Horatio is a little blue ball guy with a moustache and goggles and he wants to go snowboarding!  Guide him through the busy streets to the snowboard shop to pick up gear and then to the helicopter so he can ski down the mountain in this action game that takes elements from arcade classics like Konami’s Frogger and Taito’s Alpine Ski.  It’s available on nearly all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.

When you start, you can move freely in a city setting and you can run in any direction.  You must go forward (up) and avoid cars while crossing busy streets to the snowboard shop, and then take your board to a helicopter so you can go up the mountain.  Then the game changes to a ski game where you travel down the mountain at the top of the screen, and try to slalom between flags for points.  Avoid cars, trees, yetis, and other obstacles.  If you hit something, you’ll have to pay hospital fees (just a point deduction) and when you do this three times, the game is over.  You can unlock an endless mode if your score is high enough, but that’s it.  While the snowboard controls are simple (just left and right), they’re so slippery and unresponsive that I didn’t get very far.  I’d rather just play Frogger or Alpine Ski instead.

Kid Factor:

Horatio Goes Snowboarding is rated E for Everyone with ESRB descriptors of Mild Fantasy Violence and Mild Language.  If you hit something, you’ll just roll around and disappear.  Horatio does say stuff in a deep voice, but he talks so fast I can’t tell what he’s saying.  Reading skill is helpful for some of the text, but not necessary just to play.  Younger gamers may get frustrated at the difficulty and bad controls.

Tags: Game Reviews