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EA’s trickiest franchise hits the Wii. The Wii version of the game should be very familiar to people who have played other games in the series. Of course, the move to Wii means that the game now has motion-sensitive controls. Additionally, the developers have adopted a more stylish, cartoonish art style. Despite some control hiccups, the game is nonetheless quite fun.
SSX Blur’s main singleplayer mode is the game’s career mode. Here you will partake in a number of events and tournaments where you’re tasked with pulling off a variety of sick moves and getting first place in the races. Aside from this mode, the game has a quick option to jump into a game and a tutorial mode to learn the controls. As you play the game, you will unlock additional snowboards, skiis, tricks, outfits, and even characters. The game does include pass-the-controller and split-screen multiplayer modes.
SSX Blur uses both the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk. You use the Nunchuk’s analog stick to control your character, you can tilt it to get some extra steering and flick it up to jump. It works very well and really makes you feel like you’re controlling your character. The Wii Remote is used to execute tricks. Simply wave the Wiimote around when you’re in the air and you’ll pull off some trick. The tricks don’t necessarily match the motion you’re doing on the controller, but it doesn’t feel too bad nonetheless. Pulling off tricks will fill up a groove meter and give you a ton of points for executing them. Unfortunately, these uber tricks require somewhat precise motions, which aren’t the easiest to pull off on the Wiimote.
SSX Blur is one of the most visually pleasing games on the Wii. The character models have excellent animation, with great use of particle effects to show snow sticking to the characters. The characters themselves are more cartoonish than previous entries in the series, but this same style is applied to the entire game and works out very well. The various tracks and environments come from previous SSX games, but still look pretty good. The audio is perhaps even more impressive. The upbeat, catchy music fits the game’s aesthetics very well. The sound effects are even more fantastic. You’ll hear all of the wipeouts, as well as your board moving from one place to another.
SSX Blur is one of the most entertaining games on the Wii. If it weren’t for the recycled tracks, which come from earlier SSX games, this would be a must have. The ubertricks are a little annoying to pull off and unfortunately required to get far into the game, as well. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Mar 14, 2007
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