LADYDRAGON.COM - Cool Boarders 3

Winter is almost upon us and to some of this this means getting out and cutting some trails in fresh snow. To others (like me) this means playing some new winter sports video games. The first and probably most looked forward too is cool boarders 3 for the Sony PlayStation. If you played the original Cool Boarders or it's sequel Cool Boarders 2, you pretty much know what to expect. High speed snow trashing snowboarding action. Everything from big air to tricky courses to the half pipe. In the new version a lot has been added. You now have 34 new tracks so you now almost double those offered in the last game. Fighting has also been added this time around so you can beat the crap out of your fellow racers. A nice touch that brings out the true sprit of sportsmanship. The first thing you notice when you fire up the Cool Boarders is that is not really the same game. A lot has changed and been revamped. Not always for the better. The control system has been totally redesigned this time around and has a new powermeter. The powermeter works almost the way a golf game does. At the base of a jump you hold it down and then when it reaches the top you get it go. Sounds nice but after a few try's you will see that while more lifelike, it just don't work very well.Tricks are back and you can pull them off with a little less skill. The button combos are still around but they have changed since the last game. The UB command screen	You hit my battleship! Another thing that has changed from the last CoolBoarders is the graphics. The last game had some large and complex tacks that all had their own look and feel. Now the tracks all have a generic look that is well, boring. The not so nice pop-up seen in the last game has gone and been replaced with a smoother look to the snow but at a price. The tracks are very plain and uninteresting. The annoying voice from the last game has been removed (Wee!!) and been replaced with, well nothing. The crowd cheers that added some life to the last game have also been axed. Now the only sounds you hear are some truly awful "Ooofs" Ugh" and other strange noises. Even the female riders make a very male like UGH sound. In fact, you would swear that they are all a bunch of cave men with boards strapped to their feet. Your board also makes some truly un-snow like noises consisting of crunches and scrapes. Their are other problems with this title too. The different snowboarders don't seem to have any different riding skills anymore. None at least I could find. The music is downright annoying as it does not offer any choice in the music track that plays. Cool Boarders 3 feels more like a a uncompleted game. The gameplay is bland, the graphics while better are uninspired and the sound is just awful. Do yourself a favor and go buy Cool Boarders 2, it was and still is a much better game than this. For true fans only.	Companies Developer 989 Studios www.989studios.com Publisher 989 Studios www.989studios.com Category Snowboarding Notes Originality: 60% Gameplay: 71% Interest: 70% Graphic: 80% Control: 62% Sound: 79% TOTAL: 70% Requirements Console PlayStation Analog Controller Compatible Vibration Function Compatible Memory Card 1 Block Multi-tap Not Compatible Multiplayer 1-2 Players Rated by ESRB "E" Everyone Matthew Dussault