Snowboard Kids 2

Snowboard Kids 2
Developer(s)	Racdym
Publisher(s)	Atlus
Producer(s)	Hiroyuki Tanaka
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64
Release date(s)	[1] JP February 19, 1999 NA March 2, 1999 AUS April 30, 1999
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	1-4 Players
Rating(s)	CERO: A ESRB: Everyone (E) OFLC (AU): G
Media/distribution	Cartridge

Snowboard Kids 2, released in Japan as Super Snobow Kids (超スノボキッズ, chō sunobo kizzu; スノボ is a shortening of スノーボード^?), is a snowboarding video game developed by Racdym and published by Atlus. But unlike the first game, It was not released in Europe. Even though, it wasn't released there, a PAL version still exists and that was released in Australia.

Plot

The game is set in Snow Town, which is the main hometown of the protagonists. The plot follows the daily lives and adventures of the kids, and the rather ridiculous attempts of Damien to sabotage them.

Gameplay

The gameplay of this game is almost identical to its predecessor's, but with a few differences

There are now three distinct playing modes: the Story mode, which follows the game plot and uses the classical system of cash prizes by winning the races; the battle mode, which includes multiplayer mode; and the Training mode.

There were new additions and changes to the Items and Shots. All of them were redesigned and the Shots were renamed as Weapons. Additions include the Rocket, the Wings and the Whirlwind (see more below). Other changes to the Items and Weapons include the reduction in the freeze time when a character is hit by the Freezing Shot, and the effect of losing coins when hit by a Slapstick.

The special tricks (which were different for each character and required the player to perform a combo to do them) were replaced by the ability of doing multiple tricks while in the air. It also added the ability to repel Weapon attacks by performing a Trick or Board Grab in the imminence of the hit. The player can also look behind by pressing the R button.

Characters

Starting characters

Simon "Slash"

The title screen of Snowboard Kids 2 showing the characters

Full name: Simon "Slash" Kamei
Age: 10
Gender: Male
Type: All-around
Voiced by: Chiaki Morita (Japanese), Lani Minella (English)

Slash is described by Wendy's Internet as "active and noisy", and is seen throughout the game to be friendly and playful with most of the characters, being friends with Tommy since earlier ages and best friends with Jam. He's also shown alongside Jam annoying Linda and sometimes the other girls. Slash is the most balanced character in the game with average stats on speed, turning, and jump and is the best character for beginners, and is also the character players use while in Training mode.

Speed: 2
Turn: 2
Trick: 2

Nancy

Full name: Nancy Neil
Age: 10
Gender: Female
Type: Trick
Voiced by: Rio Natsuki (Japanese), Julie Noble (English)

Nancy is described by Wendy's Internet as "nice and reliable". She is, in fact, a nice girl, sweet to everyone and always tries, with no success, to make Linda and Slash set things up and get along well. Otherwise, she remains unaffected by their fights. She seems to be best friends with Linda. She is good at turning and jumps and lacks speed, so she is most used in courses which have narrow paths and difficult turns. However, she is highly recommended in Battle Mode if there are fast enough boards already unlocked, to conciliate with her high turning and trick skills.

Speed: 1
Turn: 3
Trick: 3

Jamjars "Jam"

Full name: Jamjars "Jam" Kuehnemund
Age: 10
Gender: Male
Type: All-around
Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe (Japanese), Mike Muratre (English)

Jam is described by Wendy's Internet as "a conceited brat". He can usually be found break-dancing, eating a sandwich, wreaking havoc or taunting Linda with Slash, although he can also be seen arguing or fighting with his friend due to his bad temper. He is another balanced character similar to Slash. He is sometimes seen talking to Wendy in the Snow Town Downtown in Story mode, and it's implied by their dialogue that they're dating.

Speed: 1½
Turn: 2½
Trick: 2½

Linda

Full name: Linda Maltinie
Age: 11
Gender: Female
Type: Speed
Voiced by: Rio Natsuki (Japanese), Julie Noble (English)

Linda is described by Wendy's Internet as "a snobbish brat". She is a rich girl who lives, as shown in Story Mode, in a castle located in a path of Snow Town which seems unaffected by snow and remains green and grassy. Although snobbish, she is nice to most of the characters, and is constantly being taunted by Slash and Jam, what causes her to lose her temper and pursue the two boys until she catches or lose them. She is also very competitive. She is a fast character, but lacks a bit in turning and tricks.

Speed: 2½
Turn: 1½
Trick: 1½

Thomas "Tommy"

Full name: Thomas "Tommy" Parsy
Age: 10
Gender: Male
Type: Speed
Voiced by: Kōichi Tōchika (Japanese), Ari Rossi (English)

Tommy is described by Wendy's Internet as an "easy-going glutton". He is an overweight boy and nice to everyone. He is friends with Slash since their early childhood and, although loving snowboarding as much as eating, doesn't care much for competition. He makes up for his low turning and trick stats with blinding speed he is the fatsest character tied with Mr Dog. He is a good pick for more experienced players.

Speed: 3
Turn: 1
Trick: 1

Wendy

Full name: Wendy Lane
Age: 10
Gender: Female
Type: Trick
Voiced by: Shizuka Ishikawa (Japanese), Lani Minella (English)

Wendy is a new addition to the series. She is described by Wendy's Internet as a child who "loves inventing stuff". She is, in fact, show as the inventor of the Rocket and of a spaceship that serves as her home and also takes the kids to Starlight Highway. She is good to everyone and has the same stats as Nancy. Wendy is sometimes seen talking to Jam in the Snow Town Downtown in Story mode, and it's implied by their dialogue that they're dating.

Speed: 1
Turn: 3
Trick: 3

Unlockable characters

These characters must be unlocked in order to be used and can only be used as playable characters in the Battle Mode. These characters will also use only Special Boards when you race against them.

Damien

Full name: Damien Von Loserpants
Age: Appears to be 10
Gender: Male
Type: All-around
Voiced by: Chiaki Morita (Japanese), Lani Minella (English)

Damien (known as: Black Kid in the Original Japanese version) is described by Wendy's Internet as "a stupid demon". Throughout the story he is constantly trying to interfere with the other kids games or activities but his plans fail (usually comically) and is often caught in the crossfire of the others arguments. Like Nancy, Damien has good handling. Damien also seems to have a crush on Nancy, but he fails to talk to her. The effects end similar to the failed schemes to interfere the others.

Speed: 2½
Turn: 3
Trick: 1½

How to unlock: Beat the Story mode in Normal mode.

Coach

Full name: Coach Katapolis
Age: 25 (in penguin years)
Gender: Male
Type: Trick
Voiced by: Kōichi Tōchika (Japanese), Mike Muratre (English)

Coach is described by Wendy's Internet as "an arduous teacher". He is seen in some episodes of Story mode as the snowboard teacher of the kids, and as the "master trickster" of Snow Town. He is the NPC you race against when in Training Mode. He has the same stats as Nancy and Wendy.

Speed: 1
Turn: 3
Trick: 3

How to unlock: beat the Trick Game in Story Mode.

Mr. Dog

Full name: Mr. Alvin B. Dog
Age: 50 (in dog years)
Gender: Male
Type: Speed
Voiced by: Kōichi Tōchika (Japanese), Ari Rossi (English)

Mr. Dog is described by Wendy's Internet as a "kind old man". The fastest character in the game, Mr. Dog has trouble navigating simple turns or jumping trivial gaps in the course, probably due to his weight. He is the owner of the board shop in both games. Mr. Dog has the same stats as Tommy.

Speed: 3
Turn: 1
Trick: 1

How to unlock: Beat the Speed and Shoot Games in the Story Mode.

Story Mode

In Story Mode, you will follow, in chapters, the daily life, adventures and races of the Snowboard Kids in Snow Town. The center of the action is the Snow Town Plaza, at Snowboard Street. Here, you can change your character in the school, buy and paint boards in Mr Dog's shops, save your game in the telephone booth, see game information at Wendy's Internet, play skill games and gain access to the courses.

Story mode has two distinct gameplay modes that you can choose:

The Normal Mode is the standard mode of when you start a new game.

The Expert Mode, is available as an unlockable feature once Normal mode is complete. The difficulty of the races is dramatically increased, and money can only be obtained by doing tricks. No money is scattered throughout the courses.

Enter Damien

At the foot of Sunny Mountain, a void appears in the ground and a strange figurecomes out from it. This figure, Damien, throws a bomb at the other characters, but the bomb falls at his feet, knocking him down and putting Damien into a daze. The other kids go for their first snowboard race with rockets, but they don't notice Damien knocked down in the ground.

After racing on "Sunny Moutnain", the kids are back from their race. Damien finally recovers from the stun and wakes up, but isn't noticed by the others.

Picnic at Turtle Island

Damien is on a beach on Turtle Island. The others are all speaking and having a good time on another part of the beach. Damien sends a crab to them. Slash sees the crab and tries to play with it, but the crab bites his finger. In pain, Slash tries to shake the crab off, while Jam laughs at him and Linda is surfing toward them. Jam suggests everyone have a race, and they leave Slash behind. He throws the crab away away, and it lands on Damien's head. They then race on turtle Island.

The boys found a treasure chest underwater, and they try to open it. After failing, Slash throws it away and it hits Damien, knocking him unconscious as the chest finally opens to reveal it's a jack-in-the-box.

Mission: Snowman

The snowboarders are building snowmen, boys against girls. The girls win, having a much larger snowman. Jam and Slash destroy the girls' snowman, and Linda chases after them. they race on Jingle Town.

After a victory, Slash, Linda and Jam are tired from the race. They call for Tommy, Wendy and Nancy, who are staring a huge snowman. Wendy joins them and presses a button in her remote control. A big snowman head falls from the sky and completes the Snowman Robot. It chases Slash and Jam while Linda watches in shock. The player then faces it as a boss on Jingle Town.

The Snowman Robot is defeated and disappears. Wendy walks along, and takes out her remote control, pressing the same button. A new Snowman Robot falls from the sky. The other kids run away in panic, while Wendy watches, confused.

Oh m' gosh! We're tiny!

Wendy is in her house, and the others arrive, only to be shrunk by Wendy's latest invention. After shrinking herself, she explains that she planned a race in her house and invites the other kids, who enjoy the idea.

After the race, everyone is having a good time at Wendy's house, amazed with their new sizes. Tommy is away from the group. He notices a big piece of cheese in a mouse trap and tries to remove it, but gets trapped in it and becomes dazed. The other kids get him out and Tommy apologises for giving them a shock.

Happy Birthday!

It's Linda's birthday and she is throwing a party at her castle. Linda enjoys herself, but then notices that the boys and Damien are eating the party food. She gets on her snowboard to chase Jam and Slash, who run away. In her way, Linda hits Damien. Nancy and Wendy notice Damien dazed on the floor.

After the race, Linda sees the grand hall of her castle is destroyed. Slash and Jam appear behind her and laugh at her. She chases them again. Nancy and Wendy notice Tommy is eating the cake, and Nancy notices Damien, who is fattened by the cake.

Find the legendary butterfly

Nancy, Tommy and Wendy see a yellow butterfly. Nancy befriends the butterfly, but it flies away. The kids chase the butterfly, but it is too fast. Linda gets her helicopter and they fly after the butterfly. Slash and Jam finally arrive at Crazy Jungle, after chasing the helicopter, exhausted.

After the race, Nancy is playing with lots of butterflies, but misses the yellow one. Jam finds it, but a dinosaur scares it away. The player must then race the dinosaur.

After beating it in a race, the dinosaur runs off. The kids celebrate, and yellow and pink butterflies appear.

Space Tour

Wendy invites the others to a trip in outer space. They accept and each of them go aboard the UFO. Damien stows away too. The spaceship lands in an unknown planet.

After the race, the kids decide to go home. Damien sees the spaceship leaving to take the kids home and starts crying.

Halloween Night

It's Halloween night, so the kids decide to explore a haunted house. Tommy and Nancy, however, are scared, but Slash and Jam push them in. Wendy invites the others in. Damien follows them. The door closes by itself.

After the race, the kids run out of the house. Tommy falls but recovers quickly and runs out. Wendy locks the entrance of the house and they leave. However, Damien was left behind.

Damien's Revenge

Damien is stood, alone, when Nancy walks along and greets her friend (who are offscreen). However, he mistakes it for a greeting meant for him, and reacts positively (with a love heart popping up). However, when he finds out the truth, he runs after them, and shouts "Let's Battle!"

After the race, the kids are all together, when Nancy asks after Damien, who isn't present. A robot drops down, in the shape of Damien's head with Damien inside. The player then has to fight him.

Finally, after the battle, Damien starts crying, when Slash offers to help him up, and offers friendship. Damien accepts, then runs away. He comes back with a wrapped up box. What appears to be a present is actually a bomb, and it hits all six of the kids and putting all six kids into a daze. Apon all six kids recovering from the stun, Slash then chases after him.

Courses

Each course is different and has its own characteristics, which are:

Length: the distance from the Start Line to the Lift.
Laps: the number of laps you will need to race to win.
Difficulty: the difficulty of the course in a 5/5 scale
NPCs.: the 3 standard opponents you will race against if in 1 Player mode. The PNJs will change if you choose one of them as your racer or if you change the playing mode.

All these courses will be available for stunt in Battle mode after you beat them in Story mode.

Sunny Mountain

Length: 1008m

Laps: 3

Difficulty: 1/5

NPCs: Tommy, Wendy, Slash

The beginning course is set in the mountain in which foot the kids usually play. It's very easy to beat. It has no shortcuts. When you beat this course, you will unlock Turtle Island.

Turtle Island

Length: 1379m

Laps: 3

Difficulty: 2/5

NPCs: Nancy, Linda, Jam

This course is set in a tropical island. The kids will race in rocks, in beaches and underwater. Obstacles include sea plants. The lift seats are replaced by turtles. There is a shortcut taking the left route right after entering underwater. When you beat this course, you will unlock Jingle Town. The song that plays in this level is a remix of the Dizzy Land theme from the first game.

Jingle Town

Length: 1480m

Laps: 3

Difficulty: 2/5

NPCs: Wendy, Slash, Linda

This course is set in a festive and merry mountain village where Christmas is an all-year event. Obstacles include Christmas Trees and rabbits. There are no shortcuts in this track. When you beat this course, you will unlock the first Boss Stage.

Boss Stage I

Set in: Jingle Town

Length: 1480

The first boss stage is at the peaceful Jingle Town. These time, there are no Christmas Trees or rabbits in your way. You will race at night. When you beat this course, you will unlock Wendy's House.

Story mode

Laps: 1

Difficulty: 3/5

NPCs: Snowman Robot

To defeat the Snowman Robot, use the items in the course to attack him before he crosses the finish line. If he does, you will lose.

Battle mode

Laps: 3

Difficulty: 2/5

NPCs: Jam, Nancy, Tommy

Boards

Starting boards

These are the boards that you start the game with. There are three types of them. Stats are given as a number out of a possible ten.

Balance Board

Balance Board LV1

• Speed: 3
• Turn: 4
• Trick: 4

Balance Board LV2

• Speed: 5
• Turn: 4
• Trick: 4

Balance Board LV3

• Speed: 7
• Turn: 4
• Trick: 4

Trick Board

Trick Board LV1

• Speed: 2
• Turn: 5
• Trick: 5

Trick Board LV2

• Speed: 4
• Turn: 5
• Trick: 5

Trick Board LV3

• Speed: 6
• Turn: 5
• Trick: 5

Speed Board

Speed Board LV1

• Speed: 4
• Turn: 3
• Trick: 3

Speed Board LV2

• Speed: 6
• Turn: 3
• Trick: 3

Speed Board LV3

• Speed: 8
• Turn: 3
• Trick: 3

Special Boards

As before, stats are given as a number out of a possible ten.

Star Board

• Speed: 8
• Turn: 5
• Trick: 5

Description: A well balanced board

Unlocked by: Beating expert mode in Wendy's House

Feather Board

• Speed: 6
• Turn: 5
• Trick: 10

Description: A board that uses feathers permanently.

Unlocked by: Beating expert mode in Turtle Island.

Ice Board

• Speed: 7
• Turn: 1
• Trick: 4

Description: A ice shaped board with very bad turns

Unlocked by: Beating expert mode in Jingle Town's Boss

Ninja Board

• Speed: 1
• Turn: 5
• Trick: 5

Description: A very slow snowboard that makes you invisible throughout the race

Unlocked by: Beating expert mode in Starlight Highway

Rich Board

• Speed: 7
• Turn: 4
• Trick: 4

Description: A dollar shaped board that increases your money while you race

Unlocked by: Beating expert mode in Linda's Castle

Poverty Board

• Speed: 3
• Turn: 4
• Trick: 4

Description: A broken board that decreases your money while you race

Unlocked by: Beating expert mode in Sunny Mountain

Charm Board

• Speed: 7
• Turn: 4
• Trick: 4

Description: A angel shape board that prevents you from getting ghosted from the other players

Unlocked by: Beating expert mode in Haunted House

High Tech Board

• Speed: 9
• Turn: 4
• Trick: 4

Description: A board that uses a fan throughout the race

Unlocked by: Beating expert mode in Ice Land's Boss

Dragon Board

• Speed: 10
• Turn: 1
• Trick: 10

Description: A dragon shape board that uses rockets & feathers throughout the race

Unlocked by: Beating expert mode in Crazy Jungle and Boss

References

1. ^ http://www.gamespot.com/n64/sports/snowboardkids2/similar.html?mode=versions