Hit the slopes on your Balance Board. http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/impressionsArt.cfm?artid=16477 I should start by noting that the Wii version of Shaun White Snowboarding is a completely different game than its Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3 counterpart. It has a different story, different controls, and different gameplay. Most notably, it lacks the "open world" structure and online integration of the other version and instead focuses on races and trick runs.
Balance Board controls are a huge part of the game, but Ubisoft is including an option to use the Wii Remote that they claim works just as well. However, I only got to play with the Balance Board, and it's obviously the more appealing method if you have the requisite hardware. There are three sensitivity levels for the Balance Board to help everyone play well, from beginners to experts. You stand on the board sideways and control it just like a real snowboard. Shifting towards your heels will turn one way, while going "toe-side" will turn the other way. You tuck in for acceleration by leaning towards the screen and slow down by leaning away. In real life, I'm a skier, not a snowboarder, but the basic elements of shifting your weight are common to both styles and definitely feel realistic in the game. I was carving up fresh tracks with ease after a minute or so of practice.
You jump by pumping your legs (actually jumping on the Balance Board is not advised), while grab tricks are performed by holding down certain buttons on the Wii Remote and shifting your weight in the air. This is a fairly realistic snowboarding game, certainly more so than the SSX series, so it's challenging to pull off even simple tricks during most jumps. After several minutes of steering and jumping, you'll probably feel a mild burn in your legs and core. It's not as taxing as real snowboarding, but the game's producer told us that it will feel like serious exercise if you play for an extended length of time.
The development team credits Nintendo's 1080° series for some of their inspiration, such as the choice to feature a track-based structure rather than one continuous mountain. Races will include around eight boarders (that number isn't final yet), and a robust physics system governs collisions. In other words, part of the racing strategy is to slam into the other boarders without falling yourself, and that depends on relative speed, angle, etc.
Another key mode is multiplayer. The game supports up to four players in split screen, although Nintendo "currently supports" only a single Balance Board per system, so your friends will have to use the alternate controls. Otherwise, you can take turns on the Balance Board and race each others' ghosts. The dev team is aiming to make these tracks interesting enough to be played over and over again with your friends. For now, we're not sure how many tracks will be in the game.
Although the "next-gen" version of Shaun White Snowboarding better recreates the social and exploration aspects of real snowboarding, the Wii version makes a compelling argument for itself with very smooth, enjoyable Balance Board control. If you already have Wii Fit and enjoy jibbing over sick pow, this game seems like a good bet.
Topic: IMPRESSIONS: Shaun White Snowboarding (Read 4175 times)
