SSX 3 (PlayStation 2, 2003)

I had never really gotten into snowboarding games, but I had played SSX Tricky at a friend's house a few times and liked it. But I heard that SSX 3 was the cream of the crop. SO I bought it on ebay and man am I glad I did. This game is pure fun. The game takes place on one really huge mountain that has three peaks. You start on Peak 1 with whatever character you want to choose. You compete in various snowboarding events and get money to buy attributes, clothes, music and other goodies. The modes of play are very fun and there is a good variety. Race is your typical get-to-the-end first mode. There is Big Air, where you go through a very short track that has a big ramp at the end, where you try to pull off your best tricks and get the highest score. Slopestyle is a track filled with ramps and grind rails and the goal is to get the highest score possible using them. Superpipe is the half pipe contest and is where you can grab some serious airtime. If you don't feel like competing you can explore the mountain in a "Freeride" mode that lets you go just about anywhere. It's really useful for getting to know the tracks without the pressure of getting the high score or best time. The music in this game is fantastic. From Aphrodite to The Black Eyed Peas to MxPx to Junkie XL, the musci fits the game perfectly.

I would highly recommend this game to anyone who has always wanted to play a snowboarding game or to anyone who wants to have a blast. Get it. You won't regret it.