Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip (Wii Balance Board Compatible) Wii

Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip (Wii Balance Board Compatible) Product Details

Released on 14/11/2008

• Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip Review

  The White stuff

  As soon as the Wii Balance Board was unveiled - even before Wii Fit's winter sports minigames were shown - gamers worldwide saw the potential for a full-on snowboarding sim. Many thought Nintendo would get in there first with a Wii update to the brilliant 1080 series but, no... Ubisoft has beaten them to it, employing Olympic gold medalist Shaun White to oversee the development of a brand new style of 'boarding experience.

  Perfect balance

  Importantly, this isn't just a slightly modified version of the PS3 and Xbox 360 titles. Shaun White Snowboarding Road Trip is a very different proposition, making the most of Wii's unique control possibilities. Those who don't own Wii Fit will be able to play along using the remote to steer their 'boarder, but to get the full physical experience you've really got step on a Balance Board and get those muscles working.

  Once you've got the hang of things, Shaun White Snowboarding feels amazingly natural to play.

  The idea is to stand at right-angles to the TV, then use body movements to control the onscreen character as he plunges down the slopes. Pressing down with your back foot steers, pushing forward with the front foot accelerates and jumping is achieved by bending your knees and then straightening them quickly. Finally, hitting the remote's A and B buttons in synchronisation with foot movements accesses those all-important tricks, flips and grabs. It's a shame the game still requires you to hold the remote for this purpose, but the board handles key elements such as turning and acceleration extremely well.

  Don't expect to become an instant champion, though - this is a system that rewards patience. While the basic movements are fairly intuitive, pulling off the more awkward manoeuvres takes a bit of practice; attempting to place your feet correctly while hitting the right buttons AND watching the screen takes as much coordination as the real sport. Expect to get a faceful of snow or three during the learning process.

  Peak to peak

  Once you've got the hang of things, Shaun White Snowboarding feels amazingly natural to play. As you travel from peak to peak, taking in locations ranging from the Alps to Japan, the game offers a range of events including Big Airs, Half Pipes, Rail Jams, Slaloms and Downhill races. They're all fairly traditional but also well-designed and enjoyably challenging.

  Big Airs, Half Pipes, Rail Jams, Slaloms and Downhill races are all fairly traditional but also well-designed and enjoyably challenging.

  Completing an event unlocks new mountains to carve your way down and also adds extra riders to your crew. Every boarder boasts their own signature moves, and you can play as any of them, adding fresh tricks to your repertoire. Ubisoft has made a big deal of the game's social aspect - Shaun White Snowboarding Road Trip is designed to make you feel like you're on a genuine snowboarding holiday with mates. In-game characters will send you emails and even film you as you complete challenges, providing authentically shaky footage of the action. It's not massively significant to the main action, but it nicely captures the unique camaraderie and culture of the boarding scene.

  If you get tired of competing against the AI opponents, up to three other players can join in for some multiplayer mayhem. For those who don't own multiple Balance Boards there's an addictive Hot Seat mode where players can take it in turns to try out the game's various tasks. This lends itself really well to the racing challenges as you and your mates attempt to beat each others' times.

  Winter wonderland

  Shaun White Snowboarding Road Trip cleverly plays to all the strengths of the Wii. It uses the Balance Board, it feels sociable and intuitive, and it's got just the right look, eschewing realistic visuals for a more cartoonish style, which should certainly appeal to the console's family audience. Factor in an engaging if throwaway storyline and a superb soundtrack hand-picked by the frizzy-haired champ himself and you've got the best winter sports title in ages.

  
  

  GAME's Verdict

  

  • Balance Board controls just feel right.
  • Characterful art style with some nice effects.
  • Hot Seat multiplayer is great fun.

  

  • Tricky learning curve for more advanced moves.
  • Road Trip elements don't add much to the gameplay experience.
  • Events could do with more variety.

  Review by: Keith 'Big Air' Stuart
  Version Tested: Wii
  Review Published: 14.11.08

  Published: 14/11/2008

• Gaming's Sporting Heroes

  
  

  Olympic fever has gripped the planet, and we're only just over halfway through a year that has already been defined by amazing sporting action. From regular favourites like Wimbledon and the UEFA European Championship, to the glitz of the Olympics and surprise wins in the Tour De France, sport has never hogged so many UK headlines. As always, where there's an audience, there are video games looking to capitalise on the popularity - and a famous face certainly helps to catch our attention (although Mario and Sonic don't really count...). Here's our look back over the history of sporting heroes in games.

  

  You can almost go back to the dawn of gaming and find examples of famous athletes promoting games. Daley Thompson's Decathlon was one of the enduring classics of the 8-bit home computer era, a keyboard-bashing run through ten track and field events overseen by the ghostly white pixellated face of digital Daley.

  

  It was inevitable that a footy-loving nation such as ours would attract a flood of cheesy football endorsements as well, with everyone from squeaky scouser Emlyn Hughes to telly pundits Saint and Greavsie, to top flight players like Gazza and Beckham, putting their name to digitised kickabouts. We even had the bizarre sight of a Peter Shilton goalkeeping game, cheekily renamed Handball Maradona after the infamous "hand of god" incident at the 1986 World Cup. And while there's no name on the box, there's no ignoring the key players endorsing both FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer even today.

  
  

  

  Ever-obsessed with sports and strategy, it didn't take long for American software companies to follow suit. John Madden had already retired as both player and coach when his name first adorned the Madden NFL American Football simulation in 1988, but it kicked off a series which endures to this day and is widely considered to be the benchmark of gridiron gaming. Madden was part of the EA Sports stable, a label that knows the value of the right endorsement. In 1999 the company's popular PGA golf series became Tiger Woods PGA Tour, and the fairway superman has been the face of golf games ever since. Indeed, the close tie between game and name may soon become a problem, as the digital Tiger performs better than his struggling real-life counterpart. Will the series revert to plain old PGA Tour when Tiger's star fades, or will EA find a new golfing hero to carry the torch?

  

  That's the gamble when signing a player at the peak of their game. Sometimes, a games company will sign an up and coming athlete in the hopes of backing a long term winner. That worked for Nintendo, when it paid a young Mike Tyson $50,000 to use his likeness in the NES Punch Out boxing game. Within months, Tyson was on his way to being the world heavyweight champ, and the retitled Mike Tyson's Punch Out benefited from his success in the USA.

  

  In the UK, meanwhile, Punch Out was ported to home computers with our very own Frank Bruno as the main character. Punch Out returned to Wii minus its star, while Tyson makes a surprise return to games this year in WWE '13, re-living the brief sting he spent using his name to boost the wrestling company's ratings.

  
  

  

  Often, a sport will bubble up to the top of the popular consciousness thanks to the eye-catching feats of a particular sports-person. In the late 1990s, it was Codemasters that perked up long-running, but fairly obscure rugby and cricket sims, by shrewdly putting hot new stars like Jonah Lomu and Brian Lara above the title. Likewise, it was only when legendary racer Colin McRae put his name to the publisher's rally games that they became the owners of a blockbuster franchise, and while the DiRT series has continued to thrive without him, it was his name that got the customers through the proverbial door to begin with. Such moves weren't restricted to cult UK sports either. In 1999, Japanese firm Namco quickly rebranded the latest entry in its fledgling tennis series as Anna Kournikova Smash Court Tennis in order to attract European gamers.

  
  

  

  It's perhaps notable that the area where celebrity endorsement paid off most spectacularly was in the rise of extreme sports, where off-beat personalities are more openly celebrated and the players are more likely to be gamers. Tony Hawk pioneered this with his skateboarding games, lending not just his credibility but also his insight and expertise to ensure maximum authenticity. Snowboarder Shaun White and BMX rider Dave Mirra quickly followed Hawk's example. Hawk's back this year, too, in an HD re-jigging of some of his classic titles for Xbox LIVE; he's gone from extreme rebel to a traditional figure, but we still love him!

  Whenever sport becomes national obsession, you can bet an enterprising games developer will seize the opportunity. Gold medal-winning swimming star Michael Phelps has got a head start on his Olympic peers this year, with his Push The Limit game for Kinect already on shelves. Will we see Bradley Wiggins grace the cover of next year's Tour De France game? Will Jess Ennis and Mo Farah be running alongside us in the next Kinect Sports? Whoever is next on the podium, it's a good bet that gamers will be the winners.

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