When I was walking around Day of the Devs, I stopped in my tracks once I caught glimpse of an awesome-looking snowboarding game. I’m not talking about some basic snowboarding game either. This one featured crazy tricks, neon colors, and just a bunch of euphoric visuals to go along with what obviously looked like a competitive race down the slopes. I knew I had to get my hands on it, and I’m glad I did.
As I was playing, I asked Wabisabi Co-Founder Anwar Noriega what inspired HYPERyuki: Snowboard Syndicate. It was probably a stupid question, because I got the obvious answer.
“We love SSX, and they don’t make it anymore.”
Who knew a cel-shaded art style would really help the landscape of snowboarding games?
HYPERyuki has SSX DNA ingrained into it, and the really cool thing about it is according to Noriega, nobody on the dev team worked on an extreme sports title. This is a fresh new experience for them, which makes this project all the more impressive.
As for actual gameplay, I needed no help. Despite the fact that it’s been two full console generations since the last SSX entry, I already knew what I was doing.
I tried out the racing mode, which definitely felt familiar. I forget exactly which character I used, but shredding down the slopes felt smooth and holding on the X button (on Xbox) made your rider boost speed, which is a vital tool anytime you bail or spend way too much time doing tricks.
Gotta love the great look in the background of each of the locales.
I was a bit rusty with the tricks, but it didn’t take long for me to find my groove. The course I played in appeared to be Asia-inspired, as I noticed pagodas off in the distance as I performed my flips and grabs (with the left and right triggers respectively) all whole holding on the D-Pad in various directions diagonally to add some pizazz to my tricks in the form of quick turns no less than a 540. Like SSX, if you don’t land straight, you fall, which obviously isn’t ideal in a race. Also, if you bailed in SSX, you lost all the progress to your Tricky gauge, which determine whether or not you can attempt super tricks–I honestly was so plugged in that I didn’t notice if HYPERyuki had a Tricky gauge of its own, but I’m assuming (and sort of hoping) that it does, because it’ll definitely hit all the right notes if it does. I’m pretty sure there was some equivalent, because once I hit a rhythm, I was hitting some amazing-looking tricks anyway.
As far as not bailing, I ended up employing the same strategy I had with SSX. When I caught big air, right before landing, I stopped what I was doing to have just enough time to see the snowboard eventually correct itself into the right position, and it all made me look more badass as a result.
Eventually, the finish line was upon us, so once I was satisfied to see that the controls felt so familiar, I focused on speed. The rush you get when coming down at top speed is as close to gaming euphoria as it gets, and when you combine that with the neon-esque color scheme to give it more of a Jet Set Radio look, the inspirations just look so obvious to not be good. Oh yeah, I won at the last second since I was so focused on doing tricks throughout the race.
If there’s an actionable complaint I made to the devs, it’s the fact that grind rails were required in this one.
As of right now, three modes for HYPERyuki have been planned. In addition to race, HYPERyuki will also be have Challenge, Chill, and Multiplayer modes. Chill and multiplayer should be self-explanatory, but the Challenge Mode appears to give the game more of a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater feel, as Noriega mentioned there’ll be opportunities to collect their version of the S-K-A-T-E tiles from the classics.
HYPERyuki: Snowboard Syndicate is a game I can’t wait for. Right now, it’s only being planned for release this year on PC, but I’m crossing my fingers that it comes to console sooner than later. It’s just been too long (more than a decade) since an SSX came out, and we honestly shouldn’t have to be waiting anymore, so kudos to Wabisabi for doing something EA Sports is leaving money on the table for.
When I was walking around Day of the Devs, I stopped in my tracks once I caught glimpse of a snowboarding game. I’m not talking about some basic snowboarding game either. This one featured crazy tricks, neon colors, and just a bunch of euphoric visuals to go along with what obviously looked like a competitive race down the slopes. I knew I had to get my hands on it, and I’m glad I did.
When I was walking around Day of the Devs, I stopped in my tracks once I caught glimpse of an awesome-looking snowboarding game. I’m not talking about some basic snowboarding game either. This one featured crazy tricks, neon colors, and just a bunch of euphoric visuals to go along with what obviously looked like a competitive race down the slopes. I knew I had to get my hands on it, and I’m glad I did.
As I was playing, I asked Wabisabi Co-Founder Anwar Noriega what inspired HYPERyuki: Snowboard Syndicate. It was probably a stupid question, because I got the obvious answer.
“We love SSX, and they don’t make it anymore.”
Who knew a cel-shaded art style would really help the landscape of snowboarding games?
HYPERyuki has SSX DNA ingrained into it, and the really cool thing about it is according to Noriega, nobody on the dev team worked on an extreme sports title. This is a fresh new experience for them, which makes this project all the more impressive.
As for actual gameplay, I needed no help. Despite the fact that it’s been two full console generations since the last SSX entry, I already knew what I was doing.
I tried out the racing mode, which definitely felt familiar. I forget exactly which character I used, but shredding down the slopes felt smooth and holding on the X button (on Xbox) made your rider boost speed, which is a vital tool anytime you bail or spend way too much time doing tricks.
Gotta love the great look in the background of each of the locales.
I was a bit rusty with the tricks, but it didn’t take long for me to find my groove. The course I played in appeared to be Asia-inspired, as I noticed pagodas off in the distance as I performed my flips and grabs (with the left and right triggers respectively) all whole holding on the D-Pad in various directions diagonally to add some pizazz to my tricks in the form of quick turns no less than a 540. Like SSX, if you don’t land straight, you fall, which obviously isn’t ideal in a race. Also, if you bailed in SSX, you lost all the progress to your Tricky gauge, which determine whether or not you can attempt super tricks–I honestly was so plugged in that I didn’t notice if HYPERyuki had a Tricky gauge of its own, but I’m assuming (and sort of hoping) that it does, because it’ll definitely hit all the right notes if it does. I’m pretty sure there was some equivalent, because once I hit a rhythm, I was hitting some amazing-looking tricks anyway.
As far as not bailing, I ended up employing the same strategy I had with SSX. When I caught big air, right before landing, I stopped what I was doing to have just enough time to see the snowboard eventually correct itself into the right position, and it all made me look more badass as a result.
Eventually, the finish line was upon us, so once I was satisfied to see that the controls felt so familiar, I focused on speed. The rush you get when coming down at top speed is as close to gaming euphoria as it gets, and when you combine that with the neon-esque color scheme to give it more of a Jet Set Radio look, the inspirations just look so obvious to not be good. Oh yeah, I won at the last second since I was so focused on doing tricks throughout the race.
If there’s an actionable complaint I made to the devs, it’s the fact that grind rails were required in this one.
As of right now, three modes for HYPERyuki have been planned. In addition to race, HYPERyuki will also be have Challenge, Chill, and Multiplayer modes. Chill and multiplayer should be self-explanatory, but the Challenge Mode appears to give the game more of a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater feel, as Noriega mentioned there’ll be opportunities to collect their version of the S-K-A-T-E tiles from the classics.
HYPERyuki: Snowboard Syndicate is a game I can’t wait for. Right now, it’s only being planned for release this year on PC, but I’m crossing my fingers that it comes to console sooner than later. It’s just been too long (more than a decade) since an SSX came out, and we honestly shouldn’t have to be waiting anymore, so kudos to Wabisabi for doing something EA Sports is leaving money on the table for.
by Danreb Victorio
