1080° Snowboarding

1080° Snowboarding is a popular video game for the Nintendo 64. It was released in 1998. It is a downhill snowboard racing game. The game features gameplay similar to the Tony Hawk franchise (though this was released before Tony Hawk was).

Kensuke Kimachi
Kensuke is Japan's top rider. He's a good all-around choice for beginner and intermediate players. Don't expect too much from him in the halfpipe, and you won't be disappointed.

Dion Blaster
He's a rough-and-tumble type from Great Britain. The best thing about Dion is his large frame and high power rating, which makes him almost impervious to collision with other racers. He's not so great with the trick stuff, but usually will stick easy jumps during time trials and such. His best board options are the Tahoe 151 or Tahoe 155.

Rob Haywood
Rob's just a good ol' boy from the USA. He's a little cocky, and has a right to be. He's good all around, and has some great attributes. He's probably the easiest to learn.

Akari Hayami
Akari's best moves will be on the Trick Attack courses. She's so light, she can stay in the air for great lengths of time, allowing for some of the best combos. Expect her to get pushed around when you get too close to another racer: If you're using her on the downhill, take note. Her best board is the B-Line 154. It is wells suited for her acrobatic abilities.

Ricky Winterborn
Ricky's from Canada, and has pretty good all-around capabilities. His technique is impeccable, and he can hang up in the air for days. Careful with him during Time Trials and the like- he's not the fastest car on the block.

The Iceman
The Ice Man is heavier than human riders, which affects his handling. He'll stick to turns without sliding as much and, because of his weight, the Ice Man will land sooner when hitting a berm or ramp. Although his top speed is slower than some other riders, he can overtake any rider in the turns. Until you get the Gold Boarder or the Panda, nobody will beat this guy.

How To Unlock The Ice Man To get the Ice Man, go to any mode from the Options menu and scroll to Akari Hayami. There are two levels of zoom on each character- one without player statistics and one with. Zoom in to the screen with the player's stats displayed. Press the yellow C-Left button, let go, and press the blue A button. If you did it correctly, you'll see a picture of the Ice Man in place of Akari's on the Board Selection screen. Now choose any board and any course and have at it!

Gold Boarder
The gold guy is a lot heavier than the Ice Man but with Dion Blaster's speed! He handles like a tank, but is a little floaty in the turns. His standing jumps are a little low, but still, this boarder rips! Now go back and beat all your best times.

How To Unlock The Gold Boarder To unlock the Gold Boarder, you must beat the game in Expert mode using the Ice Man (not hard). Once you've done that, go to the Rider Selection screen in any mode and view Kensuke Kimachi. Advance to Kensuke's statistics screen and press the yellow C-Up button. Now let go and press the blue A button. If you did it correctly, you'll see a picture of the Gold Boarder in the place of Kensuke's face on the Board Selection screen. Now choose any board and any course.

The Panda
The Panda's handling is similar to the Ice Man's. He's a little slower but has a good edge control. He also makes some darn cute noises when you jump him, and even cuter ones when he lands on his bear butt. You can learn his special moves in Training mode.

How To Unlock The Panda To unlock the Panda you must come in first place on all the courses in Time Attack and Trick Attack modes. After you beat all EAD's scores, go to the Rider Selection screen in any mode and view Rob Haywood. Go to Rob's statistics screen and press the yellow C-Right button. Now, let go and press the blue A button. If you did it correctly, you'll see a picture of the Panda in place of Rob's face on the Board Selection screen. Now choose any board and go to Training mode to learn those Panda tricks you were wondering about.

Boards
How To Unlock The Penguin Board When you've stomped every trick in Training mode (all tricks are colored red), you can access the Penguin snowboard. Go to any mode of gameplay, choose a rider, and then go to the snowboard wall and pick the Tahoe 151 board. Nothing will change on this screen, but when you go to race, you'll be riding a penguin.
 * Tahoe 151
 * Merlot 147
 * B-Line 149
 * Scout 156
 * Tahoe 155
 * Scout Ltd. 162
 * Merlot 143
 * B-Line 154
 * Penguin Board

Development
1080° Snowboarding was announced during Nintendo's annual Space World show in Japan in the year 1997 in November along with a variety of other titles. A couple months later a demo of the game was present at Nintendo's Gamer's Summit in January the next year. A month later it was released in Japan.

Some primary members of the team had worked previously on Nintendo's Wave Race 64, also a Nintendo 64 title that involves extreme sports. Some of the employees include the likes of Shigeru Miyamoto, Giles Goddard and Colin Reed. The two series intertwined with the release of Wave Race: Blue Storm which featured characters from both of the video games.