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Alpine Racer 3 for PlayStation 2
Alpine Racer 3 for PlayStation 2 lets you descend snowy mountain slopes on skis, a snowboard or skiboards. You choose a character and look for a fast line to the finish through corners, jumps and obstacles. Your equipment and rider's attributes affect how you approach a route. A combination that works well on a wide straight demands a different response in a sharp turn. Branching paths also give you room to explore different descents.
In the Extreme Winners Cup, you try to beat rivals and advance through the tournament. Prize money buys other equipment and clothing. Cross Race lets you descend alongside three computer-controlled opponents, while Slalom centres on passing flags. Time Attack removes the contest against other riders and judges your finishing time. This lets you explore the same slope first and then try to find a better line or a faster sequence of turns.
The routes include mountain landscapes from the European Alps, as well as remade courses from the arcade predecessor and a distinctive artificial challenge. Changing weather affects how a descent looks. You play with a standard controller; no special skiing equipment is required. With two controllers, two players can descend against each other simultaneously on a horizontally split screen. Speed on a straight is not all that matters: linking a jump neatly to the next turn also counts.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 2 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
Alpine Racer 3 for PlayStation 2 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of Alpine Racer 3
Namco developed Alpine Racer 3 for PlayStation 2 and released it in Japan in March 2002. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe followed with the European release in December that year. Its origins lie in Namco's Alpine Racer arcade games, where the player stood on moving footrests. For home play, control shifted to a gamepad. The recognisable descents remained a foundation, but the console version also gained its own tournament structure, characters and equipment to unlock while playing.
For this version, Namco presented skis, snowboards and skiboards as different equipment types that can be combined with the characters. The design therefore involves not only knowing a mountain but also the interaction between rider, equipment and route. Development used satellite data and on-site research for the Alpine courses. Remade arcade tracks and the artificial Cyber Trick Monster route sit alongside them. The collection thus connects recognisable mountain regions with deliberately invented obstacles and challenges.
The Extreme Winners Cup gives individual descents a longer context: victories and prize money open new possibilities. Slalom, time trials and the local two-player duel let you practise the same controls with different goals. The move into the home thus also changed the series' rhythm. Where the arcade cabinet emphasised one physical ride, this console version linked descending to recurring rivals and unlocked equipment. The mountain remained the recognisable core, but there were more reasons to ride a route again.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
SSX Tricky combines snowboard races with Showoff events in which trick points decide the result. Large Uber-tricks provide the spectacular side of those descents. Alpine Racer 3 also uses jumps and mountain courses but lets you choose skis and skiboards too, and has a separate slalom. Knowing a route helps find a fast line in both. Tricky builds more around the connection between stunts and boost, Alpine around rider and equipment.
SSX 3 links events on one large mountain with three peaks and gives you room to keep snowboarding between competitions. Alpine Racer 3 divides its descents between individual routes and a tournament with rivals. Both combine racing, jumps and equipment improvements, but differ in how you explore the area. SSX 3 lets you search for activities on a continuous mountain; Alpine offers a more focused choice of event and slope.
SSX On Tour lets you create your own skier or snowboarder and build a reputation through tasks and competitions. Alpine Racer 3 uses predefined characters whose equipment and clothing can be further customised. Skiing and snowboarding appear in both, but On Tour gives more room to Monster-tricks and your own athlete's career. Alpine centres its tournament on defeating rivals and alternates that with slalom and time trials.
Downhill Domination uses mountain bikes rather than snow equipment but shares the search for a fast route down a mountain. Along the way, you can perform tricks and attack opponents. Alpine Racer 3 keeps competition focused on riding skis and boards on different kinds of slopes. Both require looking ahead at jumps and obstacles; Downhill adds combat and bike upgrades, while Alpine makes the combination of character and snow equipment matter.
Splashdown lets you race a personal watercraft around buoys and use stunts to build speed. Alpine Racer 3 races on snow and makes equipment choice and the shape of a slope count. Both connect steering, jumps and a good landing, but the environment responds differently. In Splashdown, you seek a line across waves and past buoys; Alpine asks you to read turns, changes in elevation and obstacles during a descent.
