SSX Blur
Score: 95% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EA Sports Media: CD/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: Sports/ Sports (Extreme)/ Sports (Winter Games)
Graphics & Sound: Play games long enough and you'll notice a pattern. The launch of a new system always seems like a splash/drip process. When a new system comes out there are a bunch of games to play and only a few of them are really memorable. Then over time, you get a drip of game after game that starts to show the potential of the new hardware. Everyone is able to name a launch game they remember, but most people will remember a few games over the life of the hardware that really stood out. Here's a vote for SSX Blur as one of those titles. SSX Blur is the latest in a line of memorable games for other systems. The Wii version will stand out because of the control options, but it would be a great entry to the series even without the novel controls. The graphics are excellent and dispel the notion that the Wii is somehow inferior as a next-gen machine. The design of the courses has a big impact because the sense of elevation and speed is really hardwired into each run. Jumps feel like jumps and carving the side of a hill creates a perfect kind of giddy, adrenaline-pumped feeling. Coupled with incredible character animations for tricks and moves, wild fashions and board styles, and fast-loading levels... it all really shakes out to a pretty, pretty game. The music is also well done and fresh. Too often we play sports games with generic soundtracks that sound like the product of a beat machine and a noodling keyboardist in a one-hour session at union wages. Or, you get licensed music that you can take or leave from no-name artists destined for a bargain bin in a Sam Goody. SSX Blur provides really fresh and interesting music that fits the energetic pace of the game, but doesn't get in the way. A long list of top-shelf licensed music would be the best cherry on this sundae but we know that licensing costs money. I'm thinking about something in the realm of the many racing games with a virtual jukebox of hits, or something like Lumines that features a wide variety of original and licensed music to unlock.
Gameplay: Take it from a guy that dabbled in snowboarding in the real world: It is some tough stuff. Mastering the board is at least as difficult as skiing, if not harder. They say after you learn the basics, boarding is easier than skiing. I wouldn't know because my back, knees and aching rump led me to retire after just one season on my board. I might be persuaded to try again, but those memories (shelved alongside thoughts of old girlfriends) are painful. What is hard in real life is at least approachable and fun in SSX Blur. The pick-up-and-play aspect of the game is its true appeal. Everyone can grab the Wii-mote and Nunchuk controller and go to town on the slope. Call it a game "on rails" but there isn't a whole lot of wrong you can do on a snowboard. Some racing games flash WRONG WAY or OFF COURSE if you happen to take a bad turn. This is a game that encourages you to run off the beaten path and take a fling through the rough. The courses aren't epic in length but almost every inch can be used to trigger jumps, handplants and grind moves. The different modes in the game are split between pure racing, pulling tricks, and exploration. Challenges scattered around the different courses will unlock many features of SSX Blur including new characters and boards. The winning runs you take in other modes will improve the performance of your racers and increase certain stats. The obligatory half-pipe gives you ridiculous amounts of air and the time you need to string tricks together. In the initial learning curve, you'll be hard pressed to land tricks during a race. It feels like there is never enough time or air to nail the biggest maneuvers, or Ubertricks. In a Slalom race where precision is everything, it doesn't always make sense to try for huge tricks. Freeride or Slopestyle modes give you the chance to come down the mountain on your own terms and take advantage of the landscape. A Career Mode combines all the events and gives you a feel for your progress. The initial training provided is helpful because the game manual is skimpy, but it doesn't take long to get into the action. The multiplayer offering works with a split-screen for two players or a "hot seat" mode for up to four players. Hot Seat should be called "hot potato" because it involves passing the remote between players so the person with the highest score across a variety of events can be crowned the winner.
Difficulty: The gestures used for tricks in SSX BLur range from easy (lifting your hands to jump or turning the Nunchuk to carve) to very difficult (tracing complex patterns or drawing shapes quickly in the air). The actual racing action isn't very difficult at all, so if all you care about is placing first, you will be rewarded. The challenges scattered through the game can be accomplished with mastery of all skills at your disposal. This includes tricks. Pulling off basic tricks feels basic and pulling off the advanced moves feels... well, advanced? It makes sense to me, much like the 10-button combo in a game like Tekken that just took time to master. I bet there are people that played fighting games and loved them and never went near those 10-button combos. You didn't need them to finish the game; it was just an added splash of ego stroking to know that you had mastered elite skills. SSX Blur is no different. Keep playing with basic moves and you'll see most of the game unlocked and you'll enjoy yourself immensely. When you find yourself looking for more points, more challenge, and more unlocked content, you will find a little buffer of unexplored territory through the game's more advanced trick moves.
Game Mechanics: Wii controls for SSX Blur are intuitive and straightforward. Turning the Nunchuk handles the carving, which I think is brilliant. I've played at least one other game where the side-to-side motion control was handled on the Nunchuk and it didn't do much for me. The looseness of this control scheme doesn't really fit for driving games where precision is needed, but it feels perfect for sliding through the snow. Something about the physics of it are just right. The Nunchuk also controls jumping, so a quick lift of the hand makes your 'boarder lift off. The Control Stick will increase or decrease speed so you can picture how busy the hand holding the Nunchuk will be... If you imagine the Nunchuk as the focus for controlling each 'boarder's movement, the Wii-mote is the focus for tricks. At certain points you'll engage the Nunchuk in pulling tricks, but most of the basics are about the Wii-mote. Shaking side-to-side will control spins and lifting the Wii-mote will pull a flip. You can even throw snowballs by pressing the B-button on the Wii-mote. Ubertricks are pulled by tracing patterns in the air with the Wii-mote or with both controllers. Tight patterns are incredibly difficult to pull off, but shapes like a Z or a horseshoe are fairly easy to nail. You get a chance to practice this so it doesn't take a Rocket Scientist to become a Master. The real skill is in pulling large jumps that give you time to draw the necessary patterns with your controllers. In the beginning of the game, I had the impression that the trick mechanics were broken or obscenely difficult, but as the courses became more familiar and I learned where to find the big jumps, it all came together. Sports fans and devotees of the previous SSX games will flock to this title and it also has the potential for wider appeal. Anyone with a Wii system looking for a creative game with shelf-life will find it in SSX Blur. At the end of the day it is "just" a snowboarding game, but it's probably the best executed example of a snowboarding game that I've ever played.
-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock
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