Cutesy retro gaming time with this obscure gem of an Nintendo 64 romp, very much in the mould of Mario Kart. But with more snow.

Snowboard Kids

Well, well, well, well, well! Racdym’s 1997 thing is adorable, even if it’s starting to show its age a bit.

N64 Magazine put us onto this one yonks back, having initially trashed it in a preview. Upon receiving the completed, and amended, final version they apologised profusely and championed it.

We got a copy in 2004 off eBay and got stuck in. And? Much fun was had by all! As this is a multiplayer treat, but also an engaging single-player racer.

It’s pretty much Mario Kart on snow, with the courses resembling long ski slopes.

There’s a fun little twist at the end of each lap, as the players fight it out battling to get back onto the ski chair lifts. That’s another cute little touch in a game brimming with the cute.

With six characters to choose from, the nine tracks are also a mishmash of easy, medium, and dead difficult, mate. There are shortcuts and other tactics you can keep in mind to win.

As you race along, you can pick up items and pelt other players with them to impede their progress.

However, you need gold to have access to them. And you gather than by performing tricks and whatnot.

It’s been a while since we played it, but we remain fond of the SOB.

Snowboard Kids 2

In 1999 there was a sequel! And we never played it. But it looks like a graphical improvement over the original.

It also maintains strong scores to this day! So, looks like we missed out a bit here. Whatever, we’re far too cool (the link the snow, yeah) to worry about that.