GOTD 4/26/2016: Val d'Isere Skiing and Snowboarding (JAG)

[celerystalker]

Val d'Isere Skiing & Snowboarding for the Atari Jaguar is exactly what the name implies, which is to say a skiing and snowboarding racer set in France's Val d'Isere mountain resort. You play as a generic winter sports enthusiast who can either free ride and practice the mountain or compete in a series of races in the downhill, slalom, and giant slalom events. The goal in these is to qualify in the first three races in order to compete in the final of each event. In free ride, you must simply complete various courses, hitting checkpoints along the way for more time, Outrun style. Completing courses opens up new sections of the mountain to race. All events can be done on either skis or snowboard. Try and clear the whole mountain!

Val d'Isere really has the look and feel of a Sega super scaler game, with all of the scaling sprites and fast play to go along with it. Free ride is easily my favorite mode, as it's basically Outrun on a snowboard. In all events, though, you have the same controls, which are accelerate, brake, hard turn, and jump. Everything is very responsive, and I don't find myself blaming the controls while I play. The courses are of a good length, with a lot of turns, slopes, and obstacles. The only real complaint I have is that it can at times be a little easy to lose sight of the track, as the majority of it is white, and there aren't always a lot of bordering objects to identify the edges, and it doesn't have the color contrast benefit of the road and grass from Outrun or Hang On. Still, it never gets out of hand after you've played for a little to get a feel for the game.

The music is okay, but I wouldn't call it a selling point. The graphics, though, are nice and crisp, and anytime you draw comparisons to Sega super scaler games, it's a compliment. Everything is super smooth, and the game runs very, very fast. It may even feel too fast at first, but once you settle in, it only adds to the arcade feel of the game.

In a lot of ways, to me this is Outrun on a snowboard, and you can tell it's from the same folks who did Super Burnout on the Jaguar. It isn't as polished as Sega's classic, but it most certainly is representative of what more Jaguar games could have been if not for the 3D obsession of the day. Color me a fan.

Played this one?