Snowstorm Riders

Snowstorm Riders is a 3D snowboarding/racing game developed by ACS Production Studio Tokyo and published by ACS. Released in 1998 for Arcades (ACS TGX Modeller System) as an arcade-only title. It is the final game released for the TGX Modeller System.

In 2011, an enhanced port of Snowstorm Riders was released for iOS and Android devices.

Gameplay
The gameplay of Snowstorm Riders bears similarities to other arcade snowboarding games released during that time, such as Namco's Alpine Surfer and Tecmo/UEP Systems' Cool Boarders: Arcade Jam.

Players have to control a 3D avater and traverse through a downhill mountain slope, while speeding through other players and pulling off tricks in various designated cliffs (indicated by a flashing "Bust a Trick!" message on the screen). The game features a plethora of grab tricks to perform, including nose grabs, tail grabs and method grabs. There are also rails to jump and grind on for extra trick points.

Each successfuly landed trick would fill up the Boost meter, which would give the player a rapid speed boost for a short amount of time. Boost mode can be activated by stepping on the front side of the foot controlled twice in rapid succession.

Before starting the game, players have the option to select between five playable snowboarders, each with their own stats and advantages. The three stats are as follows:


 * Speed: Determines how fast the character can move around the course.
 * Air: Determines how high the character can launch themselves in the air.
 * Trick: Determines how much Boost the character can get from doing tricks.

After each race, players are ranked through various factors: their final place in the race, their lap time, and their trick points. Getting a high ranking in the race is vital for moving on to the next course (in Match Race mode), while a quick lap time and high trick points are essential when beating time records or high scores, respectively.

The game utilizes a snowboard-shaped mounted controller which the player must step on to control their character. The controllers utilizes weight detection for its gameplay mechanics; jumping off the board would trigger a jump, while stepping on the front or back side of the foot controller allows the character to speed up or slow down, respectively.

Game Modes
The game features two game modes, Free Ride and Match Race. Before starting a game, the plalyer has to choose between the two modes.

In Free Ride mode, the player can freely select between all six courses in-game, with a seventh one unlockable through a secret code. Free Ride mode features no A.I. racers in the course, allowing players to play through the course the way they want to. However, once the run has ended, the game is over.

In Match Race mode, the player can select between the Novice, Intermediate or Expert routes, after which they must race through all courses against five other A.I.-controlled racers, endurance style. In order to qualify for the next course, the player must get a high ranking in the race itself. However, once the player fails to qualify for the next race, the game is over.

The game features seperate time records and high score ranking tables for both Free Ride and Match Race modes.

Characters
The game features five characters to choose from, each with their own unique stats, appearances and personalities:


 * Trick

Birthplace: 🇺🇸 USA

Gender: Male

Age: 19

To Trick, snowboarding is not just a hobby, it's his passion, and a way of life. His approach is to go for broke, preferring to pull off sick tricks instead of speeding towards his opponents.


 * Annie

Birthplace: 🇫🇷 France

Gender: Female

Age: 21

Stylish, sexy and skilled, those are the three words that best describe the gorgeous French bombshell Annie. Her forte is with her huge air jumps, even if her trick abilities aren't as great.


 * Kidd

Birthplace: 🇨🇦 Canada

Gender: Male

Age: 10

At the tender age of 10, Kidd has already proved that he has what it takes to be a skilled boarder. His small frame gives him an advantage at speed, at the cost of hampering his jumping abilities.


 * J

Birthplace: 🇬🇧 England

Gender: Male

Age: 26

J is huge in many areas, and passion for snowboarding is definitely one of them. For a guy his size, J can pull off gigantic air and bust out crazy tricks, but his weight also makes him really slow.


 * Maiko

Birthplace: 🇯🇵 Japan

Gender: Female

Age: 17

Fun-loving, cheerful and bubbly, Maiko snowboards for fun and the thrill of the ride. Her petite build gives her advantages in both speed and air, in spite of her limited trick abilities.


 * Bobby

Birthplace: 🇧🇷 Brazil

Gender: Male

Age: 22

Don't let his rasta getup fool you, Bobby is a man with no limits when it comes to snowboarding. He has tremendous speed and trick abilities, but his previous injury hampers his jump height.


 * Yeti

Birthplace: 🇳🇵 Nepal

Age: ?

Legend has it that this mythical creature feeds off lost travelers, but as it turns out, he just wants to snowboard with them. He is skilled in all abilities, giving him an edge against everybody else. Yeti can only be selected by entering a secret code on the character select screen.

Courses
The game features a total of seven courses to ride through, each with a different aesthetic and difficulty attached to them. The Special course serves as the final course on the Expert route in Match Race mode, while it can only be accessed in Free Ride mode by entering a secret code.


 * U.S.A. (Easy)
 * Japan (Easy)
 * S. America (Normal)
 * France (Normal)
 * Norway (Hard)
 * Switzerland (Hard)
 * Himalayas (Special)

Routes
In Match Race mode, the player is instead given a choice between three routes: Novice, Intermediate and Expert. The difficulty of each route is determined by the amount of courses.

The Novice route is composed of three courses:


 * U.S.A
 * Japan
 * S. America

The Intermediate route is composed of five courses:


 * U.S.A
 * Japan
 * S. America
 * France
 * Norway

The Expert route is composed of seven routes.


 * U.S.A.
 * Japan
 * S. America
 * France
 * Norway
 * Switzerland
 * Himalayas

Trivia

 * Although both games involve snowboarding, the game is seperate from ACS' later series Peter Line's Total Snowboarding, which was developed by Innovision Softworks and published by ACS' American divison, is rooted more towards the console market, and features likenesses of real-life snowboarders instead of original characters.
 * The game features several real-life sponsors, most notably Burton Snowboards, who appears prominently in the game. The characters' boards are based on real-life Burton products at the time.
 * The game was the final game to be developed for the PlayStation-based TGX Modeller System. An improved model with higher GPU and clockspeeds, the TGX2 Modeller System, was introduced by ACS a year prior, utilized for Sentoki: The Strongest Warrior (1997).