Line Rider 2: Unbound for Wii is identical from a gameplay perspective to its smaller cousin on the DS. Story, Freestyle, and Puzzle Creation Modes are available here, providing various levels of control and creativity to players. The ultimate freedom lies, not surprisingly, in Freestyle Mode. You can sketch and design to your heart's content here, establishing a massive track that can then be uploaded to the game's Web site. The site features integration with Wii, by way of your friend code. Entering the code as you "register" your Wii on the site will create a link that shows tracks for download and allows you to upload tracks through your account that are then available for others to play. There is functionality on the site that makes uploaded appear even as your browse through, but you are unable to play uploaded tracks through the browser. You are also unable to share uploaded tracks between platforms. This makes absolutely no sense. Sure, there may be technical limitations, but the
Line Rider experience is not supposed to be put into a silo. You are supposed to be able to create and share tracks with anyone, which isn't possible here. There's a case to be made that players experiencing
Line Rider 2: Unbound on the Wii will have plenty of content, thanks to the platform's popularity, but that's not the point. When the
Line Rider phenomenon is already well established, gamers should be able to access all the great content that is out there. This collection of tracks from TechDawg is excellent, but what really will keep
Line Rider 2: Unbound on the shelf is how much user-generated content is available for download.
Creating a track to ride is just one part of the game. In Story Mode you'll find a series of fixed tracks with sections missing. It falls on you to draw the missing lines in place and help Bosh reach the end unscathed. As seen in the animated scenes between stages, Bosh's nemesis is constantly cooking up ways to install obstacles and pitfalls along each track. Completing a track in Story Mode means, at a basic level, choosing between one of three lines. Normal lines help you maintain speed, with fast and slow lines doing what you'd expect. There are even some trick lines you'll encounter later in the game. Drawing and shaping lines is the "big idea" behind Line Rider 2: Unbound. Once you have the line exactly as you think it should appear, you hit the play button to send Bosh sliding down from the starting line. Depending on how well he does during the ride, you have the tools necessary to edit lines. In Puzzle Creation, you will create your own incomplete tracks to share with friends or strangers online. Building a puzzle track is easier than you might think, since many people apparently think that drawing two lines with a big empty space between them counts as a puzzle... You see the difference in TechDawg's tracks and some of the better user-generated tracks online. The idea is to give players a few variables and room enough to solve a puzzle track in several ways. THIS method for creating a puzzle track is actually challenging, especially if you are motivated to make your tracks "purty." The ability to create tracks with two riders ups the ante quite a bit after you've mastered the single-rider variables. The strangest thing about gameplay that only occurred to me after playing the Wii and DS versions of Line Rider 2: Unbound in quick succession, is that tracks can't be shared directly between the two systems, even though every game mode and editing tool is identical.
