Snowboarding was hitting new heights in the 1990s, so it’s no surprise that the PlayStation had some killer snowboarding games during its first decade in existence. Cool Boarders hit the scene in 1996, and was closely follow up by the sequel in 1997. It added the halfpipe, big air and a ton of new grabs to what was already a solid original release.
Cool Boarders was developer by UEP Systems (now defunct), as anyone who played it will recall by the “UEP Systems!” shout-out during initial loading. Cool Boarders was by far their best known series, so it’s a shame they didn’t carry on with future console generations. This was such a fun game to play at the time, and still today the sound of shredding down a mountain and getting called out for mediocre tricks by the announcer is a blast.
What the Critics Thought
Cool Boarders 2 was well received by critics at the time. Game Informer gave it 9 out of 10 across the board in their November 1997 issue. Something about these mid-late 1990s review is just so pure and enjoyable.
How to Play it Today
Thankfully, there are a few options for playing Cool Boarders 2 in the modern age. It’s available via the PlayStation store on your PS3, the PlayStation Classic mini-console, and of course on the original CDs that are playable in a original PS1 or on any PS3.