This product is in good condition. At NexWave Games, good means:
Additionally, all discs at NexWave Games are carefully inspected and assessed for quality. When discs arrive, we do not accept any that are so badly damaged that they are unlikely to work. We only accept discs with light scratches at most. Discs with scratches are then treated in our professional disc repair machine. By warming the disc and polishing it with soft brushes, these machines can remove a very thin layer from the disc. This removes the layer containing surface scratches and improves the disc’s readability. This ensures the disc works properly, even on consoles with ageing lasers that have difficulty reading games! Great news for the player.
Snowboard Kids for Nintendo 64
Snowboard Kids for Nintendo 64 combines snowboard races with items that can turn a contest around. You choose one of the colourful riders and seek a route to the lead between turns and jumps. Along the way you collect coins to buy attacks and support items at the little trackside shops. A shot can knock an opponent down, while a speed fan temporarily makes your own board faster. You store an attack and a support item separately, so you need not use everything as soon as you buy it.
At the end of a lap, the ski lift carries you back up. The route to that lift therefore matters just as much as the descent itself. Alongside Battle Race, there are challenges in which you must ride quickly, hit snowmen or score points with tricks. In the Board Shop you buy different boards and change their colour. Different boards distribute their strengths between speed, turning and tricks; winning races brings money and further challenges.
Up to four players race simultaneously on one Nintendo 64 using split screen, each with their own Nintendo 64 controller. You need a separate Controller Pak to save your game. Controllers and a Controller Pak are not supplied as part of this game cartridge.
Region and language
Our Nintendo 64 games are PAL editions, unless stated otherwise. This product contains a loose cartridge for the European market. A box is only included if explicitly stated in the product details. We note any different region in the product details. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
With Snowboard Kids for Nintendo 64, you receive a loose cartridge. A box and manual are not included unless we explicitly state otherwise in the product details. This is the standard way we supply this copy.
The history of Snowboard Kids
Racdym developed Snowboard Kids for Atlus. The game appeared in Japan in December 1997 and reached Europe in 1998. Racdym is now called Racjin, but the original game carries the name used at the time. The large heads, short bodies and distinctive clothing give the snowboarders a cartoon appearance. The team thus took a different direction from a sporting portrayal with real riders: the characters and attacks are immediately recognisable when several participants move through the same image at once.
The races combine a downhill run with the structure of a lap-based circuit. The lift at the bottom makes another lap possible without moving the snowboarding onto a flat racetrack. Shops and coins add a second consideration to choosing a route: a rider can keep going or spend money on an attack. A good turn is therefore not the only way to gain ground. Separate slots for an attack and a support item also let players keep one in reserve while already using the other option.
Snowboard Kids began a series that included Snowboard Kids 2 on Nintendo 64 and later a separate game for Nintendo DS. This offer concerns the first N64 game, without the story structure and extra characters of later entries. In December 2022, Atlus marked the twenty-fifth anniversary and released music from the series digitally. That retrospective underlines how strongly the recognisable riders, music and item-based races are tied to the identity of the original game.
Similar games for Nintendo 64
Snowboard Kids and 1080° Snowboarding both take you downhill on a board, but call for different decisions. Snowboard Kids lets you buy items along the way and obstruct your opponents; 1080° puts more emphasis on cornering, speed and a controlled landing. In Snowboard Kids you return by lift for another lap. In 1080° you try to read a single descent better, without being able to stop an opponent with a purchased projectile.
Mario Kart 64 shares colourful races and the use of attacks to put the leader under pressure. There you receive an item from a box; in Snowboard Kids you pay at a shop along the route with coins you have collected. That makes your cash reserves part of the race. Kart tracks let you drive laps, while Snowboard Kids links downhill runs with a lift. A good position at the lift can therefore matter just as much as a well-placed attack.
Diddy Kong Racing combines recognisable characters, items and tracks you get to know better by racing them again. Karts, hovercrafts and planes each provide their own kind of handling. Snowboard Kids sticks with boards, but lets the riders, board types and purchased support items change your approach. Diddy Kong Racing ties its races to an adventurous world; Snowboard Kids organises its variety around Battle Race, separate skill challenges and earning money for your equipment.
Wave Race 64, like Snowboard Kids, asks you to look ahead to where your next turn begins. The jet ski must absorb waves and pass buoys on the correct side. Snowboard Kids gives you a snowy slope with jumps, coins and attacks from other riders. Where losing a position in Wave Race mainly calls for a better line, here you can also use an item you have bought. Reading the surface remains important in both, but the opposition works differently.
F-Zero X and Snowboard Kids let several players compete directly for a good racing line. The futuristic vehicles of F-Zero X gain speed through boosts, with a personal turbo costing energy. Snowboard Kids uses purchased support items, among other things, to go faster temporarily. You do not have to sacrifice an energy meter to a turbo there, but you do need to watch your coins. F-Zero X keeps the contest to steering, collisions and speed; Snowboard Kids adds aimed shots and other disruptions.
