Welcome Hivers and especially gamers to my retro PC games section. I'm Shandalar and this is a topic close to my heart, as memories always take me back to my childhood years. I have been playing games for over 30 years and would love to share with you the early days of video game history.
This content is for you. I hope you enjoy my stories, reminisce with me, and the quickest of you can win a some Hives in the contest question posted at the end of the topic.

Sit back and relax, we're starting...

Intro

This is perhaps the greatest winter classic and competitive brawler from Electronic Arts. The game was released in 1990 on Amiga, NES, Commodore 64 and also for PC MS-dos. I've long wondered whether to merge the topic to this game. But in the end I decided not to. It's actually a series of five mini-games with a bit of a punk-rock vibe. Neither the graphics nor the gameplay were exceptional for their time, but the soundtrack stood out. The electric guitar sounded divine even on a pc-speaker, and besides that the game supported Adlib and Roland soundblasters.

Gameplay

The game is 100% arcade and the mentioned mini-games have different mechanics. You control a skier, with whom you drive around the area and choose the discipline you want to practice according to the locations on the edge of the screen.

In each of them you collect a score and once you've practiced, you have the option to start all the mini-games and play them "for the scoreboard". Alternatively, you have the option to play a tournament with friends, in which you can set up a game for up to 6 people using hotseat. Each mini-game is controlled by directional arrow keys and one action key.

The engine has its flaws. The game's framerate is 15fps, displaying in 16 primary colours, and sometimes you'll be annoyed by the crinkly animations, which have a limited number of sprites and look unpolished in places, which doesn't have a good effect on gameplay. However, the aforementioned electric guitar, novel ideas and the ability to practice everything in practice mode erase these shortcomings. You find out what works, what doesn't work and in the end it's all about having fun with your friends.

Snowboard halfpipe

You ride a u-ramp. You avoid chainsaw rabbits and logs. You try to pick up parrots in sunglasses and perform tricks on the jumps or edges of the ramp.

For tricks and parrots you collect courage points, which have three levels. Once you fall or run into a log or chainsaw, your courage resets. On the other hand, the longer you go without making a mistake, the more complicated and point-worthy tricks you can perform.

Innertube trash

You are competing against one racer and have the task to reach the finish line first. On the mountains, arrows are played, so you can use the action keys to stab ahead and when you hit your opponent's tire, so you can make the race uncomfortable for him.

You can also pick up better weapons during the race, such as a fork or Swiss Knife, which will reliably drain your opponent's innertube in one stab. You can also push each other off the track for more fun.

Acroaerials

Acrobatic jumps are the same ones we know from TV. You have three attempts. You do some somersaults and a couple of monkey flips and you get points from the five jurors.

The higher total points wins. The most important thing is not to mess up the landing.

Downhill blitz

A helicopter drops you off at the top of the mountain, you put on your skis and off you go.

You won't avoid the places you need to jump over, you'll search for jumps for points and you'll grind a few times before you find the perfect track. As in the other minigames, it's all about not falling so much and earn some points.

Snowball blast

This is the last of the series. You have a great hiding place in the well, using the arrow keys to move the cursor around the screen and shoot down anything that moves. Unfortunately, they are charging at you from the four winds, and according to the radar on the top bar, you have to click in the appropriate directions.

Of course, there are bonus items where the cursor fires automatically, for example.

Outro

The game probably can't be compared in terms of quality with, for example, Acolade's Wintergames. It has a completely different vibe. I got into it as a kid, so I couldn't even consider how cool it was. When I look back on it in hindsight, it evokes longboard events in me. Alternative people, rock music, adrenaline, lots of alcohol and dangerous situations with hard falls and making it fun for others.

Hive Race contest

Contest question for 5 Hive for the fastest correct answer.
What happens, if you clear all cardinal points in Snowball blast game?

Previous chapters:

#1 The legend of Kyrandia
#2 Anotherworld
#3 Dungeon Master

This is an original article published exclusively for the Hive community and its content is the intellectual property of @Shandalar. All rights reserved.