Ski Slope

Ed you idiot! You blew it, you're on your own now! Bring back that container. You got that?

Bring back the container!

-The General

Ski Slope is the first level in Tonic Trouble (except in the GameBoy Color version, where it's absent). It appears on film at the end of The Introduction, where Ed crashlands on the summit. In the level itself, Ed skids down a snowy mountain by coasting on a discarded frisbee. The bizarre geography of the slopes and odd vegetation make it clear that The Can has taken its toll, even in remote places like these.

Ski Slope (Windows & Nintendo 64)

Character Appearences

• Ice Cube
• Corn

Ski Slope (Special Edition)

The beta version of Ski Slope differs from retail in that it's bigger, and takes more twists and turns along the way. It has a valley with a lake at the bottom, that can be explored on foot once reaching the end of the slope, or upon revisiting the level. The slope itself has no bottomless pits, fenceposts, hazardous icicles or palmtrees. Instead, Ice Cubes and Snowballs will spawn along the route, and slide down along with you. These objects are passive, driven by gravity, but they can obstruct and hurt you if you collide with them.

Upon starting a new game, Ed finds himself on the precepice of the Ski Slope. Behind him is a wooden hut, and in front a starting line in the form of two red and white pinstriped poles with a purple banner spanning across. The banner is enamored with stars, and atop the poles rest golden spheres. Ed will marvel at the slope before him until you press the forward key, which makes him launch himself onto the frisbee he found in The Introduction.

Directly ahead, large spires of ice portrude from the steep snow-covered rock faces that line the slope. As you pass under the large ice arch, an Ice Cube will drop from the top. In the distance, up along the snowed in wall of stone, rests the outline of another adventurer. This is The Daredevil. He will appear several times during the descent.

First Spade

The first silver spade rests in the snow of the straight decline, before the path twists sharply to the left, in a spiral pattern. A ribbon fence prevents Ed from simply circumventing this spiral turn, but the fence can be jumped with the right approach. The spiral converges on two tunnels. The right tunnel spirals up and over the left one, and is therefore the slower route. Whereas the left tunnel is quite short and straight.

Whichever tunnel you emerge from, a spherical contraption that looks like a bear trap will come rolling out of the right tunnel and slide down along with you. According to the files, this is a snowball (French: boulnieg).

Emerging from the tunnels, the slope takes a sharp right around a snow back with a mammoth burried in ice. Another Daredevil appears along the left face during the turn, and this tile is hiding a shortcut in the form of a tunnel. Going this way lends you a red spade, though heading straight also lends one. Heading straight takes you past another couple of ice arches, a bridge over a frozen river, and as the slope banks left, a fake tunnel can be seen on your right. This is an illusion and serves no purpose.

Another snowball will come rolling down the other side of the hidden tunnel, as the slope banks right again, in an S pattern. Chandeliers of ice hang over the turn, and on your right, far above, are power lines and a wooden fence. Oddly enough, these powerlines have collision, and are hazardous, even though there is no way to reach them. The S turn converges onto a wide tunnel, where some of the teal blue stone of the mountain is laid bare. Just after the tunnel comes a barnhouse with the doors open that you slide right through. The second silver spade is collected here.

Another Daredevil can be spotted as the slope turns left. Clearing the turn opens up for three routes. On the left is an ice tunnel, and on the right, the slope continues. However, between the two is a bank of snow with a silver spade on top.

(work in GREAT progress)

Character Appearences

• The Daredevil (texture)
• Snowball Cannon
• Snowball

Trivia

• Uniquely, this level appears in the intro for the PC Windows and N64 versions of the game.