Cool Boarders

The game consists of three main courses (plus two additional unlockables) in which the player attempts to gain the fastest time, most points from performing tricks, and also total points, a combination of the two previous disciplines. This early game, while simple, led the way for the development of much more popular, extreme sport games.

Reviews for Cool Boarders were mixed. The game received an average score of 74% at GameRankings, based on an aggregate of 6 reviews. Critics praised the selection of boards which offer differing gameplay and the thrills in the experience, but criticized the lack of a two-player mode or AI competitors to race against and the bizarre physics, such as how the player character tends to get caught between closely placed barriers, ricocheting back and forth between them, and how hitting certain objects can make them slide uphill. Kraig Kujawa and Dean Hager of Electronic Gaming Monthly found that the game, while reasonably fun overall, could only be recommended to fans of snowboarding and other "extreme" sports.

GamePro commented: "The controls allow for tight handling and make performing tricks a breeze. Although the graphics show minor breakup, they're still well animated in the popular polygonal style". Next Generation summarized: "Surprisingly, the first dedicated snowboarding game for PlayStation is a great deal of fun to play and offers a challenge like nothing else on the system. However, too many goofy flaws keep it from being a total success".

Cool Boarders was followed up by numerous sequels. After Cool Boarders 2, Idol Minds developed Cool Boarders 3, Cool Boarders 4 and Cool Boarders 2001 under license from UEP Systems. An arcade installment, Cool Boarders Arcade Jam, was released by Tecmo in 1998. Due to Sony owning the trademark for Cool Boarders, a Dreamcast spin-off was released by Sega under the title Rippin' Riders Snowboarding in 1999.

A spin-off for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, Cool Boarders Pocket, was released by SNK in 1999. After developing Cool Boarders: Code Alien for the PlayStation 2, UEP Systems shut down in 2001.