N64 kart racer Snowboard Kids gets a rerelease that keeps the racing tight and the extras slim

Snowboard Kids arrived on the Nintendo 64 in 1997 with a premise as thin as a lift ticket: a group of kids argue about who snowboards best, the argument escalates, and they settle it with a tournament. Racdym developed it. Atlus published it. The game does not pretend the story matters, and it is better for that.

Nine Courses, One Amusement Park

The game ships nine main courses. Some are snowy mountains. Many are not. There is an amusement park, a desert, a vast valley, a dark highway, and a Japanese village during the cherry blossom festival. That last one is the best argument the game makes for itself.

Shots, Rocks, and Invisibility

Snowboard Kids adds “Shots” to the usual snowboarding formula. These are special weapons used to attack other players. Items can help the player, hinder other players, or both. Reviewers at the time compared the style to Mario Kart. The comparison holds, but the two item slots are where this game separates itself.

The Second Item Slot

Each player can carry a shooting item and a support item at the same time. A rock. Invisibility. Both at once. That single change does more for the racing than any course on the list, because it forces a decision every few seconds instead of every few minutes. Players pay 100 gold to grab an item mid-race. Gold comes from tricks or from coins scattered across the course.

Passing Through the Lift Gate

Every course runs multiple laps down the hill. Reach the bottom and you pass through the lift gate to return to the top. You cannot be attacked during that transition. It is a small mercy, and it keeps a bad lap from becoming a lost race.

Shinobin Waits His Turn

One character, Shinobin, has no involvement whatsoever until the player unlocks him. Modes include a single-player adventure, head-to-head racing for up to four players, and time trials. Split screen handles the multiplayer.

The strongest parts of Snowboard Kids, ranked:

1. The second item slot, which changes how every race is played.
2. The unorthodox courses, especially the cherry blossom village.
3. The lift gate transition, which protects a trailing player.
4. The 100-gold item cost, which ties tricks to tactics.

Where the Game Slips

The nine courses carry the game, but the premise does not. A tournament between arguing kids is a shrug, and Shinobin’s late arrival is a strange way to treat a character. The Mario Kart comparisons are fair and also a warning: this game borrows a lot and invents less than its best ideas suggest.

The Verdict on Snowboard Kids

Snowboard Kids is a smart racing game wearing a thin coat. The two item slots and the gold economy are real design, not decoration, and the courses are stranger and more memorable than the genre usually allows. It is not the best racer on the Nintendo 64, but it earns its place on the shelf.

Atlus · N64 · Nintendo 64 · racing games · retro games · Snowboard Kids