Amped, as you may have already guessed, is a Snowboarding game. Once upon a time (back when the Playstation and Nintendo 64 were slugging it out), this genre was brand spanking new and each game brought thrills and spills that the average gamer had not yet experienced. But time marches on and the Snowboarding game genre is very well established - does Amped have enough to offer to make it worth the cash?

The basic premise is simple - start the game by creating your character (who will have only basic stats in categories like speed, air etc) and then hit the slopes. There are only a couple of runs down one mountain to start with, you'll have to complete certain objectives to expand the range available. The objectives range from the typical "score a certain amount of points" through "find and smash 8 snowmen" to the much more interesting "score a certain amount of points infront of the press". This is where the game really lays its own course, with an innovative and interesting enhancement to your typical game. Similar to the Tony Hawk 3 skaters that you need to impress, any tricks that you pull off infront of the various press photographers will earn you "press points" - not only do you need these points to complete an objective on each run, but they also contribute to your fame and world status - it pays to get the tricks right out in front of the cameras!

The courses are varied and interesting, with a genuine feeling that they could exist somewhere - you can get lost in the trees for example, sliding on the ice or you can carve up the jumps etc in the obvious path of the intended run. That doesn't make it boring though - far from it. There are plenty of reality "enhancements" to add to the fun - you can, for example, grind down the cable for the chairlift; something beyond even the hardest of the hardcore snowboarders ;)