Cool Boarders FAQ Well it took a few months, but by all accounts I have finished the game Cool Boarders. It was well worth the price. Would you believe that I looked far and wide on this vast wastelandfor someone, ANYONE who could help me with some tips to this game? No one apparently had finished it, or if they had they weren't sharing a whole lot with the rest of us. You know the old routine. Someone's half correct - badly spelled so called FAQ If you have about thrown your controller a few million times, you know that the things people want to know is HOW do you do the tricks that will score the highest points, and WHAT boards do you use for what purposes to break these records? This FAQ is for the US release ONLY - I have no clue about the Japanese version - as an aside, if you have a Japanese version that you'd like to sell, get in touch with me - remember make it a fair price. All offers must have the price that you are seeking or the e mail will be ignored. First let's review all of the boards in this game: there are FOUR that you have to earn. No there are not any codes, cracks or magic spells that you can get these boards with, you have to put in the time and hours and learn and defeat the courses. I did, and you will too. This is to share with you my experiences, and debunk the myths and half truths. You start out with the slowest freestyle board - it has a squiggle graphic underneath. I suggest that you get to know this board really well. It will be needed in EVERY course in this game at some point. You have 2 Freestyles, 3 All-Round boards, and 3 Alpine Boards The special boards that you earn are the: Freestyle - Novice Course, a sweet little Tobacco sunburst number - You'll grow to love this amigo. The All-Round - Advanced, a cool board with a graphic of Icarus on the bottom, and a white star on the front. Also a handy board to have. It's almost as fast as the fastest Alpine the game starts with. Then we have the *terror* without description, the Alpine! This baby is a bullet with no steering! Fast, but unstable and definitely not for tricks unless you want to get laughed off the course! You get this board after you beat the Expert course. I'm not going to tell you the graphic on this *monster* but it will *scare* you to *death* hehehe. Bad puns, I know! You can *see right thru me* can't you? :) There are 5, count em 5 courses in this game. What? You mean I missed one other board? Yes I did. But that's a special deal that I'll cover later. As I was saying there are 5 courses, you start with three, and earn the other two - which is not easy at all. There are Novice, Advanced, Expert, Special, and Extra. To get the special board on each course, you need to beat the time and trick score shown at the lower left hand corner of the course selection screen. There are 3 trophies that you can win on each course. One for Fastest time, one for Highest trick score, and one forkighest total score - with time and trick combined. When you earn the special board for the course, I can guarantee you that you'll also have earned the Highest total score as well. Now the stats. My scores Sect 1: Sect 2: Sect 3 Total Time: Total Rank: N '19.252 '20.658 '20.793 1'00.252 6850 A '44.352 '54.582 '34.683 2'14.683 6319 E '34.716 '46.662 '52.470 2'13.848 6416 S '44.220 '56.166 '50.688 2'36.816 5659 Ex '25.938 '29.469 '23.760 1'19.398 11121 Trick Score: N-3458, A-3247, E-2769, S-2778, Ex-7552 Novice: Fakie to Misty 540 Tail Grab - 841 pts Advanced: Fakie to 1440 Tail Grab - 844 pts Expert: Fakie to Misty 540 Tail Grab - 925 pts Special: Misty 540 Tail Grab - 871 pts Extra: Misty 1260 Indy Grab - 1373 pts These are the stats currently saved on my card. I have gotten better scores/times, but hadn't remembered to save them :( It is possible to score a lot higher, but once I beat the course, I move on. Misty's are the bomb If you wanna score and score big, well friend, ya gotta do Misty's and lots of them. A misty is done by holding the jump button down and then pushing the d-pad in a diagonal fashion i.e. upper right. When you release the jump button and push the square button while holding the directional pad diagonally, voila! A Misty! Nothing comes close, and believe me, I've tried. How about a 2300+ degree spin with a stalefish grab? Not even close to what a Misty can do for ya. Use the right board for the right score. You want speed. use Alpine. You want tricks. Stay with the slowest ol faithful Freestyle. You want best overall? Well you need to learn your course. Practice the tricks till you have them down pat and learn the idiosyncracies of each course, till you have them down. Then take your fastest All Round Board, and hit it. Lets run down the synopsis of each course and their really tough spots. Novice: For tricks, use the slowest Freestyle board. Pull Misty's on all the jumps - practice. The longer you hold the button down the bigger the jump . That will rack up enough points. For speed, I used the second fastest Alpine board. I would NOT use the fastest - it's too fast and too touchy if you haven't mastered all the courses using faster boards than this one . The second turn is a lulu - Hall of famer, for sure. You NEED to use a little bit of brake here or else all kinds of bad things will happen to you. It is possible about 5% of the time to make it without getting slammed into the wall or doing an areial out of nowhere, but it's best to bite the bullet and use the brake. The cliff. Ahh the cliff. Use a WIDE approach and *ease* the board through it. Take your time, you don't need to use any brake if you get good enough - it is possible. After the 4th jump and heading home, you will notice the mountain appearing crescent-fashion. Follow the curvature as you approach, otherwise you will not make it around the crag. Big time killer. The rocks are easy once you learn them. As you approach, make sure you are dead center in the gap between all the rocks, 2 quick hard turns, more like leans, and you are through. But don't quit there. If you aren't paying attention, you'll have quite a bit of speed afterwards, and go sailing over the edge...right into the fence - bad move. Instead, start your turn before you make the fall over the cliff - good position to finish strongly. These tips should, with practice, help you earn your first special board. Advanced: Right off I should tell you, that I'd use your special board. Good time to get to know it. You should practice the first few turns without the brake all the way to the tunnel. In the tunnel, use the brake and a hard left, then right, then a *careful* hard left again to avoid going over the cliff. Use the ice walls to your advantage but don't hit them head on, or you will hit the rock at the top and wipe out. The first jump is a perfect place for a Misty. So is the second. Use as little time lining up, and set for the Misty. Next should be the trees. I avoided going to the cliffs on the right, but if you want em, you're on your own, kid. For you tricksters you should know that there are two jumps you need to make in the tree area, and they are not easy either. the first one has a tree that's too easy to hit as you approach, so take a far right approach and center the ramp as you go. If you want to be a hero, try a Misty, if you want to be smart, play it conservative and do some spins with grabs, which is all you need. The second jump is easy to find if you dont spend time trying to AVOID the trees. Get to know them, because it's a pain when you leave the course and wipe out, especially if you have been having a good run. Same thing, don't be a hero, play it safe and do some spins. Now the fast part as you leave the trees, use just enough brake to avoid the trees screaming towards you at blinding speed. This next jump is a little too risky to try a Misty on, only try it if you don't have enough points. It's a bit shallow, and I'd play it safe with some more spins and tail grabs in the 500 point range, which should be just enough. This is the last jump on this course. Now you have 2 ice walls and the serpentine turns. Another day wrecker - use hard turns with brake but *controlled braking* and turn right, left, right, left, and then you have an ice wall, and the final approach. Don't make the mistake of trying to pad your score by doing a neato trick here there is no score on this last jump. Keep it simple and cross the chasm, through the doors to the finish line. If you get good enough, You should be able to use the special board to earn the speed time record and earn another special board for that course, the All-Round board. Now we are at the Expert course: Forget everything you've learned to this point. This is a new animal and it will knock you out and humble you REAL quick if you think otherwise. They don't play fair here. To beat this beast, master the first turn, use a hard turn right after the first rock out- cropping - the turn has to be at about 2 o'clock stay close, but not too close to the right side after you have made it through the first and second turns, and you should be ready for your first jump. Immediately afterwards, make a hard turn to the right, past the cabin and another hard turn right, into the forest. This will cause you nightmares unless you practice through it a few times. The goal is to make it over to the far right by the end of the trees. How you do it is a matter of practice. Use hard brake/turns when avoiding the trees coming your way. This course will teach you an essential skill you NEED to have from this point on: CONTROLLED BRAKING/SKIDDING! Welcome to the big leagues, son. Your 2 special boards that you have earned by now will be a big help. But for total trick points, stick with the simplest plainest ol number one Freestyle board with the squiggle.. Now the big approach to the curve after you leave the trees - stay sharp - and take a wide turn around it, feathering your brake, cause up ahead you will need all the control you can muster to avoid a nasty spill over the cliff. If you made it this far, set up for the jump and be prepared to make a hard turn right at the end of the straightaway. I usually tap it 3 times, 4 max as I make the turn. Try and stay center on this new straightaway, and as you approach it, slightly turn left, following the grade of the snow, otherwise you are airborne, which means no control, which can have disasterous consequences. After a slight bend, you have some very challenging cuts to make, hard left, hard right, and hard left. Above all, keep control of things, don't spazz - learn to follow the skid and control *where* it skids. Note, these are very quick turns, no sleeping allowed here or you will end up lost really quickly. As you pass the snowman on the left, say Hi to him, he will soon become your best friend! It will take some practice finding the sweet spot to set up for the next jump as you don't hit it square on and it has a nasty way of throwing the newbie into a cliff wall. Take a right and a left and set up immediately for the big leap coming up. You need to clear that ravine and land on the ice. Which means you'll have to angle slightly to the left. As soon as you clear it, get ready for a serpentine series again, hard left, hard right, left, right, left,and you should now be approaching checkpoint. If you set up in time, you should be able to pull a Misty - big help here. Now comes the dizzying fun part you have some killer turns, if you can even call them that, these will demand the best you've got to beat them, so practice practice and yes practice. The skill of controlled braking/skidding will either be developed through this proving ground, or you'll neve beat this course. On the ice straightawy you should pretty much stay center and you'll have a straight shot, followed by more serpentine turns which will require MORE practice, and then the cliff, turn hard left and try not to go over the jump or you will plow into the wall. Best to stay on the right and work your way around the curves. At the end you will need to feather the brake to cross the finish line - the turn is to sharp to just fly around. If you are going for time, the only way I have been able to beat the best time is by getting the special board later. If you have won all 3 trophies on the first two courses, and you have beaten the time and trick on the course selection screen for the Expert course, and earned the Special Alpine board, and earned hightest toatl, and highest trick total, you should recieve the "Extra" course. On the extra course. Use the special Freestyle board to beat the score on the course selection Screen, and use the Special Alpine to beat the Course Time. I'd use the special Freestyle for total tricks as well. If you have made it this far, and you need special tips, e mail me and I will be happy to help you out. If you do well and get high scores on the Extra course, you will be given "The Snowman". His board is a Shovelblade without the handle, and it is the fastest, most stable board of all. This is what I used to beat the Speed time on the Expert course. When I did, I was awarded another course, The Special Course. This one is a real hard course. You will need a lot of practice, drawing on all the skills that you've learned, to beat this one. But it can be done. Learn each course, till you can know by heart what's coming up next - its the only way to do it. The last course, once you have all the times and scores, is the end. No special boards - No "Hybrid" board that you've heard legends of. At the end of this game you will have a real feeling of accomplishment, and believe me, you'll have earned it. Again, if you've made it this far and you need tips on this course, e mail me and I'll be happy to give you a hand. Getting this far is a matter of pride, and I tip my hat to you. This should be more than enough to get those willing to work through it, to the end of the game. Hats off to you, and tear it up, fella! Happy shredding! Sean cloud9@htcomp.net