[I'm sure by now you've realized the error I made, pointed out by GoNintendo, in which I reviewed the online portion of a game that doesn't actually have an online portion. I'd like to apologize for this error, but at the same time, I am just as confused as you all are as to how it occurred. Though many people have jumped to conclusions that the entire review is fraudulent, I'd like to assure you all that that's not the case, and that I did indeed review this game after playing it in it's entirety. The picture used in the review from one of the in-game emails was even taken by me. I'd like to think that you'd all realize that I wouldn't take the effort to write a review for a game I hadn't even bothered to play. As a commenter even pointed out, I wouldn't bother to lie about that part of the game if I admitted to not trying the game's largest selling point.

I don't know how this error occurred, since I distinctly remember playing an online version of the game, and haven't played any other versions of Shaun White Snowboarding, but as there's no explanation for what I can only describe as sheer stupidity on my part, I'd like to apologize to all of you that read the review, and used its lack of a good online component as a factor in your decision as to whether or not you should play the game. The mistake was on my part, and you shouldn't fault or discredit the great staff at Ripten for what was a grievous error on my part. The review has been edited to reflect the error, and once again, I'm sorry. - Demi]

Announced at the super lackluster E3 ‘08, Ubisoft’s Shaun White Snowboarding was held to a relatively high standard, being one of the few games Nintendo wanted to focus on at their press conference. If I remember correctly, the last snowboarding game that was received well was probably SSX 3 (give us SSX4, dammit!) so Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip has a lot to prove before it flies off of shelves.

With the current drought of good Wii games on the market and the large demand for a spiritual successor to the SSX series, could Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip be the game to finally bring Nintendo out of its slump? Could it be just as good as Nintendo hyped it up to be half a year ago?

No.

Now before I dive head first into the review, I’d like to point out that I didn’t actually review the game’s main selling point — the Balance Board support. Seeing as I don’t have a balance board (and I probably never will), I can’t review this to the full extent, but I’ll be damned if I won’t try.

To put it simply, Shaun White’s Snowboarding isn’t the worst game ever, but it’s not a very good one either. The game starts with a very small tutorial where you learn the basics — jumping, turning, basic tricks, speed boosts, and braking. For the most part, the controls are very, very simple. Flick the remote up to jump, tilt the remote left/right to turn, press A for speed boosts and tricks, press B for braking and more tricks.

When you first start, these instructions are more than enough to keep you going for the first few levels. As a matter of fact, I played a full level and cleared it without looking at the screen. I wish it were a testament to my skill, but no — the game is just that insanely simple.

One thing I really like about the game is the cutscene art style, which you can see in the header image. It’s sort of a blocky, hand-drawn, cel-shaded style, and I really like it. It goes well with the humor they try to use in the cutscenes, and rather than the cutscenes just being characters talking, the cutscene tries to add a story to the game and make the player feel like they’re actually watching a movie at times.

The game also employs the use of a ‘Respect meter’ to give you a short time period for you to jump higher and perform more tricks. It’s very easy to gain points on your Respect meter, as all you have to do is to perform tricks. About 5 tricks will fill your meter, and to activate your Respect boost, all you need to do is press on the D-pad. Sound familiar? Well, that’s because it’s the same system that’s been used in every SSX game since SSX Tricky. Unfortunately, this is where the SSX parity ends.

The soundtrack, though not configured into the score because of it’s banal nature, is very good. Full of great alternative and indie musicians, from MGMT to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club to Living Colour, it’s great music for snowboarding, and it fits the game well.

Like with most sports/extreme sports games, different characters bring different things to the table. In the game, you can select a cameraman and a rider. The cameraman doesn’t do anything, but depending on who you choose, you can receive a boost in one of your rider skills — Speed, Jump, Trick, Grip, Landing, Mass, and Balance.

At the beginning of the game, you start out with only two characters, Gordon and Jasmine, and as you progress in the game, you get more people to join your entourage. Though it’s not an innovative system, it helps a bit when you’re trying to pull off more complicated tricks.

Though it plays no actual role in the game itself, you can save mementos from each ride, which is nothing more than a photo you get when you complete a level. You also get an email occasionally, but this is just as trivial. Most of the time, the emails are intended to be funny, depicting the various spam emails you most likely receive on a daily basis. Only one email really stuck out as funny to me, though. Do you the deny success when it demands your face?

I wish I had more good things to say about the game, but the soundtrack, simplicity of controls, and cameraman/rider system are about it.

Remember how I pointed out the exceptional ease with with you can control your rider? This system becomes a problem very quickly when you try to navigate certain time trial levels, and try to perform tricks as well. Without Wii MotionPlus™ support, the game is hindered by its inability to gauge jumps with 1:1 control, and there’s often a delay between the time you flick your remote and the time your rider actually jumps up.

Performing tricks is also a problem when the Wii doesn’t correctly measure what trick you’re trying to pull. It became so much of a problem that I eventually just gave up and decide to flick the remote around erratically. It helped much more than actually trying.

The game’s menu is so convoluted and cluttered that I started to get annoyed by turning on the game. In any other game, it would be enough to select the game type, select the level, maybe select the sublevel, select a character, and go… but not here. To get to your level, you first have to load the profile, select your game type, choose the riding controls, choose a mountain, choose a peak,  choose an objective, accept the objective, select a rider, select a cameraman, and then you’re ready to go. Don’t forget that you should probably choose your options beforehand, but I’ll cover that in a second.

It doesn’t seem like Ubisoft put any thought at all into how grinding would work, because simply getting near a rail or any curvature of any kind and jumping, even when a yard away, will get you onto the rail to grind. And keeping your balance is simple, too, to a fault even. All you need to do is keep the remote straight.

Most of the time when I tried to jump off of the rail, I ended up right back on it, since you can’t jump too far away. Grinding also gives you more points than tricks, as a single trick can give you about 20-40 points, at most. Without a multiplier, you’re dead in the water, and trying to meet the ridiculous trick point demands the game gives you becomes increasingly difficult.

Speaking of which, the game makes large jumps in objectives, far too quickly. In the transition between the first and second mountains of the game, the game ends Mountain 1 with an objective requiring you to get 2000 points, which isn’t too bad. As soon as you jump into the second mountain, the objective becomes getting 5500 points in a limited amount of time. This jump in objective difficulties doesn’t get any better as the game goes on, and what was once simple at the beginning of the game turns into an excruciatingly difficult experience.

I mentioned previously that you might want to choose your options beforehand, and this is because Ubisoft didn’t think to add a pause menu to the game. That’s not to say that you can even pause the game, though. Oh no, Ubisoft completely neglected the fact that someone might want to pause the game at any time. As a matter of fact, the only reason you could ever take a break in the middle of a slope is because of the Wii’s Home button, which you’ll probably be using a lot more than normal if you ever pick up the game.

The UI in the game isn’t too bad… until you start moving. From the beginning, the game screen has nothing more than a score, countdown (occasionally), dare/respect objective, and respect meter on the screen. This becomes more and more cluttered with everything you do. For no reason whatsoever, the screen will practically fill with a Wii remote, trying to tell you how to turn, as if you didn’t learn it at the beginning of the game. Other times, when performing tricks, the multiplier icon appears, as well as the balance meter. I wish I were joking, but the trick icon takes up just as much space on the screen as your rider does.

Local multiplayer isn’t bad, however, as starting a multiplayer game is just as easy as starting a single player game. You can select between co-op mode, where you and up to three others play the campaign, allowing you to earn medals with others; versus mode, where you and three others can go head-to-head; and hot seat mode, where you face off against your opponent’s ghost times.

The Bottom Line: Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip isn’t absolutely horrible but I don’t think I could say it’s good either. When I first started, I had an enjoyable time with the game, but as soon as I got off the first mountain, it became a chore to even finish the game. There are a few good things about the game, but the large amount of bad things with the game outweigh them, and its problems become very evident.

I don’t think I could suggest someone to buy this game, but if you’re a really big fan of snowboarding games, you might want to at least rent it.  For all I know, the balance board support is better than the Wiimote support.

Tags: Balance Board, shaun white snowboarding, Ubisoft

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