Gameplay -
The way everything is set up is pretty intuitive. You start out with a few quick tutorials on how to do the basic manuevers/tricks and then they set you loose. To start out, you have access to 3 of the 5 mountains, each mountain has a number of runs starting from the summit down to shorter runs of the hill, and there are challenges spread throughout them.
To start with, the challenges are pretty limited and repetitive, just a simple "do this trick" type of thing, but from what I have read the game opens up once you go pro (you need around 150 "fame" to get to this point) and the challenges become much more varied.
It is really cool, and very realistic how the weather effects how the snow is (sticky, fluffy, etc) and how that effects your riding.
Supposedly with all 5 mountains and all the challenges, there is a ton of gameplay to go through, which is nice. Most games of this type end up being repeats of the same 5 runs over and over.
Controls -
I guess the control scheme is kind of borrowed from Skate, which I guess probably isn't a bad thing since people seem to like those games. The controls are taking some getting used to, because they are very different for me, but I like them and I think once I get used to them they will be natural. I would try and describe them here but they are complicated and it would probably not end up making sense
Graphics -
The graphics are pretty good! When it's snowing, or the snow is sticky, it will stick to your clothes. When you carve, snow goes flying, the way they transition from day<->night looks really cool. The character models are good, and there is a bit of customization into your looks, clothes, board & bindings, etc. This is no Killzone 2 when it comes to graphics, but for a 40 dollar snowboarding game I'd say they are pretty good.
Sound -
The sounds for the most part are very good too, but there is one thing that bugs me. When you crash into the side of a building or a tree or rock, etc, there is no thudding sound
The soundtrack great, there are options to turn a large variety of music types on or off, and I've liked a lot of what I have heard.Overall I would say if you are looking for a snowboarding game to play, or just a cheap game that you can have some fun with whenever you want to pick it up and play for a couple of minutes, this is a good choice for you. The learning curve is a bit steep, but once you get there it is a fun game with a lot of content to explore.
8/10