In the world of snowboarding games, SSX reigns supreme. Released in 2000 as a lunch title for the PlayStation 2, the first game in the franchise, SSX, redefined the action sports genre. With its outlandish courses and over-the-top tricks, it completely changed the way people looked at snowboarding video games. The subsequent entries that followed, SSX Tricky and SSX 3, are considered cult classics and only increased the franchise's vice-like grip on the snowboarding genre.
In the years that followed, EA Games struggled to recapture the magic of the original three games in the SSX series. Titles like SSX Blur began pandering to new fans of the franchise, but also veered away from what made the games great in the first place, thus alienating the original players. After the failure of SSX Blur — and others — EA Sport Big, the division of EA responsible for the SSX series, ceased operations. EA attempted a reboot of the franchise with 2012's SSX, but the game simply pushed fans of the original games even further away. A new entry into the series hasn't been released since.
The last generation of gaming wasn't kind to the action sports genre. Not only did the SSX franchise disappear into obscurity, but so did the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series. Tony Hawk Pro Skater suffered a similar fate as SSX, as developers tried to pander to new fans in order to capitalize on the newest console market. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4, much like the SSX reboot, lacked the charms that made the series great and simply drove fans of the original games away.
Why SSX Could Come Back Now
Luckily, the rise of remastered collections have given these franchise a second chance. SSX 3 Remastered on the Xbox One released in 2018 and was seen as a major success. The Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2 remastered collection is set to release on September 4th and appears to be highly-anticipated among fans. It it sells well, it could prove there is still a market for action sports games.
While SSX 3's remaster was a success, there doesn't seem to be any plans for a follow-up game in the works, although that doesn't mean there isn't still hope. In an interview earlier this year with LADbible, SSX Tricky producer, Steven Rechtschaffner, said that he thinks a remastered version of Tricky could work well. "Yeah, I think it could work. Xbox did a good job at re-releasing SSX 3 for Xbox One and it's beautiful actually," said Rechtschaffner. "It's in the hands of SSX because they own the intellectual property. I have contemplated what it would mean, whether to remaster or even reboot the series. You're beholden to the expectations that people had from a long time ago. I easily think they could remaster [SSX] Tricky but there would be a tonne of work to be able to have live head-to-head competition and gameplay - just because the game wasn't architected that way."
This doesn't mean that a remastered version of SSX Tricky is on the way, but it is encouraging to see one of the game's creators speak highly of a potential remastered version. It's been 19 years since the release of SSX Tricky, so perhaps EA will plan something for the games 20th anniversary. Considering the excitement surrounding Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2, it's safe to say another entry into the SSX series would be met with fair amount of fervor as well.
Source: LADbible