GBA Tricky snowballs into view

SSX Tricky, the follow-up to the PS2's most influential launch title, will - somehow - appear on GameBoy Advance in a near-feature-complete port, EA Sports BIG has revealed. Easily the Canadian developer's finest game to date, Tricky still seemed an odd choice for a GBA release, but if the screenshots and press blurbs are to be believed, EA has managed to recreate the game's 3D engine in physically undiminished form.

Each of the original game's ten levels - from Garibaldi and Snowdream to Tokyo Megaplex and Aloha Ice Jam - has made the transition, along with all twelve of the game's riders, although one suspects the c-list celebrity voiceovers will face the chop, which doesn't bother us too much. Furthermore, players will be able to contest each of the game's three traditional modes; world circuit, showoff and free ride, competing to lay down the same massive 'uber tricks' upon a bed of twists, turns, flips and grabs.

The biggest question though is undoubtedly how it will play. It's not too far-fetched to imagine a certain degree of tricks spread across the GBA's four function buttons, but limitations of control system are almost insignificant compared to the task of bringing the 3D engine to the console. Issues of detail versus framerate, constructing an engine capable of dealing with the complex level geometry in real-time, and generally composing the same game on such a low-end format will no doubt be causing EA headaches. However, the sheer audacity of the project will certainly attract the attention of gamers, as it has done already.

EA is predicting a release date sometime before the end of 2002, perhaps even this side of December in the States, but we wouldn't be too surprised if Tricky snows in beyond the New Year. However, EA has released a selection of new screenshots to keep us warm.