By Boot Scraper

The SSX games from EA have always had some of the best snowboarding action to date. Cruising through the snow with funky characters and groovy tunes always put a smile on my face. The most recent entry in this crazy-fun franchise keeps in the crazy, but tends to leave out the fun.
SSX Blur is the newest game to make it’s way to Nintendo’s innovative Wii. The game returns with all of the same cartoonish design that made the other games stand out from the mesh of similar titles. Although this game probably isn’t the best-looking in the series, it is by far one of the best-looking games out for the Wii right now. The characters are fully realized as a great mix between loony tunes and real life. This game, however, seems to have taken an even more unrealistic feel, as the characters look more like cartoons than ever before with bright colors and curvy structures. The maps are also vibrant and eye-catching with twists and turns filling up every last inch of the maniacally built courses. Pipes, ramps, and falls litter the tracks with great possibilities for insane stunts and crazy speed. And after big tricks you get a colorful explosion of particle effects. And throughout all of this you will be going extremely fast without any hint of slowdown.
The sound design keeps up with the in-game action with some great music as well as some nice bone-crunching sound effects for when you aren’t as graceful as you could have been. The characters also have some nice one-liners they throw at each other and are voice acted as cartoony as they look. The one thing that could have been done better in this game is the announcer who becomes exceptionally cheesy and annoying.
For replay value you are given the option to go head-to-head with human opponents. But like with all the other games on the Wii, there is no online. The multiplayer that is present isn’t too shabby. You get to challenge your friends to races or freestyle matches in which you get as many points from tricks as you can. You also have the option of nailing your opponents with a well-placed snowball. So with all of this going for it, what could have happened to make me say it leaves out the fun?
The controls. What could have been a simple pick-up and play title is nothing but frustration incarnate. One would think that with the Wii-mote and it’s motion sensing abilities that the Wii would be the perfect place to put a snowboarding game. The Wii-mote could easily be used for all the movement and tricks, especially with it’s board-like shape. The developers at EA, however, decided to use both the Wii-mote and the Nunchuk controller. You use the analog stick to turn and control speed, while you use the Wii-mote to make sharp turns and jump by moving it around. That alone is tough to master, but once you throw in the extremely complicated movements you have to make to pull off simple tricks, you have one fine example of how not to make a game on the Wii. It’s overly complicated and nearly impossible to master. In the time it takes you to get down the controls to play the game in a somewhat confident manner, you will probably be looking for a better snowboarding game to play.
It just goes to show you how important good controls are to a game. You can have all the wacky design and great visuals you want, but if you can’t play the game, it’s crap.
Score: 4 out of 10.