What do you get when you mix snowboarding, arcade racing and animals? You get Slopecrashers, a game that feels like a cross between SSX and Mario Kart. Developed by byteparrot, Slopecrashers offers a variety of event types to play through, including races, time challenges, slalom and boss fights. Additionally, each character has their own ratings for things like speed and tricks. The demo I played also showed that beneath the friendly exterior lies a ruthless and demanding snowboarding game.
The demo for Slopecrashers, available on Steam, is pretty generous. It includes a tutorial that gives you the basics, a short campaign, and an arcade mode that lets you race on three tracks that are unlocked, out of a total of seven that I counted. Available slopes are Snowman Slope, Snowy Mountain and Neon City.
Snowman Slope and Snowy Mountain feel pretty similar, while Neon City offers a glimpse of some of the more extravagant snowboarding locations you’ll visit, as this map has cars that move and you can hit, and the race takes place through a construction site and mall. I had already started looking for shortcuts that would put me ahead of my opponents, but I was only able to access a few.
During the demo, Slopecrashers shows off a decent variety of activities for you to enjoy. Races can include or exclude items, with items being weapons or power-ups that help out, in classic go-kart style – fireworks you can shoot at opponents, balloons that lift opponents off the ground, and more. If you get caught in a bubble, you have to quickly press the button to break free. Backtracking is similar, and there are many areas where you can fall off the edge.
Power-ups include chili peppers and a rocket to help you speed up, but to really stay competitive, you’ll need to perform tricks while jumping and sliding on the bars, which fills up your short-term boost meter. The characters also come with paragliders as there are large gaps that you sometimes have to cross and trying to jump over them results in failure. Both boards and paragliders have ratings similar to those of the characters, including speed and handling, so creating the perfect pair will be key to success.
Timed challenges pit you against the ghosts of other characters as you try to get from the start to the finish line as quickly as possible, and you’ll really need to be near perfect to reach the gold medal. The golden ghost seems to know all the shortcuts on the tracks and when to speed up, so you’ll need time to challenge him. Other events include slalom, where you have to pass through different colored gates to reduce time, as well as power-up events where you collect items to get extra speeds, and boss fights, such as fighting a giant Snowman named Hamster, where the goal reduce his health before you reach the end of the path. This fight was a lot of fun, as you have to balance between maintaining your speed, avoiding the Hamster’s obstacles, performing tricks and firing projectiles at him.
Although byteparrot regularly updates the demo, it is still an alpha version of the game, so there are things that will likely be improved before the official release. While each character has its own handling ratings, some turns feel too wide and slow, causing you to slide off the edges of the track. Also, there’s a part in the Neon City map towards the end where you’re going down a big slide and the camera is spinning and it’s hard to get a sense of direction. The full edition will have more characters, a Grand Prix mode, as well as online and local multiplayer.
Slopecrashers manages to capture that feeling of arcade fun, with an array of animal characters and a variety of events and challenges, all wrapped up in a colorful and friendly look. Beneath that lies the potential for a challenging and versatile snowboarding game that could appeal to a casual but competitive gaming crowd.
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