Game Over Online ~ Front Page Sports: Skiing

GameOver Game Reviews - Front Page Sports: Skiing (c) Sierra On-Line, Reviewed by - Ned / Imagine / Concept

Game & Publisher Front Page Sports: Skiing (c) Sierra On-Line
System Requirements
Overall Rating 55%
Date Published Thursday, January 1st, 1998 at 12:56 PM


Divider Left By: Ned Divider Right

Hey look, it's a skiing game! Choose from 4 modes of play - downhill, super - G, slalom and super slalom. Regardless of the name your basic goal is to ski between the gates and do it as fast as possible.

Are my goggles fogged up? Damn is it ever hard to see. Whether running normal or 3Dfx mode, the snow is almost pure white with very little shading or texturing. "Snowblind" comes to mind. Seeing the gates is a problem too as even with the draw distance on far they don't appear clearly enough, soon enough. Many times it's too late to make a proper turn by the time you can recognize where the gates are laid out. For a supposedly 3Dfx supported game the graphics are pretty stale. The skier itself is a pretty roughly modelled figure with only the very basic gestures and body motions associated with skiing. The sense of speed is quite good though and you really feel it on the steeper mountains (super-G I think). 3Dfx mode basically just provides a speed-up in framerate with virtually no enhancement to graphics quality. The background is of the surrounding mountains but I found the game to look more realistic with the backdrop turned off (hit the F keys to toggle graphics options). The graphics aren't terrible but they just aren't clear enough to make the game playable.

The sound effects are pretty bland all around. I would imagine it's QUITE windy going downhill at 40 MPH but instead you just hear this slightly whispy, wind noise occasionally. Your skier only has a few sounds like ugh and uh. The sound the skies make carving the snow isn't sharp or gritty enough to seem realistic either. No music but then again it would sound stupid in a game like this.

Control is a problem too. You can either tuck or stand up. In "real" skiing the athletes usually use a slightly upright stance through most of the turns and only tuck on straightaways. In FPS skiing you have to stay tucked all the time or else you are standing straight as a board and about as fast. They should have made it - FORWARD for tuck, MIDDLE for half-tuck and DOWN for standing upright. Carving turns isn't too slick either using keyboard or gamepad as you need variable control like a joystick provides. A joystick just feels too clumsy though for a game like this so you basically have no good choice here. There are also "tricks" which you can perform but I'm not going to even discuss this. When's the last time you saw Steve Podborsky do a 360' while doing a super-G course?

Another game that is sabotaged by graphics and control. First of all you can't tell what's what and second of all it's hard to control when you do figure that out. A year ago these graphics would have been impressive but for this moment in technology it looks flat. I also found that every mountain location whether it was Germany or B.C looked and felt pretty much the same. If you are absolutely DYING for a skiing game then you will enjoy this somewhat but for the majority of us, this game is too flawed to be fun. This game is more fun than skiing into a tree

Good stuff: sense of speed graphics are ok

Bad stuff: graphics are ok sound is dull control is sloppy mountains are all the same

 

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Rating
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Divider Left By: Imagine Divider Right

It's new year's do you know what alcohol your kids drank? Probably not heheh. Class were apparently up with the TRG crew tonight. Here comes a winter frolic in the mountains with Picaboo Street. What is it that all Front Page Sports games have? A celebrity of some sort. What is it this game doesn't have. Lets see for startes umm let me think fun? Yea I believe that is the answer.

The gameplay was sluggish even with a joystick. What exactly can you do skiing down a mountain? Well, I would have to say not much. The goal was basically to stay between the makers. One step outside or missing a single one and you were disqualified. Meaning you have to start all the way back at the top and yep you guessed it ski again. This time dont miss a marker. That is the gist of this game. Up and down about five differnt mountains. Sadly the mountains didn't look that much differnt. There was a small plus and I will mention that here. If you get up enough speed and hit a minor jump, or hill drop-off you can attempt to do some trick. I attempted a 360 only to get a 180. Take it from me crash Picaboo couple times it's the most fun you will have.

I dare not even mention the graphics in the game. Choppy, pixelated and sad to look at. I can pretty much sum that up in one sentence, ok too.

Sierra made a mistake with this game. Many elements are missing from this title to make it even close to a likeable game. Like the guys in TRG were saying tonight what's next "Front Page Backgammon" "Front Page Origami?" A little more work, correction a lot more work on this game and then it would have been worth it. Pass it up. If you must have it get it if not then this is your warning.

Tested On: P2 233 32 mb sdram

Notes: A Bomb From Sierra

 

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Rating
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Divider Left By: Concept Divider Right

Where should I start with this game? Gameplay not that great. Graphics, not that great. Sound, not that great. Are you noticing a pattern? If not you are either A) the same IQ as one Phire, B) enrolled in Pre-School or C) you are made out of wood.(no offense Stikman) This game just dosen't do it for me, I'm sorry to say the game is.. you guessed it not that great.

This game is everything you would expect from a skiing simulation, but not a game. The game dosen't really provide any enjoyment. The game handles averagely and forget about using a joystick. I found myself cruising down a mountain, using the game's only character another downfall, Picaboo Street and all of a sudden my speed dropped down to 0. Now it could be that I just suck at skiing games or it could be that the game isn't quite what it should be. The game lacks originality and dosen't really keep your interest, you can't jump, unless going over a hillish sort of thing and there isn't a free- style mode or something where you can entertain yourself by crashing into a wall, one of my fav. parts of the game.

The sound... well it was ok I guess. It sounded more like if you stuck your head out of the car window more than speeding down a slope at 45 mph. (No! I haven't done it before!) Sometimes I couldn't even get any sound.. possibly my lame sound card, but who knows. There also was no music which could improved the game a bit, but I think that this game is beyond saving.

The graphics were... shabby too say the least. The game is 3D Accelerated which might have improved it but I do no have 3DFX so.. too bad!(unless someone feels the need to donate a Pure 3D to me!) The GFX were flat and the colors were bland and they sort of mixed together helping to disable my sense of depth. I had everything on High Detail and even then the game lacked a good appearence.

Overall I would say download this game if you are: A) extremely bored, B) obsessed with Picabo Street or C) tired of playing Ski Free. It is an okay game for the size, around 60 megs installed. And a surprising 15 disks! Well thats it for this edition of Concept Making Fun of Phire, stay tuned til next week when we put nudie pics of Phire on the Internet!!

Good: -Small Size -Realistic Speed

Bad: -Graphics -No Music! -Only playable character is Picabo Street.

 

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Rating
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