US Saturn Review

Title:
Steep Slope Sliders

Developer:

Sega Enterprises, Ltd.

Publisher:

Sega of America

Genre:

Action

Players:

1-2

Release Date:

12/18/97

screen shot

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Steep Slope Sliders

Review by: David Everly

In the past few years teenagers have gotten nicknames like ³Generation X-treme². We got these names after people started doing stunts like bungy jumping or other ³Extreme² things. Since then, these ³Extreme Stunts² have become ³Extreme Sports². One of the most popular of the new sports is Snowboarding. Just now, has snowboarding hit the video game industry. Games like Alpine Surfer and Top Skater had defined how games like snowboarding/skateboarding should be now they come home from the outside to the arcades to your home. That is where Steep Slope Sliders comes in.

Graphics: 7 out of 10

Graphics are what makes you believe you are the game, the person, and subject. When games like Quake or Tomb Raider are so visually stunning you are brought to see the game like your there and the rest comes with the other categories. Anyways, SSS will most-likely not visually impress you. Instead the graphics are there, realistic, and perfect for this type of game, well, itıs not Daytona USA but itıs not Sega Rally either. The in game graphics, as I was saying, are good enough to feel like your there. There is also an option to called ³Time Prog.(Progress)² where the game will actually make up a time, that means the Saturn time memory is put to waste, where it could be 5:00am on the USA track and the background will have the sun rise. Then if you race in Italy it will having a sunset and the Japan track will be night time. Now this feature is a great idea but this game has bad light-sourcing or the game just tints your screen like you can make your TV darker or brighter. This a real bad idea when the developers donıt include lights on the track or when you race on Extreme track 02 and you go in to the tunnel and all you see is this faded blue thingy that used to appear to be a waterfall and the rest of the track is black. Anyways, you may turn that off but itıs still a good idea not used to itıs benefit. The load up screens have a very ³Alternative² or ³Grunge² feel to them. Also there is a screen saver-like option in the Sound Test option. You can choose you music that you like and then view some incredibly fast or slow (see www.sega-saturn.com for codes on this) and confusing designs, something you should not view when someone takes acid. Anyway, the graphics are sharp, appealing, and perfect for SSS.

Sound: 9 out of 10

The music in this game is shockingly good. It ranges from hard-core techno like Prodigy music to a...umm...love song called ³Kiss². The music is clear and nice. The only reason why the sound category didnıt get a 10 is because the sound effects are scarce and are not that great when you do hear them under the thumping music. It really is great music!

Control: 9.5 out of 10

First of all, this game doesnıt have Analog control. I questioned it myself too for awhile. The game at first feels like crap, no analog and you canıt turn. You keep playing and then all the sudden it hits you, your turning! From there it becomes second nature when compared to the track itself. Then comes to the stunts which work perfectly when go off jumps, rocks, rails, etc. Everything again works perfectly again.

Gameplay: 10 out of 10

Once you get the controls you come the stunts. From the SSS manual it looks like this game has no depth whatsoever. You first start out doing flips, board grabs, jumps. Then you can start experimenting combining the jump with the grab while flipping. Then each character has itıs own special move per direction you press on the digital pad too. Perfect.

Replay Value: 10 out of 10

I have yet to put down the game until just now. There is so much depth so much infact I played Extreme 02 (track 2) atleast 50 times and Iım not tired of it at all. I havenıt even mention all the codes it has too and a hidden game!

Final: 9 out of 10

Get this game now, I love it especially since I think snowboarding is the coolest sport. Also there many tracks Extreme Tracks 0-4, Alpine, Snowboard Park, and Half Pipe courses, then there are hidden tracks, Asteroids, Artifitial Valley, Astro Pipe, and a South Pole track and there maybe more. Characters also range from original 4 to hidden Baldy-Dog-Penguin, Boy-Girl-Anime Girl, Alien-Alien SpaceCraft, Racer-Hero from hidden game-Space Jet, then there are hidden colors which also alter some costumes. I forgot to mention an awesome in SSS too, replay mode. It allows you to save you race then change camera angles to almost anywhere, add special effects when you do stunts like a blue tint or a strobe light effect and then add the camera angle to do a 360° camera rotation or just different camera angles, itıs a must see to believe! Finally, if you like racing games, snowboarding, or whatever get this game.



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