With the third game, SSX3, would-be snowboarders now have one giant mountain to play on rather than individual courses. You might think that wouldn’t lend to much variety, but that’s certainly not the case. The diverse landscape has everything from backcountry tracks to Metro City, an evolved Mercury City Meltdown-esque track. And not only are there a surprising variety of tracks, but the gameplay has also been expanded.

There are three peaks on the SSX3 mountain, and within each peak are four types of events. The first event, Race, is pretty self-explanatory. First to the bottom wins. The second event, Slope-Style, is a holdover from the first two SSX games and sends players down a track to rack up as many points as possible by doing tricks.

The final two gameplay modes are new to the series. The Superpipe is, just that, a superpipe. Like the Slope-Style, the object is to rack up as many points as possible by doing tricks on the Superpipe. This is where Uber tricks come in handy. Once you've done enough tricks to fill your boost, you have the chance to pull off Uber tricks. After nailing four Uber tricks, you achieve Uber status. Five more Uber tricks, and you’ll achieve "Super Uber" status, which gives you unlimited boost for a long period of time. Also, while doing the Superpipe, you should be aware of combos, which give you even more points. In theory, you can insert manuals between tricks to pull off an insane combo down the entire run. Could I pull this off? No. But hey, it’s possible.

The last event is the Big Air. These are very short events where the player gets a tiny area to pull off a few boost-powering tricks, then a final "big air" jump for the most awesome trick you can manage. Each peak on the SSX3 mountain has at least one of each event on it, plus a backcountry track.

Once you've met specific minimum challenges for each peak, you can race the Peak Master from the top of the mountain to the bottom. The first all-peak challenge usually takes more than 10 minutes, while the final peak challenge can last around 30. That should give you an idea of just how massive this crag is.

On top of the gameplay and new events, this installment of SSX also revamped the attributes system. Instead of getting a set number of attribute points to tweak your character, like in Tricky, you now get cold, hard cash for your winnings. Also around the mountain are spinning snowflakes that put even more in your pocket, and you also get a small amount of cash for the tricks you do. So what do you do with all that money? Head to the lodge and spend it, of course.

First, you use the cash to buy attributes such as speed, tricks, acceleration, spin and more. Then, presuming you have money left over, you can buy new pieces to your outfit, new boards, accessories such as sunglasses and funky hats, promotional artwork, character artwork and a lot of other items that adds nothing to the gameplay but make you look cool. You can also unlock multiple new characters, along with all of the old SSX veterans that were left out of the initial cast.

Another new feature to the SSX circuit is the inclusion of radio stations and an intense soundtrack. Most of the artists on the soundtrack are recognizable with a remix twist, and while I wouldn’t buy the soundtrack on its own, the music definitely fits the game. Spinning these songs are radio DJs that give up-to-the-minute reports about how the weather is doing, competitors’ progress, your own run, a fun story about something in the mountain's past and even the hooligans destroying their competition. It’s a nice touch for a snowboarding title, and it shows EA went the extra mile on this version of SSX.

Well, almost. If I can nitpick here, there are moments of awkward music cuts that emphasize a fall or big air. In theory, this makes the game more spontaneous, but it feels more like a mistake than an emotional tug mechanism. Like I said, it’s a nitpick, but it deserves mentioning. Of course, you can alsway do what I did, and shut off the music entirely at times to soak in the outstanding environmental sounds. You really feel like you’re on the mountain.

In spite of moments of slowdown, especially in Metro City, the graphics in SSX3 are extremely improved since Tricky. Trees sway in the wind, snow blows around you, birds fly by when you get big air off a cliff, avalanches race you down a slope, ice crevices break away underneath you, planes crash in front of you … you get the picture. Heck, a windy blizzard in the backcountry of peak two will even haze your vision. Couple all these great environmental effects with solid character models and animations, and you’ve got the best SSX graphics yet.

With its arcade gameplay, SSX3 is pretty strong in its replay factor, because there’s always "one more trick" to pull off. The well-hidden snowflakes and trick compensation also boost the game’s replay factor, since you’ll want to get as much cash as possible to outfit your character or amp his/her attributes. For PS2 owners, SSX3 also includes online multiplayer, which is a big replay boon, but Xbox owners are relegated to offline play. Maybe next time….

This game will please everyone accustomed to the SSX arcade-style snowboarding. It’s easy to learn and fun to play, and you don’t have to be a pro to pull off some insane moves. To be perfectly honest, though, I’d recommend SSX3 to everyone, snowboarding fan or not. The crazy air and outstanding tricks you can pull off are great stress releases whether playing solo or with a few friends. As a result, it’s a good addition to any holiday list, and it doubles as a great way to unwind after a few hours of stressful holiday shopping.