SSX was the ship that launched PS2, and its remix/sequel amped the gameplay with bigger air and more tricks. So it's no surprise that SSX 3 has powered out of the gate looking amazing, nor that it boasts a fantastic soundtrack and play that is both more accessible and more challenging than in the past.

What is surprising is how much of the core game has been changed while retaining a look and feel that will ease returning veterans right back into the powder. Gone is the trick book and board upgrade system, along with the over-reliance on whirling snowflake point multipliers. With a combo system that takes cues from Amped and a far more open-ended design, this SSX is as near a masterpiece as the snowboarding world has seen.

If you've read anything about the game, the tagline is probably familiar: One Mountain, Three Peaks. The basics are also familiar: choose a rider and compete for medals and point totals using a powerful catalogue of aerial tricks and grinds. A nice landing adds to your boost meter, which opens the gates for Uber and Super Uber tricks when filled. Rather than simply presenting a menu of runs, SSX 3 throws down the gauntlet with a freely linked series of challenges divided up into three groups.

When first dropped on to any of the three peaks (two of which must be unlocked), you're immediately boarding along a path that leads to races, big air challenges and other courses. Choose a run or surf the free ride. The races are more challenging with much more aggressive AI, and each trick-based run requires far more than stringing together a bunch of uber tricks.

Progression is based on cash, which is awarded for tricks, picking up collectibles and winning medals. Each area of a peak has a smattering of collectible blue snowflake icons that must be retrieved to fully complete the peak - the game features hundreds in total. Free ride areas are also dotted by Big Challenges, which charge riders with tasks like navigating a series of gates or hoops, breaking panes of glass in a super pipe or simply accumulating a point total. Once on to the later peaks, these challenges are some of the most difficult parts of the game, but failure gives you an immediate option to retry, and the frustration is minimized.

Cash buys a lot, with attribute upgrades certainly being the most important. There are boards to acquire, though they don't affect performance. Additionally, you can buy rider gear to tweak your on-screen appearance. Uber-tricks can also be bought, so there are more than a core handful of tricks to look at all day.

Where past SSX entries have relied on air tricks above all else, here the feel is that an overall mastery of the board is the only way to succeed. Blame the new combo system in part - like Amped 2, it relies on forward or back board presses to link tricks into high-scoring combo chains. The board press is difficult to master, but afterward the trick and combo system breaks wide open, putting the gold within reach.

While the control scheme remains largely the same as in past games, a handpress button has been added, which allows you to press on any surface that you can grind, as well as (obviously) at the seam of any pipe. One other addition to the trick arsenal is the Uber-Grind; just hit a rail with a full boost meter and pull a grab.

One complaint that could be levied against SSX Tricky was that it was possible to quickly ratchet up your point totals by grinding the long rails that were found in almost every course. Those killer rail grinds unbalanced many of the tracks, though they were a lot of fun. This time out you've still got to master the rails, especially if you want to score gold in the races, but it's much, much harder. It's as if a few long rails had been strum along each track, then chopped into segments with a sushi knife, so that well-timed jumps and quick-witted navigation are necessary to fully exploit the grind.

But even with combos and grinds at your disposal, the jumps and turns come so fast and thick that intelligently managing the course is a huge necessity. And though there are some floating bonuses to grab (aside from the blue snowflake collectibles) success is no longer a matter of aiming for the red 5x multiplier and pulling a series of uber-tricks. The game feels far less like a dog and pony show as a result, and is more challenging and rewarding, too.

Every iteration of SSX has been incredible to look at, and this is no different. The scenery is more realistic, in keeping with the unified presentation of the courses. As you progress up the mountain, weather conditions will mount, all rendered beautifully. While many courses here are modeled from past runs, most are barely recognizable, at best. They're like the ugly kid from high school who turns out to be a model ten years later.

Each slope feels less linear and "tracked," with a multitude of options at nearly every turn. Framerates on every console are rock-solid, with even the PS2 looking smooth. The only problem that ever cropped up was a bit of see-through scenery as a result of the automatic camera placement. In a couple of spots this is really annoying, but more than anything else it's an inexplicable aspect of an otherwise supremely polished presentation.

It would be a crime not to mention the soundtrack, which easily tops anything EA has assembled for their other games, and is probably the best non-original game soundtrack since the venerated Wipeout XL hit PSOne. Remixed tracks by Queens of the Stone Age and Felix da Housecat are slipped in next to snowpunk like Finger Eleven and MxPx. And while Xbox owners always have custom playlist options, SSX 3 lets you spend cash to build unique playlists for PS2 and GC owners as well! A great touch. Otherwise, the sound hasn't changed much since Tricky, but the effects are still perfectly fine.

Thankfully, EA added online play to PS2, which works quite well, based on the same EA connectivity that bolsters the entire PS2 line. Everyone else can play head-to-head, but the play isn't as thrilling as it might be - as in the past, it's easier to play one character and hand the controller back and forth. The races and freestyle pipes aren't bad, but the side-to-side split really cramps the otherwise gorgeous visuals. Still, that's a small concession in what's a nearly perfect game in every other respect.

You've got to love that others keep trying to top SSX, but there's no question that this third installment is the beginning and end of snowboard games. Buy it now - essential is the only word.