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Big Mountain 2000 is a skiing/snowboarding game for the Nintendo 64. It may
not be the best in the genre, but it's fun to play, and it has those charming
"N64-style" blocky 3D graphics.
There's a Championship mode, Time Trial mode, and 2-player mode. Time Trial
mode and 2-player mode let you compete against the clock or another person,
using the characters you've leveled up in Championship mode. The rest of this
FAQ will focus on Championship mode.
There are 4 "stages" to progress through, each with 3 events, each of which
can be done on skis or on a snowboard. Thus, there are 24 rounds total that
you have to place 1st in, to complete Championship mode and unlock the mirror
tracks. You must complete all events in the first 3 stages, both skiing and
snowboarding, before you can access stage 4.
The good news is that it's very forgiving for a "championship." If you don't
get first place in a specific event, just try it again and again until you do.
You'll even level up after every few tries, and unlock new gear that will
increase your stats. So just try again and again until you get a lucky run,
and move on to the next. You never have to repeat an event that you already
got 1st in.
Steer using the control stick, and dig into the snow with the A button to make
sharper turns. These controls apply to both skiing and snowboarding, though
the turning feels a little different between the two.
The B button is used to jump, and then to do tricks in the air with the
control stick. Apparently, doing tricks will increase your "coolness" stat,
which means your speed and cornering stats will upgrade more frequently. Or at
least that's what the manual says. So if I understand correctly, once your
speed and cornering stats are maxed, there's no benefit to having any more
points on your coolness. Personally, I don't risk any tricks when I'm trying
to place 1st, and my coolness stat still goes up sometimes.
You can change your equipment to affect your performance, both your clothing
and your board/skis. But if your personal stats are not high enough to match
the stat boosts of your equipment, it will be useless to you. If your gear
lets you go really fast, but your personal stats aren't high enough to match,
then you'll find yourself going faster than you can control. (your speed gauge
will turn red and you'll lose a lot of responsiveness until you slow down with
the A button.) Sometimes this is ok, like on earlier stages where you can
stumble out of control at high speeds, all the way to 1st place. But on later
stages, where you have to be more precise, you'll want to match your equipment
to your personal stats until you level up enough for the faster gear.
There's a Stamina bar in the bottom left corner that decreases every time you
hit someone, hit a wall, or even sometimes when you land a jump. The manual
says that when this bar is empty, you can "no longer accelerate." I'm not 100%
sure what exactly that means, but I assume your acceleration is better when
you have some stamina left. I always completely ignore the stamina bar, and
I've finished lots and lots of races in 1st place with an empty bar. Shrug.
FREE RIDE
In Free Ride, you simply race to the bottom of the hill against the other
skiers/boarders. There's a clock that ticks down, and each checkpoint gives
you more time, but you likely never have to worry about running out of time.
The course may have forks/splits that let you choose what path you want to
take down the hill. I find there's not usually an obviously-best way through
each course, but you're welcome to look at where the CPU players go if you
want to take their advice. I find it's best to just pick one or the other and
go that way every time, until you know your path well enough to get 1st place.
SLALOM
In Slalom, there are gates you have to pass through as you descend the hill.
Each gate you miss deducts 5 seconds from your clock, and passing through the
gates has a cumulative effect: the first gate adds 1 second, the second gate
adds 2, etc., until you hit 5 seconds. Then every gate adds 5 seconds until
you miss a gate. This means that missing a gate effectively costs you more
than just 5 seconds. Whether you have 1 second or 99 seconds to spare when you
cross the finish line, whoever is in 1st place is the winner. So don't worry
about getting every gate, especially on the final stretch, if you have time to
spare.
Since everyone has to pass through the same gates, any areas where the course
split apart in Free Ride are blocked off to force everyone down the same path.
GIANT SLALOM
Giant Slalom is the same as Slalom, except that there are much fewer gates.
That means each gate is more important to your clock; missing a gate is more
costly. But I find it's generally easier than Slalom, and I can usually clear
it in fewer tries than Slalom.
ALWAYS FINISH - If you're close to the end of a race, and you know you're not
going to get first place, it's tempting to pause the game and restart the
race. But don't! Finish the race, even placing below 1st. You might get a
small stat boost in speed or cornering, which will help in future races. If
you restart a race from the pause menu, then you definitely won't get a stat
boost. Also, if you "time out" of a slalom race, you also definitely won't get
a stat boost, so if you're repeatedly timing out, you might consider adjusting
your gear to allow you to at least reach the finish line enough times to level
up by a few points.
In the same vein, the "rubberbanding" in this game can be strange; I had a
race where I hit a wall so hard that I clipped into it, and couldn't get out
until everyone else had long passed me. Yet I was able to come back and place
1st. And that was in stage 4. Never give up!
STAT POINT MATCHING - Your character's speed and cornering stats indicate how
well your character can manage high speeds and sharp corners, not their actual
ability to reach those speeds or make those turns. Your gear's speed and
cornering stats indicate you fast you'll actually go, and how sharply you'll
actually turn. If you're going faster or turning sharper than your character's
stats have reached, you'll lose control and fall down. Sure, you can put up
with it and still win races, but I find it's better to actually downgrade my
gear if I'm falling down too much and timing out of slalom races. Then, as I
upgrade my character stats, I can move into the better gear. At the same time,
if your gear's stats are BELOW your character's stats, then you'll be moving
slower or making gentler turns than your character can do, which is limiting
your character unnecessarily. I usually like to "set it and forget it" when
dealing with gear (like in a Tony Hawk game) but in this game, there are
advantages to frequently changing your gear to match your character's stats.
BRAKING - When you have an increased "cornering" stat, your character can make
tighter turns without having to dig into the snow. (press the A button while
turning) If you try to make a sharper turn than your character can do, you'll
start seeing curved brackets around your character, and if they turn red,
you'll fall down. The idea is that you use this non-braking turn as much as
possible, and only dig into the snow when you need to, because it slows you
down. In the first couple of stages, sure, brake all you want. Brake on every
turn. But as you reach higher stages and harder races, you'll need to start
trying to make as many non-A-button turns as you can, to keep your speed up.
Again, make sure you match your gear to your character's personal cornering
stat, or else you might be wasting your gear stat points.
NEW GEAR - As you finish races and receive incremental stat boosts, you'll
slowly rank up through a small handful of ranks (amateur, semi-pro, pro, and
uh, "snow speeder") which will unlock new gear each time. It will be tempting
to upgrade everything as much as you can, but AGAIN, make sure to match it
with your personal stats. Soon enough, you'll be able to just use the best
gear and you won't have to think about it any more.
DAMAGE AND ACCELERATION - Your clothing can give you stats for Damage and
Acceleration. My understanding is that your Stamina bar will decrease slower
with each hit if you have a higher Damage stat, and that your Acceleration
affects how fast you get up to speed after falling/braking. The manual says
you don't accelerate anymore after your stamina bar drops to zero, but I
honestly haven't noticed an appreciable difference. So I go ahead and use
higher-level clothing when it's available, just in case, but I otherwise
ignore these stats.
STAY ON THE PATH - There are a few different terrains on the hill, you'll see
what looks like a "path" for the most part, with fluffy snow on either side.
You do go faster if you stay off the fluffy snow, so it's worth the effort to
stay on the path. It's just like any other racing game.
JUST KEEP TRYING - My general strategy for every event is to just try it over
and over until I get 1st place, then never come back. You'll learn the layout
of the hill, where all the gates are, etc. and you'll receive stat upgrades
the more you try. So don't get discouraged if the CPU stupidly crashes into
you ten times in a run, just try it again until you win. The runs are short
enough that it's no big deal. Sure, if you notice that you are getting smoked
by the CPUs in the first stretch, and you can never catch up, then maybe it's
time to take a look at your gear and play style. Otherwise, just try again.
SLALOM GATES - Going through a good streak of gates early in a race will give
you a good cushion of time for missing later gates. Especially on the final
stretch leading up to the finish line, if you've got a few dozen seconds to
spare, then ignore the gates and make a beeline for the finish. Also, make
sure you pass between the inner posts of each gate. If you pass straight
through a gate marker, even if you're on the INSIDE of the OUTER edge of the
marker, it won't count as clearing the gate and you'll lose 5 seconds.
99 SECONDS - The timer maxes out at 99 seconds, though your actual time is
still being tracked, and will display correctly if it dips below 99 again.
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05 - Other Junk
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This FAQ was written by me; my name is Splain. Copy it if you want, but credit
me.
Comments, questions, or corrections can be sent to peoppozo.msn@com. But, you
know, switch the . and @ around.
