So, after all the to-ing and fro-ing, I decided to pick this up after all. I'm not a huge fan of the series (But I am a fan) and I suck balls at the games, but for some reason ever since I saw this running with the controls I've been really looking forward to it.
So there's a few options you have when you first start it up. You can run through the tutorial (Recommended), which is about 8 sets of tasks ranging from stopping within a certain area all the way up to performing a couple of Ubertricks on a couple of ramps, there's a multiplayer option (Hot seat or splitscreen, neither of which I've tried), there's a Quick Play option (Which I understand allows you to run though everything you've unlocked in the career mode - again, not tried this mode) and the career mode itself, which I'll be concentrating on here.
When you first launch into career mode you create a profile, and all of the bits and pieces you unlock (Characters, gear, peaks etc...) are available to the profile. There seems to be room for three profiles on the select screen but I think I recall the manual saying you can create more than that.
If you've played SSX3 (And, I assume, On Tour) you'll be familiar with the layout. You start on Peak 1 in a free-ride mode and you board/ski down the hill, collecting 'Ubercollectibles' (Which, when you've collected enough of one type, unlock new Ubertrick moves) and branching off different routes for different events (If you hit the + button it brings up the pause menu, where you can select the map, which shows you where you need to go along with the event types etc...). There are also other special collectibles that start challenges (Hit A when prompted) and you can jump into one of the signs to start any tournaments you have access to (Which are unlocked at points intervals - points being gained by winning things, natch).
Events consists of Half-Pipe (Most points gained within the time limit), Race (Duh!), Big-Air (Most points gained within a short section of a slope), Slalom (As you'd expect - and *really* ****ing hard. Time added for missing gates) and a couple of others that are a mixture of one or two other types. On top of this, the tournaments consist of two different events each with 3 heats (You skip straight to the third heat if you finish in the top 3 in heat 1). You need to be first overall not to lose the tournament. You gain points by just competing in the normal events, but the tournaments are where the points really mount up).
The controls are interesting. The nunchuks control your movement on the ground. You tilt the analogue stick forwards/backwards to accelerate/brake and to the sides to tweak your direction; you tilt the nunchuk itself to accentuate the movement and carve. Take a little while to get used to, but not too long with it and it becomes very natural. The C button is used only, from what I can tell, to pivot when you're on skis (One note: I don't believe the mechanics alter between boards/skis at all), the Z button boosts when you're on the floor, assuming you have boost available.
When you want to launch yourself, you flick the nunchuk up (Towards you) and, for the most part after you're in the air, control moves to the remote (The exception being grabs, which are performed with the Z button and tilting the nunchuk whilst in the air). To spin/roll you tilt the remote forwards/backwards/left/right and obviously a combination of these will modify the roll to a diagonal. Ubers are performed by hitting the A button whilst in the air and drawing a shape with the remote. You 'land' all tricks by tapping the A or B buttons - this rights your board assuming you have left enough time for the animation and you're not still tilting the remote.
Now, most of the comments I've seen on various reviews criticise the Ubers for being too tricky. Personally, I don't agree - there seems to be some keys to the timing though. Firstly it seems as though if you start the gesture too quickly after hitting A it won't register, so leave a split second before starting. Secondly, you cannot draw the shapes too quickly - again it seems as though these will stop it from registering - hard to quantify but you'll get a feel for it eventually. Lastly, you must properly finish the motion before easing off of the A button - same as when starting, leave a split second after you've finished your motion and you should be OK. I can happily perform Uber after Uber on the half-pipes without too much effort.
The weakest part for me is actually the spin/roll mechanic. To be honest it's hard to perform a specific type of roll with much accuracy (Even the straight forwward/backward roll you would expect to be easy), so I just find myself launching into the air then just waggling the remote a little, then tweaking it with a grab after a while.
There's a mini-RPG element too in that you can modify your stats at certain points in the game (Sometimes it automatically distributes the points, at others you can add to the four available categories (Edge, Speed, Boost and Trick). There's also a mechanism for throwing snowballs (Hit B, flick the remote forward then release B), which seems largely superfluous for the most part, though it has an auto-aim feature that means it's very useful for picking up the collectibles on the peaks.
I've not mentioned the groove system because, to be honest, it's little more than a new aesthetic take on the old trick bar. The manual talks it up in that it modifies the trick mechanics at higher levels, but if it does I haven't been able to notice it - all it does is provide a dynamic soundtrack to your experience (Which is silenced completely after getting too low on the meter).
Anyway I'm loving it. I'm still on the first peak (Completed the first tournament and most of the main challenges on the peak - the second tournament includes a slalom, which is an automatic LOSE!) and I guess I've probably put around 10 hours into it so far (Unheard of for me for a game I've only had for a few days).
That was more than I was expecting to write, but **** me this forum's been down for AGES! Ask away if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer.
Several days since I drafted this edit: Unlocked the second peak now - Slalom's are slightly easier when you realise you're supposed to tilt the controller to turn rather than try and steer with it.
So there's a few options you have when you first start it up. You can run through the tutorial (Recommended), which is about 8 sets of tasks ranging from stopping within a certain area all the way up to performing a couple of Ubertricks on a couple of ramps, there's a multiplayer option (Hot seat or splitscreen, neither of which I've tried), there's a Quick Play option (Which I understand allows you to run though everything you've unlocked in the career mode - again, not tried this mode) and the career mode itself, which I'll be concentrating on here.
When you first launch into career mode you create a profile, and all of the bits and pieces you unlock (Characters, gear, peaks etc...) are available to the profile. There seems to be room for three profiles on the select screen but I think I recall the manual saying you can create more than that.
If you've played SSX3 (And, I assume, On Tour) you'll be familiar with the layout. You start on Peak 1 in a free-ride mode and you board/ski down the hill, collecting 'Ubercollectibles' (Which, when you've collected enough of one type, unlock new Ubertrick moves) and branching off different routes for different events (If you hit the + button it brings up the pause menu, where you can select the map, which shows you where you need to go along with the event types etc...). There are also other special collectibles that start challenges (Hit A when prompted) and you can jump into one of the signs to start any tournaments you have access to (Which are unlocked at points intervals - points being gained by winning things, natch).
Events consists of Half-Pipe (Most points gained within the time limit), Race (Duh!), Big-Air (Most points gained within a short section of a slope), Slalom (As you'd expect - and *really* ****ing hard. Time added for missing gates) and a couple of others that are a mixture of one or two other types. On top of this, the tournaments consist of two different events each with 3 heats (You skip straight to the third heat if you finish in the top 3 in heat 1). You need to be first overall not to lose the tournament. You gain points by just competing in the normal events, but the tournaments are where the points really mount up).
The controls are interesting. The nunchuks control your movement on the ground. You tilt the analogue stick forwards/backwards to accelerate/brake and to the sides to tweak your direction; you tilt the nunchuk itself to accentuate the movement and carve. Take a little while to get used to, but not too long with it and it becomes very natural. The C button is used only, from what I can tell, to pivot when you're on skis (One note: I don't believe the mechanics alter between boards/skis at all), the Z button boosts when you're on the floor, assuming you have boost available.
When you want to launch yourself, you flick the nunchuk up (Towards you) and, for the most part after you're in the air, control moves to the remote (The exception being grabs, which are performed with the Z button and tilting the nunchuk whilst in the air). To spin/roll you tilt the remote forwards/backwards/left/right and obviously a combination of these will modify the roll to a diagonal. Ubers are performed by hitting the A button whilst in the air and drawing a shape with the remote. You 'land' all tricks by tapping the A or B buttons - this rights your board assuming you have left enough time for the animation and you're not still tilting the remote.
Now, most of the comments I've seen on various reviews criticise the Ubers for being too tricky. Personally, I don't agree - there seems to be some keys to the timing though. Firstly it seems as though if you start the gesture too quickly after hitting A it won't register, so leave a split second before starting. Secondly, you cannot draw the shapes too quickly - again it seems as though these will stop it from registering - hard to quantify but you'll get a feel for it eventually. Lastly, you must properly finish the motion before easing off of the A button - same as when starting, leave a split second after you've finished your motion and you should be OK. I can happily perform Uber after Uber on the half-pipes without too much effort.
The weakest part for me is actually the spin/roll mechanic. To be honest it's hard to perform a specific type of roll with much accuracy (Even the straight forwward/backward roll you would expect to be easy), so I just find myself launching into the air then just waggling the remote a little, then tweaking it with a grab after a while.
There's a mini-RPG element too in that you can modify your stats at certain points in the game (Sometimes it automatically distributes the points, at others you can add to the four available categories (Edge, Speed, Boost and Trick). There's also a mechanism for throwing snowballs (Hit B, flick the remote forward then release B), which seems largely superfluous for the most part, though it has an auto-aim feature that means it's very useful for picking up the collectibles on the peaks.
I've not mentioned the groove system because, to be honest, it's little more than a new aesthetic take on the old trick bar. The manual talks it up in that it modifies the trick mechanics at higher levels, but if it does I haven't been able to notice it - all it does is provide a dynamic soundtrack to your experience (Which is silenced completely after getting too low on the meter).
Anyway I'm loving it. I'm still on the first peak (Completed the first tournament and most of the main challenges on the peak - the second tournament includes a slalom, which is an automatic LOSE!) and I guess I've probably put around 10 hours into it so far (Unheard of for me for a game I've only had for a few days).
That was more than I was expecting to write, but **** me this forum's been down for AGES! Ask away if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer.
Several days since I drafted this edit: Unlocked the second peak now - Slalom's are slightly easier when you realise you're supposed to tilt the controller to turn rather than try and steer with it.
Seems like only the second game for me worth buying for the Wii after Zelda so hopefully I can get it soon and bring my Wii back into the action..
by the end of the session I was timing my jumps perfect, nailing the spins and the ubers then landing and even setting aside time to throw the odd snowball at my opponents. It was fantastic!!
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