Snowboard Kids kicks off a delightful kawaii formula. Six child riders, eight slopes loaded with items and traps, a festive mood and a charming presentation. The riding feel is more arcade than serious, but the four-player multiplayer fires on all cylinders. A genuinely endearing little phenomenon.
Your verdict
Category
Sports1 player3+
Split screen
Description
Colorful snowboarding game with kids on snowy slopes filled with items and traps. Published by Atlus, released in Japan in 1997 and in Europe and North America in 1998. Six child characters, eight themed snowboard courses, offensive and defensive items, and up-to-4-player versus mode.
Snowboard Kids review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
Snowboard Kids dresses arcade snowboarding in an adorable cartoon aesthetic: big-headed kids, wild courses strewn with bonuses and traps, bright colors and good-natured humor. The art direction favors whimsy and festive readability, far from any realism. A joyful, endearing art direction, the cute N64 answer to the genre.
The soundtrack wraps the ride in sparkling good cheer: catchy childlike melodies, playful rhythms and themes that follow every run with a smile. The music defuses the competition and sustains the festive, good-natured spirit of the game. A peppy, smiling accompaniment, perfectly matched to the cartoon energy of the courses.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Bombing down zany slopes while lobbing items in a wild race: this snowboarder crossed with Mario Kart strikes a clever balance of speed and dirty tricks right away. The colourful characters and good-natured vibe hit the mark, especially with several players. Cute, snappy and joyfully chaotic, a little arcade-riding gem to share.
Atlus European and Australian February 1998 pressing of Snowboard Kids, distributed in a single edition for PAL and Oceania markets. The PAL/AU cartridge is scarcer than the US version on the secondary market and keeps a multilingual manual in five languages detailing each child and their equipment. The joint PAL and Australia distribution makes it a precise target for completists documenting Atlus N64's atypical distribution territories.
An underrated gem
Far cleverer than its childish wrapper suggests, this snowboard game mixes wild races, disruptive items and endearing characters, like a Mario Kart on snow. Quiet outside Japan, it built a small reputation among insiders. Ideal in multiplayer, it offers an instant fun that party-game fans will appreciate.
Is Snowboard Kids still worth playing in 2026?
Snowboard Kids opens a surprisingly successful kawaii formula. Six child riders, eight tracks packed with items and traps, festive atmosphere and charming presentation build a snow-karting game in its own right. The feel is more arcade than serious, closer to a snowy Mario Kart than to 1080, but the four-player multiplayer runs at full tilt and the longevity holds. For fans of whimsical retro racing and evenings with friends, the cart still feels endearing to bring out today.
