First of all, I still can't get over how bad Atari's idea of marketing Jaguar games was. Yes, I love this game, but back in 1994 if I had been shopping for games, I would have been too embarrassed to ask an attendant to retrieve the game from the case for me. Look at the cover. Nothing says "buy me" like badly photoshopped pictures of people in flamboyant winter clothing striking annoying poses. And of course the game is named after a hard to pronounce "world famous" French ski resort that nobody in America is likely to have heard of, with the Headline on the back of the box reading "Mow Snow".
As a collector, of course, buying this game wasn't such a difficult decision, as I've been sampling the good and the bad from Atari's ill-fated and nigh forgotten Jaguar. And I was pleasantly surprised. While the gameplay can't match up to Super Burnout (the games are similar only in that they use Mode-7 environments and have super fast sprite scaling to give an intense sense of speed) the game makes up for it in substance. That said, the gameplay can be frustrating, so while the overall value is high, if you don't enjoy the game, well, obviously the hours of gameplay provided here will go unused.
The best part of Val d'Isere is its mode variety. There is a "free ride" mode, plus three competition modes. You won't race head to head with other skiiers/snowboarders, but compete in solo heats in slalom events of varying difficulties olympic style, with the worst times being eliminated in each round. The free ride mode is really the game's backbone, however. The idea is to unlock the entire mountain by racing to checkpoints with limited time. The paths branch out, and certain finishes give you a ski lift to a new part of the mountain. Exploring the entire resort is challenging and fun.
The Mode-7 employs a hefty share of the undulating effect found in super burnout to give you a sense that you're really skiing over a mountain and not just a flat surface. While this is a trip, and absolutely necessary, the game has a tendancy to hide obstacles from you.
In the free ride mode, you'll fly down the slopes with the main goal to avoid the hazards of the mountain, which will make you crash, and obviously screw up your bid to reach the next checkpoints. While there aren't grim reapers or people rolling tires for no reason, the game reminds me a bit of "Paperboy" in the way the obstacles are dispersed. You'll need sharp reflexes as you attempt to avoid trees, rocks, snowmobiles, snowplows, and my personal favorite- hazard warning signs. There are also skiiers that seem to move side to side very slowly. You can't actually fall over by hitting them, but they can be a nuisance as they slow you down slightly. Girls snowboarding in their swimsuits? Only in France.
I find this game extremely enjoyable, with a lot to do and some creative modes. The speed is "guaranteed" as you can hit an unrealistic 106 mph, and the smoothness is refreshing on the Jag. It's still not nearly as good as Super Burnout, but the gameplay is so different that comparisons aren't really fair. If you can put up with a little frustration from hard to see obstacles, Val d'Isere offers a lot of value.

Brand	Unknown
Rating	5 (2 ratings)
Price	$N/A
Category	Atari Jaguar

Val d'Isere Sking and Snowboarding Atari Jaguar 64 Bit by This is a game for the Atari Jaguar Video Game system.