EXTREME sports have, over the past 10 years or so, been taken to new levels. They are no longer the poor relations of the more popular pastimes. Between television coverage and finance from sponsors, participants are as well paid as - if not better than - some of the better known sports stars.
Cool Boarder is all about snowboarding and the exhilarating spectacle it can sometimes provide. There are four tortuous courses to master, three types of snow (powder, normal and icy) and a selection of specialised boards to choose from.
If Cool Boarders does nothing else it conveys a feeling of what it must be like to take to the slopes on a jazzed up piece of wood. You genuinely feel in control. Faced with a decline of death defying proportions the graphics really bring home the sense of speed and agility needed to be successful.
But, as we all know, snowboarding is as much about stunts as it is about speed and a combination of these are the required elements for a potential champion. Unfortunately, though, Cool Boarders does have its flaws. One particularly annoying point is when (as will often be the case initially) you take a tumble and there just happen to be some giantsized boulders in front of you.
Instead of being laid out and left to gather your thoughts and regain control, you are bounced around like something out of a pinball machine. Another sore point is the constant ramblings from the resident US commentator.
But it still has a big entertainment factor going for it, and the excellent game engine would do great justice to a straightforward skiing sim.
Graphics: 90%
Sound: 84%
Gameplay: 70%