Metacritic Games

SSX On Tour (Playstation 2)

SSX On Tour is a completely fresh take on the SSX franchise. Building on the core speed and trick gameplay that has been so successful in the past, players can now choose their way to become black diamond fiends. SSX On Tour allows players to create their own boarder or skier and take them from a wannabe to a mountain rockstar. Players can get noticed in all-new shred challenges where they earn an invitation to The Tour where they'll face the best racers in the SSX cast. Fly down the all-new tracks, and master the new monster tricks for both boarding and skiing to make it to the top of The Charts. [Electronic Arts]

Electronic Arts
Extreme Sports
Players: 2
E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older)
Developer: EA Canada
Released October 11, 2005

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

80 / 100

Critic Reviews

90 Yahoo! Games
It's one of those long-term compelling games, perfect for digging in and ranking up, practicing competitively, or just relaxing and letting gravity do its thing. It is as once a sport, a pastime, and one of the finest games you can enjoy at your own pace.
90 GameSpy
Since just about every trail is unlocked from the beginning, you won't get to feel the satisfaction of making your way to a new mountain (one of the best parts of "SSX 3") and exploring it for the first time.
90 Cheat Code Central
Those who are looking for more Tony Hawk style challenges which are entirely based on skill, might not dig the On Tour vibe with it's easier than pie trickstylings, but those who know that it's all about getting to the bottom first and looking awesome while doing it will really get into this one.
90 Pelit (Finland)
An excellent addition to the SSX franchise. Beautiful scenery, interesting tracks and a lot of different race types. The multiplayer options are not so hot. [Nov 2005]
90 TotalGames.net
As addictive as its predecessor thanks to its hypnotic racing, perfect feel and disregard for videogame rules.
89 IC-Games
It might not bring earth shattering extras to the table but this time SSX on Tour has managed to fix everything we hated about the series in the first place and has ultimately matured enough to be an essential purchase this time around.
89 GameZone
The fact that the mountain is alive and teeming with other skiers makes this game that much better because it has a feeling of more realism in comparison to the other games in the series.
88 IGN
A challenging racer that will rock your world, hopefully the next game in the series will add as much substance as this one added in style.
88 Gamer 2.0
Despite the lack of an online mode, this brand new style works out extremely well for the series and should bring the game a lot more fans.
88 DailyGame
The game hits its stride late, but when it does, it hits it big. There’s a lot of fun here for the patient gamer.
88 Gaming Horizon
Despite the lack of multiplayer options, there are plenty of things to do in the single-player tour mode, and its steady progression in difficulty is wholly satisfying.
87 GameSpot
This is an incredibly slick package, and not just on the surface, either. On Tour tightens up a lot of the underlying course designs and gameplay mechanics, and it quickens the pace without betraying the fundamentals of SSX.
85 Games Radar UK (Pre-2006)
Ace, and yet strangely subdued. We still reckon the series peaked with "Tricky." [GamesMaster]
85 PALGN
The game just feels a lot faster than its predecessor. The motion blur really helps to make the game a lot more intense, and the tracks are a lot more realistic.
85 Jolt Online Gaming UK
Despite the step-down in charm, the game underneath it all is splendid.
83 Electronic Gaming Monthly
Still, even with the new levels, simpler event progression, and slightly upgraded graphics, this feels too much like my last SSX winter getaway. Next season, I want to go somewhere new and exciting.
83 Gaming Age
Offers enough newness for a purchase, but fans that have been there from the beginning might begin to wonder when the series will take that next step in evolution.
83 Next Level Gaming
SSX is missing a couple of key elements that would have put it on the same level as "Amped"; namely online gameplay. But the trade-off is a very good control system that you have to get used to.
80 EuroGamer
It's a different game without being a different game. Enjoyable without being extraordinary.
80 Play Magazine
The grinding is good, the tricks are easy enough for a shlub to pull off, and Electronic Arts does a fine job of fleshing everything out with a series of animated pencil line drawings that jackhammer home the game's exceedingly cool style. [Nov p.93]
80 GamePro
For every good aspect of the game there seems to be a bad one, and when you balance that out across the board (or ski), it just adds up to a game that tries to evolve a winning formula but falls prey to its own ambition.
80 1UP
It's a great game in the same way its predecessor -- "SSX 3" -- was a great game. It is not, however, a great game in the same way "SSX Tricky" was before that -- that is to say, it won't go on to be one of the greats.
80 Game Informer
Hurtling down the tundra and concocting ridiculously large combo strings remain irresistible qualities, but the torturous design of the game makes you want to take the next flight off of this mountain. [Nov 2005, p.140]
80 Official U.S. Playstation Magazine
EA's desire to reinvent is admirable, but given that this is the fourth outing for a franchise beloved for being different, the move toward the conventional does nothing but hurt it. [Dec 2005, p.114]
80 eToychest
The issue here perhaps that the SSX franchise was not yet ready for another sequel, and EA’s attempt to further cash in on their past success has resulted in a game that is inferior to its predecessors.
80 Computer and Video Games
Replete with buckets of sometimes stupid-sounding skills and a new, massive quota of really loud shouty-rock, On Tour is the nearest you'll come to snowboarding without getting a) frostbitten or b) snow-blind. [PSW]
80 Armchair Empire
Just doesn't live up to its pedigree which, given the cheaper prices of the older games, are by far better values for those unacquainted with the series.
80 games(TM)
Even when the game begins to repeat itself, it never ceases to be fun. The initial wonderment may wear off slightly, but the engine is so solid and the gameplay mechanic is so enjoyable that SSX On Tour never drops below stellar status. [Dec 2005, p.102]
80 Boomtown
Fantastic stuff. It’s the sort of game non-sports fans can pick up and love. Not only is it the best SSX to date, it also features Apply Some Pressure by Maximo Park.
80 Official Playstation 2 Magazine UK
SSX still rules the snowboard scene, but On Tour fails to live up to its predecessors. [Nov 2005, p.95]
80 AceGamez
You'll definitely enjoy the On Tour mode for a good while, but don't expect to love the entire game like you might have loved the previous titles in the series; it feels more like an odd but amusing experiment for the series that won't be back for the next iteration, which will most likely return to the roots that the series was most successful with.
78 PSX Extreme
It just didn't captivate me like the other SSX games have. Most of the changes to the way the game is played feel like they’re there just to make the game longer, and I really didn’t enjoy the courses that much.
75 Detroit Free Press
The new look makes "SSX On Tour" worth considering, unless you want that online play. If that's so, you can probably find 2003's "SSX 3" for a steal somewhere out there.
75 Game Revolution
The gameplay is just as good as you remember it to be and the engine still hauls a great deal of ass, but considering it's had two years to stew, this tour feels a little too much like the last one.
70 TotalPlayStation
Dammit, EA, I want my effing SSX game back. This is NOT the direction the series needed to head in, and I'm sure there had to be some dissenting parties in place up in Vancouver. Maybe next time you'll listen to them.
70 Ferrago
It would have been nice if staying on a slippery metal pole without falling off was rewarded via points like in the Tony Hawk games but I guess you can't have everything. Enjoy the delights of this delicious winter warmer now.
68 Worth Playing
The overhaul of the Uber-Trick system did nothing to enhance the experience, (quite the opposite) the GUI presentation was bad enough to be called insulting, and there is the distinct possibility that this incarnation may alienate past fans of the franchise.
65 PSM Magazine
A big step backwards from "SSX 3." [Dec 2005, p.102]
65 Loaded Inc
The overall presentation (although a little strange) works well and the animated menus are especially nifty. However, the redesign of the attribute system and the inclusion of the corny ‘Trick Stick’ that takes all the effort out of the Uber tricks mars the good reputation of an otherwise impeccable series of games.
60 Thunderbolt
It’s not that SSX On Tour is a bad game. It’s just that the game attempts to improve upon a gameplay formula that doesn’t necessarily need it.
30 Computer Games Magazine
Dear Tricky, we miss you. [Jan 2006, p.91]

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