SSX Blur is the latest iteration in the snowboarding series from EA Sports Big, and the series’ first appearance on the Nintendo Wii. The game has completely changed it roots to fit the console’s target audience and tackle the new radical controls scheme. Does the change work for the better?

First and foremost, SSX Blur is much different in its appeal compared to its predecessors. Sure they were all witty and humorous in their nature, but this game has a much more cartoonish vibe, mixing in bright vibrant colors and wacky new character models to spice it all up.This is even recognizable from the main menu which features large polygonal displays of options with techno music blasting in the background. The style is very appealing mixing that with very crisp visuals make the game entirely eye candy. Sacrificed for this new style, however, is the lack of narration or storyline which the previous games have (sort of) shown. Even from the starting cutscene, Blur doesn’t have any plot to follow, nor do the characters themselves have personality to add to their goofy (but somewhat cool) appearances. It doesn’t drive the player to accomplish the entire game, but there are other reasons to keep playing.

On the slopes, the player must progressively work up three mountains, completing all the goals, win races and events and tournaments to earn unlockable goodies such as new characters, outfits, equipment and developer artwork. Players will have to gather up their wits and prowess to tackle these objectives, because by no means are they easy. First of all, the single player mode is run entirely on free roaming mountains, in which the player has the desire to enter an event on their own will. Speaking of events, here they are as followed: Race, Halfpipe, Slope Style, Big Air and Slalom, the last being my least favorite for being so difficult. Its very easy to miss the competition windows, resulting in restarting the mountain altogether. But if you want to relax, its possible to glide down the mountains without entering an event, and if you want to, collect Uber icons which unlock Ubertricks (I’ll explain later).

A very important aspect of SSX: Blur is the Groove Meter. This orange bar located to the right on the HUD cumulates the amount of points from tricks into increments of juice (as I like to call it). You could use it as your boost meter, or if you fill it up completely, enable your character to perform an Ubertrick. An Ubertrick is simply an over stylized stunt that requires the player to create a gesture with the Wii remote and nunchuck that is usually marked onscreen (for hints).

As mentioned before, SSX Blur was made to specifically tackle the Wii’s control scheme, having high and low points. Players will use the nunchuck to carve through the snow along with performing grab moves while the Wii remote is used for various flips, spins and a secondary to mustering up Ubertricks. Altogether, the setup is pretty simple, but the execution is difficult and frustrating at times…which should scare away casual games for sure. The leaning curve to the game is a bit far, as it’ll take a while to master the controls and the fundamentals behind it. In general, it doesn’t seem too hard to understand, but here and there the controls become unresponsive and won’t follow your gestures. This becomes increasingly frustrating in moments in which you must nail an extraordinary amount of tricks to reach the pinnacle of success or even more, the Ubertrick. Till this day in age, I still cannot perform one of these baddies (even in tutorial!!!) because the game simply won’t recognize my hand motions. Albeit there are probably some people that could refute this based on personal experience, I can fairly judge it and say this pertains to many others.

So the controls (which is the main feature of the game) is a bit shaky, but SSX Blur does have some excellent redeeming qualities. First off, the visuals to the game are amazing, ranging from the vibrant environments to the rush you get from the sense of speed. While most snowboarding games don’t go very far beyond the snow beneath your feet, SSX Blur’s style helps it achieve a colorful vibe, especially when zooming down a mountain at inhuman speeds which brings a fury-like effect or perhaps ripping up an awesome trick that rewards you with flying colors and whatnot. The music is also on par with the visuals, thanks to the talents of Junkie XL who delivers an array of “funky” tunes. In fact, music is a significant element in the game, which coincides with the game’s style overall. The better your character performs on the slopes, the more rich the background music becomes and upbeat your character feels towards it.

SSX Blur is a good start for the snowboarding genre on the Wii which comes with quite a rocky start. EA Montreal and EA Sports Big has gotten a lot of the intimate details polished, especially the visuals and sound, but performed with mediocrity to touch up on the main focus of the game: controls. Just like MySims, I would hope for a sequel that could fix these gripes, but because of the poor sales of this product, we’ll just be left in the snow.

Overall Score: 7.75/10