Staff Blog: Stare at My Butt, Dammit - Slalom for the NES

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Stare at My Butt, Dammit - Slalom for the NES

On 07/02/2019 at 12:26 PM by Matt Snee

One NES game my big brother did play with my younger brother and I was Slalom, a downhill skiiing game more arcade than simulation. In it, you race down mountains avoiding diagonally arranged snowmen, pine trees, and other obstacles, while taking the occasional jump that might slow you down, but would allow you to strut your stuff.

These were the high times of the NES when it dominated the market and almost every kid had one. There were tons of games, and for some reason or another, we got Slalom, which might not look fun at first, but it's actually pretty thrilling once you get to higher speeds on the more difficult races.

My brothers and I would compete for the best times on the races we COULD beat, and browbeat each other when one of us ran into an obstacle.

Those were fun times.

Comments

Super Step Contributing Writer

07/02/2019 at 05:14 PM

I remember a much lower-res PC version of this.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

07/02/2019 at 06:05 PM

“Much lower resolution”? Good lord.

SanAndreas

07/02/2019 at 07:01 PM

This needs to be remade. With Bayonetta and Zero Suit Samus.

Cary Woodham

07/02/2019 at 09:04 PM

Huh. I wonder why those two characters. :)

Matt Snee Staff Writer

07/02/2019 at 10:10 PM

that's a damn fine idea!

Super Step Contributing Writer

07/02/2019 at 11:00 PM

Maybe not the right term, but less detailed.

Image result for slalom pc

Matt Snee Staff Writer

07/02/2019 at 11:03 PM

Good Lord!

Super Step Contributing Writer

07/02/2019 at 11:08 PM

I'm surprised you never played it. It was always right next to Solitaire and MineSweeper.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

07/02/2019 at 11:29 PM

Never heard of it. I played a lot of a Solitaire though. I don’t know how I missed it.

Cary Woodham

07/02/2019 at 09:07 PM

Stupid Sexy Flanders!

I never played Slalom, but I hear it was pretty good for an early NES title. It's also one of the first games Rare made for Nintendo.

I never really got into ski games, though. Only ones I got into were We Ski and We Ski and Snowboard (and Go Vacation). But they were made by Namco, so I mainly got them for the classic arcade references (which there are lots). One cool thing about those games is that it's like you're at a ski resort, and will probably be the closest thing I get to seeing what a ski resort looks like. But that's OK because skiiing doesn't sound like something I'd enjoy in real life anyway. Too cold.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

07/02/2019 at 10:11 PM

I went skiiing ONCE on a cubscout trip with my dad and brother when I was a kid. It was a lot of fun. My dad had to drag us back because we were enjoying ourselves so much. But I've never been skiiing since. My sister and her family go skiiing often, and seem to be really into it. But I can live without it.

KnightDriver

07/04/2019 at 11:32 AM

I played this on Rare Replay a little while ago. I didn't think about its "cheekiness", but I think that's why SanAndreas wants Bayonetta and Zero Suit Samus in the game.