Snowboard kids 2's charm and fun gameplay makes it the best party racer since Mario Kart
Snowboard Kids 2 doesnt really have a concrete plot, but rather a series of 12 mini stories revolving around the Snowboard Kids. These plots are never anything special, some can kind of be stupid seeing as each story has a formula. The kids are hanging out, a problem emerges, and they solve it through Snowboarding. Regardless of the games mediocre plot, each story is especially charming and entertaining. One thing that makes these stories unique however i that they are told without words or real dialogue, and they are in-game cutscenes. These make each little plot especially charming and a pleasure to watch.
Snowboard Kids 2 plays like Mario Kart and any other Kart racer but with a few twists. As you may of guessed, these twists revolve around the Snowboarding gameplay. You maneuver your way through a set course, much like you would in any other racing game. However, each course is set up so it is always going downhill, because it's hard to cross country snowboard. The courses are fairly linear, there might be one or two shortcuts here and there but a lot of them are difficult to pull of without losing speed. Much like any other kart racer, the game also gives you a number of weapons at your disposal to hinder enemies. You receive them by running into blue and red boxes, red boxes being projectiles and blue boxes contain any weapon that isnt a projectile and items that assist you. One twist put on the item receiving system is the requirement of money. in order to receive an item from the item box you need to collect coins on the course or do tricks (which means flips seeing as they are the only tricks in the game) to earn money. This system works well, and is hardly noticeable until later levels where coins arent as plentiful and flipping after every jump becomes necessity. After you finish a lap, you rush over to the lift, which is a cool and interesting way to get back up the hill and start a new lap. However many problems arise from this system. Only one person can go up at a time, so if u make it at the lift at the same time as someone else, you will bump into an invisible wall and get sent flying back, causing other racers to pass you up. While the distance you lose from this really isnt that much, it is still aggravating and can make or break a game at times.
The game also features boss stages, usually following a race. These involve you racing and collecting items to not only defeat the boss but to win the race. It can get hectic and extremely difficult but it is actually pretty fun. however it is no substitute for a normal race, I would of much rather seen a whole new stage than just a recycled stage with a boss.
Unfortunately, the game has more gameplay flaws, there isnt a whole lot of diversity in useful items, while they are creative, projectiles pretty much do the same thing and there are really only a couple other items outside of that, not many of which are useful. For example, the Snowboard kids equivalent of Mario kart's banana is a rock, but it is too small and noticeable to be useful. Another flaw is the lack of tricks. Considering there is a very small trick mode with only one course, it doesnt really make sense for there to be only one kind of trick. Maneuvering can also be pretty difficult, depending on what board you are using, and there isnt a whole lot of boards in the game. It would have been nice to see some more customization too, in terms of appearance and boards. However, despite all of this, snowboarding and racing is extremely fun because of its originality and fairly solid gameplay.
Snowboard Kids 2 looks great in some aspects, but in others, its just ugly. Characters are rendered in great 3d, with some nice detail that looks especially good for the N64. However, stages, while original and extremely fun to play on, can look very ugly. When the ground isnt snow, the textures just look awful, even for an N64 game. For example, grass is just flat and green. Audiences also look terrible. While they are good looking sprites that dont clash with the game, they are motionless. Other environment quirks suffer from the same problems, but in most cases, certain levels are passable. Another issue that arises from stages is the quantity of them, there simply arent enough stages. There are 12 levels in the game but only 7 are courses, the others are boss stages. While these lone 7 levels are fun and original, diversity is somewhat lacking seeing as there are 3 snow based levels, 2 forest based levels and 2 house based levels. One thing that looks great, however is the art. Each character is drawn is a very distinct and quirky "chibi" style that draws you in and has you loving each and every character.
Music in Snowboard kids 2 is phenomenal. it is extremely catchy and enjoyable bit music. All music is fairly upbeat and a joy to listen to, so much so that you will get certain stage's themes stuck in your head for days. The sound effects are what you would expect, nothing out of the ordinary, especially spectacular or awful. While there isnt any dialogue in the game, characters make noises when harmed in the game, much like link does in Zelda. Some of these can get annoying but they are tolerable and shouldnt get on anyone's nerves that much.
Snowboard Kids 2 is a fairly short game, with only 12 levels and 7 stages you can complete the game pretty fast. However, there are some unlockables. After you beat the game you unlock a significantly more difficult Expert mode, which requires mastery of some very difficult to handle boards. You can also unlock three characters a several boards. the game also has a fairly fun multiplayer mode which allows you and three friends to race, however there is some slowdown in the multiplayer. Some more unlockables would of been nice, and the lack of stages is disappointing.
Snowboard Kids 2 is a great party racing game. It has an interesting twist to the formula and remains to be a solid and fun racing game even today. While the lack of options, stages, longevity, and some gameplay flaws hold Snowboard Kids 2 back from being the best party racer ever, the game is still one of the best party racers out there and one of the most overlooked games on the N64 and in general.