How to unlock boards, courses, snowman, and other tips

[JeremyFatima]

I've figured a couple of things out and it's been really rough without much documentation of how to play this game online. However, I think I've figured it out. Please take this with possibility of inaccuracy (and then correct me in underneath if I'm wrong)

 

I got each board by completing the "official" Time AND Trick score listed in the bottom left of each course.

Novice (unlocks FreeStyle board):

Time - 1'25"000

Trick - 1800

 

Advanced (unlocks All-Rouns board):

Time - 2'25"000

Trick - 2200

 

Expert (unlocks Alpine board):

Time - 2'30"000

Trick - 2300

 

I completed all of these challenges using the first All-Round board that is available from the start due to its mixture in Speed and Response.

 

As you complete these challenges, you will see a large trophy appear above the time and trick information. Two smaller trophies appear on each side. The left side is unlocked when you place first on the stages time scoreboard, the right side unlocks when you place first in the stages trick scoreboard. Both of which are more strict than the of "official" times, however scoreboards can be topped independently of other goals.

 

The extra stage unlocks once you've placed first in the score ranking board of the initial three stages.

 

The SnowMan is unlocked once you complete the Extra stage for your first time. This is an excellent stage to set high scores in and is a pretty straight path for setting an easy fast time.

The SnowMan is selectable as a board after you unlock them. You will unlock a snow shovel with maxed out stats which allows you to play as the SnowMan. Very helpful for placing first in total time ranking boards for each "Shredder" trophies. But more on that below.

 

Finally, the special stage is unlocked once you've placed first in the time challenge of the other stages.

 

General tips:

There is no acceleration button. You gain momentum as you would snowboarding in real-life. (If real-life struggled with the frustrating technical limitations of a 1997 PS1 game). You can cut turns quickly with the square button however you will slow down dramatically. Cutting turns is necessary especially when you're attempting to no wipe-out. If you've slowed to a crawl or stop, I've found jumping a couple of times would get me moving to full speed again.

 

Tricks only score when you're between two blue "Get Loose" signs. You jump and do a trick anywhere, but they do not earn you points unless you're between those signs. Once you hold the jump button, you can no longer turn. So make sure you are lined up for how you want to do your trick. Once you release jump, you can press R1 or R2 to grab. The grab you do changes depending on which d-pad input you place in the air. Directional inputs for grabs need to be placed shortly after your snowboarder has jumped.

R1 - Tail Grab

Up+R1 - Indy

Down+R1 - Mute

Up,Up+R1 - Stalefish

Down,Down+R1 - Melancholy

 

As you're holding the jump button before a trick, you can push left/right to initiate a spin in the air. And then once in the air, do your trick. Up/down will make your character flip. Any combination of a vertical+horizontal input will make your character do both. The longer you hold these directional inputs while holding the jump button before your trick, the fast your character will spin/flip.

I earned the bulk of my score in each stage by using large trick areas to hold down/left and Stalefish while in the air. Averaging between 700-1100 points. Simple spins and tail grabs will build score as well, but more rotations and complicated tricks earn the most points.

 

For Total Time Ranking challenges, either use one of the unlocked boards with a higher speed stat or wait until the SnowMan has unlocked. At first the time challenged will seem next to impossible, but with the SnowMan and strict intention to place first in time only, you can complete the stages 10-15 seconds ahead of the original first place time.

 

Remember too, aside from the "Official" time+ trick listed at the start of each course, you can take on ranking scores individually. Do a run where you just focus on getting high scores and don't worry about time and you'll unlock the Trickster trophies. Do a run focusing on time and not even jumping for tricks and you'll still unlock the Shredder trophies. Do a run ignoring both of those things and take the course slowly (or use rewind) to avoid wiping out. Take your time and finish one task at a time.

 

Oh! And press triangle to go into first person view if you're on default controls! I found first person to make the game much easier for me personally as I could see everything coming in front of my character.

 

OH! Again! Unless you're using save states or playing in one sitting. You have to go to Options in the main menu to save and load your game. Do not forget this as it'd be very frustrating to lose progress in this game.

 

This game certainly takes some getting used to and I wish there was more documentation online about how it functions and works. This is what I've found to understand from the game in two playthroughs and how I was able to get the platinum in less than an hour and a half on my second playthrough. Everything will unlock eventually, just keep beating the scores of each stage in each category until everything is unlocked.

 

Edit: I did another playthrough to test unlock requirements. Some unlock requirements have been readjusted for accuracy's sake.

Edited March 21 by JeremyFatima

[skotafactor]

Dang man, this is really thorough and well-documented. I wish I had this yesterday. I had to dust off my physical copy of the game and read through the manual for some of this info. 
 

The extra course unlocked for me after I placed gold in each “trick category”, so I think it’s as long as you have 1 medal in any category on each course, it’ll unlock. 
 

The info about unlocking the snowman will hopefully save future players a ton of time. I spent hours just trying to be the time on the Novice course (and finally did by a fraction of a second with the second fastest starting alpine board), but the snowman made really quick work of the other two courses. 
 

I used the same all-round board as you and can verify that it is the best for the score challenge. For the 1000 point trick, definitely recommend the first jump on the extra course. If you wind up right after the start of the course, you can land a double misty (off-access rotation/flip) and net over a thousand points easily. 
 

One thing I ran into, is you can beat the score challenges without fulfilling the requirements for the course. For example, if a course’s score challenge was 6000 points, let’s say I got 4000 in speed and 2000 and trick, but the trick threshold was 2300. The trophy will still pop for fulfilling the score ranking, however you won’t receive a medal in the game itself nor unlock the board associated with that course. The first time this happened to me, I thought my game was glitched until I realized what was happening. I’m not sure if the opposite is also true, where you can unlock a board without enough points to fulfill a score ranking requirement. 
 

There’s also a different announcer between the PAL/NTSC versions, but your save data doesn’t transfer between the two. 

 

Edited March 21 by skotafactor

[zeero7uk]

Not played this game since 1998 so my memory of it is a bit hazy, anyway thanks for the refresher dude. 👍

[Duck_mann86]

Great post! This is sorely needed as the only guide I could find on this game when I went for the Plat was a GameFaqs guide from 1997.

Hope this helps people on their Platinum Journey!

[edum]

Excellent post, would have loved this before my platinum attempt as nearly went mad trying to unlock the boards (last three trophies I needed to plat) before I finally figured it out.

 

Only saving grace is that if anyone is struggling, I can confirm that it is possible - if frustrating - to beat all the times without the special boards or the snowman, because muggins here struggled until I did so without access to them!

Scores I found no issue, as you can take your time and it’s just a case of spamming the old misty with a grab.

 

Nice trip down memory lane!

[The11thAnomaly]

I noticed that first person mode seems to have slightly different control physics, allowing you to take corners easier and not as strict with pressing square to cut them as it is in 3rd person...

 

But I can't seem to get the tricks down. The total ranking trophies are a bitch. Rewinding umpteen times to get one jump that you can use is exhausting. Sometimes the mistys are perfect, most times your character center of gravity changes to their head.

 

But your mini guide has been very helpful in getting me along despite the cited issues which nobody can help with except me.