Cool Boarders (e)

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 wasteland  for 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