8.6.2012

Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip. Nintendo WiiBeginning the game with a short video you are introduced to the main characters in the game sitting in a hospital room after a friend has had a snowboarding accident, suddenly a phone rings and the hospitalised friend is forgotten about as on the other end of the phone is the one and only Shaun White inviting you on an around the world snowboarding road trip. Obviously this is the coolest idea ever and you head off to Canada to begin your snowboarding adventures.The game is based in the settings of real mountains and for each mountain range which you visit you will need to complete certain goals to win event tickets and progress further on your road trip.Goals include things like finishing a slope within a certain time limit, collecting a specific number of crowns or trash cans and performing tricks to achieve a minimum amount of points.Performing the tricks is surprisingly easy! During the first couple of challenges in the game you are given a kind of mini tutorial of how to do tricks and certain manoeuvres, after this you are left to your own devices to see what you come up with. Most of the tricks are accomplished by waving your wii remote around and pressing the A and/or B buttons and then making sure you have your snowboarder level on his or her board before landing, to me this is the hardest part of the controls and I have lost count of how many times my snowboarder has ended up crashing and covered in snow!In general the controls of the game are easy, even if you haven't played a snowboarding game in the past I think these controls would be pretty simple to pick up quite fast... If you can hold a wii remote and wave it around while pressing a few buttons then you can control this game!I have had this game for around 3 weeks, which I know doesn't sound long to be reviewing it already, however in these few weeks I have played the game rather a lot and have progressed really far. I have found the challenges set to be really easy and as a result of this I have won a lot of event tickets and progressed from Canada through Chile and I am currently in Switzerland. The challenges I always find the hardest to complete are the time challenges and to do these I have worked out that you need to concentrate on simply getting to the bottom of the slope performing no tricks or jumps along the way. In my opinion this makes these challenges the most boring as I really enjoy doing tricks and waving my remote around.In total, according to the Wii's timing of how long you are on a game, I have so far spent almost 37 hours playing Shaun White and I still feel like I have many more hours left to play!Menu's and Screen NavigationThe menus in Shaun White are simple to navigate around, you simply point the Wii remote at the screen and click on what you want to do. The main menu screen which you will use in the game is designed like a map and you need to click on the country you want to go to. Bearing in mind you can only travel to new countries if you have completed challenges and unlocked them.There are occasional videos thrown into the game which I personally skip as I don't find them interesting but if you want to follow the story of the road trip then you may enjoy watching them.Loading time between screens is minimal and literally only a few seconds, just enough time to take a sip of a drink while you wait.GraphicsThe game play and graphics are really smooth and the sound effects of the board on the snow are actually really realistic, especially when you go over a patch of ice, it's almost like the real thing. The animations of the boarders are good but not as good as some of the newer snowboarding games. The faces of the boarders sometimes seem a bit distorted but in general you don't really notice this too much.The mountains and the scenery are generally really good and smooth, there are a couple of distortions but I have only really noticed these when I was watching someone else play, I've never noticed them when I play as I'm usually too busy concentrating on trying to land a trick!SoundtrackThe soundtrack in the game is really good and contains a variety of songs I would enjoy listening to when snowboarding in real life, I haven't identified all of the artists on the soundtrack, but I know there are a couple of Faithless tracks on there. The volume of the music can be adjusted if you wish, but I find that the default volume is just right for me.Balance Board CompatibleShaun White Snowboarding is balance board compatible, however as my balance board lives at my mum's house with my little brother I have not tried this method of control yet. From what I have briefly looked at in the instruction manual though it does look really good so hopefully I will get to try this too.MultiplayerThere is a multiplayer mode, however as I currently only have one Wii remote we havent played this much. I had a quick go with my brother when I was visiting the UK and it was basically the same as single player but in split screen mode and earning medals based on your performance. In the multiplayer mode you can have upto 4 players if you have enough Wii remotes.Recommended?I love snowboarding and I love snowboarding games so yes I would highly recommend Shaun White Snowboarding, especially as it is now available at such a great price if you don't mind having a pre-owned one. It's easy to play and I would say suitable for all ages (the box says 3+).5 Stars from me!Thanks for reading :)

25.11.2008

Ever since Nintendo unveiled it's Balance Board peripheral which would ship Wii Fit starting with Japan in December 2007, there has been much talk about the big N'S new innovative controller & the opportunities it would present developers to create some seriously impressive titles utilizing it if put to good use.So far to date we've seen some pretty good early indications that the Balance Board certainly holds potential with games such as the fairly decent We Ski, Jillian Micheal's Fitness Ultimatum & then there have been other games which use the board for party games such as Raving Rabbids TV Party.To be fair though,I have been waiting for a title which has developed from the ground up using the balance board as a primary controller as opposed to the secondary controller which a few developers have done, which kind of leaves you feeling like they worked on the Balance Board controls during the last phase of the game.Thankfully then I can proudly testify that Shaun White Snowboarding Road Trip falls firmly into the former category & has a really in dept Balance Board control scheme which feels very well thought out & extremely well implemented. Honestly the Balance Board controls gives you such a feeling of accomplishment after learning a new trick by using the correct technique (e.g: the correct direction to learn in conjunction with the control buttons to press to perform a "Monkey Twist" ect)The games overall layout feels very slick & really well thought out. The basic premise of the game is that you are a newbie Snow Boarder joining a group of travelers on a snow boarding road trip (as the title suggests)You start off playing with the first available character (who I believe was "Jasmine" although I can't really remember now as I'm 30% through the game!) in the first of four resorts gradually working your way through each one as you pass all of the various events available in each resort.At first there is only one boarder available to you, but as you progress you'll unlock new ones who each have their own stats and special skill. It is here in which the key lies to successfully completing the game, as you play more & more through the game you will learn which boarder is best suited to which event.Naturally some skill is involved in playing the game with the balance board, but thankfully the developers having designed the control so well that it all feels so natural. Lay the board sideways just like the real thing & then lean forward to speed up, back to slow down, side to side makes you turn left or right & coming up from a crouch makes you jump, whilst pressing the buttons in conjunction with leaning in various direction during air time perform fancy tricks & flips. Nothing could be simpler.I've always been a massive fan of snowboarding & Ubisoft appear to have created a gem of a game with Shaun Whites Snowboarding, which given how perfectly the Balance Board controls works... guarantees it will stay in my collection as long as I still have my Wii (or at least until a sequel comes out! Lol)The only thing I can fault this game on is the fact that you are force to play the game using Regular Foot (meaning standing on the board left foot forward) without the option to switch to Goofy Foot (right foot foward) which is the way I feel most comfortable with.Still this is only a minor gripe as does not really take anything away from a pretty perfect game.I would say this is the perfect Xmas game for any one with a Balance Board and into snowboarding games.

8.1.2009

As the archetype of a casual gamer (I own one console, a Wii, which I play on average four or five times a month with friends) the main thing I'm looking for when I buy a new game is that its fun and I can play it in company with pretty much anyone. Wii Sports, Boomblox, parts of Wii Fit and Mario Kart all meet this requirement and so get some pretty decent playtime. Now I think I can add Sean White Snowboarding Road Trip (SWSRT) to that list.This is the first game I have come across since purchasing Wii Fit that makes the most out of the potential of the Balance Board. Beyond pressing one of two buttons on the Wiimote the game is entirely controlled through the board, and those controls are completely intuitive.

19.11.2008

Many online reviewers give this game 4 out of 10. Believe me this game is a lot better than that. It comes alive in on-line play like no other game I have played.There is free-riding, big air competitions, avalanches, jibbing and loads of tricks to master. Tricks are not easy, if they were then what would there be to master? You will have no problems doing basic twists, turns and grabs.The main on-line review complaints are that you don't get a sense of speed and it is not as good as SSX. I promise you none of this is true. It is unfair to compare it to SSX as they are completely different games. I loved SSX and 1080 on the N64, but for me this is the best of the 3.

1.1.2009

If I'm totally honest, I wasn't expecting too much from this game. The last snowboarding game I played was Cool Boarders on the PS1, and that was not that brilliant. When I started playing this, I was almost immediatly impressed. The gameplay feels as realistic as it could with a games controller, but it is also fairly easy to pick up basic tricks.The game has only four pistes but these are HUGE, and I really do mean massive; the game lets you, and actually encourages you to take off the snowboard and walk around to try and find hidden areas. There is also a variety of different terrain for you to go on. You can start at the top of the mountain and board down stunning and steep slopes (and cliffs),

22.2.2010

I'm writing this review primarily to offset the remarks of the guy above.This game is not well made, the port from PS to PC is massively rushed and this leads to relatively poor graphics, and a pretty dodgy keyboard set up. You're going to need a decent standard computer, couple of gigs of ram and 512MB graphics card, to get this it to run prettily without lag.Having said that this is still a fun game.I'm a freeride mountain biker and surfer, and there are not many games for the extreme sports market that aren't characatures like the hawk series. The game has 4 large mountains, each is individual and a blast down will take you 4 or 5 minutes, with so so many different line choices.

28.9.2014

Great graphics and attention to detail help you immerse yourself into the four fairly large snowy peaks perfectly. Couple that with the excellent trick system and you have yourself one awesome snowboard game! Admittedly the game play is a little tricky at first, however if your a veteran of games such as the skate franchise then with a little practice you should be double or even triple corking in no time at all!I love the big mountain, open world feel and the customisation options of licensed brands, something that was servilely lacking from the last SSX game.. However, I would be lying to say it's perfect. The overall gameplay can feel a little rough around the edges,

21.1.2009

The best snowboarding game I've played since 1080 on the N64 (wow that was ages ago) bar none!I know the likes of the SSX have much flashier graphics but this is easily one of the best looking titles on the Wii. The art style works well, the slopes look great, the sound effects and music are top notch, just brilliant presentation throughout.The balance board works very well but of course takes some getting used to. I have read others complain about the control if you just use Wii remote but I and several friends tried this and it works great. So, balance board or Wii remote it's up to you but both are fun. Tricks can be er....tricky to pull off, but to be honest for me it was all about carving down the slopes as fast as possible,

16.11.2008

I have to say the only reason I ordered this game was so my balance board wasnt only used for Wii Fit (which I like). I was hoping for a game that would give me the same enjoyment SSX Tricky gave me on the gamecube and this game thus far has been pretty close. In fact I would say that this game is a mix between SSX and the games at the arcade where you used a board to guide yourself down the slopes. Its takes a few attempts to get a feel for the controls and how to do the tricks but once you have that cracked its a very enjoyable game indeed, and the controls make the game that bit more special.

20.8.2010

This is a pretty good game. I found it quite difficult to start with, however after a bit of practice it became addictive.There is plenty to do if you follow Shaun's quest which is explained to you at the beginning of the game.The whole snowboarding experience is quite realistic in terms of landing tricks and grinding so as you have to always check your balance in order to do good grinds and land huge jumps.The graphics are one of the fab elements of the game. The snow looks really realistic, which is important in a snowboarding game.There is also a huge range of clothing and boards that you can buy as you earn more money which add to the style of your character.A great feature of the game is

23.3.2009

You know those games you play when, from time to time, there are boring bits where the programmers show their cleverness but there is nothing to grab you? Well, this is not like that at all. I have never snowboarded, but I will, I will - but only after I have got my technique sorted on Shaun White's Snowboarding Road Trip!. This game has you performing a variety of tasks either against the clock, against a points target or both; you have opportunities to pick up bonuses and you also have the opportunity to fall off your Wii Board in front of friends and family with no saving grace at all. The Wii Board is very responsive, and you have to shift weight a lot to keep upright and facing downhill.

3.2.2009

I love this game, I own it on the 360, on-line play is solidly done, its a free roaming environment whatever location you go to. The game play took me a little time to get used to, but you'll be busting some sweet moves in no time.Graphics are immersive and atmospheric, there's loads of stuff to do within each mountain environment. You collect tokens to up your 'focus' abilities, which increase your access and potential to progress within the course and within the game. There are tons of events too, and challenging on-line players and being challenged is a great way to show of your skills, or be tested by better players.There are some small game-play glitches,

8.4.2009

This game has put a bigger smile on my face than any other game on PS3; it is brill! There is a lot of scenery to explore,it is great fun jsut crusing down the mountains, being able to ride a charilift the whole way up is ace, the cusotmisaton is good, if not expensive for novices at the game!It is quite difficult but once you can do the trciks, use the R2 button to pre laod before a jump it is easy to do.I would echo the comment of you dont always get a sense of the speed, but for me that is one of the only complaints, that and it is quite difficult in places, but i would rather it be too hard than too easy!I can't comment on realism,

27.11.2008

This game is fabulous fun and far better than I'd expected. Yes it does slot in-between SSX Tricky and an arcade style, but that's a strength not a weakness. I was impressed by the board's variable sensitivity levels after the 'lumpy' feel of the Wii Fit Snowboarding mini-game. This is much better and can be changed between every run if you choose to. There isn't any upperbody control with the wii-mote (the video adverts were rather misleading there) but it's still a lot of work as you move about. The gameplay is immersive enough that you'll actually jump up off board at some point. The game doesn't like this and pauses briefly to give you a row for being naughty for jumping on the balance board.

17.6.2009

We bought a Wii fit a while ago and we've used it a fair bit, but when this game game out I thought I'd give it a go as I quite like boarding in reality land...After shelling out on the Wii fit, this game makes some of that worthwhile. Its responsive, fun and controls work excellently with the board, I can't imagine it being anywhere nearly as good with a control pad.Fair enough Wii owners get fobbed off with cartoon graphic time and time again but thats the price you pay for having a great control system, then its acceptable enough.It would have 5 stars all around from me if it had more online features,

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