One ambitious independent developer has just released a throwback to classic 90s PlayStation snowboarding game Cool Boarders, but with a twist. Sony's original PlayStation is known for a ton of classic games. Several iconic fighting games, RPGs, and shooters all made debuts on the little gray box. The console was also the first home of not only several sport franchises, but also extreme sport franchises.One of these classics is Cool Boarders, which first saw release back in 1996. The game has players take on the role of a snowboarder racing against AI opponents down several different mountains. In addition to the race itself, boarders can do sick tricks and even grind on certain objects years before Tony Hawk's Pro Skater made that a skateboarding video game staple.Unfortunately, the Cool Boarders franchise has ironically been on ice since the turn of the millennium with Cool Boarders 2001 on the now decades-old PlayStation 2. Indie developer Nathan Gabriel took it on themselves to not only make a game celebrating the franchise, but add one very fun new feature to it: Blood. And lots of it.
When firing up BloodBoarderz, the game first has the player pick the raddest looking snowboard. Immediately after making a selection, the snowboarder is tossed from a helicopter into the snowy fray. Changes from Cool Boarders are immediately noticeable, with the player's snowboarder wielding a bloody machete.
The gameplay feels just like Cool Boarders with a very nice sprinkling of Road Rash mixed in. Unlike Cool Boarders, the player doesn't race other snowboarders as much as stalk them. Tricks are included in the game, but the true focus is violence. Instead of displaying current ranking in a race, BloodBoarderz shows a kill counter that needs to get racked up before hitting the finish line. While the other snowboarders don't put up much of a fight, there are environmental hazards to watch out for. These include giant spinning spike columns that will turn the player into mincemeat if not careful. There are even collectible presents to find on the mountain. For what is essentially a tech demo, there's a lot here to love.
The whole affair can be powered through in an afternoon, but the overall idea is solid enough to warrant work on a full version. Snowboarding games haven't gone anywhere since Cool Boarders stopped doing yearly releases, but none of those games star a blade swinging maniac.
BloodBoarderz is now available on itch.io.
