Skate It

Review from Cav - Wednesday, 14 January 2009 @ 12:59am

When skate was first released on the Xbox360, it made fans of the genre, who only really had the Tony Hawk series to rave about, stand up and take notice. The control system was greatly different from its competition, which made the game feel new and innovative. Now when I say the words ‘new and innovative’ and ‘control system’ the Nintendo Wii always comes to mind. So if you throw the Wii Balance Board into the mix as well, how could a combination of these elements possibly go wrong?

Right! Who the hell put my wheels ON TOP of my deck?

For those of you who played skate on the 360, or read my review, you would already know the setting for the game. This time around the town of San Vanelona is a little different. Actually it’s like Godzilla and a dozen of his mates threw a party and trashed the place. There is destruction everywhere, which makes the environment rather restrictive, but sets you up with some very creative skate spots. On the 360 version you could skate from one end of the map to the other, passing through several ‘boroughs’, of course this type of graphic technology can’t be performed on the Wii, which is highly disappointing, as I loved being able to just ‘free skate’ in between trying to find the next challenge and seeking out awesome trick spots along the way. It’s not to say that each area isn’t in itself large, but you do have to use exit spots or the menu to move on. To deviate your attention from the lack of ‘rolling map travels’, you now have the opportunity to travel across the globe to various locations. Of course these need to be unlocked or there would be no reason to press on with the game, would there? Including locations like Paris, London and Barcelona - you jet to a variety of areas in which to seek out new professional boarders to skate with and unlock. There is a skate park in San Van that has some ridiculous ramps and even a 360 barrel for you to attempt. There is some major air available in the park, that will guarantee you break some bones, getting you a spot in Thrasher’s Hall of Meat – a measure of how many bones you break and body parts you bruise or sprain – for some reason it’s really satisfying seeing your character with a majority of his bones broken – there is an actual award for breaking a series of bones – one for the sadist in all of us.

Setting the benchmark...... okay, sorry

The Wii has almost always (and I use that term lightly) presented an interesting control system with a majority on its releases and skate it no different. You don’t have to own a Wii Balance Board, but, just like Shaun White’s Snowboarding, it is certainly the main reason this title has made an appearance on this system. With the Balance Board facing in a north/south position, to represent a skateboard and your Nunchuk and WiiMote in hand, players have the option to ride regular or goofy. There are six positions on the Balance Board in which to place your foot to achieve tricks. A difference in pressure will also change your trick type as well as hitting left or right on the D-Pad on the WiiMote. I enjoyed this method, but my feet got really sore after a while. I wasn’t sure if Matt and Yug would pay out for some podiatry clinic visits, so I chose to use the WiiMote/Nunchuk combination, which was much easier.... and I got to sit my lazy arse on the couch. It can also be played with just a WiiMote, but is nowhere as easy. As with the 360 version, we are still using the ‘Flickit’ method, but instead of flicking a stick on a controller, we are flicking the wrist that holds the WiiMote, but it probably didn’t take a Uni degree to work that one out. By the way, sorry to sound like a ‘Safety Nazi’ but use of the wrist strap is a must on this game more than any other I have played. The use of a wireless Nunchuk doesn’t go astray either. Once you have mastered any of the control systems, which in some cases do take a little while, you should be good to get out there and start completing challenges. The one major gripe I have with the control system is the minus button, which brings up a pause menu. When trying to Ollie huge gaps I would knock the button mid jump and lose all momentum while trying to add a grab or board rotation to my trick. If this old, angry gamer had a dollar for every time I knocked the minus, I think I’d be playing skate 2 on a brand new PS3. I feel that the response from Balance Boards and/or the Mote-Chuk don’t feel as responsive as it did in the original. I suppose this may just be another game that could have been improved by Nintendo’s mystical Motion Plus adapter ... whenever that actually eventuates. I’m marking that one down in the same column as the Club Nintendo rewards for Australia: we’ll see how good both of them are when they finally get here.

Just like the EA BlackBox original, your main focus points are to get yourself a Sponsor for all of your deck, wheel, truck and clothing needs and then get your mug on the front cover of a skating mag. As mentioned earlier, professional boarders are scattered around the globe, inviting you to ‘buttery skate spots’, to master a trick they have performed at that location. You can do one of two things to progress: You can ‘Own’ the spot by performing the basic requirements for the trick, or If you are a perfectionist (something I am not, but this game tends to bring it out in me) you can ‘Kill’ the spot, where you do the trick plus give it that little something extra, like another rotation, extra grindage, or tweak your air with a grab. The standard is set for you before each trick, but the choice is totally yours. I did my utmost to ‘Kill’ every challenge and break every bone in the process. Some areas in skate it have the option to alter the terrain to make it easier to perform your challenges. These are called My Spot zones. Any object, such as benches, ramps and rails can be moved to create the perfect line. If you save the zone after editing, it will retain its appearance for the remainder of the game, but it won’t change the map for the Party Play multiplayer option.

My skinny legs are guaranteed to shatter on impact

Soundtracks to skateboarding games have always contained some awesome music and skate it is no exception to the rule. I have always loved the skating music mentality, even when was a try hard in the late 80’s/early 90’s. I had a tape with Bob Marley one side and Metallica on the other. Rap, thrash, punk – it’s all there and there are not many that I would skip. Judas Priest, Suicidal Tendencies, LL Cool J, Sly and the Family Stone and WAR with Low Rider would rank up there with my favourites.

Amazingly there are six save slots available on this version and each of those can actually hold quite a few saved photos and videos of your game play. I had expected three at the most. It would be great if these could be shared online and I don’t see why it the option couldn’t have been included. One thing you must bear in mind was that in the original version, the EA site did struggle with this function at first, but gradually improved. On second thoughts maybe EA learned from this. They do have a knack of thinking these gimmicks up; only to have them fail dramatically and require fixes, take Tiger Woods for example.

I bet his left nut that the finish will not be pretty

Party Play, the offline multiplayer, has four types of challenges for you and up to four of your buddies to throw yourself at. I use the words throw yourself at because any discerning gamer and his friends will immediately choose the Hall of Meat Challenge, where the point is to rack up the highest medical bill with one stack. The Hall of Meat diagram skeleton shows a possible 11 major bones to break and I managed to go the whole hog, totalling over $13,000 in bills. Hit that the current US conversion rate and you’re looking at a pretty penny. While I think of it, do you all remember the story that came up last year about the skateboarder who was classed as a vehicle and fined for breaking the speed limit, after he put a video of his amazing stunt on YouTube? I wonder if he smashed into a parked car, would he be covered by TAC? He was classed as a vehicle, or was this the cops just trying to collect some revenue for their end of year function? All of the other events in Party Play are just like you would find in-game: Best Trick, Best Line and Best Downhill Run. The amount of rounds can be selected although when doing the downhill runs I think that one round will suffice. All up Party Play is fun but online would be so much better. Why? Because if you have your friends come around to your place, they rock up, play your games, drink all of your beer, eat all of your chips, beat your high scores and then go home – cheap bastards.

Pros

Three options for controls, including the Balance Board. Soundtrack is awesome, as always. Hall of Meat Challenge in Multiplayer.

Cons

Graphically disappointing if you have played it on the 360 or PS3. Slightly restrictive maps. That damn minus button. Too much Balance Board hurts your feet.

Summary

If you don’t own a 360 or PS3 I would get this. If you have a Wii Balance Board and nothing other than Wii Fit, I would rent this and see if you can breathe life back into your board. Not a must have, but a fine addition to your Wii library all the same and if you shop around, you will find this title for less than $50. Bargain!