5 stars (A great addition to an awesome series) - Let me start off by saying I have only been playing the SSX games for a little less than a year. My son got a PS2 for Christmas & someone gave him a copy of the original SSX. Since neither my son nor I were familiar with the game mechanics for this type of game, the learning curve was pretty steep, but we eventually got pretty good & started moving thru the game. As we got better, we bought the other titles (SSX Tricky & SSX 3) and thoroughly enjoyed them. So we were both excited when the release date was announced for On Tour. Of course we went back & started playing the previous three while we were waiting for the ship date to arrive. Finally, we got our copy on 10/12. I wanted to wait until I had some time with the game before I posted my review. It can be summed up in two words ... IT ROCKS !!! I have been playing with nearly every free moment I have and after an estimated 20-30 hours of gameplay, I just got up to a number 1 ranking. While I still have a lot of contests to finish (The upper level trick competitions & shreds are brutal) I'm already looking forward to starting all over again as a skier this time. Anyway, let me give you the high & low points: 1.) The game mechanics have been simplified. Ubers have been replaced by monster tricks. The simplest of these just require pushing the right analog stick in any direction(after your boost is full) and are available to your character right out of the box. The bigger monsters (think Super Ubers from "tricky" or Monster Tricks from "SSX 3") have to be bought & require pusing the analog stick in a specific direction, then rotating 90 degrees either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Makes for an easier learning curve, but doesn't detract from the gameplay. Rail ubers (excuse me ... Monsters) are back too. Therse are like the ones in SSX 3 - just use the shoulder buttons once you're on a rail. As for the addition of skiing, I'll admit I haven't done much of it ... ... Electronic Arts :: ps2 :: ssx :: on :: tour :: electronic :: arts :: games :: video :: games :: ps2ssxontour 11 october :: 200 :: PS2 SSX On Tour
Barcode Software/ ps2ssxontour 11 october 
