It’s got ‘SSX’-appeal

Real-world mountains, such as Mount Everest and Mount Kilimanjaro, are now your playground — though they have some crazy jumps and rails tossed in.

In the campaign portion of the game, you control the members of team SSX as they race against their rival, Griff, to conquer the nine Deadly Descents. In each region, there are smaller mountains to ride as a warm-up, and act as training in the use of survival equipment to help you live through each boss mountain’s dangers. This mode introduces you to each character and gives you a feel for just how crazy the levels can get.

Some of the Deadly Descents get very intense and will try your patience until you’ve mastered the use of the necessary survival equipment. The wingsuit, which has been the most visible equipment in the marketing videos, takes more than a fair number of tries to figure out the controls and proper timing.

When contending with the avalanche levels, the camera spins around and faces back uphill. It’s a great twist, but feels like a highly upgraded version of the old Windows game “SkiFree.”

Then there are the darkness trails. Riding through pitch-black, snow-filled tunnels with nothing but a headlamp to light your way — yeah, it’s that extreme.

After the single-player intro, it’s time to jump into the online multiplayer mode. You can meet up with friends and ride together, or explore each mountain and try to rack up the highest point total or best race time. Thankfully, online play can be accessed by anyone, but credits can only be obtained by those with an online pass — annoying, but better than locking out those who decide to rent the game.

With a hoppin’ soundtrack, plenty of eye-popping graphics, and tight gameplay, “SSX” will blow your mind and keep you glued to your console.