______________    ____________
\  __________ \  / ________  /
\ \         \ \/ /       / /
\ \         \  /       / /
______________\ \______   \/       / /______________________
/  ________    ________ \          /          ______________ \
/  /  ____  \  /  ____  \ \        /          /              \ \
/  /  /   /__/ /  /   /__/ |       /          /                \ \
/  /  /_____   /  /_____   /        \         /      __          \ \
/  /_______  \ /_______  \  \         \       /______/  \         / /
/  ___     /  /___     /  /  /          \                /        / /
/  /  /____/  //  /____/  /  / _          \        ______/        / /
\  \_________/ \_________/  / / \          \       \             \  \
\                  _______/ /   \          \       \____         \  \
\                /        /  _  \__________\           \         \  \
\              /        /  / \   __________           /         /  /
\_________   /________/  /   \  \         \_________/         /  /
/______________/     \  \                           /  /
\  \                         /  /
\  \_______________________/  /
\___________________________/
ASCII ART by Viktor Nilsson
SSX 3 Complete FAQ
Version 0.7 (11.03.03)
Compiled by gondee
gondee6@yahoo.com
------------------------------------------------------------
|  Advice by members of the Merqurycity.com Message Boards, |
|     the PS2 SSX 3 Gamefaqs.com boards and Internet        |
|     contributors: gondee, Vix, ssxtitan, Viktor Nilsson,  |
|       Dreaming Gamer, YoshiXL, countercycle, MrChaos,     |
|  confessor, Silverstarfire, Gamer EX, DeathloksBear,      |
|   UltimateApocalypse, Cody Ritchie, Krystony, Ghoti,      |
-------------------------------------------------------------
If you are an author listed on this FAQ, and you want me to remove your
submission, just e-mail me: gondee6@yahoo.com.
Table of Contents:
-----------------
Prelim: Introduction
a. FAQ Introduction
b. Is this official
c. Submission Policy
d. About the different sections
1. Gameplay System
a. General Overview
b. Character Attributes
c. Gameplay Controls
d. Assorted Features
e. Combo System
f. Tricks - Uber/Monster
g. Handplants and Board Presses
h. Monster Tricks
i. Frequently Asked Questions
2. Track Guides - Walkthroughs
Prelim: Mode Explanation
PEAK 1
a. Junction
b. Metro-City Breakdown
c. Crows Nest
d. Snow Jam
e. R&B
f. Happiness
g. Peak 1 Race
h. Peak 1 Jam
PEAK 2
i. Intimidator
j. Style Mile
k. Schizophrenia
l. Ruthless Ridge
m. Launch Time
n. Ruthless
o. Peak 2 Race
p. Peak 2 Jam
PEAK 3
q. Kick Doubt
r. Perpendiculous
s. Gravitude
t. Much2Much
u. The Throne
v. All-Peak Race
w. All-Peak Jam
3. Challenges
a. BIG Challenges
b. Career Highlights
c. Platinum Medals
d. Frequently Asked Questions
4. Collection
a. Collectibles
b. Rewards
c. Hidden Characters
d. Frequently Asked Questions
5. Characters
a. Character Bio
b. Bolt-Ons/Accessories
c. Frequently Asked Questions
6. Various Details
a. Music
b. Cheats
c. SSX 3 Online
d. Frequently Asked Questions
7. Measuring Up
a. Merqury City Scoreboard
b. Online Records
c. Frequently Asked Questions
8. Epilogue: Assorted Details
a. Legal
b. Thanks and Credit
c. Contributors Section
d. Version Details
=======================================================================================
ONE MOUNTAIN, THREE PEAKS, INFINITE POSSIBILITIES
a. FAQ Introduction
-------------------
SSX 3 is the latest installment in Electronic Arts Snowboarding Series. This FAQ will
attempt to cover every aspect of this ginormous game and provide a single go-to source
for help should you need it, (and you will probably need it, heheh.) Judging simply by
the
size of the game, you will be playing this game for tens, if not hundreds of hours if
you want to get everything and bask in the glory of your 100% completion. It won't be
easy, but I can guarantee you it will be a lot of fun.
b. Is this guide official?
--------------------------
Nope. In the spirit of 7-Up (proud sponsor of SSX 3, lol): "Never has, never will be."
This guide is nothing more than an attempt by fans of the game to help out others and
provide a means of assistance to master SSX 3. The info in this guide comes
from various sources across the internet, and I will wager, will often be much better
than any official source you can buy. The collective SSX Community is one smart group,
and players always find better methods of playing a game than a guide that was written
before the game was even released.
I will always attempt to validate any info here, but as with any FAQ, there can be
errors. If you would like to report an error, please read the submission policy in the
next section.
c. Submission Policy
--------------------
This guide is a huge undertaking, and is going to encompass, literally, hundreds of
hours of work and dozens of people. If you want to be one of the people who help
contribute to the Complete SSX 3 FAQ, please let me know: gondee6@yahoo.com.
I will gladly take any submissions you can give me, but don't forget to take a
look at the Table of Contents to get a good idea of what I'm looking for.
All authors will recieve an author credit as well as a short bio in the "Contributors
Section" at the end of this guide. Read my SSX Tricky FAQ to get a good idea of what
this will entail. :)
Please note that I reserve the right to edit any submissions for punctuation, grammar
and spelling, in order to make the guide the best and most readable it can be. This
doesn't entail altering the guides in any editorial way, however. As author, what you
have written is yours. However, as compiler I also have the responsibility to keep this
guide streamlined, and this includes the right to remove those parts of the guide that
are obsolete or incorrect. For the most part, however, your work will remain in the
guide as is and complete, for good.
Again, send any submissions to gondee6@yahoo.com. Thanks!
d. About the different sections
-------------------------------
There are six main sections of this guide. All are organized (I think) relatively well
and should be easy for readers to navigate. This guide is primarily written to be
easy to read and printout (no useless ASCII stuff other than the pretty header, heheh)
as well as detailed and complete.
The GAMEPLAY section will explain all the various intricacies of the control system
that you need to learn when playing SSX 3. This section also attempts to explain the
trick system and cover it in detail. The trick system in SSX 3 has been given an
overhaul, and is now more detailed than it has ever been. In years past, gamers
have uncovered advanced techniques to get the most out of the trick system, and
these techniques will be explored here.
The TRACKS/WALKTHROUGHS section will have explanations of all the different modes
in the game, as well as xtremely in-depth walkthoughs for EACH track. Pay attention to
these, they can help you get over those rough spots and also set records. Each track
should have multiple guides, and I will label the difficulty of each guide from
"beginner" to "Master" in order so readers can pick the best one for their skill level.
Each track will also have a time or score goal so you can know what the goal for each
walkthrough was when it was written.
The CHALLENGES section will list all 88 BIG Challenges in the game and offer a
paragraph or two on how to pass them. Not to be taken lightly, the BIG Challenges are
some of the most difficult parts of the game, and each Challenge will be rated in
difficulty from "easy" to "insane". The reward for each Challenge will be listed as
well, so you can pick those challenges you want to do to get the rewards you want
the earliest.
The COLLECTION section (hey, that rhymes) will list all the various things you need to
collect in order to complete the game 100 percent. There are two basic modes to SSX 3:
Competition and Collection/Adventure. The Collection portion of the game is enormous,
with over 1000 Bolt-ons (accessories), dozens of tricks, hundreds of rewards and other
things as well.
The CHARACTERS section will list bios for the characters and initial information about
them, as well as the specialized collectibles that only those characters can use.
It will also contain information (with spoilers) about any returning or hidden
characters that may (or may not) be in the game.
The DETAILS section lists the various items that didn't really fit into any one category.
I will cover the music section, the cheats and online play here, and explain anything
else
that may crop up that doesn't fit into any one category.
The MEASURING UP section encompasses the various means of competition available to SSX 3
Players. It will cover both the Merqurycity.com SSX 3 Scoreboard and give an explanation
of the Online Competition available.
The EPILOGUE covers all the various legal, thanks and version updates. I've placed this
at the end of the guide so readers can get directly to the meat of the SSX 3 FAQ.
End of Explanation. In the words of DJ Atomica: "Enough talk...time to ride."
=======================================================================================
SECTION ONE: GAMEPLAY SYSTEM
a. General Overview
-------------------
The gameplay system in SSX 3 is very complicated, and this section will attempt to
document all the various facets of gameplay.
There are Four Basic selections to choose after you press Start at the title screen.
Single Play, Conquer the Mountain, Multiplayer and Online Mode.
Single Play mode is strictly an opportunity to play events. No freeriding or exploration
is available here, and you can only play those tracks that you have unlocked in Conquer
the Mountain.
Conquer the Mountain is the main event. Here you power up your characters and do
basically
everything that is possible in the game. In order to unlock tracks in Single Play, you
need to pass them here first.
Multi-player is a chance to race your buddy. Two player, etc.
Online is a game selection available for Playstation 2 only - see the Details section in
section 6 in order to get the lowdown on how to play online.
b. CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES
--------------------
All character attributes are rated from 1 to 11.
1. ACCELERATION is the rate at which your rider achieves top speed. The higher this
attribute is, the faster they can reach 75MPH/120 KMH.
2. EDGING is the ability to turn. The higher this is, the sharper your boarder will
be able to turn and navigate the twisty tracks of the mountain. Your boarder will
take wider turns the lower this attribute is.
3. SPEED is ability to maintain top speed. All boarders top out at 75MPH/120KMH,
eventually, but at lower levels you will not be able to achieve this until you
have fully powered up your character.
4. SPIN is the ability of your character to spin and flip during jumps. The higher
this attribute, the easier you will be able to perform 180s, 360s, flips, backflips
and so forth.
5. STABILITY is the factor which affects how easily you land tricks and wipe out
when you are turning sharply. At lower levels, you need to land perfectly to not
get a stumbling animation, and you will also wipe out if you turn too sharply.
6. TOUGHNESS affects how easily you can be knocked down when someone punches you and
how easily you wipe out when you collide with something. At low levels, a simple tap
of a shoulder button can knock you down. At higher levels, the person will need to
charge their punch before they will knock you down and simply tapping the shoulder
buttons will only cause you to spin out if you are hit by a punch.
7. TRICKS is the factor that boosts the speed of your Ubers and Super Ubers. Your
level 1 Ubers will be much slower to initiate and finish at lower levels. This
affects all Ubers, but most noticeably the level 1 Ubers.
PURCHASING ATTRIBUTE POINTS:
----------------------------
Purchasing attribute points is essential to winning and conquering the mountain.
You can buy attribute points at the Lodge at the different stations on each peak.
Buying attribute points becomes more expensive as you get your character more
powered up, so you'll need some serious cash before you can get them all the
way finished. Each point, one through eleven, is made up of five "units" and
these units are more expensive as you increase your characters skills. Each
unit for the first point costs $250. At level 11, each unit costs a whopping
$5000 points. At $82,000 dollars to power up one attribute, it will cost $574,000
to fully power-up your character, so get crackin'!
c. GAMEPLAY CONTROLS:
------------------
Controls coming soon. Read the instruction booklet in the meantime. :)
d. ASSORTED FEATURES
--------------------
BOOST BAR DETAILS:
------------------
The Boost (or Adrenaline bar) shows the boost you've obtained from doing tricks
on the mountain. You use boost to speed up when you are on the snow, boost down
rails and to increase the heighth of your jumps. There are 3 boost levels, each
signified by a different color. The speed boost for each level increases, with
white causing the most increase in speed. You have a time limit in which to fill
up the boost bar before it runs out, signified by a beeping reminder and a soft
sound effect.
CLEAR -  You have no boost at all - do tricks!
RED (NOT GLOWING) - This is the initial level of the boost bar that you must
fill up.  Once you have filled up this particular bar, you can do
Uber Tricks.
YELLOW (GLOWING) - You have reached level 1 of your boost bar and can now do
Level 1 Ubers. It takes 4 Level One Uber tricks (spelling "Uber" in
letters above the boost bar) before you can reach level two.
WHITE (GLOWING) - You have filled up the second level of your boost bar and
can now do Level Two Ubers. Once you do five Level Two Ubers (and
fill up the world "Super" above the boost bar) you achieve the final
step:
RED (GLOWING) - You have now spelled out "SUPER UBER" above the Uber bar and
are given unlimited boost for a limited amount of time (usually two
minutes or so.) During this time you can boost without running out,
and if you manually reset you will not lose any boost at all. You
will hear a small beeping and the red sphere above the boost bar
will slow down as you near the end of your unlimited boost period.
MANUAL RESET: (Select button for PS2)
-------------------------------------
Pushing the manual reset button causes your character to immediately reset their
position on the track. This feature is critical to get out of spots where you may
be unable to move or are trapped in the terrain. The bad part of this is that
using the manual reset button nearly drains you entire boost bar upon reappearing.
CRASH RECOVERY
---------------
During some crashes you will see a bar appear near the bottom of the screen. This is the
crash recovery bar - tapping the boost button (square for PS2) will allow you fill this
bar up and recover from crashes while still keeping your boost. It will also allow you
to recover in midair and continue to do tricks if you fill it up before you land. If you
do NOT fill the crash recovery bar, crashes can sometimes go on for 10 seconds or more!
In some cases, filling the crash recovery bar will reset your character as though you
had tapped the manual recovery button (Select for PS2). In most of these cases, using
Crash Recovery allows you to keep your boost, whereas pushing the manual reset button
uses nearly all your boost.
BONUS ICONS
-----------
There are a new set of point and multiplier icons in the game and they may take some
getting used to because many of them look the same. Here is the basic breakdown:
RACING EVENTS:
Speed Boost - looks like a lightning bolt and causes your rider to hit max speed
for a short time without using any boost.
Trick Boost - looks like a purple set of arrows coming out from a single point. This
icon greatly increases your trick ability enabling you to pull of some crazy tricks.
I would say it easily quadruples your point stat for a short time.
FREESTYLE EVENTS
There are many more icons to identify in Freestyle events, but they fall into 2
basic categories - point bonuses and trick mulipliers. Thanks to FishEye for this info.
Point Bonuses:
Yellow er... "spikey ball" = 2000 points
Blue Square = 3000 points
Whitish (it's probably Platinum) colored Square/Diamond = 5000 points
Black Square/Diamond = 10,000 points
Trick Multipliers (multiplies the total of your trick by the number indicated):
Yellow "X" = 2X multiplier (doubles your trick score)
Blue "X" = 3X multiplier (triples your trick score)
White (again, probably platinum) "X" = 5X multiplier (total times 5)
Black "X" = 10X multiplier (trick total times ten)
e. Combo System
---------------
The combo system in SSX 3 is a completely new feature that may take old
SSX veterans some time to get used to. You will see within playing the game
for a few hours, however, that the trick system is absolutely vital to master
in order to achieve many of the game's point requirements for gold and
platinum medals.
The trick system works like this: once you engage in anything that scores points;
rails, a jump, board press etc, a combo string begins. After you finish your current
trick and begin another one, a counter will appear at the top of the screen that
says "1x" - this means you have completed a combo of one move. The small circle
above the 1x is the time limit that you must do another trick to continue the combo.
The time limit between combo moves is around two seconds. With each successive move,
the counter increases one ( 2x, 3x, 4x, etc.) and the combo bonus you get increases.
In order to get the full bonus of the combo bonus, however, you must finish the combo.
If you wipe out before finishing your combo, you will lose the ENTIRE combo bonus.
That means the longer a combo goes on, the higher the score and more risk to you
that you may crash and lose the entire bonus.
The combo system may seem simple, but the scoring system behind it is actually
very complex. To explain, we got an explanation straight from EA Big itself,
in the form of SSX programmer Cody Ritchie:
"When you do a trick, you points immediately get counted and add to your
score.  If you're doing a combo, a portion of the trick's score goes
into the combo score, or 'pool'.   The higher your combo is, the higher the
portion that goes into the pool. So when the combo is low, only a small
part of your trick goes into the pool, and when the combo gets higher &
higher, a lot more of the trick goes into the pool.  It even goes above just a
portion, so that double your trick goes into the combo!  So the least
you get is trick x1.5 (trick score + half trick score) and as high as trick
x 3 (trick score + 2x trick in combo score.) So if you do a huge monster
trick worth 50,000 and your combo is high, then it would give you 0k into
your score right away, and add 100k into the combo score.  If you finish the
combo (or cross the finish line) then the entire combo score gets added
to the real score and that's your total.  If you wipe out at any time, you
always keep your regular score, but lose the entire combo pool.
Now, as far as multipliers are concerned, they DON'T affect the trick
combo score, just the regular score.  So if you bust a huge 50,000 point
trick through a 10x multiplier, and your combo score is high, you get 500,000
into the score (trick x10 mult) and the BASE trick x2 into the combo
(100,000), for a total of 600,000 (if you land the combo)
Some hints for high scores would be:
* Do big scoring tricks after the combo is high, or you're missing out
on points (you'll only get 1.5x instead of 3x, half as much!)
* On big airs, it's more worth it to hold a single uber the entire
time, than doing several in a row.  The points accumulate faster for
holding than when switching, plus you can get a long grab bonus.
If you're trying to fill the uber meter, then do several small
ones to get to the bigger scoring tricks.
* Monster tricks are great for smaller jumps: it takes quite a big jump
to do a 50k uber trick, but some monster tricks are quick and can be
landed off a short jump.  They can be tricky to pull off in a pinch though,
find simple ones."
Thanks Cody! :)
f. UBERS - Rail/Air
------------------------
RAIL UBER TRICKS: New to SSX 3 are Rail Ubers. You do Rail Ubers by pushing
one of the shoulder buttons (L1, L2, R1, R2) anytime when you are on a rail
and your boost bar is at least at level 1. There are four Rail Ubers in
the game, and they are the same for every character. Each is initially worth
between 3-4000 points and are holdable, like all Ubers. Rail ubers, however,
accumulate points much slower than Air Ubers. They still count towards your
SUPER UBER total, however. A cool little trick with rail ubers is that you
can get many more in a row if you go very slow on a rail instead of boosting
past it. Just use the left analog stick to keep balanced on the rail and
touch the boost if it looks like you may fall off.
AIR UBER TRICKS: There are three levels of Uber tricks, but these "levels" mainly
denote how long the animations are. The higher the level, the longer the
animation and time needed to pull off the trick. Although the Ubers each
character initially has are different, you can reassign any Ubers in the
Lodge (except for Level 1 Ubers, those stay the same, and each character is
given one particular set and it is unchangeable.) However, if you weren't
given that Uber from the start, you must buy them using the money you have
earned. The Cost column below shows the cost of each Uber that you can purchase
from the Lodge.
STALEFISH - R1+Square buttons
Springer             Level 1             Cost: Default by Character
Tricky Flicky        Level 1             Cost: Default by Character
G-Money              Level 2             Cost: $10,000
Superman             Level 2             Cost: $10,000
Smithereen           Level 3             Cost: $15,000
Torpedo              Level 3             Cost: $15,000
INDY - R2+Square buttons
Extended Play        Level 1             Cost: Default by Character
Can Opener           Level 1             Cost: Default by Character
Mattrickulater       Level 2             Cost: $10,000
Karolicker           Level 2             Cost: $10,000
Judo                 Level 3             Cost: $15,000
dnL Boost            Level 3             Cost: $15,000
METHOD - L1+Square buttons
Reach Around         Level 1             Cost: Default by Character
Mahogany             Level 1             Cost: Default by Character
Jib-O                Level 2             Cost: $10,000
Indian               Level 2             Cost: $10,000
Hand in Hand         Level 3             Cost: $15,000
Kort Martial         Level 3             Cost: $15,000
MUTE - L2+Square buttons
Clean Sweep          Level 1             Cost: Default by Character
Counter Point        Level 1             Cost: Default by Character
Bar Hop              Level 2             Cost: $10,000
SSXorcist            Level 2             Cost: $10,000
dnL                  Level 3             Cost: $15,000
Katana               Level 3             Cost: $15,000
TAILGRAB - R1+R2 buttons
Amazing Spenco       Level 1             Cost: Default by Character
Jay Tear             Level 1             Cost: Default by Character
Morgan Grinder       Level 2             Cost: $10,000
Slinger              Level 2             Cost: $10,000
Svelton              Level 3             Cost: $15,000
Lukeloo              Level 3             Cost: $15,000
Acrobat              Level 3             Cost: $30,000
Superman Barspin     Level 3             Cost: $30,000
Capo                 Level 3             Cost: $30,000
Banger               Level 3             Cost: $30,000
Pommel Me            Level 3             Cost: $30,000
NOSEGRAB - L1+L2 buttons
Big Unit             Level 1             Cost: Default by Character
Kickin A'            Level 1             Cost: Default by Character
Madonna              Level 2             Cost: $10,000
Vacation             Level 2             Cost: $10,000
Vacation             Level 3             Cost: $15,000
Footloose            Level 3             Cost: $15,000
Trickitello          Level 3             Cost: $15,000
Walking the Dog      Level 3             Cost: $30,000
Sugar Rush           Level 3             Cost: $30,000
LaLaLa Lock Step     Level 3             Cost: $30,000
Piruotte             Level 3             Cost: $30,000
Guillotine           Level 3             Cost: $30,000
MONSTER UBERS:
-----------------
Monster Tricks are tricks that are an added feature to the trick system in SSX 3.
They seem, initially, like a sort of trick book, but they are in fact specialized
tricks that are named after different bands whose songs are featured in the game.
You discover the names of these tricks by doing the Career Highlights in the game.
(See section 4 for Career Highlights.)
Why should you use these particular tricks as opposed to just flipping like crazy
and using your own ubers? Well, there are added bonuses for using these tricks.
There are 3 levels of Monster Tricks based on the level of Uber that is done during
the Monster Trick. All level 1 tricks get an immediate trick bonus of 10,000 points,
Level 2 tricks get a bonus of 20,000 points, and Level 3 tricks get a bonus of 30,000
points upon completion! In most cases, this will help offset the points lost by doing
these tricks, many of which are simpler compared to what you can pull off with a fully
powered character.
Remember that Monster Tricks only have their full bonuses the first
time you do them. Like every trick in the game, the value of the trick decreases
by half or more if you do them more than once back to back. However, according to
PD CofC, after you do a few tricks, the "trick recorder" resets and you can do
another Monster Trick for the full bonus.
TRICK / TRICK NAME / POINT BONUS
* FS 540 G-Money / Da Housecat / 10,000
* Triple Backflip Superman  / Aphrodite / 20,000
* FS Rodeo 720 Smithereen / Thrice / 30,000
* BS 720 Torpedo  / Swollen Member / 30,000
* BS 900 Mattrickulater  / Yellowcard / 20,000
* FS Double Backflip 540 Karolicker  / Alpine Star / 20,000
* Backflip Nosegrab to Judo  / MxPx / 30,000
* Fs Rodeo 720 dnL Boost  / Ultimate dnL Boost / 30,000
* Bs 900 Jib-O  / Black Eyed Peas / 20,000
* FS 900 Indian to Late Stiffy  / Deepsky / 20,000
* BS Misty 900 Hand in Hand  / Basement Jaxx / 30,000
* BS Backflip 360 Kort Martial to Late Stalefish / Fischerspooner / 30,000
* Double Backflip Bar Hop to Late Mute / Overseer / 20,000
* FS Triple Backflip 180 SSXorcist  / X-Ecutioner / 20,000
* FS Double Frontflip 360 dnL Flipit to Late Indy / Ultimate dnL FlipIt / 30,000
* BS 720 Indy to Late Katana  / Juana's Addiction / 30,000
* FS 1080 Morgan Grinder / Audio Bully / 20,000
* BS Backflip 360 Slinger  / Finger 11 / 20,000
* FS Misty 720 Svelton to Late Nosegrab  / N.E.R.D Fly or Die / 30,000
* Triple Backflip Nosegrab to Late Lukeloo / Chemical Brother / 30,000
* BS Double Back Flip 180 Madonna / Stoneage / 20,000
* Double Backflip Vacation to Late NIFTY Shifty / Autopilot Off / 20,000
* BS 360 NIFTY Shifty to Late Footloose / The Automator / 30,000
* BS 540 Indy to Late Trickitello / Placebo / 30,000
g. Handplants and Board Presses
-------------------------------
The trick system is rounded out with two moves that are essential in making the
most of the courses in SSX 3. These moves are the Handplant and Board Press.
BOARD PRESSES - Right Analog Stick Up or Down
The board press is the new move in the SSX 3 Trick arsenal that is absolutely
vital to continuing combos when there are no jumps or rails to take advantage of.
A board press causes your character to lean their weight on the board and ride
it on either the front (Up) or back (Down) . This allows characters to continue
a combo string on flat ground, basically indefinitely if you are good enough.
Once you start a board press your character will begin tilting their board and
riding it on it's lip.
It's important to pay attention to the visual cues your character is giving to
see how your board press is coming along. If your character is waving their arms
and looks to be off-balance, you are in danger of falling and should either stop
the board press by letting go of the right analog stick, or rotate the right
analog stick to the opposite direction you were holding. This causes your character
to spin on the boardpress and renews their balance. If you do not you will tumble
and lose whatever combo you were trying to achieve.
HANDPLANT - Circle Button
The handplant might at first seem odd when you do it in the game, as it completely
kills your speed and momentum down the track. But the handplant serves a very useful
purpose - it can be used to gain access to those parts of the track you wouldn't
normally be able to get to and also can be used to continue your combo in places where
you may not otherwise have been able to.
For example, if you launch off a jump and are approaching a billboard or tree branch,
pushing circle will cause you to handplant onto it. While you are planted, you can
affect your balance by using the left analog stick, and the longer you hold the
handplant the more points the trick is worth.
Why should you use this move then? There are several instances where it is vital:
1) If you are approaching a rail from the side in slopestyle, you can handplant off
of it to continue your combo.
2) If you are approaching a rock or similar obstacle in the Backcountry that it looks
like you may crash into, try to handplant on it, it may save you from wiping out.
3) In Superpipe events, there are certain areas of the track you can only get to if
you use the handplant to get up there. For example, in the Peak 3 Superpipe,
Perpendiculous, there are pipes well above the track you can only get to if you
handplant onto the thin red bars located at the very end of the pipe. Similarly,
in Schizophrenia, there are alternate pipes on either side that you must get to by
handplanting at the top of the middle pipe and then letting go and dropping down
into the alternate pipe.
j. Frequently Asked Questions
-----------------------------
Q. Why can I not spin or flip as fast during jumps as I see other people spinning?
A. Most likely you're not prewinding. When you come to a jump, holding down a
DIRECTION on the D-Pad in addition to holding down the jump button allows you
to "prewind" a flip, allowing you to flip/spin much faster than you could if
you pressed the jump button alone. Learning how to prewind is absolutely vital,
and the first skill you should learn if you are new to SSX 3.
Q. Are there any hidden techniques you're not telling me about?
A. A few, but they're not secret. An oldie but goodie is boost tapping - tapping
your boost instead of holding the boost button down allows you to increase your
speed while extending the life of your boost. Since boost can be hard to come
by on certain courses, using this technique can help you quite a bit.
Additionally, "select tricks" or warps are back in this game, though the price
for using them is now much higher if you don't have SUPER UBER spelled out and
have unlimited boost. Select tricks are points in tracks where you push the
manual reset button (Select for PS2) and are immediately respawned further ahead
in the track. It's a warp of sorts, taking advantage of a system setting that
keeps players from getting stuck in tough spots like crevasses and boulders.
In past games this glitch came at the cost of a little boost, but in SSX 3 the
cost of pushing manual reset is now nearly your entire boost bar. Be sure it's
worth it before you decide to use a select trick. The only time this trick will
not cost you any boost is if you have spelled out SUPER UBER and have unlimited
boost, then you can do it safely.
=======================================================================================
SECTION TWO: TRACK GUIDES - WALKTHROUGHS
The TRACKS/WALKTHROUGHS section will have explanations of all the different modes
in the game, as well as xtremely in-depth walkthoughs for EACH track. Pay attention to
these, they can help you get over those rough spots and also set records. Each track
should have multiple guides, and I will label the difficulty of each guide from
"beginner" to "Master" in order so readers can pick the best one for their skill level.
Each track will also have a time or score goal so you can know what the goal for each
walkthrough was when it was written.
Tracks are listed from the bottom of the Peak up, so if you are looking for a
typical event towards the top of the mountain, scroll down. This section is constantly
filling up with new walkthroughs, so feel free to check back frequently until all the
tracks are filled up. Once the tracks are completely filled up, I will update this
guide to version 1.0.
Basic Mode Explanation and Tips:
RACE:
----
Race is racing, as always. Look for the best shortcuts and link them all together
to get the fastest time. There is no "special boost" out of the gate in SSX 3, so just
hold up until you jump out of the gate to get the best time. Additionally, some of
the shortcuts on certain tracks can only be done by fully-powered characters.
Big Air:
--------
Big Air tracks are short and sweet. You must reach a certain point total on a
very short tracks. 1 heat and then the finals.
Superpipe
----------
Superpipe may seem easy, but it is actually pretty challenging to get high scores.
There are a few basic things to remember on all Superpipes:
1) Holding ONE single Uber per jump ALWAYS scores more than doing several.
Holding it allows the Uber to build up its score and you also will get a
4000 point "Style" bonus for holding a single Uber the entire time.
2) You should ALWAYS boost when you prewind your jumps - boosting makes
your jumps so much better than not that it's not even an issue not to
boost.
3) Change spin/flip directions often to avoid duplicating tricks. Throw a
stall or late flip/spin in there to differentiate each trick.
4) To reach monumental scores, you MUST keep a single combo going from start
until you cross the finish line. This huge combo bonus is what makes the
scores for Platinum medals possible.
Slopestyle
----------
Slopestyle is to SSX 3 what Showoff was - it features a huge track where you
must find the best "line" or path on the course to both get the ever-important
multipliers and get enough chances to increase your combo. Comboing is the
single biggest thing to get huge scores in Slopestyle, and a lot of the later
scores would be next to impossible if you did not string together combos that
give you huge bonuses.
PEAK ONE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------
JUNCTION
Superpipe
-----------------------
Qualifying: 160,000
Final: 180,000
Platinum: 700,000
Walthrough Author: ssxtitan
Walkthrough Goal - 700,000
Skill Level - Hard
3 Steps to the Junction Halfpipe
1. Dropping into half pipe
2. Route and technique inside half pipe
3. Exiting the half pipe
1. Right out of the gate there is little lip in front of you, do a double
flip (combined with whatever trick you like), and then land with the board press!
Landing with the board press will enable to begin your combo string! Once you
have landed you will want to turn slightly to your right and go up the side of
the half pipe. (Donít hit the two triangular barricades though.) It is important
to angle yourself a little bit off this first half pipe jump, because when you come
back down you want to hit the other side of the half pipe, and not end up
shooting back up the hill towards the starting gates. When you take this first jump
if you donít see a 3X or 4X COMBO at the top middle part of your screen, then you
have failed to start your combo string in which case you may want to restart as
this will cost you some points, since you will end up with a smaller combo
string total ( by 3 to 4 obviously)!
2. O.K. you're now in the pipe and you have a combo string going of at least
3X or 4X! Now is when the real fun begins! Strap on your oxygen tank cause
weíre going for crazy altitude! This part is pretty straight forward, you
will see that along the course there are 6 yellow spheres, and above those
there are 8 shiny diamonds! You want to get all these! The trick to big air
is jumping right at that last second, you also want to pre-wind the second
you land as to maximize your spin in the air. While in the air, try to be
creative use monster tricks, and ubers, you can hold ubers too and watch
your score go higher the longer you hold it. Style points certainly help too
and u can get these by combining different ubers in a single jump. Be
creative though, and try not to use the same ones over and over as they
are worth less each time you do them in an event! You can see your style
points when you are jumping, they should appear next to the score you are
getting for that particular jump! I have found that if you manage to hit
one of the diamonds, that you are more than likely on a good line to hit
them all! So if you do hit one, when you come back down and land, do not turn
the board at all! Fly up again, and if you hit the jump on the other side
of the half pipe you should fly up to the next shiny diamond, and then
just repeat this process! If you manage to pick up all the shiny diamonds,
then go back and try to get the yellow spheres! You can shoot yourself
back up the half pipe by landing a jump and then angling your board towards
the beginning of the half pipe. I suggest not going at an angle more than
45 degrees, because you want to be able to get some air, so that you can land
in the first part of the half pipe, and still have momentum to continue jumping.
3. Time to go! When you're down to about 10-15 seconds left you will want to
think about getting to that finish line pronto! There are a couple of ways
to get there. The first which is little risky, but certainly yields more
points (and is my personal favorite) is to make sure that you are at the very
end of the half pipe, and pull the same kind of 45 degree angle jump that you
would use to make your way back up the half pipe, but only this time, instead
of angling your jump so that it faces the beginning of the half pipe, youíll
want to angle so that you're shooting towards the finish line. The camera angle
is a little weird off this jump, so be forewarned, but I can tell you that if
hit it well you should be able to do at least 3 ubers before you land! With any
luck you should land in front of the finish line and cruise in for a score of
anywhere between 700,000- 1,000,000+ !!! The other way is to simply land that
last jump, and right when you land make a hard turn for the finish line,
sometimes I have trouble stopping my momentum, and instead of turning sharply
and cruising towards the finish line on the ground, I will fly up and take
another jump, in which case I run out of time. But if you can get your character
to turn sharply enough so that they donít jump and just head for the finish
on the ground, then this method works just fine!! Have fun and good luck!!
TIP: Author - Ghoti
Do a few tricks as you approach the start gate, and you'll come off the starting
line with some gas in your boost meter already.
If you're not Uber by the time you hit the first jump in the pipe, you can be so
easily by mixing up each of the Uber grabs; I can usually get UBER spelled out
and can usually get 'SUP' or so of the next level of tricks. Once you're
Super-Uber, nail those SuperUbertricks with style (go for Stalls, Off-Axes,
and Inverts for max style points). Always land with a tail or nose press
for a freebie Combo link in your chain. If you get 10 jumps, that's 10 more
tricks in the Combo!
-----------------------
METRO CITY BREAKDOWN
Racing
-----------------------
Heat 1: Beat 3:07
Heat 2: Beat 3:02
Heat 3: Beat 2:48-2:54
Platinum: 2:30
Walkthrough Author: UltimateApocalypse
Walkthrough Goal - Platinum, or under 2:20
Skill Level: Moderate
NOTE: When I say do uber off a jump, I mean if your boost is not full.
As you all know, big jump sometimes take more time because you *stay* in the
air for quite a bit. So only jump and do uber if you need the boost. If the
following procedures are done correctly, you should be able to use boost all
the time and finish the race with 2:20 or less. Good Luck!
1. Out of the gate punch someone then do 2 ubers of the jump. If you
cannot do it, then just do a trick + spin + flip of the first jump and your
boost meter should be full when you land.
2. Right after you land, go to the left where you see a SSX sign.
Grind the rail and do an uber on rail. After you land, you should see two
rails ahead, one straight ahead, the other to your right. Go to the one on
your right, grind a rail and do an uber on rail.
3. Now there is a big jump ahead, aim for the center of the building
where you will break the glass. Be careful do not jump too high or you will
hit the building. You should be able to do 3 ubers from this jump.
4. After you land, aim for the center of the track where a narrow pathway
goes between the buildings. There is a jump and a Trick Boost at end of the pathway,
do 3 ubers. You should fly over the main track and the billboard, land on a narrow
track between the buildings.
5. Keep going between the buildings and do 2 ubers on the last jump.
6. After you land, you should see a little ramp ahead which leads to the
covered bridge. Aim straight for the ramp and do 1 uber.
7. Right after you land, you should aim a little to the left. A section of the
bridge is broken, you have to jump over the gap and land on the second part of
the bridge. If you aim to the left correctly, you should land on the side of
the bridge and grind all the way down.
8. One the left hand said, you should see a SSX sign, go through the sign
there is a jump. The main track goes under the ramp and there is a REALLY tall
building ahead. (I personally could not jump over the building). Align the bottom
of your board to the building so that you will not tumble.
9. After you fall to the bottom of the building, you should land right on
a fence and grind all the way down, and you should fly over the train.
10. Right in front of you is a Speed Boost and a ramp with a Trick Boost. If
your Super Uber is not full, do ubers off the ramp with the Trick Boost. Or, take
the left of the ramp and head down the slope.
11. On your left, you should be able to see a rail, grind the rail and you should
land on another rail. After the second rail, there is a red jump.
12. You can do a uber off the red jump if your Super Uber meter is not full.
13. You should see the track turns right with a rail in the center. Grind the rail.
14.   After you are off the rail, the track turns sharply to the left. Right after
the turn, you should see a rail on the right hand side of the track. Get on the rail.
15. Off the rail, the track should turn right with a red jump and a Trick Boost.
DO NOT take the red jump. Instead, go to the left of the track before it reaches
the red jump. If you aim correctly, you should fly a short distance  and land on
a rail.
16. Go all the way down the rail, with the correct speed, you should land on
another rail.
17. After the second rail, you will see a red jump ahead, do 2 ubers off the jump.
18. Another red jump ahead, jump and do uber, or not if your boost is full,
and break the glass.
19. Aim for the center and grind the pipe all the way down and you will see
the track turn right with a rail on the center.
20. You probably will not be able to grind the rail from the start with the
velocity you gained from the pipe. So, aim for the center section of the pipe
where it makes a almost 90 degrees turn to the right. Right before you reach
the rail, do a little jump and that should make you grind the rail.
21. All the way down, you should see 2 red jumps. Then a pipe in the center
of the track with red jumps on the side. Go on the pipe and boost all the way
to the finish line.
-----------------------
CROWS NEST
Big Air
-----------------------
Qualifying: 60,000
Final: 70,000
Platinum: 300,000
Walthrough Author: MrChaos
Walkthrough Goal - 250,000
Skill Level - Hard
*Please note that all moves must be linked with a board-press if you want
to achieve a high score.. Also this was done with a full powered up Mac.*
1. Immediately out of the gate, do a misty/rodeo.
2. Do 2 misty/rodeos off the next jump. This should give you full adrenaline.
3. Launch off the next ramp doing whatever uber you want with some spins for
around 20-25K.
4. When you land, get ready to do an uber off the next the pipe ramp also nailing
the 3000 point bonus... You can get around 20K here...
5. When you land, board-press to finish, but quickly turn around and head toward
the long rail.
6. If you get on the rail slow enough, you can do a rail uber for about 10K.
-----------------------
SNOW JAM
Racing
-----------------------
Heat 1: Beat 3:12
Heat 2: Beat 3:14
Heat 3: Beat 3:00-3:07
Platinum: 2:30
Walthrough Author: YoshiXL
Walkthrough Goal - 2:30
Skill Level - Hard
1. Out of the gate punch someone.
2. At first red jump hit 3 ubers, Follow the next red jump with 6-7 ubers.
3. Take the upcoming right turn on left side take the log, keep the line and
you' ll find another log when you land positioned the same way. Again keep
the line.
4. Next, there is an ssx sign to your left, take it a cautious speed.
Grind the upcoming logs.
5. Straight ahead is a nice red jump, dont take it, instead go left of it and
keep boosting. Ahead is a trick boost with a jump. Slow down at that point
so you don't fly out of control plus you want to grind a log thats on your
right when you land.
6. Keep the line then repeat with 2nd log when you land.
7. Time to refill boost. Jump over next logs on ground with ubers. After the 2nd
log there is a jump thats hard to see, jump it with an uber.
8. Straight ahead is a pair of red jumps, take em with ubers.  After 2nd red jump
make a sharp left and jump with your last (hopefully) uber.  Now boost freely
and don't jump!!
9. There should be a hidden log to the left to grind, then another if you
keep a good line.
10. Now stay on the main path and boost and near the end there is a bridge with a
trick boost and lots of cables. Grind it if you can then ahead you'll see the
last red jump. Dont take it, instead head  left to it and go smoothly but fast
to the finish line!!!
------
Walthrough Author: gondee
Walkthrough Source: FirebrandX
Walkthrough Goal - 2:20
Skill Level - Master
1. Out of the gate, punch someone to get full boost and do an Uber off the
first jump. Skip the next big ramp in the middle and instead ski off to the
side, doing two more Ubers once you hit air off the decline.
2. Go around the next right turn and look for a wood branch that makes a ramp off
the turn. Boost off that, doing a rail Uber and do another Uber as you land.
This shortcut will put you over the hill directly by the next jump. Look for
yet ANOTHER branch that comes out of the left of the jump. Boost off that,
doing yet another Uber.
3. You will land by an "Out of Bounds" sign (ignore it) and a metal structure
that you ski under as you continue on the track. Do an uber off the ramp past
this and continue down the track. Go over the next drop off and look for a
blue rail that pops up from the middle of the track. Ride it, doing a Rail
Uber on it and continue down the track.