SSX Tricky | November 5
Being a sweet, sweet boy who grew up in the Midwest, winter sports were a big thing for me. If you think this sounds just like the intro to my 1080 snowboarding write up that I got asked to do a while ago, you are exactly right, and that’s where I am going with this. Also, thank you for remembering, that means so much! Don’t remember? ! Anyway, me, winter sports, snowboarding, cool things that go together. Because of this, I am always drawn to games about winter sports and WHOA BABY did SSX catch my eye… well not SSX, but SSX Tricky. At the time, I couldn’t look away from the wild, wonderful characters and was immediately drawn in by the amazing over-the-top take on snowboarding. I was done after seeing my first uber trick. “THEY TAKE THEIR FEET OFF THE BOARD!! HOW DOES THAT WORK!?” is probably what I would have been asking myself if I wasn’t already too busy picking my jaw up off the floor. SSX Tricky was perfect. I loved it.
This is another one I played at my best friend’s house before I managed to get my own copy of it. We played a lot together, but looking back, I managed to play so much solo on his copy that I fully leveled up a character (my boy Mac, BAYBEE!) by myself. Like I would go over to his house to continue playing without him. Gosh, I’m having a moment where I am worried that I may have been a bad friend here. Joel, if you are out there, I am sorry, and I miss you, but I really did play a LOT of your copy of SSX Tricky. I am eternally grateful for you showing me my favorite extreme sports game of all time, also for giving me that copy of SoulCalibur 2 for my birthday. Miss you buddy. It’s OK though, it led me to get my own copy that I still have literally sitting on my shelf behind me as I write this. I played so much of SSX Tricky once I had that copy. Same for SSX3. Hell, I even played a bunch of the reboot that wasn’t the best, but you know how your boy needs his winter sports games fix.
Heartfelt notes to my old friend Joel aside, SSX Tricky and SSX3 fit easily into this small grouping of games that I always look to for comfort. If I am having a rough time or want to get that warm, cozy, safe at home feeling, you can probably catch me tearing it up in the Tokyo Megaplex or Pipedream. I could spend hours just zoning out shredding it up in SSX Tricky. And you know what? I really miss it. Sure, I could pull out the GameCube and go, but it has been far too long since we have seen anything in the SSX series. While it helps that both the most recent SSX reboot and SSX3 are backwards compatible on the Xbox Series X, I know it’s not just me who would love to see an SSX Tricky remaster or even a new entry! If you feel the series still has the skills to pay the bills be sure to grab your French toast and syrup and call your mama in the room and show her how great these games were! But mostly just bring them back!? Please? — Ben Janca, Video Producer
