Video Games - Stoked Big Air Edition (Xbox 360)

Ok, it's 115ºF outside.  If you took a cold shower, completely dried off, and stepped outside you'd be drenched in sweat not thirty seconds later.  You are a snowboarder, and this whole "summer" thing just isn't for you; there's nothing wrong with cranking up the A/C and throwing on some video games...

And why not toss in a great snowboarding game to relive the winter right from your couch? I wrote a review on Stoked some time ago, and shortly after they made just about all of the changes I (and apparently everyone) had asked for.  So what's new in Stoked Big Air Edition?

First, they added park features! Big-air kickers, flat boxes, kink boxes and more are all at your disposal in this latest version.  The original Stoked was seriously lacking in variety; you had a choice of logs and...logs.  Needless to say being able to hit anything different at all is pretty exciting.

Stoked Big Air Edition also brings some new challenges with it.  From high speed races to slopestyle contests, it's nice to have a more dynamic gameplay experience.  They've also introduced marked trails aka groomers, so you can get some serious speed and with that some serious air time.

Of course, last but not least, they couldn't just release all this stuff without adding a few new mountains.  Now you have a choice of seven mountains to shred, each one rideable from top to bottom, 360º all-around.

Like I said in my review of the original, Stoked is the most accurate and immersive snowboard video game to date and Stoked Big Air Edition has taken that one step further with all of these great additions, refined physics and gameplay mechanics, and that same gracious $20 price tag.

That's right, Stoked Big Air Edition costs $20.  For many of us this might be the closest we get to snowboarding for the next four or five months, so if you are starting to fiend for the shred head out to Gamestop, Target, Walmart or what have you, pick up a copy, and see if you can ease some of the pain.