Tricky Madness

Tricky Madness sets out to recapture a very specific feeling: the boost-chaining, trick-stacking arcade snowboarding of SSX and 1080°, a genre that's had few genuine successors in the years since those franchises went quiet. This review's sample confirms it succeeds remarkably well at that core feeling for a large number of nostalgic players — and identifies a large, specific set of complaints about how much game currently surrounds that feeling, and how reliably it's been supported.

A feeling reviewers have waited years for

The praise for the core gameplay is unusually emotional and specific. "For decades I've been searching for a game to fill the SSX Tricky-sized hole in my heart. I'm so thankful to have finally found it!" one reviewer writes. Another describes the search in similar terms: "I have been searching and waiting for YEARS for a game like SSX 3. I grew up on that game, and 1080, and Cool Boarders, and Tony Hawk Pro Skating... it is SO NICE to FINALLY see" a spiritual successor. A third reviewer credits the specific mechanical execution: "This guy nailed down the controls, the music (which even changes when you get 'tricky')... No loading times, you select your character, the level, boom! You're in." That level of specific, personal, long-anticipated satisfaction recurs consistently across the sample.

A large, specific complaint about content

Set against that enthusiasm, this review's negative sample raises a consistent, precise complaint: there simply isn't much game here yet. "This is a good SSX clone - but at the minute it feels more tech demo than nearly £7 game (there's 2 characters and 2 maps)," one reviewer writes. Another agrees with specific numbers: "You can only choose between two tracks and two characters." Even several positive reviewers acknowledge the same gap: "Whilst the game is still in early access and so far 'only' offers 2 courses and 2 characters," one enthusiastic supporter notes, before still recommending the purchase.

A precisely dated development gap, directly confirmed

The most serious complaint in this review's sample concerns a specific, dateable period of apparent inactivity. "6 months and 8 days have passed since there were any signs of life from the dev on steam," one reviewer states precisely. Another independently corroborates a similar timeframe: "the most recent update came after a near 7 month hiatus." This review's own check of Steam's partner-events feed confirms a matching gap directly: the last documented post before the quiet period is a physics-fix update in late November 2024, with the next post — "Next Update Coming May 25!" — not arriving until May 2025, a gap of roughly six months that lines up closely with what multiple independent reviewers described.

What happened after the gap

Importantly, that same partner-events feed shows the story didn't end with the gap. Development resumed with a genuinely substantive cadence: new playable characters, a new map ("Mars City Mayhem"), destructible objects, macOS support, and a confirmed milestone of 10,000 copies sold, with further content ("Fresh Visuals") announced as recently as late 2026. That directly refutes the more extreme "abandonware" characterization some reviewers applied at the time, even though the underlying gap itself, and the anxiety it understandably caused paying customers, is real and confirmed.

A serious, unconfirmed conduct allegation

At least one reviewer raises a separate, more serious complaint distinct from content or update pacing: "the owner will delete your messages for no reason when you give your honest feedback... he banned me also because i gave my review without buying it on this account." This review's sample could not independently verify that specific account of moderation or community conduct, and it's reported here as a single, unconfirmed allegation rather than an established fact.

A price complaint worth weighing against value received

Several reviewers frame their overall recommendation directly around price relative to current content. "7,79€ for this is just robbery. only 2 tracks and 2 characters. the price should be at most 2€," one reviewer writes bluntly. Another arrives at a similar conclusion more measuredly: "lacking in content too expensive for what it is." That complaint is worth weighing against the developer's confirmed post-gap content additions documented in the partner-events feed — buyers purchasing today receive more tracks and characters than the reviewers quoted above did at the time of their negative reviews, meaning the value calculation has genuinely shifted somewhat since those specific complaints were written, even if the core "still thinner than a finished game" concern remains valid.

What genre fans specifically want to see next

Several positive reviewers use their reviews to constructively list specific features they hope arrive in future updates, offering a useful window into what a fuller version of the game might look like. "Things I would like to see in the future - halfpipe courses - single jump co[urses]," one reviewer writes, while another specifically requests "more personality between the riders," comparing the current roster unfavourably to the more distinct characters of SSX's own cast. That kind of detailed, constructive feedback — rather than simple dismissal — suggests a player base genuinely invested in seeing the project succeed rather than one ready to abandon it outright.

Final verdict

Tricky Madness succeeds at its core creative goal, and this review's sample confirms genuine, deeply felt satisfaction from SSX fans who've waited years for something like it. But a large, specific negative-review consensus around thin content, combined with a directly confirmed multi-month development gap early in the game's Early Access life, describes real, documented risk for prospective buyers. The developer's confirmed return to active support since is a genuine point in the game's favour, and nostalgic genre fans willing to accept Early Access limitations should find real joy here; anyone wanting a fully-featured game today should wait and watch the current update cadence first.