely. The developers also added in a competent create-a-boarder option. Players can build a custom character and take him or her through the career mode. Stat points are awarded and must be distributed among the skill headings of ollie, spin, speed, landing and balance.

In the end, SPPS just feels too scattered and rushed. The reasonably difficult learning curve will more than likely turn many gamers off. Add to this the fact that there are better snowboarding games on the market and SPPS becomes a good rental at best. The charm and over the top nature of SSX Tricky is hard to shake this season.