It's been two whole years since EA's last snowboarding extravaganza SSX3, and what has the software giant come up with since? Jet-powered snowboards? No. A time-travelling storyline where rival snowboarding gangs battle via TXT MSG for 'respect'? No thanks! We'll tell you what it came up with: skis.

Correct us if we're wrong, but isn't the whole point of the SSX series based on how much cooler snowboards are? Throwing in the option to glide down a snowy mountain on two bits of fibreglass instead of one smells a bit like EA trying to squeeze the last dregs from a series that reached its 'peak' quite some time ago. SSX's evolution from straight snowboard racer to monster alpine trick-buster was pretty much complete with the last game. All On Tour manages to do is simply rehash the same old formula, throw in a few new tricks (hence the skis) and hope we won't notice.

Some things have changed, thankfully. The front end in particular, which groans under a heavy sheen of MTV 2-licensed imagery and hand-drawn menus done by a cartoonist who's been sniffing his felt tips a bit too long. It's certainly eye-catching, if a little headache-inducing, and together with the equally MTV 2 soundtrack gives SSX On Tour a really cool and unique sense of style.

The format of the game, however, feels bizarrely underdeveloped for an EA effort. Like SSX3, there's one huge mountain split into several peaks, each with numerous trails to board and ski down. But instead of completing challenges that allow you to start further up the mountain, thereby slowly expanding the play area on offer, On Tour simply offers discrete 'Shred' challenges randomly dotted around the various mountain peaks - complete them and you can enter more advanced races and trick-offs versus the usual SSX masters. It's messy and unstructured and, to be honest, isn't progressive enough to encourage you to keep playing.

It's a pity, as some of the design work in SSX On Tour is superb, with huge interesting courses full of endless short-cuts and secrets. The trick system is virtually identical to SSX3, but its satisfyingly easy to pull off all kinds of OTT shape-chucking. Suspiciously familiar then, but still a genuine alternative to the rather prim if impressive Amped 2. Dude.

1. Huge, beautifully designed courses with masses of short-cuts and secrets mean there's plenty of downhill snow to explore.
2. The unique look and cooler-than-average soundtrack help instil a funky, more grown-up vibe to the traditionally youthful SSX series.
3. The two-player split-screen mode brings back happy memories of the straight-out racing ideology of the early SSX games.

1. It's unbelievably similar to SSX3. What have the development team been doing for the last two years? Just adding skis is not progress.
2. The single-player game lacks any real sense of achievement or progression. We can't see many people sticking it out till the end.

Certainly bigger than previous SSX games, but too similar to be classed as better. A series that's somewhat past its prime.