Remembering 2001: The greatest games turning 20 this year
Tricky SSX | November 5
Being a sweet, gentle boy who grew up in the Midwest, winter sports were a big thing for me. If you think this sounds like the intro to my 1080 snowboard article I was asked to do a while back, you’re absolutely right, and that’s where I’m coming from. Also, thank you for remembering it, it means so much! Don’t you remember? ! Anyway, me, winter sports, snowboarding, cool stuff that goes together. For this reason, I’m always drawn to games about winter sports, and WHOA BABY made SSX catch my eye…well, not SSX, but SSX Tricky. At the time, I couldn’t take my eyes off the wild and wonderful characters and was immediately drawn to the incredible over-the-top vision of snowboarding. I was done after seeing my first uber trick. “THEY REMOVE THEIR FEET FROM THE BOARD!! HOW DOES IT WORK?” is probably what I would have wondered if I weren’t already too busy picking my jaw up off the floor. SSX Tricky was perfect. I liked it.
It’s another one I played at my best friend’s house before I managed to get my own copy. We played together a lot, but in hindsight, I managed to solo his copy so much that I completely upgraded a character (my boy Mac, BAYBEE!) on my own. As if I would go to his house to continue playing without him. My God, I have a moment where I’m afraid I’ve been a bad friend here. Joel, if you’re out there, I’m sorry, and I miss you, but I really played a LOT of your copy of SSX Tricky. I am eternally grateful to you for showing me my favorite extreme sports game of all time, as well as giving me this copy of SoulCalibur 2 for my birthday. I miss you buddy. Never mind, it led me to get my own copy which I’m still literally sitting on my shelf behind me as I write this. I played SSX Tricky so much once I got this copy. Same for SSX3. Hell, I even played a bunch of reboots that weren’t the best, but you know how much your boy needs his fix of winter sports games.
Aside from heartfelt notes to my old friend Joel, SSX Tricky and SSX3 fit easily into that small group of games that I always crave for comfort. If I’m going through a rough patch or want that feeling of warmth, comfort, and security at home, you can probably see me tearing it up in the Tokyo Megaplex or Pipedream. I could spend hours shredding it in SSX Tricky. And you know what? I really miss it. Sure, I could whip out the GameCube and go, but it’s been far too long since we’ve seen anything in the SSX series. While it helps that the most recent SSX reboot and SSX3 are backwards compatible on 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 think the show still has the skills to pay the bills, be sure to grab your French toast and syrup and call your mom into the room and show her how awesome those games were! But above all, bring them back!? Please? — Ben Janca, video producer
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