Those of you not so keen on the realistic snowboarding offered up by Amped, will have been keeping an eye on TransWorld Snowboarding over the last few months.

Not only has every one of its preview versions looked amazing, exploiting the graphical grunt of Xbox to the full, but it has also taken the arcade approach to snowboarding action, with a number of goals to attain on each stage. Beat a certain score, bust a certain trick in a certain place - you know the drill.

Much of the beauty of the screenshots is present in the finished game. The way the sun gleams on shiny groomed snow and dapples across thick powder is lovely, and highly evocative of the real thing.

And, unlike Amped, the slopes are crammed with incidental detail; lickle snow hares jump about, reindeers stand around grazing and snowmobiles buzz around the place. A particularly nice touch is the way your goggles fall off if you land on your head. We like this kind of thing. But the visual wonderment is let down by occasional juddery slowdown and the game is a teeny, tiny bit glitchy.

The way objects react when your 'boarder hits them is odd. Smashing your way into and through a herd of deer (come on, we had to try it) results in the animals dispersing as if made of fibreglass. It might not seem like much, but there are a handful of things like this that detract from the solidity of the game. It's a shame, because so much work has clearly gone into making it.

The main problem with TransWorld Snowboarding, though, is that it's too easy (as noted in Issue 08's Exclusive Access). If you've ever played another extreme sports game, you'll breeze through this like a veteran on the nursery slopes. It's almost impossible to fall over without trying really hard to do so, but this does mean that you can effortlessly put together the combos needed for the serious scores.

Keeping a massive combo going for ages is fun, but the excessive simplicity of play means there's little satisfaction in nailing a big one. Odds are you'll feel rather nonplussed after seeing most of what the game has to offer after a few goes. This probably won't see you through the long winter months ahead.

TransWorld Snowboarding isn't terrible by any means. But it is average in the extreme, and can't compete with Amped, unless you like your snowboarding really simple.

If you must have another arcade-style snowboarding game, you will get some entertainment from this. But there's months of play to be had from Amped.

1. Looks super
2. Lots of stages
3. Massive combos feel good

1. Far too easy to play
2. Glitches and slowdown rear their ugly heads

Power
Some beautiful moments, spoiled by the judder man on occasion. Loading's a bit on the slow side.

Style
Lots and lots of little touches make the slopes very interesting places to explore.

Immersion
The simple gameplay and solid controls mean that you can quickly get into the game...

Lifespan
..but it also means you may tire of it before too long, because this isn't really one for the long term.

Summary
A bit of a looker, granted, but the beauty's only piste-deep. Boredom sets in once the views have been admired.