Gameplay continues the same basic method introduced in the original
SSX. The main tracks are
remixes from the previous game like Merqury City, which takes place in a New York City-based downtown area, and Tokyo Megaplex, a course resembling a giant pinball machine, plus two new tracks, Garibaldi and Alaska. It features twelve characters: the returning Elise Riggs, Mackenzie "Mac" Fraser (
NTSC version), Kaori Nishidake, Zoe Payne, Moby Jones, and Jean-Paul "JP" Arsenault, plus new ones like Psymon Stark, Edward "Eddie" Wachowski, Seeiah Owens, Luther-Dwayne Grady, Marisol Diez Delgado, Broderick "Brodi" Ford, Martin "Marty" Stieber (
PAL version), who replaces Mac, and Kim Yuri (NTSC Korean version), who replaces Kaori. Hiro Karamatsu and Jurgen Angermann did not return, which was justified as suffering off-season injuries. Winning medals in a variety of events unlocks new courses, characters, and boards, as well as improved the boarder's abilities. New outfits may be earned by completing a character's trick book, by doing a number of specific tricks during play. Three kinds of boards are available to players: trick-oriented Freestyle boards, all-around BX boards, and racing-oriented Alpine boards, which are not meant to be ridden backwards. The important new feature added to the series are the Uber moves. If players are able to fill their boost bar to the maximum, they will be able to perform Uber moves, which involve characters taking their feet off their board and doing over the top moves. If a player successfully lands an Uber move, they are given a short amount of time for infinite boost, which can be topped off by performing more Uber moves. Each player can perform five Uber moves, including a personal move if the character is using a board that matches their style. If a player successfully performs six Uber moves, spelling out
TRICKY on the boost bar, they will have infinite boost for the remainder of the race. Also introduced in the game is a rivalry system in the World Circuit mode. If the player is friendly with another
artificial intelligence (AI) character, they will treat the player favourably; however, if the player ends up annoying other AI characters, generally by attacking them during the race in order to fill the adrenaline bar, they will become hostile towards players in future events.
Modes There are four modes of gameplay: ;Freeride :The Freeride mode does not allow players to unlock characters or boards. It enables players to play with either one or two players, as well as allowing the player to get to know the course. It allows the player to unlock outfits by completing a trick chapter. ;Practice :Practice mode is the place for beginners to get the opportunity to get used to snowboarding. As in Freeride, players have the ability to do what they wish and to practice tricks. :There are eight tracks to complete. When racing, players must attempt to stay in the lead of their five opponents. In Showoff, players are required to perform as many fancy tricks as they can and obtain as many points as they can. :If this mode is completed in Race, the extra track Untracked is unlocked but is available for Freeride only. Similar to Untracked is Pipedream, available for Freeride and Single Event (Showoff only), which is unlocked by winning a medal on all Showoff courses. ;Single Event :Single Event takes one of the events over a single heat from World Circuit mode, including Race, Showoff, and Time Challenge. Medals are awarded at the end of the track for the first two modes and a second human player can be added for all three. ==Development==