Racer kids on N64. Cartoon snowboarding with item attacks, four players, and courses designed for chaos.
Snowboard Kids was developed by Racdym and published by Atlus for Nintendo 64 in November 1997 — a multiplayer snowboard racing game featuring cartoon-styled characters competing on courses filled with obstacles, jumps, and item pickups. Like Mario Kart, players collected items along the track and used them to attack opponents or gain advantages. Up to four players competed simultaneously. The courses had distinctive environmental themes — mountain, haunted house, machine factory, dessert land — each designed with branching paths and shortcuts. Snowboard Kids sold approximately 400,000 copies and spawned a sequel.
About this game
Snowboard Kids (1997) is Racdym and Atlus's cheerful N64 snowboarding racer — a cartoon-styled game where a cast of child snowboarders race down mountains while throwing items and sabotaging rivals. With four-player multiplayer support, multiple courses, and an accessible learning curve, it became one of the N64's most beloved party racing titles, beloved in both Japan and North America.
Key Features
Four-player simultaneous multiplayer on split screen — one of the N64's signature strengths. Seven courses set on mountain slopes with varying terrain and hazards. Item boxes scattered on courses provide weapons and tools to affect the race, from snowballs to teleportation. Five playable characters with different stats. A shop between race events for upgrading boards and purchasing items. Cheerful cartoon aesthetics with exaggerated character animations.
Gallery
The Story Behind
Snowboard Kids appeared in December 1997, the same year as 1080° Snowboarding, Nintendo's technically demanding showcase snowboard game. Where 1080° aimed for simulation, Snowboard Kids leaned entirely into party-game accessibility — bright colours, item combat, and the kind of four-player chaos that made the N64 era memorable. It occupied a distinct niche in the N64 library: the go-to snowboard title for groups who wanted fun over realism.
Tricks & Tales
Snowboard Kids was developed by Racdym, a small studio whose former members went on to work at companies including Atlus itself and Vanillaware, the studio behind games like Odin Sphere and Dragon's Crown. Atlus published the title and retained the franchise for a sequel, Snowboard Kids 2 (1999), also on the N64. The game's cheerful art style and accessible gameplay gave it a following that persisted well beyond the N64 era among retro game communities.
Collector's Guide
Region & Compatibility
The N64 uses a mechanical region lock rather than a software one: Japanese and North American cartridges share the same NTSC signal, but the physical shape of the cartridge's back shell and the console's slot are different, so a Japanese cartridge will not slide fully into a North American console without modification, and vice versa. The simplest fix is removing the two plastic tabs inside the console's cartridge slot, or swapping the cartridge's back shell — neither requires any electronic modification. PAL (European) cartridges and consoles are a separate case: 50Hz vs 60Hz incompatibility means simple physical modifications are not enough, and a frequency mod is also required.
Maintenance Tips
The N64 cartridge connector is the most common failure point — clean the edge contacts with 90% or higher isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab every 6 to 12 months, and avoid blowing into the cartridge slot as moisture accelerates pin corrosion. The original analog stick is made with a plastic-on-plastic gear mechanism that wears into a gritty, loose feel over decades of use; check for smooth snap-back to center before buying, and know that replacement sticks are widely available but none have fully matched the original feel. Store cartridges in a cool, dry place and handle them by the plastic shell, not the gold contacts.
What to Watch Out For
Before buying, these are the points worth knowing — from someone who handles original Japanese Snowboard Kids copies regularly.
Will this Japanese Nintendo 64 cartridge work on a North American or European N64?
No, not without modification. The Nintendo 64 uses a regional CIC lockout chip, and Japanese N64 cartridges have a different physical shape from North American cartridges. Running Japanese software on a Western N64 requires both a cartridge adapter to bridge the shape difference and a method to bypass the CIC chip. A Japanese Nintendo 64 console is the simplest way to play Japanese N64 software.
How should I clean a Nintendo 64 cartridge?
Apply 90% or higher isopropyl alcohol to a cotton swab and wipe the gold-plated edge contacts on the base of the cartridge. The N64 connector slot is deep — a longer swab or folded swab helps reach all contacts. Never blow into the cartridge. N64 cartridges use 3.8mm security game bit screws if the shell needs to be opened. Most N64 boot failures trace to oxidized contacts; cleaning both the cartridge edge and the console slot is usually the complete fix.
Before You Buy
Things worth knowing before you buy Snowboard Kids
A short checklist for buying a used Nintendo 64 cartridge wisely — useful with any seller, anywhere.
-
Choose a seller who tests it before shipping
A copy that has actually been powered on and checked is a known quantity. An untested one is a gamble you only settle after it arrives.
Look for a seller who states it was function-tested and says what they confirmed. A serious seller can tell you exactly what was checked.
-
Make sure it fits your console
This is a Japanese N64 cartridge. The N64 is region-locked by shape and lockout, so a Japanese cart needs a Japanese console or an adapter.
Play it on a matching Japanese console or a region-free system, and confirm the listing states the region.
-
If this title saves your progress, check the battery
Cartridges that save use a small coin-cell battery that fades over decades — a dead one wipes your save without warning.
Ask the seller whether the save function was tested. Replacing the battery is possible, but doing so erases any existing save.
-
Check that the contacts are clean
Dirty edge contacts are the most common cause of startup and sound trouble in cartridges of this age.
Choose a seller who cleans the contacts before shipping. A note that it was tested and cleaned means the basics were handled.
-
Read the seller's reviews and return policy
A 100% positive record across thousands of sales is close to a guarantee — packing, communication and problem-solving all work for everyone. A return policy protects you if something is off.
Read the feedback and confirm a clear return window before you buy.
The last step before buying anywhere is knowing what it's worth.
See what it's selling for on eBay →Unexpected Discoveries
Games you weren't looking for — but might be glad you found.
Memories from around the world
This is a young museum, and this page is still waiting for its first voices. The memories people send reach Taisei personally, and the ones that move him find a home here over time — always with the writer's blessing. Yours could be the very first for this game.
Share your memory ↑