Downhill Dash

Downhill Dash is a pseudo-3D ski racer drawn like a 1950s alpine travel poster: bluebird sky, white corduroy, long blue shadows and a red-jacketed racer with a scarf streaming behind the shoulder. The slope rushes up at you, the fall line pitches the camera as the grade steepens, and the whole run is one unbroken drop from the start banner to the finish.

Steering is a carve, not a swerve. Lean into the turn and the skis bite; drop into a tuck and the drag falls away until the speedometer climbs past a hundred. Ice patches take the edge off your grip, deep snow off the piste eats your speed, boost pads shove you back into it, and mogul fields buck the skis just enough to make the next gate hard work. Slalom gates are the clock: pass between the poles for points, miss one and two seconds go on your time. Pines, rocks and a friendly yeti who really is just standing there waving will put you face-first into the snow if you find one.

Every roller is a kicker. Pop off the lip, flick left or right to spin, and land square for the trick score — land sideways and you eat it. Three runs step the mountain up: Bunny Hill is wide and sunny, Glacier Bowl adds ice and long carves, and Black Diamond is steep, tight and unforgiving. Endless keeps generating mountain until three wipeouts end it. Ride Time Trial against the ghost of your own best run, or Race mode against a rival who keeps an honest pace of his own, and the best time, gate count and trick score for each run stay in your browser.