HOT CORNER

A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, played, heard, observed, worn, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here.

What: ESPN Winter X Games Snowboarding 2002

System: Playstation 2

Price: $49.95

Imagine yourself whipping down the slopes, the wind chilling your face, a trail of snow behind you. The thrill of executing the perfect move on your snowboard while admiring onlookers gasp in amazement.

Do you have that image in your mind? Good. Because you won’t find anything like that in this game.

Winter X Games Snowboarding 2002 is simply one of the worst snowboarding games to come out for any system. Except maybe the Atari 2600, which came out about 25 years ago.

As befits the name, the game borrows heavily from the telecasts of ESPN’s “X Games” and features real licensed riders and settings.

X Games is broken up into challenges of pure racing (Time Attack), pure tricks (Big Air/Halfpipe), and a little of each (Slope- style). It’s no surprise that the last is the best. The Slopestyle courses are huge, and there’s a lot more emphasis on linked kickers and rails. The amount of trick potential has been expanded considerably.

At times, it feels as if the game strays too far from the thin line between realism and fun. The key to performing spins and flips effectively is mastering the timing of button inputs. Hit the trick inputs too early and you crash. The controls are as unwieldy as the game’s title.

But everything is difficult in this game. Tricks, turning. You’ll be happy if you can make it downhill just once. Stay far, far away from this game.