Snow Game

Cloud snowboarding.

Snow Game (スノーゲーム, Sunō Gēmu?) is a replay of the snowboarding minigame from Icicle Inn in Final Fantasy VII playable on the second floor of the Wonder Square. For a 200 gil fee, the player can ride one of three courses collecting balloons and avoiding obstacles. The game is available after Gold Saucer reopens from "Clash in the Deep Sea" onward.

This minigame has also appeared as a stand-alone game Final Fantasy VII: Snowboarding released for mobile phones in North America in 2005, and in Japan three years later in 2008.

Gameplay

Mechanics and prizes

The player jumping.

is jump and / is brake. and edge the snowboard, taking turns faster than . pauses the game and opens the menu, and also skips the intro.

At the end of the course the player is rated on how many balloons they collected, how long they took, and how many obstacles they hit. The three categories add up for an overall score out of 100 points, with Technique and Time both worth 30 points each, while Balloons are 40 of the total. Technique points can't be earned, but points are deducted whenever the player hits anything. Time points are deducted for every 2 seconds slower the player is than the target time (1:30 for course A, 1:45 for course B and 2:00 for course C). Red balloons give 1 point each, blue 3 points each, and green give 5 points a piece.

Ranks based on score:

• Bad - 0-29
• Awful - 30-69
• Good - 70-99
• Cool - 100 points

In the PC version, "Bad" and "Awful" are swapped.

Scoring 70+ on the A (Beginner) Course opens the B (Expert) Course, and 70+ points on the B Course opens up the C (Crazy) Course. For a score of 89+ points, the player wins some GP and a one-time prize.

• A Course - 30 GP, Safety Bit
• B Course - 100 GP, All Materia
• C Course - 300 GP, Crystal Bangle

Snowboarding can be played by characters other than Cloud. Every so often (37.5% chance), Tifa or Cid will ask to play if they are in the party. Using them is optional, and has no effect on the game other than a different snowboarder model. If both characters are in the party, Tifa takes precedence.

Time Attack

Getting a "Good" score on all three opens the Time Attack mode for the player to race against their best time; a yellow balloon will appear at the start of each track to activate the mode. As long as the player stays on the snowboarding game a ghost Mog of the player's best time will race along with Cloud. The pause button opens an options menu to change the floor to a checkered grid, as well as an option to choose whether the Mog should ride a snowboard or a sleigh. Achieving a rank of "Good" on a track spawns a silver balloon that grants a speed up, while getting a rank of "Super" unlocks the option to have a running Cactuar replace the ghost Mog (listed as ? ? ? in the menu).

The Japanese versions have certain differences to the other releases. The ghost Cactuar, or the option to change the terrain into a checkered one, are not available in the original Japanese version, but have been added in the International version. In the original Japanese version, when toggling the cursor between the Mog on a snowboard and the Mog on a sleigh (without picking one), the figure on the screen does not change until the player picks one. In later versions the figure changes in real-time. The original Japanese version uses an incorrect Japanese symbol for getting 100 points on Course B; the symbol for the "Freak" rating in Time Attack is displayed, instead of the standard "Cool" rating.

North American NTSC version
Rank	Course A	Course B	Course C
Fail	01'30"000 or above	02'00"000 or above	02'10"000 or above
Poor	01'16"000 - 01'29"999	01'40"000 - 01'59"999	01'50"000 - 02'09"999
Average	01'05"000 - 01'15"999	01'20"000 - 01'39"999	01'35"000 - 01'49"999
Good	01'00"000 - 01'04"999	01'16"000 - 01'19"999	01'25"000 - 01'34"999
Very Good	00'56"000 - 00'59"999	01'13"000 - 01'15"999	01'20"000 - 01'24"999
Excellent	00'54"000 - 00'55"999	01'10"000 - 01'12"999	01'15"000 - 01'19"999
Super	00'52"000 - 00'53"999	01'06"000 - 01'09"999	01'10"000 - 01'14"999
Freak	00'51"999 and below	01'05"999 and below	01'09"999 and below

PAL-version
Rank	Course A	Course B	Course C
Fail	01'45"000 or above	02'15"000 or above	02'30"000 or above
Poor	01'30"000 - 01'44"999	02'00"000 - 02'14"999	02'10"000 - 02'29"999
Average	01'18"000 - 01'29"999	01'45"000 - 01'59"999	01'54"000 - 02'09"999
Good	01'12"000 - 01'17"999	01'31"000 - 01'44"999	01'42"000 - 01'53"999
Very Good	01'07"000 - 01'11"999	01'29"000 - 01'30"999	01'36"000 - 01'41"999
Excellent	01'05"000 - 01'06"999	01'27"000 - 01'28"999	01'30"000 - 01'35"999
Super	01'02"000 - 01'04"999	01'19"000 - 01'26"999	01'24"000 - 01'29"99
Freak	01'01"999 and below	01'18"999 and below	01'23"999 and below

Original and International Japanese NTSC versions
Rank	Course A	Course B	Course C
Fail	01'30"000 or above	02'00"000 or above	02'10"000 or above
Poor	01'15"000 - 01'29"999	01'40"000 - 01'59"999	01'50"000 - 02'09"999
Average	01'05"000 - 01'14"999	01'20"000 - 01'39"999	01'35"000 - 01'49"999
Good	01'00"000 - 01'04"999	01'15"000 - 01'19"999	01'25"000 - 01'34"999
Very Good	00'55"000 - 00'59"999	01'12"000 - 01'14"999	01'21"000 - 01'24"999
Excellent	00'54"000 - 00'54"999	01'10"000 - 01'11"999	01'17"000 - 01'20"999
Super	00'53"000 - 00'53"999	01'08"000 - 01'09"999	01'15"000 - 01'16"999
Godly	00'52"000 - 00'52"999	01'06"000 - 01'07"999	01'13"000 - 01'14"999
Freak	00'51"999 and below	01'05"999 and below	01'12"999 and below

PC version
Rank	Course A	Course B	Course C
Fail	01'30"000 or above	02'00"000 or above	02'10"000 or above
Poor	01'15"000 - 01'29"999	01'40"000 - 01'59"999	01'50"000 - 02'09"999
Average	01'05"000 - 01'14"999	01'20"000 - 01'39"999	01'35"000 - 01'49"999
Good	01'00"000 - 01'04"999	01'15"000 - 01'19"999	01'25"000 - 01'34"999
Very Good	00'55"000 - 00'59"999	01'12"000 - 01'14"999	01'21"000 - 01'24"999
Excellent	00'54"000 - 00'54"999	01'10"000 - 01'11"999	01'17"000 - 01'20"999
Super	00'53"000 - 00'53"999	01'08"000 - 01'09"999	01'15"000 - 01'16"999
Freak	00'52"999 and below	01'07"999 and below	01'14"999 and below