It's snowing in Chicago as I write this review, but the terrain also happens to be painfully flat here. That's pretty much the story of the Midwest. In all likelihood, there are mountainous regions currently without snow, leaving their elevated terrains yet unsuitable for the tasks of skiing and snowboarding. Such is the cruelty of fate at times. TiltnTwist LLC and publisher SuperHappyFunFun look to make that a moot point, though, offering gamers the chance to hit the slopes no matter where they are. With Snowboarding TNT for the iPhone, pulling ridiculous tricks on the craziest of slopes is always just a pocket away.

In many ways, Snowboarding TNT is the definition of casual gaming. It is a bite-sized experience on the cheap that can be pulled out for a level here and there, and doesn't take much more than 15 minutes to complete all the way through, with seven slopes to unlock and play, and exactly one male and one female to chose from to pull off spins and grabs all over them. What Snowboarding TNT does, it does fairly well; players just shouldn't expect any more than that.

Though there are seven tracks available, they share different areas of three major locales, one being a take on Mount Rushmore, one possibly in Wyoming, and a final stage somewhere in Asia. The game starts with "The Bunny Hill" and progresses gamers through more high-speed obstacles and jumps until ending with "Tornado Alley."

The game is controlled using a combination of the iPhone's motion recognition and touch screen. After the starting count, gravity handles moving the player downhill. It's up to the gamer to twist the iPhone left and right to control movement, passing through gates to gain more time and avoiding trees and rocks strewn about the landscape. Players also tap their fingers on screen (anywhere) to do bunny hops. Tap, hold and release before jumps to get big air.

The time the snowboarder spends in the air is the time for players to rack up points for the run. Jerks of the iPhone left and right will cause the players to do sidespins, while back or forward causes the snowboarder to execute back flips or front flips. In addition to this, players can do grabs and combine them with spins by touching the screen while in the air. The only caveat is that the boarder must be straightened out before hitting the ground to earn the points and avoid a brutal crash.

The motion controls work well, especially with the elements of leaning and navigating the slopes. They work well for the tricks too for the most part, but several times I straightened out the iPhone long before hitting the ground, yet my boarder continued to spin, and then gravity brought her to a crashing halt on the ground, which was frustrating. It is also no easy task to touch the screen while tilting it. Again, on the ground, prepping for a jump, it's not a major problem. But executing grabs in conjunction with spins in the little time available during an air session can be difficult.

Once players get the hang of Snowboarding TNT, none of the slopes seem too difficult to complete, so the major challenge is in working one's way up the high score leaderboards by figuring out the trick system. Also, by the time players figure out the mechanics of the game, it is sadly already over in terms of progression.

Still, Snowboarding TNT gets things right in terms of casual gaming, utilizing the features of a powerful pocket gaming machine to create a bite-sized gameplay session that will help players kill some time, wherever they are stuck longing for snowy slopes. The graphics are relatively impressive, looking like a decent PlayStation One game, with jagged but formidable 3D models and environments. It's a shame that Snowboarding TNT isn't a bit more than what's included, but for .99 cents it is a nice diversion, and a fun one at that.