Tricky was just so imaginative. I think the reason these games died out is because they abandoned that wacky identity. The insanity of tricky is what instantly drew me in as a kid and one of those things that just encapsulates the vibe of the early 2000s for me
the issue is that wacky/creative games like Tricky cost a lot of money, but don't sell well. Simulation sports games sell more copies than arcade sports games
I have nostalgia for both, but the open world of 3 was so cool to me when I was young. Just flying down the slope exploring while listening to the great songs from that game, really worked. Also loved the halfpipe events.
Never played Tricky but your statement seems to fit my thoughts on the og SSX in certain tracks as that did in fact surface in that game as well. SSX 3 does a much better job in that regard, though doesn't eliminate it entirely
Hey man, great video and analysis! I really like putting it as SSX 3 being SSX trying to "grow up", for better and for worse. A very accurate yet succinct way to put it. Honestly, the thing about these two games is that you have two games that are the best in their bracket - Tricky is the best snowboarding game to go completely over the top and oozing personality, 3 is the best snowboarding game to ever offer the complete package with a living, breathing open world. More often than not which one is your favorite seems to come down to which one you played first, and there also seems to be a link where the more you play SSX games, the more you sway towards the side of 3 because of its more polished and responsive controls.
YES! This is exactly the point I was trying to make. They both nail different aspects that are strong in their own ways. One oozes personality and fun where the other is polished and nails the snowboarding aspect. There isn't a right answer as to which is better because they both are so good in their own ways!
Hi daggy and under10hours I played ssx 3 for a decade when I was in grade school and learned how to glitch teleport in metro city when I was 12 and my older sister who taught me how to play ssx 3, said to me that I was cheating and I said to her I see gamers do that all the time sis come on catch up 🤣 that game helped me with my horrible math skills at a young age because I have Adhd, high blood pressure and age 10 diagnosed with epilepsy from my mom but I still play ssx 3 til this very day even when I haven't played ssx 3 for a long time I always remember how to play without manual 😎
1080 was one of my first experiences with video games at about 6 years old. I spent hours playing it in a basement on my friend’s older brother’s N64. When I got older and had my own consoles, I picked up a used copy of SSX 3 when I was about 12. That game had amazing replay value, I played it for years. The character customization and free-world feel to the game were so engaging. At that time of my life, I was starting to get into skateboarding, and I had even gone skiing a couple of times. I always thought snowboarding games were cool racing games and button mashers, and then over the years I could actually see myself snowboarding. You said SSX 3 had a “grown up” feel to it and that was perfect for me at the time. The intensity of the big air and the single player experience of “conquering the mountain” felt so much cooler because I had a taste of snowboarding video games when I was younger, and as the video games were getting better I was also getting better irl. I felt like I could one day be like one of the characters I was playing...in a realistic way of course. As a kid that’s a great feeling. Thanks for the video review!
That's such a cool story! I was similarly interested in skateboarding when I was a kid thanks to Tony Hawk, only I stopped after I fell a few times and hurt myself haha. It's awesome that 1080 and SSX got you into real snowboarding. I love that! Thanks so much for watching and leaving this thoughtful comment. It's comments and stories like this that make me love doing CZcams and creating a place where people can share stories like this :)
I always prefered Tricky. I felt the controls were tighter (ps2) and races were more intense. In Tricky ice felt like ice and snow felt like snow. I remember being super excited when the 3 came out and I liked the idea of open mountain. But in the end it felt somehow lonely and empty and I kept coming back to Tricky.
Have to agree with the ice vs snow physics, that's something I never thought about. I'll still say SSX3 'til the day i die, but there's no denying SSX Tricky is the more impactful/iconic title.
SSX Tricky, PURE, Motorstorm, Destruction Derby and MX vs ATV were such great racing games that really incorporated unrelenting STYLE into themselves. I wish we got more games this loud and bombastic these days.
SSX Tricky was my first experience in the series. SSX3 became my favorite, so much so that I ended up buying the XBOX Series X. Apparently Microsoft is big on backwards compatibility, the game runs HD w/ a smooth 60FPS which was surprising. One of these days, some brave soul will start a petition for a new SSX game, or maybe even a petition for a remastered version of Tricky/SSX3
Holy cow, Xbox Series X just might have got a new purchase in like 5 years if BC is that great! I remember seeing Sonic Adventure pushed to its limits on a stream and assumed she just downloaded the game lol
I tend to be in the SSX3 camp cuz the Rivalry system scared the piss out of me when I was younger cuz I accidentally pissed off Kaori as Mac cuz I accidentally boost knocked her down on Snowdream and she wouldn’t leave me alone even tho Mac and Kaori are riding partners also Luther is terrifying as Mac. He gets pissed off if you even look at him wrong.
It doesn't matter which is better, what both of these games do so well for me is how they capture that early 2000's vibe, mainly through the soundtrack and the way the characters dress. That's an era which I'm super nostalgic for, they were my childhood years. Since there is no time machine at least I have games like these to take me back.
Thats the best way to play 3 also. Its upscaled to like 900p I believe. Original Xbox games can only go so far but even that jump from 480i/p to 900p is INSANE. The snow looks SO REAL on a 19 year old game. I wish Tricky would get that kind of love! They are both amazing!
You hit the nail on the head. I grew up playing these. Played tricky when I was 13 and fell in love with it and the series was an Eddie main. Then played 3 when I was 16 was a Griff Simmons main. Played him because he was kinda Ryan Sheckler like and I was a big skater. The party of Tricky and the Zen of 3 are a yin and yang of the peak. They both get a 10 from me
Ssx trickys arcade style is what made the game so fun i think if they do make a reboot they should tick heavily with the arcadey feel cause thats what seems fo be missin in todays games
I like both of these games. . Gotta say I was looking forward to the latest SSX game they put out a few years back. It was really too bad how it ended up just being a struggle to keep out of the constant death traps
I played Tricky on gamecube in my teens and loved it. Started playing ssx 3 for the first time this week in my Xbox series s and enjoying a lot so far, but I miss the persoanlity of Tricky. Would love to have Tricky on retrocompatibility one day. Would buy it day one.
100% agreement! They're both fantastic games for somewhat different reasons, but in the end they're both a blast to play. They're my two top favourite action sports games, then the skate games in reverse order, then a handful of tony hawk games. I replayed these two games last year and now I'm thinking I should do another run. Despite the limited content that only two games can offer, I can replay these over and over. The core gameplay is just that good in both.
2012 is great but not as much, On Tour is a lovable mess but does not quite achieve greatness. Never played the OG SSX so I can't comment. I broke my Blur disc in half because I was so insulted by it.
Yeah they were a real treat to play! I'd only played them in passing at friend's houses, and I absolutely loved playing both games together for this video.
I grew up with SSX, SSX 3 and On Tour. I only ever played Tricky a little bit at a friend's house, but most of the time I was more than happy just watching him play the game. Having now played Tricky a bit with an emulator, I prefer SSX 3 and On Tour over SSX and Tricky. SSX and Tricky are too punishing and too unpolished. I can never really sit down, relax and play those games the same way I can with 3 and On Tour. I'm a slope style kind of guy. I love taking every opportunity I can to jump and perform tricks and 3 and On Tour let me do that. I also love open world settings and 3 and On Tour are my ideal visions of "open world racing". Going down all three peaks in 3 or the longest tracks in On Tour while listening to the awesome soundtracks is the best. I didn't try Blur when it came out in 2007 but I did recently check out the SSX game they releases for the PS3 in 2012 and while it wasn't as bad as people had led me to believe, it's more miss than hit. They tried to combine SSX 3 with On Tour while also doing something new, but they just didn't nail it. The guy behind SSX 3 said in a comment on a video about the game back in ~2019-2020 that he was working with some people who worked with him on SSX 3 on a new game that will be out in a couple of years (2022-2023 maybe?). He said that it won't be SSX, but that it'd be in the same vein. Looking forward to that!
I used to play in ps2 these exactly two games of the series so much for a long time when I was 4/5 in 2003/04/05... Now I'm 25 and want to play it again!!
SSX Tricky had soooo much more character and much better level design. But the feel of SSX 3 was more fluid and the landings weren't as strict. Some tricks on SSX Tricky had to have a solid second of completing the animation to be able to land without falling. My favorite is SSX Tricky. I was obsessed with these games as a kid. I got back into both SSX Tricky and SSX 3 a while ago. Beat them, got tired of them. I started with SSX Tricky though. I got insanely intuitive with the controls. I play kind of weird too. When I hold A to prepare for a jump, I have my thumb on the D-Pad to charge the spin and my index finger on the left analogue stick to turn my character into the jump while I'm charging. It looks weird and uncomfortable, but it's actually pretty natural. And it feels very good to land the crazy tricks.
Great video. I played ssx3 for over a decade before tricky so I’m definitely bias towards 3. However, I think although ssx 3 for me overall is better and more enjoyable, due to the open world and polished controls, tricky is by far the better game for strictly racing. After such a long time on 3 I found it hard and still do find it hard doing tricks ton tricky but that could still be down to me being used to 3’s controls and autocomplete of tricks.
I totally agree with you about the tricks in Tricky. Since I’d never played either for a considerable amount of time before making the video, I was shocked at how different they were between games. Tricky really makes you work for the tricks and boost, but the flow of 3 feels incredibly good. IMO, 3 was much easier and more accessible to new players.
I was the opposite - for years I only knew Tricky, and what I'd heard of 3 even made it sound a little standard and boring (just one mountain?). Then I played it and was blown away at the constant innovation, how smooth it was to play, how areas flowed into one another, how fresh and alive it all felt. Instantly became my new favourite. I can accept the criticism that it's a little too easily gratifying though, and I still appreciate the weightiness and friction of Tricky.
I loved Tricky much more... I remember after only 3 days playing SSX3 then returning it to the store. I was getting frustrated that I couldn't get as much 'air' as in the previous SSX games, and the uber tricks look blah. I too come from an area that doesn't snow... so I didn't give a shit about how realistic snow and jumps were. And I agree with the characters being so boring in SS3. Tricky was a clear winner for me.
I played a ton of both, but SSX 3 is the favorite in my book. It was the first game I ever actually followed pre-release. I remember I'd come home after school and go on their website to watch the teaser videos every day before it came out (that was the only place you could find pre-release videos at the time; no CZcams). Then when it finally came out, it felt like a huge evolution. The more "open" world and the 30 minute peak to base run made it feel huge, and the collectibles/secrets made it really feel worth exploring. And the DJ talking about the antics of the in-game characters really made it feel like an event that brought everybody in town for a never ending weekend.
Liked the video/comparison. I think of it like: Tricky === CoolBoarders 2 SSX 3 === Steep (you could also put 1080 here too). I've played them all over the years but I keep going back to SSX Tricky, because eventually, realism doesn't matter to me in snowboarding games, the same way I'd rather play NFS Underground than any of the Gran Turismo games.
I adored Tricky, but in my opinion, 3 was an enormous step up in every way. The interlinked mountain peaks... DJ Atomika's commentary on the riders, the mountaintop community, and anything else in between... the challenges and collectibles, the clothing and skins you could unlock (and don't have to pay for). I remember I 100%'d the game the Viggo, then went and maxed out all the other riders as well just because the game was so fun. Not to mention the soundtrack... I discovered so many great artists that I still to this day listen to. It also resonated with me on a very deep level as I grew up on a mountain with a small to mid-tier ski resort and my friends and I would always laugh and joke about "what if it were possible to do insane tricks where you take off your snowboard?" while we were bored riding up the ski lifts... and then along comes a game where you can do just that. Truly one of the most engrossing and fun single players experiences I've ever had.
One thing you forgot to mention is the sound design. How they implemented the music depending on how high you are or where you are in the course is near brilliant.
I noticed you are holding down the crouch button at all times; you actually don't need to do that, if you hold forward on the left stick you will still maintain top speed and control while turning
I do that too it’s the tony hawk fan in all of us I come from a skate boarding background and not snowboarding and in real life you bend ur legs on a skate board for balance and in tony hawk games you constantly hold down that button it’s just the first thing you learn in that game so I’m glad you said this because it might help me a little bit
SSX 3 is slightly better. The thing I love about 3 than tricky is actually the more realistic tone and the soundtrack. The controllers were much better polished. I do love the arcade style of tricky and that main menu.
Thanks for the video. You summed up the differences perfectly. I also prefer the more laid back, relaxing, open world style of ssx3. Tricky feels like the most popular of the series, but I never went back to Tricky after 3
I love all of them, but lean toward On Tour as being my favorite.. . especially the gamecube on w/ mario & etc. . . wish the other respective platforms would have had platform specific bonus characters too!! (sweet tooth, crash bandicoot, etc)
I feel like if the franchise was like Gran Turismo, SSX Tricky would be Arcade Mode and SSX 3 is Simulation Mode. Both are fantastic and beautiful games, and it's awesome to see them side by side like this.
SSX 3 is one of my favorite games on the GameCube hands down!!! It's awesome to see some one coming back to these games all these years later! great video man
SSX 3 was the perfect way to retain the general feel of SSX while doing something radically different. If I had to pick one I'm going with Tricky just because the characters POP off the screen. The aesthetics and music and feel of Tricky makes it the king IMO but I get how someone would prefer the open world style., The tracks in Tricky even have their own personalities....only wish there was a remaster with more tracks and customization.
Tricky was my first experience, then Coolboarders, but SSX3 is my favorite by far. I absolutely love the immersive world of conquering that mountain. You can play freely, and just enter any competition while going down the mountain. You even get email messages from other snowboarders who want to challenge you. It's so awesome.
Just found out about this channel watching your Thrillville review. I played these games as a kid and seeing this is of course nostalgic makes me want to play them again.
I'm one of the very few tha actually played the original SSX upon release and before Tricky came out and skyrocketed the series' popularity. 3 is my personal favourite, but Tokyo Megaplex will always be the pinnacle of the series.
I never really enjoyed sports games growing up. Still really don't. I always stuck with Pokemon, Mario and the occasional Digimon game. But my sister bought SSX3 for our PS2, and I've got it sitting on my game shelf right next to me to this day. Hell, it even opened my eyes up to some music artists like Yellowcard.
I first played SSX Tricky but it was on the GameCube. Years later I played the PS2 version which is the best way to play it. Nowadays I'll play it with a Dualshock 4 on the PCSX2 emulator. I also have SSX3 on the PS2 as well as the original Xbox version that I bought on the Microsoft store for the Xbox One. I still think those games were better suited for the Dualshock
0:57 into it and I’m already basically told the majority of people miss 3 and not tricky 😭😭😭 I literally play tricky once a year because current games just aren’t cutting it. I still have a 360 to play ssx 2012 if the servers were still up (or if my Xbox wasn’t broken) I’d still be ranking 1-2 on showoffs. I don’t know how this video popped into my feed but if we could get a ssx in 2026 or something that’d be a ok
That reason for not playing SSX when you were kids was just bizarre, quite frankly. We played games that looked fun, and the fact that we don't have any snow to board on anywhere close to the southeast of England didn't enter our minds when it came to playing SSX Tricky. Most of us played games to do things we couldn't or wouldn't do in real life, and we all had a blast playing Tricky for months and months (as well as Super Monkey Ball - something that had absolutely zero basis in our real lives). Besides, you played 1080° and Snowboard Kids didn't you?
Replaying SSX 1 and Tricky, they're a lot more rage-inducing than I remember them being. I can't believe it took them until the third game to have the recover command since hit detection is so janky and you wipe out SO easily. And I don't know if these races have rubber-banding or not, but I don't remember having to be PERFECT!!!! just to place.
They're currently on eBay for a similar price, so I've been readin' a lot of comparison opinions. And tbh, watching this video, even after you talked about 3 for a short period, I was like this guy's gonna pick Tricky. But to my pleasant surprise, I was wrong. You seem like you think outside the box and that's awesome. I've never played either, but I think I'm leaning 3. Well done.
SSX 3 is my favourite by far. Loved SSX Tricky but 3 just blew me away . Played to death on my GameCube back in the day and recently brought it again but this time on PS2 . Ok , graphically, the GC tops PS2 in every way but it's still a fantastic time . Amazing how you forget how to do the basics when back in the day you were unbeatable lol 👍
just ran into this video because I watched Miles Jai do a stream of tricky for Christmas and I'm glad I did. Both of these are ones I grew up playing and both have a special place in my heart not just due to the fun of the sport but the music as well. Hell I was such a fan of the series after these two I even bought that game port to the PSP (which had great music and......nope that's it lol) If forced to choose between the two I can definitely say 3 fits more of my own personal taste. The art style of 3 worked well for me and the vast customizing potential of all characters did as well - every gold victory earning a new clothing piece in some way? yes please! - as did the structure of all one mountain and it all feeling cohesive for that reason. Not to mention that they kept progressing the backstories of the characters that returned from game to game and allowed them to keep aging, which is another plus for me. I do think Tricky beats it in stylization and personality tho. I'm not sure if they'll ever make yet another entry into the series but I do think if they can fuze the two strongpoints of each and give us a SS3 style mountain but with more course variety and more personality that they would have another winning entry to the series. Ideally with some characters being legacy/children of some of the older champs to really tie it all together still (so long as we ignore the games after these two I mean lol).
I know Tricky is a fan favorite but 3 will always be the #1 title to me. The freedom you have and soundtrack is what sets this game apart from the others.
“These games were released only two years apart” blew my mind. I have fond memories of both and love both, I think I’d lean to SSX3 due to wanting to relax more now. But the difference in capability in those two years… amazing. I keep wanting Steep to feel like SSX, but while it hits the meditative and open world feeling of SSX3, it feels even tamer. C’mon EA, make a new SSX. Combine the beat of SSX tricky and SSX3.
I have a friend who only played the 3 whereas I grew with SSX for the PS2 for a cheap buck almost 10 years ago, I had no memory card so every time I had to play from the ground and god, Matt was the best character, SSX tricky feels like an expansion of the 1st and it's understeandable the path that took SSX 3 because otherwise it would feel like a revisited SSX tricky, but it was sweet to see the way a snowboard track could be reinvented.
i love ss3 all three games i had for the ps2 and they got me into snowboarding hardcore. like the other say i went snowboarding and put on the ssx3 soundtrack and it was pretty magical
Like maybe a lot of game franchises at odds with themselves these days a combination of the 2 games would probably make a defacto, best game in the series. Bring back the flavor, spectacle, map design and arcade style brevity of Tricky but merge it with the increased content, world interconnectivity, and further refined controls of SSX3. Imagine instead of 1 homogenous mountain, a better modern SSX would have multiple "mountains" like SSX2012 but with actually strong themes, locales, and set pieces to set them apart like, if not better, than the maps in Tricky do. Imagine on top of actually having local multiplayer once again, "story mode" would be your classic world circuit style progression through each "mountain" where you still work your way through preliminaries. However, rather than race through a course 3 times, each prelim is a different section of the given location with a similar length to a Tricky style course culminating in the final race being a much longer complete course with all previous sections seamlessly strung together with the last and final section. Winning that final race would of course unlock things like new racers, and customizables etc. but also open the entire mountain for free riding and thus provide collectibles/challenges/Easter eggs that would act as resources to improve your characters IF you happen to have trouble with the next mountain. Having said that, I do prefer Tricky's way of making characters naturally excel at different things unless you go out of your way to steer their stats towards your own preference, because along with potential rewards for maxing out a character, making it efficient to use different characters for different challenges makes it more likely for players to try a wide variety of them and therefore enjoy more of them. The relationships between the racers that were started in tricky could be turned up to 11, and make for interesting, optional side content with actual stories and more varied interactions/banter. I'm not against having even more alternate routes ala SSX3 on, but I do prefer Tricky leaning intimate and linear routes with well defined obstacles, throughways, and points of efficiency. the alternative is not too bad in SSX 3 but gets especially bad in SSX2012 where the courses are extremely wide and on comparatively steep inclines and navigating them efficiently essentially means doing nothing but falling down the mountain, jumping over any and all obstacles. Tricky on the other hand is much more likely to have you actually boarding through snow or ice, if not on a rail, while navigating obstacles with all kinds of twists and turns, and I feel is much more well balanced between jumps, tricks and pure racing. to my understanding, SSX2012 also breaks what I consider the golden rule and makes it so you can not only do tricks on a loop removing any need to time and sequence your tricks well, but also allows you to land in any orientation at any point of the trick without wiping out your character, and by removing those well defined risks, the tricks while smoother, feel less rewarding to pull off IMO.
ubscribed for showing JP so much love! SSX Tricky is my favorite sports game ever. I'd love to do a modern playthrough! We used to play it all the time back when I was 16
I missed out on tricky, I got a launch ps2 for Christmas when I was 12 and picked up the original ssx early. Later on I think I figured tricky was the same game but re released for other consoles (now i know better). When ssx3 came out I played it a lot but nowadays, thinking back it’s the crazy and wacky level designs in ssx and tricky that I miss. All the later games toned it down a lot and it’s a real pity.
My first ssx game was the first one (the soundtrack was 🔥🔥🔥) I still for my ps2 from release day and sometimes play it from time to time! I also have ssx 3 on my Xbox!
Ssx3 will always be my fave, I spent so many hours playing it I still have muscle memory from the PS2 that made trying to play it on my brother in law’s xbox almost unplayable.
SSX Tricky was such a blast. I loved the tracks. They were so exciting and wild. I was never a huge gamer but i spent hours playing this game. I bought SSX3 excited for a continuation of that. But it felt dull to me. I gave up on it pretty quickly. Maybe i missed out…
I feel like whichever one you prefer usually comes down to which one you have the most nostalgia for. I grew up on 3 and never even touched Tricky until very recently, so it was a bit of culture shock to finally take it all in. Tricky has a manic in-your-face energy that I’ve come to appreciate, but for me it’s still hard to beat the perfect balance 3 strikes. People talk about how 3 lacks personality compared to Tricky, but for me Tricky feels sometimes like it’s trying too hard to impress. 3 has this effortless chilled-out charm that never gets old, and that goes for the characters too. I’d much rather have the more 3-dimensional and grounded personalities over the snark-fueled energy from Tricky, but again that really comes down to which one you imprinted on first. I do wish they’d kept more of the off-the-wall course design, but it’s a worthy exchange for how naturally the courses from 3 ebb and flow. And you can’t beat absolute zen of the the all-peak race. It’s heaven. They’re different beasts for different tastes. Love ‘em both at the end of the day.
For the first time in adult life I'm playing 3 again. And I'm picking up on all the nuances of I always ignored. Like the challenges and using front and back leaning thing to chain together tricks and racking up a massive multiplier. Along with stuff I haven't gotten to yet like unlocking more moves and maxing out character stats. I never played tricky or other ssx games except 2012. But the level design in tricky would make it worth to play both.
I just bought this game today for my ps2 lol and yes my first exposure to snowboarding games was 1080 but ssx 3 was my first exposure to the series which became my favourite of the bunch and also it’s funny I get this on October 20th of 2023 and one day before it hits it’s 20th anniversary wow😮 😂 it was released back in October 21st 2003
Usually in these situations, I'm more of a fan of whatever came first. I often find it hard to look past what I loved so much about an inital game that it makes subsequent games feel lesser by comparison. SSX is not one of those franchises though. I played since the first game and always loved the next more than the last. They continued fine tuning physics, controls and character customisation with every iteration and it showed. Your point about SSX 3 "growing up" rings true as its fanbase at the time were also growing alongside it. I was 8 when SSX 3 released and never felt like the shift in tone was too drastic as each character still felt like themselves. They still had the same personalities I knew them for and, at the time, that was enough for me. Blue is a good man for caring for On Tour too. Unfortunately On Tour had kind of gone 2 steps forward and 1 back by mixing the open nature of 3 with the wacky tone of Tricky but its gameplay still felt as tight as ever and it certainly deserves praise. I only ask that we never speak of SSX Blur. It never happened. I don't know what you're talking about.
I don't have a One X as of now but with how good the backward compatibility is, I might have to grab one when the new systems come out! I didn't realize SSX was supported , but that's really exciting!
I grew up on SSX Tricky/3 on the PS2. I downloaded 3 on my XB1 recently and the controls are *absurdly* bad in comparison (not trying to dunk on you if you grew up with it on Xbox, but the PS2/GC controls are far, far more intuitive). I really need to know if there's a way to remap the controls, because the game looks great as mentioned, but I refuse to learn board grabs with non-shoulder buttons.
I'm the same way. Love both for different reasons! If only we could combine the personality of tricky with the open mountain of tricky. It would be epic
To me, comparing 3 to Tricky is like comparing Tony Hawk's 3 to 1. It's just meatier and more refined, gameplay-wise. Between the handplants, rail ubers, monster tricks, and most of all the board press which allows for mountain-long combo chains, there's just no contest in my eyes.
That's fair. I more compare Tricky and 3 to THPS3 to 4. Both came out back to back, and both took their respective series very different directions. But I do think that the style is different enough that people will have a preference for the interconnected mountains or the individual race tracks.
@@Under10Hours No doubt 3 was revolutionary for its time and Tricky kind of had that old school arcade style separate track type gameplay that people love more in some cases but 3 was a new direction that alot of people loved even more but I still think both games are absolutely incredible gems. Even the first SSX game that is PS2 exclusive was really good!
I was a coolboarders kid until I ran into tricky. Although tricky has my style and flair, I was always more into 3, I think it felt more relevant in the moment and I loved the freedom.
Coolboarders passed me by as a kid since I didn’t have the console to play it on, but I’ve always loved snowboarding (not actually doing it, but playing the games). Are they still worth checking out?
@@Under10Hours they didn't age very well. Nostalgia goggles can help, but since you don't have those... If you stumble into coolboarders 2, check it out, but don't go nuts try to get to it.
@@Under10Hours though it's been a long time, so I'm not sure how it's held up technically, tonally I love Amped 3. Its wacky over the top and fun. I'm sure some of the humor hasn't aged great, but maybe it'll strike your chord (assuming you haven't played it before) I'd definitely check out a vid you do on that.
3 will always be what I think of when I think of ssx I love the 3rd game the gorgeous tracks the open ended exploration and the great music make it my favorite also there’s a lot more customization in that game
Tricky I think just hit hard for me because of how it made the first game again, but crazier. Ssx3 felt like a step back on that vibe but it’s an awesome game
one point you missed is the cheat characters in ssx 3. there are around 20 of them that can be unlocked with cheat codes. ranging from a cow to Sasquatch or a skeleton. they add much needed flavor to the boring character selection.
You can't go wrong with either in my opinion. To me Tricky is like the juvenile adrenaline junkie while SSX3 is more laid back and more confident in its mature core gameplay. . .I could never pick between the two coz as vastly different as they are, you can tell they share the same DNA and were coherently made by developers who put alot of time and love into them
im convinced On Tour fans are just the equivalent of that deprived child that never got to see the good cartoons before they started inflating the TV with trash. Also sorry you didn't like how the characters were conveyed in 3, i played with like 3 of them to hear their voicelines and the 3rd and only one i played since was Psymon (the objectively correct character to play)
3 is better in all categories for me honestly, people say Tricky has better visuals but 3 really beats it out, it just has less in your face neon colours.
I liked SSX 3 a lot better. Esp because of the open world-ish design of the maps where you could select what to do by going down a certain path (rather than just selecting from a menu). The controls are more comfortable imo too. I think it be better not if they did a remastering of the game (like what the Tony Hawk series did) but combine good elements from both games and add in anything else the games were lacking. Although this probably will never happen haha.
Bring this series back. Make it outrageous. Don’t make it realistic. It would sell through the roof
Absolutely. I’d love for the series to go back to its roots. Bring back the neon lights, ridiculous flips and combos and the soundtrack!
2012 sort of did. nobody bought it
@@hafizoktri3847 2012 had no personality
Not sure about that. Extreme sports aren't as popular as they were in the 2000s
@@poolgoldworldwild2163 I mean skate 3 came out and had huge success, same with Steep. If this many people are nostalgic abt SSX it’ll sell
Tricky was just so imaginative. I think the reason these games died out is because they abandoned that wacky identity. The insanity of tricky is what instantly drew me in as a kid and one of those things that just encapsulates the vibe of the early 2000s for me
the issue is that wacky/creative games like Tricky cost a lot of money, but don't sell well.
Simulation sports games sell more copies than arcade sports games
Yea all them EA BIG games were great
SSX 3 was my introduction to the series. Amazing soundtrack, gameplay and now nostalgia
Both are great but 3 will have a special place in my heart.
I have nostalgia for both, but the open world of 3 was so cool to me when I was young. Just flying down the slope exploring while listening to the great songs from that game, really worked. Also loved the halfpipe events.
And the radio host was cool too.
I liked the art aesthetic of tricky but the obstacle placement was insane. It punishes you for going too fast/high
That's why Garibaldi is the best map, it's easier to just focus on getting tons of points and tricks instead of trying to survive
Agreed, but honestly that makes it all the more satisfying to get that "perfect run"
3 does the same thing
Get gud
Never played Tricky but your statement seems to fit my thoughts on the og SSX in certain tracks as that did in fact surface in that game as well.
SSX 3 does a much better job in that regard, though doesn't eliminate it entirely
Hey man, great video and analysis! I really like putting it as SSX 3 being SSX trying to "grow up", for better and for worse. A very accurate yet succinct way to put it. Honestly, the thing about these two games is that you have two games that are the best in their bracket - Tricky is the best snowboarding game to go completely over the top and oozing personality, 3 is the best snowboarding game to ever offer the complete package with a living, breathing open world. More often than not which one is your favorite seems to come down to which one you played first, and there also seems to be a link where the more you play SSX games, the more you sway towards the side of 3 because of its more polished and responsive controls.
YES! This is exactly the point I was trying to make. They both nail different aspects that are strong in their own ways.
One oozes personality and fun where the other is polished and nails the snowboarding aspect.
There isn't a right answer as to which is better because they both are so good in their own ways!
Hi daggy and under10hours I played ssx 3 for a decade when I was in grade school and learned how to glitch teleport in metro city when I was 12 and my older sister who taught me how to play ssx 3, said to me that I was cheating and I said to her I see gamers do that all the time sis come on catch up 🤣 that game helped me with my horrible math skills at a young age because I have Adhd, high blood pressure and age 10 diagnosed with epilepsy from my mom but I still play ssx 3 til this very day even when I haven't played ssx 3 for a long time I always remember how to play without manual 😎
SSX ON TOUR IS NICE TO
1080 was one of my first experiences with video games at about 6 years old. I spent hours playing it in a basement on my friend’s older brother’s N64. When I got older and had my own consoles, I picked up a used copy of SSX 3 when I was about 12. That game had amazing replay value, I played it for years. The character customization and free-world feel to the game were so engaging. At that time of my life, I was starting to get into skateboarding, and I had even gone skiing a couple of times. I always thought snowboarding games were cool racing games and button mashers, and then over the years I could actually see myself snowboarding. You said SSX 3 had a “grown up” feel to it and that was perfect for me at the time. The intensity of the big air and the single player experience of “conquering the mountain” felt so much cooler because I had a taste of snowboarding video games when I was younger, and as the video games were getting better I was also getting better irl. I felt like I could one day be like one of the characters I was playing...in a realistic way of course. As a kid that’s a great feeling. Thanks for the video review!
That's such a cool story! I was similarly interested in skateboarding when I was a kid thanks to Tony Hawk, only I stopped after I fell a few times and hurt myself haha. It's awesome that 1080 and SSX got you into real snowboarding. I love that!
Thanks so much for watching and leaving this thoughtful comment. It's comments and stories like this that make me love doing CZcams and creating a place where people can share stories like this :)
I always prefered Tricky. I felt the controls were tighter (ps2) and races were more intense. In Tricky ice felt like ice and snow felt like snow. I remember being super excited when the 3 came out and I liked the idea of open mountain. But in the end it felt somehow lonely and empty and I kept coming back to Tricky.
I concur
*tricky for the win.*
Have to agree with the ice vs snow physics, that's something I never thought about.
I'll still say SSX3 'til the day i die, but there's no denying SSX Tricky is the more impactful/iconic title.
I like the loneliness in 3. Playing the game in the middle of the night always felt like a vibe.
SSX Tricky, PURE, Motorstorm, Destruction Derby and MX vs ATV were such great racing games that really incorporated unrelenting STYLE into themselves. I wish we got more games this loud and bombastic these days.
SSX ON TOUR TO
I growd up with ssx 3, with my dads old PS2, such a great memories!
sameeeeeee
SSX Tricky was my first experience in the series. SSX3 became my favorite, so much so that I ended up buying the XBOX Series X. Apparently Microsoft is big on backwards compatibility, the game runs HD w/ a smooth 60FPS which was surprising. One of these days, some brave soul will start a petition for a new SSX game, or maybe even a petition for a remastered version of Tricky/SSX3
hahahaha ive just considered to buy one for exactly this and only reason
Holy cow, Xbox Series X just might have got a new purchase in like 5 years if BC is that great! I remember seeing Sonic Adventure pushed to its limits on a stream and assumed she just downloaded the game lol
I tend to be in the SSX3 camp cuz the Rivalry system scared the piss out of me when I was younger cuz I accidentally pissed off Kaori as Mac cuz I accidentally boost knocked her down on Snowdream and she wouldn’t leave me alone even tho Mac and Kaori are riding partners also Luther is terrifying as Mac. He gets pissed off if you even look at him wrong.
It doesn't matter which is better, what both of these games do so well for me is how they capture that early 2000's vibe, mainly through the soundtrack and the way the characters dress. That's an era which I'm super nostalgic for, they were my childhood years. Since there is no time machine at least I have games like these to take me back.
They're both amazing. It would be nice if Tricky were available on Xbox digital store like 3 is.
Thats the best way to play 3 also. Its upscaled to like 900p I believe. Original Xbox games can only go so far but even that jump from 480i/p to 900p is INSANE. The snow looks SO REAL on a 19 year old game. I wish Tricky would get that kind of love! They are both amazing!
@@SwampFox178 The SSX3 port to xbox one is seriously impressive. Props to Microsoft and whoever else responsible for that one.
@@youtubesucks1111 it's not a port. It's just upscaled emulation
You hit the nail on the head. I grew up playing these. Played tricky when I was 13 and fell in love with it and the series was an Eddie main. Then played 3 when I was 16 was a Griff Simmons main. Played him because he was kinda Ryan Sheckler like and I was a big skater. The party of Tricky and the Zen of 3 are a yin and yang of the peak. They both get a 10 from me
Ssx trickys arcade style is what made the game so fun i think if they do make a reboot they should tick heavily with the arcadey feel cause thats what seems fo be missin in todays games
Nice to see some videos about ssx. It is quite a underrated series (all but blur is good while blur is just meh)
Thanks for watching! This was a fun video to make because I'd wanted to play these for so long
Under10Hours Gaming np:3 you will do a review on Blinx and metal arm eventually this year?
@@starmaverick011 Blinx for sure. I've actually never heard of Metal Arm. I'll have to check it out!
Under10Hours Gaming Yeah. I recommend Metal Arm if you have a time for it. It is really a underrated game just like Blinx:3
@@starmaverick011 then I'll definitely look into it!
your lack of Usage for Boost throughout the gameplay (especially at 9:13) makes me wanna scream.
I like both of these games. . Gotta say I was looking forward to the latest SSX game they put out a few years back. It was really too bad how it ended up just being a struggle to keep out of the constant death traps
I played Tricky on gamecube in my teens and loved it. Started playing ssx 3 for the first time this week in my Xbox series s and enjoying a lot so far, but I miss the persoanlity of Tricky. Would love to have Tricky on retrocompatibility one day. Would buy it day one.
TRICKY WAS TRASHHH
100% agreement! They're both fantastic games for somewhat different reasons, but in the end they're both a blast to play. They're my two top favourite action sports games, then the skate games in reverse order, then a handful of tony hawk games. I replayed these two games last year and now I'm thinking I should do another run. Despite the limited content that only two games can offer, I can replay these over and over. The core gameplay is just that good in both.
2012 is great but not as much, On Tour is a lovable mess but does not quite achieve greatness. Never played the OG SSX so I can't comment. I broke my Blur disc in half because I was so insulted by it.
Yeah they were a real treat to play! I'd only played them in passing at friend's houses, and I absolutely loved playing both games together for this video.
loved this video
Lol nice to see you here master remixer
SSX 3 was great, but Tricky was legendary!
I grew up with SSX, SSX 3 and On Tour. I only ever played Tricky a little bit at a friend's house, but most of the time I was more than happy just watching him play the game. Having now played Tricky a bit with an emulator, I prefer SSX 3 and On Tour over SSX and Tricky. SSX and Tricky are too punishing and too unpolished. I can never really sit down, relax and play those games the same way I can with 3 and On Tour.
I'm a slope style kind of guy. I love taking every opportunity I can to jump and perform tricks and 3 and On Tour let me do that. I also love open world settings and 3 and On Tour are my ideal visions of "open world racing". Going down all three peaks in 3 or the longest tracks in On Tour while listening to the awesome soundtracks is the best.
I didn't try Blur when it came out in 2007 but I did recently check out the SSX game they releases for the PS3 in 2012 and while it wasn't as bad as people had led me to believe, it's more miss than hit. They tried to combine SSX 3 with On Tour while also doing something new, but they just didn't nail it.
The guy behind SSX 3 said in a comment on a video about the game back in ~2019-2020 that he was working with some people who worked with him on SSX 3 on a new game that will be out in a couple of years (2022-2023 maybe?). He said that it won't be SSX, but that it'd be in the same vein. Looking forward to that!
I used to play in ps2 these exactly two games of the series so much for a long time when I was 4/5 in 2003/04/05... Now I'm 25 and want to play it again!!
SSX Tricky had soooo much more character and much better level design. But the feel of SSX 3 was more fluid and the landings weren't as strict. Some tricks on SSX Tricky had to have a solid second of completing the animation to be able to land without falling. My favorite is SSX Tricky.
I was obsessed with these games as a kid. I got back into both SSX Tricky and SSX 3 a while ago. Beat them, got tired of them. I started with SSX Tricky though. I got insanely intuitive with the controls. I play kind of weird too. When I hold A to prepare for a jump, I have my thumb on the D-Pad to charge the spin and my index finger on the left analogue stick to turn my character into the jump while I'm charging. It looks weird and uncomfortable, but it's actually pretty natural. And it feels very good to land the crazy tricks.
Great video. I played ssx3 for over a decade before tricky so I’m definitely bias towards 3. However, I think although ssx 3 for me overall is better and more enjoyable, due to the open world and polished controls, tricky is by far the better game for strictly racing. After such a long time on 3 I found it hard and still do find it hard doing tricks ton tricky but that could still be down to me being used to 3’s controls and autocomplete of tricks.
I totally agree with you about the tricks in Tricky. Since I’d never played either for a considerable amount of time before making the video, I was shocked at how different they were between games. Tricky really makes you work for the tricks and boost, but the flow of 3 feels incredibly good. IMO, 3 was much easier and more accessible to new players.
I was the opposite - for years I only knew Tricky, and what I'd heard of 3 even made it sound a little standard and boring (just one mountain?). Then I played it and was blown away at the constant innovation, how smooth it was to play, how areas flowed into one another, how fresh and alive it all felt. Instantly became my new favourite. I can accept the criticism that it's a little too easily gratifying though, and I still appreciate the weightiness and friction of Tricky.
I loved Tricky much more... I remember after only 3 days playing SSX3 then returning it to the store. I was getting frustrated that I couldn't get as much 'air' as in the previous SSX games, and the uber tricks look blah. I too come from an area that doesn't snow... so I didn't give a shit about how realistic snow and jumps were. And I agree with the characters being so boring in SS3. Tricky was a clear winner for me.
You sound dumb as hell you was trash
I played a ton of both, but SSX 3 is the favorite in my book. It was the first game I ever actually followed pre-release. I remember I'd come home after school and go on their website to watch the teaser videos every day before it came out (that was the only place you could find pre-release videos at the time; no CZcams). Then when it finally came out, it felt like a huge evolution. The more "open" world and the 30 minute peak to base run made it feel huge, and the collectibles/secrets made it really feel worth exploring. And the DJ talking about the antics of the in-game characters really made it feel like an event that brought everybody in town for a never ending weekend.
Liked the video/comparison. I think of it like:
Tricky === CoolBoarders 2
SSX 3 === Steep (you could also put 1080 here too).
I've played them all over the years but I keep going back to SSX Tricky, because eventually, realism doesn't matter to me in snowboarding games, the same way I'd rather play NFS Underground than any of the Gran Turismo games.
I adored Tricky, but in my opinion, 3 was an enormous step up in every way. The interlinked mountain peaks... DJ Atomika's commentary on the riders, the mountaintop community, and anything else in between... the challenges and collectibles, the clothing and skins you could unlock (and don't have to pay for). I remember I 100%'d the game the Viggo, then went and maxed out all the other riders as well just because the game was so fun. Not to mention the soundtrack... I discovered so many great artists that I still to this day listen to.
It also resonated with me on a very deep level as I grew up on a mountain with a small to mid-tier ski resort and my friends and I would always laugh and joke about "what if it were possible to do insane tricks where you take off your snowboard?" while we were bored riding up the ski lifts... and then along comes a game where you can do just that. Truly one of the most engrossing and fun single players experiences I've ever had.
One thing you forgot to mention is the sound design. How they implemented the music depending on how high you are or where you are in the course is near brilliant.
@@sambeussman7239 that was actually a feature I hated
I noticed you are holding down the crouch button at all times; you actually don't need to do that, if you hold forward on the left stick you will still maintain top speed and control while turning
I do that too it’s the tony hawk fan in all of us I come from a skate boarding background and not snowboarding and in real life you bend ur legs on a skate board for balance and in tony hawk games you constantly hold down that button it’s just the first thing you learn in that game so I’m glad you said this because it might help me a little bit
SSX 3 is slightly better. The thing I love about 3 than tricky is actually the more realistic tone and the soundtrack. The controllers were much better polished. I do love the arcade style of tricky and that main menu.
Thanks for the video. You summed up the differences perfectly. I also prefer the more laid back, relaxing, open world style of ssx3. Tricky feels like the most popular of the series, but I never went back to Tricky after 3
I loved both games so much as a kid! Watching him play makes me want to play both again!
Both games are great imo, but in most instances I would pick 3 over Tricky just for how much more fluid the gameplay feels.
Honestly, I preferred SSX On Tour > SSX 3 because On Tour felt the closest thing to Tricky when I was younger. So definitely Tricky in my opinion.
I love all of them, but lean toward On Tour as being my favorite.. . especially the gamecube on w/ mario & etc. . . wish the other respective platforms would have had platform specific bonus characters too!! (sweet tooth, crash bandicoot, etc)
man ssx3 holds a special place in my heart just like bo2 and MxUntamed. all goated games that i wish i can experience for the first time again
I feel like if the franchise was like Gran Turismo, SSX Tricky would be Arcade Mode and SSX 3 is Simulation Mode. Both are fantastic and beautiful games, and it's awesome to see them side by side like this.
Just that DJ in SSX3 i somehow never got bored of listen to him say the same things! and SUPEEEEER UBBBEEEEERRRR!
SSX 3 is one of my favorite games on the GameCube hands down!!! It's awesome to see some one coming back to these games all these years later! great video man
Thanks for watching and I'm glad you liked it! It was blown away by these two games because they're still so smooth and fun to play.
Tricky is the better one
Nay man 3 is where its at
Sorry! Can't hear you over my mountain-long combo!
SSX 3 was the perfect way to retain the general feel of SSX while doing something radically different. If I had to pick one I'm going with Tricky just because the characters POP off the screen. The aesthetics and music and feel of Tricky makes it the king IMO but I get how someone would prefer the open world style., The tracks in Tricky even have their own personalities....only wish there was a remaster with more tracks and customization.
Tricky was my first experience, then Coolboarders, but SSX3 is my favorite by far. I absolutely love the immersive world of conquering that mountain. You can play freely, and just enter any competition while going down the mountain. You even get email messages from other snowboarders who want to challenge you. It's so awesome.
Just found out about this channel watching your Thrillville review. I played these games as a kid and seeing this is of course nostalgic makes me want to play them again.
Thanks for watching! And you have to play them again. They're so good!
When are they going to release tricky for backwards compatible ugh
SSX Tricky just screamed personality and uniqueness! You actually remember the other characters.
I'm one of the very few tha actually played the original SSX upon release and before Tricky came out and skyrocketed the series' popularity. 3 is my personal favourite, but Tokyo Megaplex will always be the pinnacle of the series.
I never really enjoyed sports games growing up. Still really don't. I always stuck with Pokemon, Mario and the occasional Digimon game. But my sister bought SSX3 for our PS2, and I've got it sitting on my game shelf right next to me to this day. Hell, it even opened my eyes up to some music artists like Yellowcard.
I first played SSX Tricky but it was on the GameCube. Years later I played the PS2 version which is the best way to play it. Nowadays I'll play it with a Dualshock 4 on the PCSX2 emulator. I also have SSX3 on the PS2 as well as the original Xbox version that I bought on the Microsoft store for the Xbox One. I still think those games were better suited for the Dualshock
0:57 into it and I’m already basically told the majority of people miss 3 and not tricky 😭😭😭 I literally play tricky once a year because current games just aren’t cutting it. I still have a 360 to play ssx 2012 if the servers were still up (or if my Xbox wasn’t broken) I’d still be ranking 1-2 on showoffs. I don’t know how this video popped into my feed but if we could get a ssx in 2026 or something that’d be a ok
That reason for not playing SSX when you were kids was just bizarre, quite frankly. We played games that looked fun, and the fact that we don't have any snow to board on anywhere close to the southeast of England didn't enter our minds when it came to playing SSX Tricky. Most of us played games to do things we couldn't or wouldn't do in real life, and we all had a blast playing Tricky for months and months (as well as Super Monkey Ball - something that had absolutely zero basis in our real lives).
Besides, you played 1080° and Snowboard Kids didn't you?
Replaying SSX 1 and Tricky, they're a lot more rage-inducing than I remember them being.
I can't believe it took them until the third game to have the recover command since hit detection is so janky and you wipe out SO easily.
And I don't know if these races have rubber-banding or not, but I don't remember having to be PERFECT!!!! just to place.
They're currently on eBay for a similar price, so I've been readin' a lot of comparison opinions. And tbh, watching this video, even after you talked about 3 for a short period, I was like this guy's gonna pick Tricky. But to my pleasant surprise, I was wrong. You seem like you think outside the box and that's awesome. I've never played either, but I think I'm leaning 3. Well done.
I can't believe I've been playing tricky for 20 years lmao. Nothing else compares to the ssx series!
SSX 3 is my favourite by far. Loved SSX Tricky but 3 just blew me away . Played to death on my GameCube back in the day and recently brought it again but this time on PS2 . Ok , graphically, the GC tops PS2 in every way but it's still a fantastic time . Amazing how you forget how to do the basics when back in the day you were unbeatable lol 👍
just ran into this video because I watched Miles Jai do a stream of tricky for Christmas and I'm glad I did. Both of these are ones I grew up playing and both have a special place in my heart not just due to the fun of the sport but the music as well. Hell I was such a fan of the series after these two I even bought that game port to the PSP (which had great music and......nope that's it lol)
If forced to choose between the two I can definitely say 3 fits more of my own personal taste. The art style of 3 worked well for me and the vast customizing potential of all characters did as well - every gold victory earning a new clothing piece in some way? yes please! - as did the structure of all one mountain and it all feeling cohesive for that reason. Not to mention that they kept progressing the backstories of the characters that returned from game to game and allowed them to keep aging, which is another plus for me.
I do think Tricky beats it in stylization and personality tho. I'm not sure if they'll ever make yet another entry into the series but I do think if they can fuze the two strongpoints of each and give us a SS3 style mountain but with more course variety and more personality that they would have another winning entry to the series. Ideally with some characters being legacy/children of some of the older champs to really tie it all together still (so long as we ignore the games after these two I mean lol).
I know Tricky is a fan favorite but 3 will always be the #1 title to me. The freedom you have and soundtrack is what sets this game apart from the others.
“These games were released only two years apart” blew my mind. I have fond memories of both and love both, I think I’d lean to SSX3 due to wanting to relax more now. But the difference in capability in those two years… amazing.
I keep wanting Steep to feel like SSX, but while it hits the meditative and open world feeling of SSX3, it feels even tamer. C’mon EA, make a new SSX. Combine the beat of SSX tricky and SSX3.
SSX 3 is so nostalgic for me😩🔥I can’t even tell you how many hours I spent on my GameCube playing this.
I enjoyed Tricky more!
I have a friend who only played the 3 whereas I grew with SSX for the PS2 for a cheap buck almost 10 years ago, I had no memory card so every time I had to play from the ground and god, Matt was the best character, SSX tricky feels like an expansion of the 1st and it's understeandable the path that took SSX 3 because otherwise it would feel like a revisited SSX tricky, but it was sweet to see the way a snowboard track could be reinvented.
i love ss3 all three games i had for the ps2 and they got me into snowboarding hardcore. like the other say i went snowboarding and put on the ssx3 soundtrack and it was pretty magical
Like maybe a lot of game franchises at odds with themselves these days a combination of the 2 games would probably make a defacto, best game in the series.
Bring back the flavor, spectacle, map design and arcade style brevity of Tricky but merge it with the increased content, world interconnectivity, and further refined controls of SSX3. Imagine instead of 1 homogenous mountain, a better modern SSX would have multiple "mountains" like SSX2012 but with actually strong themes, locales, and set pieces to set them apart like, if not better, than the maps in Tricky do. Imagine on top of actually having local multiplayer once again, "story mode" would be your classic world circuit style progression through each "mountain" where you still work your way through preliminaries. However, rather than race through a course 3 times, each prelim is a different section of the given location with a similar length to a Tricky style course culminating in the final race being a much longer complete course with all previous sections seamlessly strung together with the last and final section. Winning that final race would of course unlock things like new racers, and customizables etc. but also open the entire mountain for free riding and thus provide collectibles/challenges/Easter eggs that would act as resources to improve your characters IF you happen to have trouble with the next mountain. Having said that, I do prefer Tricky's way of making characters naturally excel at different things unless you go out of your way to steer their stats towards your own preference, because along with potential rewards for maxing out a character, making it efficient to use different characters for different challenges makes it more likely for players to try a wide variety of them and therefore enjoy more of them. The relationships between the racers that were started in tricky could be turned up to 11, and make for interesting, optional side content with actual stories and more varied interactions/banter.
I'm not against having even more alternate routes ala SSX3 on, but I do prefer Tricky leaning intimate and linear routes with well defined obstacles, throughways, and points of efficiency. the alternative is not too bad in SSX 3 but gets especially bad in SSX2012 where the courses are extremely wide and on comparatively steep inclines and navigating them efficiently essentially means doing nothing but falling down the mountain, jumping over any and all obstacles. Tricky on the other hand is much more likely to have you actually boarding through snow or ice, if not on a rail, while navigating obstacles with all kinds of twists and turns, and I feel is much more well balanced between jumps, tricks and pure racing.
to my understanding, SSX2012 also breaks what I consider the golden rule and makes it so you can not only do tricks on a loop removing any need to time and sequence your tricks well, but also allows you to land in any orientation at any point of the trick without wiping out your character, and by removing those well defined risks, the tricks while smoother, feel less rewarding to pull off IMO.
NGL SSX On Tour is underappreciated. It was still a fun time.
ubscribed for showing JP so much love! SSX Tricky is my favorite sports game ever. I'd love to do a modern playthrough! We used to play it all the time back when I was 16
I grew up and played SSX 3, while only briefly playing SSX Tricky in McDonald's, so I don't know which I'd judge superior.
I missed out on tricky, I got a launch ps2 for Christmas when I was 12 and picked up the original ssx early. Later on I think I figured tricky was the same game but re released for other consoles (now i know better). When ssx3 came out I played it a lot but nowadays, thinking back it’s the crazy and wacky level designs in ssx and tricky that I miss. All the later games toned it down a lot and it’s a real pity.
Imagine if they actually made SSX Tricky 2 today.
Noo game was ass real SSX players would say bring 3 back y’all some fake fans
My first ssx game was the first one (the soundtrack was 🔥🔥🔥) I still for my ps2 from release day and sometimes play it from time to time! I also have ssx 3 on my Xbox!
Ssx3 will always be my fave, I spent so many hours playing it I still have muscle memory from the PS2 that made trying to play it on my brother in law’s xbox almost unplayable.
SSX Tricky was such a blast. I loved the tracks. They were so exciting and wild. I was never a huge gamer but i spent hours playing this game.
I bought SSX3 excited for a continuation of that. But it felt dull to me. I gave up on it pretty quickly. Maybe i missed out…
I played so much Tricky. It oozes personality.
With 3, I think I was overwhelmed with the openness.
I should try playing those both again soon.
I feel like whichever one you prefer usually comes down to which one you have the most nostalgia for. I grew up on 3 and never even touched Tricky until very recently, so it was a bit of culture shock to finally take it all in.
Tricky has a manic in-your-face energy that I’ve come to appreciate, but for me it’s still hard to beat the perfect balance 3 strikes. People talk about how 3 lacks personality compared to Tricky, but for me Tricky feels sometimes like it’s trying too hard to impress. 3 has this effortless chilled-out charm that never gets old, and that goes for the characters too. I’d much rather have the more 3-dimensional and grounded personalities over the snark-fueled energy from Tricky, but again that really comes down to which one you imprinted on first.
I do wish they’d kept more of the off-the-wall course design, but it’s a worthy exchange for how naturally the courses from 3 ebb and flow. And you can’t beat absolute zen of the the all-peak race. It’s heaven.
They’re different beasts for different tastes. Love ‘em both at the end of the day.
Played them both at launch and I couldn't agree more with your analysis.
For the first time in adult life I'm playing 3 again. And I'm picking up on all the nuances of I always ignored. Like the challenges and using front and back leaning thing to chain together tricks and racking up a massive multiplier. Along with stuff I haven't gotten to yet like unlocking more moves and maxing out character stats.
I never played tricky or other ssx games except 2012. But the level design in tricky would make it worth to play both.
I just bought this game today for my ps2 lol and yes my first exposure to snowboarding games was 1080 but ssx 3 was my first exposure to the series which became my favourite of the bunch and also it’s funny I get this on October 20th of 2023 and one day before it hits it’s 20th anniversary wow😮 😂 it was released back in October 21st 2003
Two of the best games on ps2, which happened to be the best system to date
Usually in these situations, I'm more of a fan of whatever came first. I often find it hard to look past what I loved so much about an inital game that it makes subsequent games feel lesser by comparison. SSX is not one of those franchises though. I played since the first game and always loved the next more than the last. They continued fine tuning physics, controls and character customisation with every iteration and it showed. Your point about SSX 3 "growing up" rings true as its fanbase at the time were also growing alongside it. I was 8 when SSX 3 released and never felt like the shift in tone was too drastic as each character still felt like themselves. They still had the same personalities I knew them for and, at the time, that was enough for me. Blue is a good man for caring for On Tour too. Unfortunately On Tour had kind of gone 2 steps forward and 1 back by mixing the open nature of 3 with the wacky tone of Tricky but its gameplay still felt as tight as ever and it certainly deserves praise. I only ask that we never speak of SSX Blur. It never happened. I don't know what you're talking about.
SSX 3 looks so good on Xbox One X!
I don't have a One X as of now but with how good the backward compatibility is, I might have to grab one when the new systems come out! I didn't realize SSX was supported , but that's really exciting!
@@Under10Hours how can you play it on that
I grew up on SSX Tricky/3 on the PS2. I downloaded 3 on my XB1 recently and the controls are *absurdly* bad in comparison (not trying to dunk on you if you grew up with it on Xbox, but the PS2/GC controls are far, far more intuitive). I really need to know if there's a way to remap the controls, because the game looks great as mentioned, but I refuse to learn board grabs with non-shoulder buttons.
I'm the same way. Love both for different reasons! If only we could combine the personality of tricky with the open mountain of tricky. It would be epic
To me, comparing 3 to Tricky is like comparing Tony Hawk's 3 to 1. It's just meatier and more refined, gameplay-wise.
Between the handplants, rail ubers, monster tricks, and most of all the board press which allows for mountain-long combo chains, there's just no contest in my eyes.
That's fair. I more compare Tricky and 3 to THPS3 to 4. Both came out back to back, and both took their respective series very different directions. But I do think that the style is different enough that people will have a preference for the interconnected mountains or the individual race tracks.
@@Under10Hours No doubt 3 was revolutionary for its time and Tricky kind of had that old school arcade style separate track type gameplay that people love more in some cases but 3 was a new direction that alot of people loved even more but I still think both games are absolutely incredible gems. Even the first SSX game that is PS2 exclusive was really good!
I was a coolboarders kid until I ran into tricky. Although tricky has my style and flair, I was always more into 3, I think it felt more relevant in the moment and I loved the freedom.
Coolboarders passed me by as a kid since I didn’t have the console to play it on, but I’ve always loved snowboarding (not actually doing it, but playing the games). Are they still worth checking out?
@@Under10Hours they didn't age very well. Nostalgia goggles can help, but since you don't have those...
If you stumble into coolboarders 2, check it out, but don't go nuts try to get to it.
@@poetikinjustice haha that’s a very honest opinion. I’ll keep an eye out for it! I’m always down to try some new snowboarding games
@@Under10Hours though it's been a long time, so I'm not sure how it's held up technically, tonally I love Amped 3.
Its wacky over the top and fun. I'm sure some of the humor hasn't aged great, but maybe it'll strike your chord (assuming you haven't played it before)
I'd definitely check out a vid you do on that.
that you dont boost on rails grinds my gears so bad
3 will always be what I think of when I think of ssx I love the 3rd game the gorgeous tracks the open ended exploration and the great music make it my favorite also there’s a lot more customization in that game
JP was my man the breakdancing special move was so cool
Can't wait for an SSX Tricky PS6 remake
Tricky I think just hit hard for me because of how it made the first game again, but crazier. Ssx3 felt like a step back on that vibe but it’s an awesome game
Loved both but 3 was definitely my favorite. Getting to go down 3 peaks in 1 nonstop run was so much fun. Plus I liked the customization.
What would you say to another game in the series that manages to pull off both strengths of SSX 3 and Tricky?
if it was done well that is.
one point you missed is the cheat characters in ssx 3. there are around 20 of them that can be unlocked with cheat codes. ranging from a cow to Sasquatch or a skeleton. they add much needed flavor to the boring character selection.
On Tour on Gamecube had Mario, Luigi & Peach from the start and you could also unlock fun characters
You can't go wrong with either in my opinion. To me Tricky is like the juvenile adrenaline junkie while SSX3 is more laid back and more confident in its mature core gameplay. . .I could never pick between the two coz as vastly different as they are, you can tell they share the same DNA and were coherently made by developers who put alot of time and love into them
Btw, you need to turn the PS logo on your PS2 slim round in your intro. It's in the vertical position when the PS2 is horizontal.
im convinced On Tour fans are just the equivalent of that deprived child that never got to see the good cartoons before they started inflating the TV with trash.
Also sorry you didn't like how the characters were conveyed in 3, i played with like 3 of them to hear their voicelines and the 3rd and only one i played since was Psymon (the objectively correct character to play)
3 is better in all categories for me honestly, people say Tricky has better visuals but 3 really beats it out, it just has less in your face neon colours.
this is the game i enjoy playing even being horrible at lol
those 3 rounds racings just kick me out lmao
Also, anyone know the song playing when he starts talking about SSX3? its nostalgic but i can't put my finger on it
I liked SSX 3 a lot better. Esp because of the open world-ish design of the maps where you could select what to do by going down a certain path (rather than just selecting from a menu). The controls are more comfortable imo too. I think it be better not if they did a remastering of the game (like what the Tony Hawk series did) but combine good elements from both games and add in anything else the games were lacking. Although this probably will never happen haha.