I don't really understand why this game was reviewed so poorly.
Visuals are exceptional, and make the experience feel more like you're on a real mountain, rather than white coloured hills. Physics of riders are also very well done, such as needing to shift your weight on C-boxes, S-rails etc.
I would however suggest, if you like games where you can do quad backflips off 2-foot jumps, to not get this game. It's very real-to-life of the amplitude of the tricks that can be done off smaller jumps, rails, boxes, drops etc. However as the size of hucks you make increases (there are much larger snow drifts and drops near the top of mountains, which you need to get a heli-lift to get too) the tricks get much bigger and more stylized.
The variety is also very good, having all different types of riding, from parks (half-pipe, rails, boxes, jumps) to 30-foot slopestyle drops.
The charlift/ helicopter also contribute very nicely to the game, making it continuous, rather than doing single heats down a hill.
The multiplayer is excellent as well. It gives the feeling of really chilling on a hill just messing around, seshing on different things; and also more serious where you can invite people to a section of the hill for a competition for money.
The variety of different equipment available is also a very nice touch - Burton, Oakley etc. Everything the rider is wearing can be upgraded and changed.
There were a few glitches, nothing hugely noticeable (mostly just getting stuck for a few seconds or something similar). I don't see how the gamespot reviewer could find that many glitches to give this game a '5', but he was definitely overlooking pretty much every other aspect of the game. The 'not being able to fall' also seemed to be an issue for the review, but you can indeed fall, and they can be quite bad if you are doing something big; it is the recovery that is very fast, which is good because otherwise you would lose everyone you were riding with if you fell, and all your speed. "Uphill Grind"? - I don't think so.
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Shaun White Snowboarding is an excellent real-life snowboarding game, and is very, very under appreciated. I mean if you like fake-style snowboarding, then get 'Amped', but if you snowboard in real-life and like the feeling of just riding and doing whatever you want without being limited, and also working to get tricks dialed, then I would highly suggest this game.
I was definitely on the edge with getting this game but it is much better than its made out to be by the review; If you're on the edge like I was, I'd say go for it.