Introduction
Though it hit store shelves at roughly the same time as the Playstation 2, I still, to this day, don't know what SSX means.   It's safe to assume that one of the "S's" stands for "Snowboarding" and the "X" might be for "eXtreme," but I just don't know.   These are the things that keep me up at night.   Now, the fact that I still lose sleep over such things means either A) that I grow more obsessive compulsive with each pass day, or
B) SSX achieves the kind of longevity most of those other early PS2 games just couldn't pull off.   With over-the-top tracks, a ton of tricks to learn, and a whole lot of playable characters, this game still has a lot going for it.


Gameplay
SSX is, of course, a sports game and as such, the replay value is almost infinite.   It's very easy to simply pick this game up and play for an hour and a half, then put it down again.   The two player mode is also a nice incentive to play once more, this time showing off all your skills to a friend.   Finally, there is a secret bonus track that can be unlocked depending on how well you do.   It's worth getting if, for no other reason, than to hear the beautiful music that plays as you soar through it.  


Story
For the time, SSX had stunning graphics.   Even looking at them now, roughly two years later, it's still rather stunning watching the intros for each new track.   Fortunately, none of this is spoiled by any kind of slowdown or poor frame-rate.   Things run about as smooth as you could ever hope for a game about snowboarding.  Characters look fairly good, if not a bit cartoonish.   They move fluidly and seem to really be in pain each time they miss a trick and land a little too hard on their heads.   This is the kind of thing that really helps to draw a player into the world the game is presenting.   As for sound, it seems, at first glance, to be sub-par.   The background music is dull and boring, and the voice acting can get slightly irritating after only a short while.   Fortunately, the music part can be corrected.   With each new trick pulled off, players gain boost points" that allow them to gain a small burst of speed.   The better the trick, the bigger the boost.   And the more boost points you have at any one time, the more complicated the soundtrack gets.   What started off as a boring, slow beat can quickly turn into real music that's fun and fast-paced to match the racing.   The voice-acting, though, remains a problem.   The characters don't sound horrible, it's simply that they don't have very many things they can say (or any real business to be saying them), so after maybe your third failed trick, they begin repeating themselves.  Annoying?   Quite a bit.  In the gameplay department, SSX seems to do the impossible:  make a snowboarding game fun and interesting.  Much like the old Motorcycle game, Road Rash, players can take a few swings at their opponents as they pass, hopefully knocking the pesky adversary off is or her snowboard.   Or sometimes into oncoming obstacles.   The aforementioned boost system also adds a bit of variety, helped in no small part by the extremely large amount of tricks to learn (each of which are entered into your "trick book" for future reference each time you pull a new one off).  It shouldn't take most gamers more than a few minutes to get used to the controls.   They're simple and practical.   The tracks do a good job of providing scenery other than snowy mountains and pine trees.   In fact, through the course of the game, players ill find themselves racing through an abandoned city, a huge mall, and even on an island, of all places.   As with most things of this nature, it's best not to question it or try to find logic.   Just go with it and have a good time.   Besides all the extra snowboards and costumes to unlock for each character, there is also a leveling system reminiscent of a role playing game.   For each track you complete, you gain points to boost the stats of your character.  


Graphics
Other than the minor complaint about the irritating voice acting, there aren't too many problems with SSX.  The developers knew what they wanted and set out to make the game as complete as possible.   It would have been nice if there were a few more tracks in the game and possibly more modes, but SSX is just as good the way it is.   For fans of snowboarding, racing, or just easy-to-get-into fun, SSX is almost guaranteed to have something that will satisfy.   Despite being one of the oldest games for the Playstation 2, it is still one of the best.