The first thing you will notice is the bizarre presentation. While not quite as extreme or insane as Katamari, SSX On Tour provides pencil drawings of guitar playing unicorns, flying eyeballs with wings, and other obscure creations. While the images are crude, there is a kind of pleasant charm to them as well. This holds true for your menu options and most of your navigational points. In game, this is the best-looking SSX title of the series. Whether you are playing on the Xbox or PSP, the game looks stunning with fantastic animations, tons of environments, alternate paths, and a sense of speed that will impress even the biggest fan of the series. The shading and shadows have taken a new perspective and look very impressive because of this. Toss in some day, dusk, and nighttime courses that all have a different appeal to them and you have one gorgeous snow boarder.

The new EA Trax is just what the doctor ordered for this style of game. What is even more impressive is the variety of tracks that will appeal to every genre. From MTV pop, hip-hop, punk, and even metal, you should have no issues keeping the volume pumping on this one. The sound effects and voices are decent and provide that subtle ambience needed, but honestly, the music will be the only thing you will notice that sticks in your mind after a few races.

Gameplay hasn’t really transcended into anything too new this go around. With the exception of skiing, those who have played the series before will feel right at home with the game’s handling and trick system. For the newbies out there, expect some very precise controls that will allow you to take big air, perform a handful of tricks, which results in monster scores. This game is all about showing off and if you have the skills, you will be the king of the mountain. The A.I. gets better every year, and while they hold their own on the mountain against you, expect the CPU to make mistakes as if they were a human player. SSX On Tour is so fast and frantic, that once you get the controls mastered, you will wow yourself and onlookers with the crazy scores you’ll rack up.

SSX on Tour provides a ton of new game play modes that will keep you shredding for quite some time. The new Tour Mode provides you with an alter ego, creating an icon and climbing the ranks of the circuit to become the ultimate black-diamond rockstar. You can also raise your status by dominating off track races that reinvent the way you face off on the slopes. You have 12 new tracks to explore that not only are night and day, but may vary from crowd popular to untouched snow, each affecting the way you play and what tricks you can pull off. Unfortunately online play is absent from this title, so pitting your skills against a friend is something that can only be done in the comfort of your own home. This also goes for the PSP version, which supports WiFi (up to 4 players), but no infrastructure to connect online. Even with the limited multiplayer, the Tour mode will provide you with over 30 hours of slope conquering action.

In the end, SSX On Tour offers enough newness for a purchase, but fans that have been there from the beginning might begin to wonder when the series will take that next step in evolution.