Talk about having to re-learn how to play videogames on the Wii! Anyone who even dares skip the tutorial in Electronic Arts' SSX Blur will likely be struggling to even travel in a straight line properly, let alone showing off the finely tuned balance of skill and style that made them a pro in previous iterations of the series. Just like the real life sport, you're not going to be ripping down the mountain off piste before you've learnt to turn left and right first and in a similar vein to reality it's going to take you a fair while to get really good.

Controlling your character's movement is a case of using the Nunchuck's tilt sensor and analogue stick in harmony. Pushing the analogue stick left and right will begin to guide your boarder in that direction, while orientating the Nunchuck in the same way instructs your character to cut sharply into the snow, helping to negotiate the tightest of bends. After you've got the hang of it, there's definitely a sense of freedom and freshness about zipping down through Blur's snowy peaks. Indeed, casually tilting the controller one way and the other soon makes analogue-only controls seem stiff and old fashioned.

Of course, executing tricks has always been an integral part of the SSX series, a tradition that continues on the and once again uses the console's motion-sensing capabilities to add a new dimension to proceedings conventionally managed by a combination of analogue stick, shoulder button, finger tappin' wizardry. Airborne manoeuvres are initiated by a flick upwards with the Nunchuck to make your character jump, then the Wii remote takes over to help perform spins, flips and grabs. And as you'd expect, diverse arrangements of button presses and Wii Remote twisting and turning help carry out a whole variety of dangerous tricks. For example, flicking the remote forwards and backwards will tell your boarder to somersault, whilst the same waving to the left or the right will make them rotate in either direction, racking up points all the while.

For the most part, the Wii does a great job of picking up the numerous gesticulations you and it must remember in order to better your play. However, as in the case in a number of the console's titles (Wario Ware: Smooth Moves instantly springs to mind above any other), sometimes it feels like your gestures aren't picked up correctly or worse, not at all. This tends to happen a lot to begin with, (less, it has to be said, when you learn to work within Blur's boundaries) but returns to rear its ugly head when the starts to get tough and the pressure to perform certain combinations for big points bonuses really hits home. One misread signal can make so much difference during a run and the more you panic the worse it gets. Incidentally the game's worst offender is its outspoken 'Only on Wii!' feature, but also its biggest gimmick.

Ubertricks are supposed to be SSX Blur's real show stoppers, the kinds of stunts that define a snowboarder's performance and the type of impressive feat likely to end up as one of YouTube's most viewed videos on any given day thanks to an individual oblivious to the laws of copyright. In order to execute an ubertrick, first you must build up your Groove meter by performing a series of lesser tricks. Once full to bursting, one of your specialities is accomplished by tracing patterns in midair using the Wii Remote on its own or in combination with the Nunchuck. The most basic shapes such as the outline of a heart aren't too difficult to replicate, but you try successfully tracing the outline of a clef to earn an squillion points (particularly when the pressure is on) and it's harder than getting a word in edge ways in a conversation with Vanessa Feltz. Practice makes perfect of course, but all the preparation in the world counts for nothing when the Wii's motion sensitivity seems defiant on letting you down at a crucial point in time.

Gameplay-wise, SSX Blur is all you'd expect from a well-established simulation. The career mode consists of the tried and tested method of beginning as a rookie boarder working your way through a variety of race-types (straight races, slalom, trick attacks and the like), all the while upgrading your attributes as your experience and confidence grows. Fortunately the difficulty curve is set just right so as to encourage you to further yourself to the point where all of the three snowy peaks on offer are unlocked, each one encouraging plenty of exploration and competition. And even if its possible without doing so, there's something innate inside of gaming fans that drives them to unlock the best of the best accessories and boards - something achieved only through hours of try, try, trying again...

...And you won't mind it one bit, because Blur is one of the best-looking Wii titles so far, making it a joy to play. EA know how to 'do' snow and like an inviting body of tranquil water, you'll want to dive in again and again. From the deep powdered flurry that coats your character after a crap landing to the sheer arse-tightening sensation you get from swishing and carving your way down the mountainside at a top notch speed; from the way that your character's animations relay every bump and knock to the extravagant lighting effects throughout, aesthetically Blur just keeps giving and giving. All this combined with another of SSX's consistently high quality soundtracks makes overlooking the odd control glitch and frame rate issue fairly easy to do.

A lot has been said of the Wii's ability to change the face of certain gaming genres, some attempts more successful than others (a competent first-person wouldn't go a miss), but in the case of SSX Blur and snowboarding, the console's motion controllers really do succeed in adding a sense of freedom and, if it's applicable to a videogaming representation of a sport, a certain naturalness to proceedings, unconfined by long-established methods of control. It's not the perfect title by any means, but again, like so many sorts of games making their debut on Wii, they demonstrate great potential for what the future might hold.

79%

By Andrew Macarthy

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