SSX Blur Review

By Tom Bramwell Published 16 March, 2007

Winner of discontent.

Version tested: Wii

When Nintendo got up on stage at (insert trade show/press conference/railway platform of choice) and told the world it wanted to make gaming simpler and more approachable, somebody at EA clearly wasn't listening. SSX Blur is about as accessible as an Arctic supply station with no doors. Even if you've played all the other SSX games top to bottom and then caught the chairlift back up again, you'll still need to plug around an hour into the tutorials if you want to do anything more complicated than standing up.

It's one of those Wii games that requires the use of both hands. In your left is quality, in your right is a confusing mess. The nunchuk is used to steer your rider down the hill, as you might imagine, but not necessarily in the way you imagine - while the analogue stick can be used for subtle tweaks, the real steering is done by twisting your hand around as though you're leaning into the turns, while jumps are performed by flicking it upward. It's a good system, and after five minutes or so you won't have to think about it at all to get the most from it, which is as it should be. Binding the boost function to the Z-trigger makes sense, too.

On and indeed with the other hand, you're supposed to be doing flips, sideways rotations, ubertricks, bail-outs and even throwing the odd snowball, and this is where things are a bit less helpful. The idea of using hand-gestures to activate tricks isn't a problem, but SSX has always been about doing big combination moves, and here things falter. If we're honest, combination grabs and rotations were always a bit of a button-mash, even on the Dual Shock, but it wasn't all that difficult to inject a bit of variety by clawing for a different combination of shoulder buttons when you leapt off a cliff. On the Wii, that instinctive injection of variety is impossible to achieve, and most of your success will either be down to intense concentration or luck. Grabs, meanwhile, have to be performed in a different phase of the combination - separated by hitting the A button to disengage from a rotation or flip - as they are controlled by slightly awkward contortions of the nunchuk wrist. Prior to landing, you have to press A or B again to straighten up, rather than simply releasing.

'SSX Blur' Screenshot 1

Adjusting for grinds is pretty easy thanks to the well-worked nunchuk control.

Before that though, you might want to deploy an ubertrick, and these are really badly done. The idea is to jump, wait for a prompt and then point the Wiimote at the screen and draw one of a number of shapes with the pointer to start the display. Sounds good in theory, but while the initial Z-shape ubertrick won't trouble anyone, the more complicated ones - heart shapes, and other combinations of tiny loops and straights - are near-impossible to pull off with any elegance or certainty of success. Ubertricks, as you would imagine, score a lot higher than anything else, since you have to charge up your boost meter first in order to make use of them, and they become very important in some of the game's later show-off tournaments, as the AI sets commanding targets scores before you have the chance to join in.

The net result of all this control confusion is that SSX Blur demands just as much mastery as its predecessors, but sets the bar for entry much higher, and never gives you the sense you're fully in control of clearing it. By the time you reach the third mountainside you may be proficient enough to set high scores with the best of them, but the necessary feeling of total control is absent, leading to a sense of detachment with which the other SSX games - for all the occasional shoulder-mashing therein - never had a problem. Practice can teach you to avoid the more obvious pitfalls, but it never makes perfect.

The courses themselves aren't badly designed - they're a mixture of those seen in past SSX games - but they've been shaved and stuffed in a Wii suit, when they should have been purposely built with the vagaries of the controls taken into account. The best bits are the massive jumps, the deep, swooping turns and the sense of speed - and these should have been emphasised over the shortcuts, intricate grind-rail matrices and other elements that demand precision, and thus struggle to gel with the control scheme.

'SSX Blur' Screenshot 2

Sensibly, you can simply skip to the events you want to do if you can't be bothered carving your way to them.

That's not to say that SSX Blur is a particularly bad game, though. Indeed, it's still a relatively satisfying one once you get your head around the basics. As you cut a path through the content, you'll uncover a wide range of tournaments, which you can either work your way to by carving around the resort hub on each of the game's three slopes, or access directly from the menus, and the difficulty curve for these is fairly well-judged. Graphically the game inherits the PS2 originals' distinctive, slick aesthetic, and apart from the odd droop in frame-rate and some questionable load-times, the Wii makes light work of the processing graft, filling out the screen with the sort of detail SSX fans will have come to expect. It even finds a bit of time to showboat, covering the player in snow when he takes a tumble. And you can turn off the stupid DJ, too, for which I'm tempted to add marks.

More thought might have gone into the interface, though. It sounds like a small point, but in a game that uses the Wiimote's pointer to navigate menus, why bunch all the buttons so closely together? And for goodness sake don't put "Continue" and "Give Up" right next to each other when the latter doesn't even want a confirmation prompt to dump you unceremoniously back to the level hub. Accidentally quitting midway through a tournament is bound to happen once or twice if you're not mindful, so be careful out there.

'SSX Blur' Screenshot 3

You’ll know when you’ve pulled off an ubertrick because EA injects a bit of graphical spark – you’ll just have difficulty working out which one you managed.

For all its faults, Blur will win praise in some quarters for allowing you to do what SSX generally ought to allow with a fancy new control scheme. Ultimately though, it doesn't really live up to its billing however you choose to look at it. Within the context of the series, it's a rather unnecessary addition that - for all EA Canada's good intent - only really succeeds in somersaulting its square-edged bottom through a round hole onto a powdery downward slope of faint praise. It's "quite good", but having to relearn how to play through things you've already done in a slightly less convincing and measured manner is never going to be the best of fun. Even outside the SSX context, it's merely a nicely imagined approach to arcadey snowboarding that doesn't quite gel thanks to ill-fitting levels and slightly random trick controls.

All of which is a shame, really, because it's clear that these chaps could do a very good Wii snowboarding game from the ground up, given the time and resources. Perhaps that's what EA will try next, and I do hope so, because there's much promise here. In the meantime, SSX Blur is worth a go if you can put up with a few moments of frustration and the feeling of being slightly detached from your achievements, but those in search of a good snowboarding game would do better to stick with the good snowboarding games that EA has already made.

6 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (95) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Santino #1 5 years ago

    Got this yesterday, i didn't actually take too long to get used to the controls and now can pull of ubers with little problem, definitely makes them more satisfying. Blur is a proper hardcore game though, not for casuals.

  • f00b_inc #2 5 years ago

    Hmm... I'm still stuck in the SSX/Excite Truck indecision zone

  • dadrester #3 5 years ago

    i might start making a habit of wandering into the comments section for wii games and exclaiming... "wow looks just like a PS1 game!"... nah, that'd just be stupid and irritating.

  • krudster #4 5 years ago

    I think I'll wait for SSX Oasis, personally.

  • dadrester #5 5 years ago

    I think I'll wait for SSX Oasis, personally.

    lame... but i chuckled.

  • richardiox #6 5 years ago

    "looks like a PS1 game"

    It's no Cool Boarders 2 that's for sure!

    It was a 7, now a 6....
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/07 @ 14:49

  • orakio #7 5 years ago

    screenshot screw-up there

  • orakio #8 5 years ago

    ... and fixed already :-o

  • Santino #9 5 years ago

    i could have swore the score just changed from a 7 to a 6 in the time i wrote my comment.

  • Eighthours #10 5 years ago

    I have a feeling I might end up disagreeing with this review, in terms of how Tom found the controls annoying. But we'll see, it's still in its shiny wrapping waiting to be played.

    And for goodness sake don't put "Continue" and "Give Up" right next to each other when the latter doesn't even want a confirmation prompt to dump you unceremoniously back to the level hub.

    In a world reviewing first, Tom actually criticises EA leaving confirmations out, when it's what we've all been asking them to do for years... (Would you like to save? Yes. Are you sure? Yes. Are you really, really sure? Yes. Select save slot. Slot A. Do you want to overwrite save in Slot A? Yes. Warning: saving in Slot A will overwrite your existing saved game - are you sure you wish to continue? Aaaaaarrrggghhh! ) the newer Burnout games are particularly bad for this.

  • JackyB #11 5 years ago

    amazing the score changed from a 7 to a 6 before my very eyes!
    "I think I'll wait for SSX Oasis, personally" yeah it will be much better

  • Cyhwuhx #12 5 years ago

    .::: Of course to those who have never touched the previous incarnations it's going to be 'business as usual'. Gamers simply don't want to learn it seems. :)

  • JetSetWilly #13 5 years ago

    Hey, this was a 7 now it's a 6. Am I going mad?

  • Steroyd #14 5 years ago

    i could have swore the score just changed from a 7 to a 6 in the time i wrote my comment.

    I wasn't going insane. \o/

  • dirigiblebill #15 5 years ago

    'Hey, this was a 7 now it's a 6. Am I going mad?'

    Probably just trying to wrongfoot all the 'so, better than ...' posters :)

  • JackyB #16 5 years ago

    And the tiger woods review?...........

  • Eighthours #17 5 years ago

    Taking a point off after the fact is more than a little harsh!

    Any particular reason, gents?

  • dirigiblebill #18 5 years ago

    Wii game in lots-of-potential-but-not-brilliant shockaaaaaargh

    /slain by flying Wiimote

  • Stormflood #19 5 years ago

    Wii gamers make more excuses for mediocre games shocker.

  • Darren #20 5 years ago

    Well I got this game this morning but I haven't had the chance to try it yet. I'm a bit disappointed it only got a 6, I was kind of expecting at least a 7 going by the US reviews I've read. Guess I'm the only one who really knows how good it is though so hopefully I'll enjoy it more than this reviewer did.

  • Hog-lumps #21 5 years ago

    Did I see the phrase 'uberific' in the game hud?

    \vomits

  • Santino #22 5 years ago

    ive been playing it all night and i'm enjoying it loads, so i'll have to disagree with the review, even more after the additional point being deducted. Wii games seem to divide reviewer opinion more than any other system i can remember actually. i find the controls connect me into the game more than a traditional pad did for the other games in the series for example and i like that it is more difficult to pull off big scoring ubers thanks to feeling more rewarding.

  • Eraser #23 5 years ago

    "Hmm... I'm still stuck in the SSX/Excite Truck indecision zone"

    Get them both!!

  • ForbiddenForest #24 5 years ago

    "Hmm... I'm still stuck in the SSX/Excite Truck indecision zone"

    I haven't played SSX, but go for excite truck anyway - it's much better than most of the reviews claim - a really, really solid 8 of an arcade racer with prismatic colours and a truly next-gen look and feel. The terrain deforming is a genuinely unique twist to the genre, too.

  • Aretak #25 5 years ago

    "Taking a point off after the fact is more than a little harsh!"

    The review read like a 6 all the way through to me, and I wasn't surprised to see one at the end. If there was a 7 there originally, it was probably a mistake.

  • McBradders #26 5 years ago

    @Darren

    You haven't played it yet are the only one who "knows how good it is"?

    What planet are you living on?
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/07 @ 15:20

  • simo #27 5 years ago

    Another average Wii game. Is it really worth buying the console just for the admittedly brilliant TP, when I could simply get it on the Gamecube anyway?

    /is not interested in either Wii Sports or Wario Ware

  • gizmo #28 5 years ago

    "I think I'll wait for SSX Oasis, personally."

    Its got nothing to do with that, it refers to the fact its not HD.

  • Santino #29 5 years ago

    @ McBradders
    i think he probably meant he will do the sensible thing and decide for himself how good it is.
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/07 @ 15:22

  • McBradders #30 5 years ago

    @Santino

    Well at least that makes sense.
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/07 @ 15:27

  • JackyB #31 5 years ago

    @Mcbradders.. yes i think thats what he meant
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/07 @ 15:28

  • gizmo #32 5 years ago

    Thank god nobody has said 'As good as Worms then'

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #33 5 years ago

    "Taking a point off after the fact is more than a little harsh!

    Any particular reason, gents?"

    It was meant to be a 6 but somebody put it in with a 7 on the end, so I changed it back and hoped no one would notice. You're too fast for me.

  • chrisjm #34 5 years ago

    so is Tom still in CBA holiday mode or is this review fair.

  • JackyB #35 5 years ago

    yeah, i too am getting a bit annoyed by the lack of great wii games. where are Paper mario and metroid,?any updates on when they are due? It feels like Nintendo released the wii just to "enter the race" (which judging by their past consoles is a good idea) however, am i really supposed to be happy when the first 2 great games (Zelda and presumably Paper Mario) were originally built for the cube. Give me some real wii quality games.

  • bluem4gic #36 5 years ago

    6 out of 10 because you found the game hard?

    What with these game journalists like these days? I welcome a game that is a challenge for once. I have to constantly play games on hardest difficulty to have any challenge from and get my £40 pound worth of time with it. Please for once just say that the controls make the game diffcult to learn and will take time to master. Instead marking down a particular game because you yourself can't pick up and play. Remember not everyone who reads your site is a casual gamer. I also don't remember where there is a Nintendo standards lot check for " Please ensure game is easy to complete for five year olds and grannies alike".

    Please just grow up for once and write a unbiased and unpersonal review

    Thanks!
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/07 @ 15:33

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #37 5 years ago

    As for whether 6 is harsh - like I said in the text, it's perfectly enjoyable if you can get over what's wrong with it.

    Re: Tiger Woods Wii review - they only gave us a copy today, so there'll be one up early next week I expect.

  • dadrester #38 5 years ago

    "I think I'll wait for SSX Oasis, personally."

    Its got nothing to do with that, it refers to the fact its not HD.

    eh? i wasn't referring to anything... i just thought the artwork was a bit sucky. Even in HD it would look bland, but then I've never been a fan of the art style in SSX, that and I fancied a bit of blatant trolling. Anyway i think Kristian was making a joke, and I'm not going to explain it for you, since it was a pretty lame one in the first place, and explaining other peoples jokes on internet forums is always shit. I've probably got the wrong end of the stick completely here.

  • smelly #39 5 years ago

    I like this game! Horses for courses i s'pose

  • bushwod #40 5 years ago

    In the second screenshot, why is the guy on the left farting the words uberific?

  • smelly #41 5 years ago

    ""Taking a point off after the fact is more than a little harsh! "


    Seriously, who gives a flying fuck?

  • gizmo #42 5 years ago


    "I think I'll wait for SSX Oasis, personally."

    Its got nothing to do with that, it refers to the fact its not HD.

    eh? i wasn't referring to anything... i just thought the artwork was a bit sucky. Even in HD it would look bland, but then I've never been a fan of the art style in SSX, that and I fancied a bit of blatant trolling. Anyway i think Kristian was making a joke, and I'm not going to explain it for you, since it was a pretty lame one in the first place, and explaining other peoples jokes on internet forums is always shit. I've probably got the wrong end of the stick completely here.


    Eek! I was just baiting :) ... bit dry maybe (no pun intended)

    /walks slowly backwards

  • dadrester #43 5 years ago

    hook line and sinker... or on a nintendo tip, hook line and lunker.

    /looks at feet
    /picks nose

  • chrisjm #44 5 years ago

    why do people vote "1" on these ratings, they should lose voting rights if its fanboys doing it on systems they hate as its immature and im sure they havent played it.

  • Killerbee #45 5 years ago

    Please for once just say that the controls make the game diffcult to learn and will take time to master. Instead marking down a particular game because you yourself can't pick up and play.

    Fair point if it were true for this game (I don't know, I haven't played it), but there's a difference between tricky controls that take a little practice to master - like when you play Resident Evil 4 for the first time - and a control scheme that is badly implemented and therefore stays bad no matter how much practice you put in.

  • samk #46 5 years ago

    why do people vote "10" on these ratings, they should lose voting rights if its fanboys doing it on systems they wank over as its immature.

  • Darren #47 5 years ago

    McBradders - "@Darren

    You haven't played it yet are the only one who "knows how good it is"?

    What planet are you living on?"

    What I meant was that at the end of the day, a reviewer's opinion is not the "right" one - it's just their own - and the only person who really knows exactly how good (or bad) a game is, is *you* hence my comment!!! ;)

  • coach_mcguirk #48 5 years ago

    Before that though, you might want to deploy an ubertrick, and these are really badly done. The idea is to jump, wait for a prompt and then point the Wiimote at the screen and draw one of a number of shapes with the pointer to start the display.

    Ooof that sounds so annoying that EA have just lost a sale. Ouch.
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/07 @ 16:02

  • McBradders #49 5 years ago

    My reading comprehension needs work ;_;

    Excuse me while I go off and be all emo now.

  • Santino #50 5 years ago

    coach_mcguirk:
    it seems to depend on the person playing with the ubertricks, once you get them down they aren't very problematic at all, to me at least. thats seems to be why reviews on this game are split, some pick it up easily others do not.

    Edit: Best advice would be to try it yourself as seems to be the case with quite a few of Wii's games.
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/07 @ 16:12

  • smelly #51 5 years ago

    Yeah.. rent it.. and decide whether you like it or not.

    Looking at reviews, it seems to be a marmite game.

    I fall into the "like it" category.. But some people wont.

  • neilka #52 5 years ago

    I've read elsewhere that you don't actually need to point the remote at the screen to do the Ubertrick gestures, which would be a bit less annoying. Anyone know for sure?

  • jonsaan #53 5 years ago

    lets see if wiii can break a perfectly good control system.

  • Santino #54 5 years ago

    neilka you got me curious so i just tried pulling an ubertrick while facing away from the television and the trick worked fine. some of them use the nunchuk controller also so the sensor bar isn't used for anything but menu navigation.

  • Carrybagma #55 5 years ago

    H4rdc0re games always get a -2, so it's really an 8.

    :o)

  • #56 5 years ago

    Pity, thought this looked good.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #57 5 years ago

    What exactly is happening here? Why do most of the people on the forums tend to disagree with the EG reviews lately?
    I have yet to play SSX (just unpacked it) but judging by Sonic and EG's review I wonder what exactly the reviewers are looking for in a game.

    The complaint about the menu might be valid yet Sonic is probably the worst I've seen in a while regarding presentation and menus. (Again: Where the hell is the retry button when I succesfully complete a mission and want to try again for a better medal?).

    Anyway, I'm off to play the game.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #58 5 years ago

    doublepost
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/07 @ 17:35

  • Der_tolle_Emil #59 5 years ago

    doublepost :(
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/07 @ 17:35

  • smelly #60 5 years ago

    @Der_tolle_Emil:

    "Why do most of the people on the forums tend to disagree with the EG reviews lately?"


    Nothing wrong with disagreeing with an opinion. Especially with a game like this which some reviewers like, some hate

    There is a big problem with going "boo hoo, EG suck for not agreeing with my opinion" or moaning that the score should be 7 not 6 or 5 not 6.. or something. That's just plain sad, and the reason non gamers laugh at us.

  • secombe #61 5 years ago

    Wii games seem to divide reviewer opinion more than any other system i can remember actually.

    Because a review is just one opinion formed within a couple days with the game at most. In that time the reviewer will either "get" the game, or struggle with it in terms of the Wii and it's control methods. I struggled with CoD3 at first, but stuck at it and realised that actually the controls are far better than any dual-analogue combo could hope for.

    More than ever it's important for gamers to test out a game before casually dismissing it because it got a 6, or whatever.

  • oerhoert #62 5 years ago

    <em>Another average Wii game. Is it really worth buying the console just for the admittedly brilliant TP, when I could simply get it on the Gamecube anyway?</em>

    There are many other reasons to get a Wii. You mentioned Zelda, Wii Sports and WarioWare, but the Wii has more very worthwhile alternatives. Excite Truck being the most obvious, perhaps, but the recent Kororinpa is also tons of fun, and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam is very nice as well.

    For all of those games, I found many reviewers to be complaining about irrelevant details, while missing the point - they are fun games - and I'd heartily recommend them all, at least if you find the concepts appealing. For ET and TH that basically means you have to like arcade racing. For Kororinpa? Well, if you liked Super Mario Sunshine's old school levels, I'm certain you'll love it.

    Of course, that there are quite a few gems already doesn't mean there aren't also loads of crap on the machine, but then again it is still quite new.
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/07 @ 18:25

  • MadMirko #63 5 years ago

    More than ever it's important for gamers to test out a game before casually dismissing it because it got a 6, or whatever.

    I tend to agree. If you read reviews around the net, people love or hate the control method. And why do you hate a control method? Because you can't seem to use them to do what you want. Reviewers of Wii games are as new to this as every other Wii buyer. There are no years of experience like with an old control method. It will be quite some time until reviewers are good at motion controls and can accurately judge wether it's a control method that sucks, or them.

    Oh, and I do enjoy this game. ;)

  • smelly #64 5 years ago

    @oerhört:

    Please dont respond to retards who post stuff like "another average wii game", it'll just make them pop up in every thread masturbating over how great their ps3 is and how it's got LOADS MORE great exclusives, etc etc.

    Not worth the effort mate.

  • simo #65 5 years ago

    It's a legitimate question though. All those games he namechecks as "fun", I would see as fairly shallow, throwaway experiences. Only Zelda fits the mould of epic, engrossing, immersive adventure, blah, blah, blah and all those other cliched soundbites. So yes, from that point of view, people are entitled to question the current quality of the Wii's lineup.

  • espy #66 5 years ago

    Good pun.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #67 5 years ago

    Of course it's ok (and necessary) to differ in opinions. But the scores throughout the last couple of reviews seem somewhat irrational.

    I don't want to everyone to agree with me nor do I find anyone stupid for not sharing the same opinion as me. It's just that recently I just cannot follow the arguments as to why some games get rated the way they are. Obviously many people disagree with the Sonic review and for a good reason imho. Nothing wrong with liking the game but the score is just so wrong looking at it and comparing it to other games. I guess you can discuss until you drop over what really matters in a game. Sonic may be fun but it's so flawed that I just cannot understand an 8 rating. Of course the text is much more important than the score in the end but the score puts the text in context. It's not always easy to weigh the pros and cons and while I find the reviews generally well written it's difficult to judge wether the cons distract too much from the fun or not. Quote from the review: "Indeed, it's still a relatively satisfying one once you get your head around the basics.". What exactly does relatively mean? In relation to what?

    I am really having a hard time understanding what the reviewers are looking for in the games. You cannot rate "fun". SSX is so much better than Sonic in terms of presentation, content and a lot of other things. Both games are fun, definetly. It's how you get to enjoy the "fun". Running in a straight line in Sonic is fun, looking at the loading screen for nearly a minute and 5 menus just to play a level though is not. The controls of SSX Blur may not be perfect, in fact I was having quite some trouble with the tutorial myself (it's really difficult) but once you get the feeling for it, as the review said, you can really enjoy the game. Just like Excite Truck was enormous fun after getting used to the very sensitive controls.

    I have not played SSX Blur long enough and certainly not as long as the reviewer but I fail to see the reason to give this game a 6. I totally understand Kororinpa's 6. The game is short, the graphics are laughable. While I agree that gameplay and thus controls are the most important thing in a game I really don't think that the controls in SSX are that bad to mark the game down despite the good graphics, content and general presentation; It's difficult, not broken.

  • rudedudejude #68 5 years ago

    boo hoo, EG suck for not agreeing with my opinion

  • smelly #69 5 years ago

    "So yes, from that point of view, people are entitled to question the current quality of the Wii's lineup."

    Sigh.. okay, i'll bite.

    The wii and the ps3 came out at the same time. How many decent exclusives does the ps3 have, and how many decent exclusives does the wii have?

    Point proven, now shut up posting the same thing in every thread :-)

  • Sid-Nice #70 5 years ago

    If SSX Blur is only a 6/10 then God help the Tiger Woods review. :)

  • FabricatedLunatic #71 5 years ago

    Point proven, now shut up posting the same thing in every thread :-)
    No chance. Bundy just can't help himself.

  • figaro7 #72 5 years ago

    Ive picked up both tiger and ssx in the last few days, and while both offer the new control scheme and require some dedication to get the controls down pat, im still finding that ive played these games a gazillion times before, wiimote or not.

  • smelly #73 5 years ago

    >, im still finding that ive played these games a gazillion times before

    But let me guess, if it was yet another fps you wouldnt feel that?

  • Der_tolle_Emil #74 5 years ago

    But let me guess, if it was yet another fps you wouldnt feel that?

    :)
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/07 @ 21:16

  • Lost_in_Darkness #75 5 years ago

    I disagree with the review. I got the game yesterday and had a chance to play it for the past few days. When I first started the game, I did feel that the controls were a little strange and hard to pick up.
    At first I couldn't really pull off any ubertricks no land moves properly, but after persisting with the game for about an hour the control system clicked with me and I was pulling off all the tricks and ubers currently possible with my character level. I've just completed the first peek and on the way to doing tournaments in the 2nd peek.

    This is definitely a great addition to the SSX franchise, though it may be a bit more hardcore than some casuals would like of it as you need a while to click with pulling off tricks. But once you do, oh yeah it's a hell of a lot of fun. At the stage i'm at, i think i'd give it about an 8.5, and going further into the game and unlocking new tricks and areas, that score is sure to increase.

    If you're into games that give you a challenge, then this is definitely for you. It only took about an hour to really get into the flow of the controls and from then on it was smooth. You do have to persist with the ubertricks after unlocking them as some are harder than others....but there's a section in the menu where you can practice the movement and it tells you if you're doing it right or not. Very fun game and 6 is far too low a score for it. It appears like the reviewer just found it too hard.
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/07 @ 22:08

  • Overlush #76 5 years ago

    Pitty. This all seems to be odds with both Nintendo and EA's 'gaming for all' philosophies...

  • oerhoert #77 5 years ago

    <em>It's a legitimate question though. All those games he namechecks as "fun", I would see as fairly shallow, throwaway experiences. Only Zelda fits the mould of epic, engrossing, immersive adventure, blah, blah, blah and all those other cliched soundbites. So yes, from that point of view, people are entitled to question the current quality of the Wii's lineup.</em>

    Yeah, but then again, I don't see why "epic, engrossing, immersive adventures" are the only games that matter. If you call Excite Truck shallow, I think you need to play it. The same goes for Kororinpa, which may well have the most remarkably well-conceived controls of any game for some time.

    Maybe the truth of the matter is just that you don't like arcade racers and platformers all that well? Well, that's surely a shame (you're missing out :), but that doesn't mean those games aren't highly worthwhile for the people who do.

    <em>I totally understand Kororinpa's 6. The game is short, the graphics are laughable.</em>

    How much graphics matter in a pure platformer is highly debatable, but even if they do matter, the graphics in kororinpa are consistently charming.

    The notion that the game is short has some more validity, since you could see most of the levels in a few hours. However, I think the game isn't really something you just "finish", it's most definitely a game you want to "complete" - in this case, that means at least 20 hours of playtime, which is very decent in my view. Kororinpa surely could have been much more, but it is still a vast challenge to complete even as it is.

  • Sid-Nice #78 5 years ago

    I've just played the tutorial and had a few shots on quick play; the graphics and sound are brilliant with the music getting faster with every trick. I'm not playing SSX Tricky or another game in the franchise; I'm playing SSX Blur. :)

  • zoomah #79 5 years ago

    Another exclusive third party game for Wii. Great news for PS2 owners then. Wait a couple of months for a cheaper and with better controls version. Isn't great being last gen?

  • Nithron #80 5 years ago

    Any game that uses the word "Uberrific" in it's HUD deserves an extra point on the score, in my book.

  • MadMirko #81 5 years ago

    Pitty. This all seems to be odds with both Nintendo and EA's 'gaming for all' philosophies...

    Why? "All" means hardcore, too.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #82 5 years ago

    oerhört: I completely agree that graphics are not the most important thing in a platformer (or many other genres). Actually I was kind of running low on arguments :)

    Personally I don't think graphics are all that important but as a reviewer I guess you have to rate something. To make it short, I have no problem with SSX getting a 6 since I am really enjoying it and I also have no problem with Excite Trucks' 8 which I would rate a 9 and possibly even a 10. Which is special because I'd like to see a 10 only for very few games that really stand out. Ocarina of Time, Mario 64 come to mind for example. It's just that I cannot tell by reading the review why a 6 is justified. One simple question: What is it with SSX that makes it get lower marks than Sonic? Why are many other Wii games better than SSX? True, SSX is not "the perfect game". But what are the reviewers looking for? A review should not only be based on subjectivity because it simply does not work when only one reviewer gets to rate a game. If I don't know what the reviewer is looking for in a game then I simply cannot judge his opinion. Graphics are not important but should nonetheless be a (small) factor in reviews. So should be presentation and menu structure. Loading times could be included too. They are not the most important thing in a game but it all sums up and in the end can spoil the game. I really tend to agree with the people who think SSX got rated down just for being hard. Because looking at the game objectively I really don't think it compares to many other titles rated "only" a 6.

  • Agent_Llama #83 5 years ago

    Kororinpa and ExciteTruck have reignited my Wii-love. Both are fab. And I've had more fun playing either of them than TP managed in 50 hours.

    Edited by 1 at 17/03/07 @ 10:10

  • mattman #84 5 years ago

    @Der_tolle_Emil:

    "LOOKING AT THE GAME OBJECTIVELY, I really don't think it compares to many other titles rated "only" a 6."

    Just wondering how you do that...
    Edited by 1 at 17/03/07 @ 12:02

  • Der_tolle_Emil #85 5 years ago

    But that's exactly my point. Games should feature a certain standard and polish. It's difficult to judge games by themselves because at the end it's down to someone's taste and thus not at all objective but sometimes you can at least compare between games.

    I'm sure you listened to a record once you know is not bad but you just don't like it. Objectively you can tell the record is not too bad because the singer knows how to sing, the lyrics make sense, the drummer is talented. However you don't like the album which can easily be the case. But without knowing what you usually like and look for in music your opinion for me is worthless. It's like asking a Hip Hopper what he thinks of the latest Marilyn Manson album. He will probably not like the album because he is looking for something different in music.

    Lately with the reviews I have no idea what the reviewers are looking for. Games that feature good music, good graphics, good presentation, are fun and not too short get worse ratings than games with horrible music, bad presentation and only 6 levels stretched by repetitive missions to artificially enlengthen the game.

  • Sulaco #86 5 years ago

    I don't trust Eurogamer reviews anymore. I bought Sonic on the strenght of its 8/10 score but I found the controls broken beyond belief and the game wasn't much fun either. As an SSX fan I bought the game yesterday and its beautiful, has great muic, bags of fun and its definitely nowhere near as hard as some reviewers seem to think.

  • Rizzle #87 5 years ago

    The moral of this story: You're mileage may vary.

  • Santino #88 5 years ago

    Sulaco, completely agree with you on that point, i bought sonic on the strength of eurogamers review and while it was an ok game, there were many things about it such as the menu structure, music, etc that really dragged it down and made me trade it in for SSX and i couldn't be happier. It is far and away the better game in my opinion, really enjoying it and i'd personally recommend it without question.

  • Oddly #89 5 years ago

    To clear up the ubertrick issue: despite what the review says you don't need to point the wiimote at the screen and you don't need to wait for the prompt (although if you did these things you'd probably find it just as frustrating as the reviewer did).

    Plus the heart shaped one is actually pretty easy to pull off and there's an option to practise the arm flailing required for the ubertricks any time you pause the game.

    Loving this game but it's so hard. Or I'm getting old. Possibly both.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #90 5 years ago

    For me it's harder to land than doing the tricks. The Übertricks are ok and the message that you don't need to point at the screen is actually on the practice screen too. You just need to really move the Wiimote in the way you want to do the shape, not just point to the screen and "draw" the shape, just like you would do when moving the cursor. You really have to do the motion, then it usually works. Landing is a bit harder. I have to still figure out when exactly I should stop doing the tricks.

  • Lost_in_Darkness #91 5 years ago

    You need to press the A button to return the character to a landing position.

  • chaosinthesnow #92 5 years ago

    I was quite looking forward to playing this, with the opinion that it'd probably take a while to master the controls. So the other day I booted it up and started on the tutorials. About an hour later I still felt I was crap at the trick system. It annoyed me, so I turned it off for the evening. I was worried that the trick system and especially the ubertricks were basically a bunch of turd. Then I loaded it up again yesterday, did some events and practiced the ubertricks some more. At this stage I can pull off lots of ubertricks, sometimes a few in a single jump on the half pipe, I rarely bail after normal tricks, I can do neat combinations of spins and flips and I have no trouble traversing the rail matrices present in a lot of the courses. I guess my main point is that I now feel really comfortable with the control, and more importantly I prefer it much more than the old control setup. I't's much more satisfying. And as for that comment about being able to add more variety to the tricks under the old control scheme, well I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I don't think there's any worthwhile skill to be found in simply holding a random combination of direction/shoulder buttons as soon as you launch off a ramp until just before landing. At least now I actually have to think about what I'm doing trickwise.

  • smelly #93 5 years ago

    I think the problem with most modern gamers if they've been too used to being led by the hand and have every game easy enough that they can complete.

    When something like this comes along and really challenges them, they turn it off if they dont master it within minutes.

    I like to be challenged, so this works for me.. but as i say.. this is deffo a marmite game.

  • Lemming81 #94 5 years ago

    Lost_In_Darkness wrote: "I got the game yesterday and had a chance to play it for the past few days."


    *goes cross-eyed*

  • Lost_in_Darkness #95 5 years ago

    lol, meant to say past two days.

  • Rizzle #96 5 years ago

    I've only been able to put two hours into this game, but I'm really not finding it as arduous as various sources suggest - certainly, Ubertricks seem reasonable enough to me. Mind you, this is the first snowboarding game I've played since Tricky, so I'm not really that critical, just enjoying it.
    It may still change my mind, though - it's got time enough to.

    (Also, am I the only one that misses the Cool Boarders 2 "Mute, 360 backspin to indy front flip - TWEAKED!" commentary? Because I really do)

  • TRUTH #97 5 years ago

    Q: What games presides Zelda is decent game for Wii, esp one that has depth and is fun for more then 10mins

    Ans: None

    With games like: Kameo, Oblivion, Gears Of War, Lost Planet, Dead Rising, Crackdown, Project Gothem Racing, Fight Night 3, Viva Pintna, Ghost Reacon 2, on 360 - this seems more the truth to next gen gameplay then any Wii game; inc Zelda (same formula of gameplay).

    With Mass Effect, Bioshock, Halo 3, Alan Wake, Banjoo Kazioo, Blue Dragon all AAA titles this year, what the hell has Wii got. Since launch all games seem either medicore or crap, except Zelda. The only difference is control with wii games, not really next-gen stuff is it!....Only Metroid, Zelda, Mario (though i think people are losing interest in the fat plumber) have some hope - though: Halo 3, Fable 2, Banjoo Kazioo, Mass Effect will push the gaming experience further then anything the Wii can do.

    I think the Wii will dry up very quick, just like the Gamecube - not much support or games.

  • PapaSmurf630 #98 5 years ago

    "SSX Blur is about as accessible as an Arctic supply station with no doors."

    Haha funny shiz!