ReviewTo create MTV Sports: Snowboarding Radical Entertainment used an improved version of its X Games Pro Boarder engine which in case you missed it was a great snowboarding game published by Electronic Arts last year. If you were a fan of X Games Pro Boarder then youll definitely like MTV Sports: Snowboarding since its really the unofficial sequel.What made X Games Pro Boarder such a great game is also what makes this game great - the easy and intuitive control along with incredibly spacious courses that really let you explore the mountain. The typical boundaries that restrict you to a narrow run found in other snowboarding games are all but absent on most courses. And even when you do come across them you can usually simply jump over them. The game has six boarders to choose from each with his own style strengths and weaknesses. The boarders arent terribly different from one another but if you have one area that you prefer (speed maneuverability and so on) the differences do help. You can also choose from a variety of boards from real manufactures like K2 Libtech and FoCane Beverage.The game features five game modes - qualifying challenge create-a-park head-to-head and training - to get you used to the controls. The qualifying mode is where you start out and where you must rack up enough points on three levels to enter the challenge mode. Once you have enough points you can compete against other boarders and enter the challenge mode where you race for time against other boarders as well as perform for points in trick events. Whoever has the best combined times and/or higher trick points moves on. The create-a-park feature lets you create your own course. This feature offers limited options but its still kind of cool to set up a monster-jump course to try out. The head-to-head mode pits you against a human opponent in a point contest or a timed race.At the games outset there are four regions to choose from: the US Japan Norway and New Zealand. Each region is broken up into various events: mountain X big air contest half-pipe and slopestyle. Completing the challenge mode will open up more hidden levels and events.The responsiveness and overall control setup of the game are elegantly simple and easy for beginners to get used to. Once you get used to the basic controls you can attempt more-advanced trick combinations and maneuvers just as you would in real-life snowboarding. There are tons of different combinations of tricks grabs and aerial maneuvers that youll learn to perform with time and practice.Visually MTV Sports: Snowboarding is pretty good. Each boarder has a distinct look. The boarders move and sway as they cut down the mountain and perform all their tricks realistically. Ad banners camera towers trees advisory signs patches of earth as well as jumps half-pipe areas and rails can be seen and used on the courses. The backgrounds and mountains far off in the distance look extremely good as well.The soundtrack for MTV Sports: Snowboarding features real music like Blink 182s Dont Leave Me Alone and Wendy Clear Face to Faces Disconnected Fear Factorys remake of Cars and Ministrys Jesus Built My Hotrod to name a few. Needless to say this collection of music makes for one of the best soundtracks for a PlayStation game ever. The sound effects for falling riding over rocks and cutting hard on the snow are also pretty good.In the end the free-roaming unrestricted feeling you get when you play MTV Sports: Snowboarding combined with the great control setup make it so much fun - and ultimately more of a snowboarding game than any other title out there. If youre a fan of snowboarding games and love to catch big air and see just how many times you can spin and flip while executing a bunch of different grabs before the ground comes rushing up this is the game for you. --Ryan Mac Donald--Protected Design 1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are Brand Registereds of GameSpot Inc. -- GameSpot Review