Official Score
Overall - 60%
60%
Horatio Goes Snowboarding’s got the downhill action - and even the yeti - of Ski Free, but the start-and-stop pacing between runs prevent this blue fellow’s run from being a new casual classic.
We might be wrapping up the dog days of summer, but Infinite State Games hits the icy slopes with their new arcade title Horatio Goes Snowboarding. Boiling the genre down to its most basic elements, is its distilled action worth the trek?
Horatio Goes Snowboarding Review
The titular Horatio lives a simple life – he hits the slopes on a daily basis, gets cash, and repeats the same thing the next day. He’s even lucky enough to get paid for it!
However, players must get him to his transport chopper before he can even start snowboarding. Taking a page from the green fellows in Frogger, he must dodge his way through traffic, hire a board, and make it to his ride near the donut shop before being transported to a winter wonderland.
This pregame segment is kind of an odd addition, but not exactly an unwelcome one. The art of maneuvering around a big city works as you think it would, and the added penalty of a $100 hospital visit adds some tension to the dealings. Those that get into one hit and run too many will not just be out of cash, but will be out of the running too with a swift Game Over.
However, the main attraction is its snowboarding – it’s in the title after all. Each run has players netting points through slalom gates while jamming along to heavy drum and bass tunes – just the thing to barrel down at high speeds with the WASD keys guiding you along your way.
It’s simple at its core, almost to a fault. However, while titles like Ski Free mastered this art of simplicity, Horatio’s outing is a bit more awkward. The camera’s focus and the player’s positioning makes it hard to make it through each gate and avoid threats like its many green trees.
The average run isn’t that long, but that doesn’t mean each run will go off without a hitch – just the opposite. For those that have an untimely accident on their trip, they’ll have to pony up $100 for a hospital visit and make their way through traffic again.
In this way, the pacing of Horatio Goes Snowboarding is a little awkward. Most players will likely want to spend as much time strapped into a snowboard as possible, but this start and stop nature takes players away from the thick of it all.
There’s not much variety to speak of either. Levels are randomly generated, meaning that it can be hard to anticipate threats or distinguish runs from one another. While it’s nice that an Endless Mode has also been included, there should have been more meat on the bone.
Horatio Goes Snowboarding’s got the downhill action – and even the yeti – of Ski Free, but the start-and-stop pacing between runs prevent this blue fellow’s run from being a new casual classic.
