it". Edge also said the PAL release delay "is frankly ludicrous". They believed that, due to Nintendo's slump of noteworthy releases, "any quality title is likely to top the charts with little difficulty". Next Generation said that 1080° Snowboarding set the standard for an entire genre. Kevin Cheung of Hyper gave the game 90%: "There is little else more to say save that 1080 captures the true essence of the thrill of snowboarding. [...] Just as Waverace [sic] brought a new dimension to water-based racing, 1080 brings N64 owners an equally innovative game". GamePro said that the game was "the kind of great game that's worth snapping up as soon as it's out." Writing for AllGame, Shawn Sackenheim considered the "highly technical" control scheme of 1080° Snowboarding one of the game's strengths despite its initial difficulty. Alex Huhtala of Computer and Video Games positively reviewed the control scheme, but disagreed on its difficulty, noting "the controls have been implemented so brilliantly that you're able to play perfectly well with just one hand on the stick and Z button". GameSpot called the game's control "thoroughly involving" and said that "[t]he crouch move alone which makes for supertight turns makes this fun to play". The music was also generally praised, with Matt Casamassina of IGN calling it "a shining example of what can be achieved on the format" and Sackenheim calling it "one of the best N64 soundtracks to date". Sackenheim also praised the game's sound effects. In a retrospective review by the Official Nintendo Magazine in 2006, Steve Jarratt commented that 1080° Snowboarding "boasted the best video game representation of snow" and was complemented by "swooshy" sound effects. Positive comments were also made about handling and the quality of the multiplayer. In summary, Jarratt believed "this was a straight-up snowboarder, stunt-free but fast and fun". The magazine also ranked it the 87th best game available on Nintendo platforms. The staff felt it was the most realistic snowboarding game ever made. The game won the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' 1999 Console Sports Game of the Year award. It was also nominated for Best Nintendo 64 Game at the 1998 CNET Gamecenter Awards, which went to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. PC Data, which tracked sales in the United States, reported that 1080° Snowboarding sold 817,529 units and earned $40.9 million in revenues by the end of 1998. This