If the game industry gives me just one last remaster before its remastering machines run dry, please let it be SSX Tricky. From today’s point of view, when many big publishers are still betting on realistic stylings and serious performances, it’s probably not as simple to make a case for SSX Tricky as it was to make one for a series like Tony Hawk’s. Both may have a killer soundtrack and are certainly beloved sports games for players of my generation, but SSX Tricky could never act as a vehicle for its sport or the sporting personalities behind it. It fundamentally lacks the real-life marketing and real-life history that is such a big part in FIFA, F1 and the other sports games with annual releases and big licensing deals.
However, its ultra-arcade stylings, completely untethered from how real snowboarding events actually work (I wouldn’t know, but I doubt its ice tunnels and sky-high rails are a thing), turned out to be its big selling point. Everything about SSX Tricky is loud and disobedient, but unlike Jet Set Radio, it still comes packaged as a sporting competition, just one where knocking opponents off the track is openly encouraged and rewarded.
I have only played a few games in my life with the sort of obsession I had with SSX Tricky. I wanted to perfect every course, and unlock every outfit for every character, and I think I did because SSX Tricky is the kind of game that makes you feel cool in a number of ways which are all equally important. There’s the low skill ceiling – you get to feel cool with very little, and you can invest in your skill and become really good at the game, a feeling I didn’t really get to experience in other sports games until then. Landing a cool trick in SSX Tricky is easy, in part because of the good controls, but also because even the simplest trick looks cool. Your character and the announcer react, the number of points, no matter how high, looks nice and big, and then there’s of course the shout of “Tricky!” that celebrates your successful landing. It’s even better when you get a lot of airtime, which the game sets up on each track with giant, unmissable ramps at least once. For a moment, you hear nothing but the howling of the wind, and it’s just you and the sky.
