Shaun White Snowboarding

The story of Shaun White Snowboarding is a tale of two fun, distinct games that, if joined together, probably would have formed something better than either attempt on its own.

Unsurprisingly, the feature nod goes to White's beautiful Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 incarnation, which boasts four (or five, if you get the Target-branded special edition) huge mountains, lets you tackle challenges in whatever order you please and features open-world online multiplayer (16 players). It also plays nicely, with easy controls and smooth animation leading the way.


Problem is, a major chunk of the game's single-player objectives center around platformer-style item collection, which isn't exactly the best use of a forward-moving snowboarding game. A clumsy interface makes locating these items trickier than it should be. While the ability to set a warp-to marker at will makes it easy to take multiple stabs at nabbing an item, the process feels intrusive when you'd rather be racing down a mountain and racking up trick points.

That's something the Wii version - a completely different game in every respect - does much better. Road Trip is less attractive, less ambitious and more linear than its Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 cousin, but the events fall more consistently in line with what one expects and wants from a snowboarding game.

Trip also benefits from excellent use of the balance board as a mock snowboard, although the game also works surprisingly well with just the Wiimote. The Wiimote scheme is considerably easier, but mastering the board is considerably more fun. In a nice touch, the game adjusts the target times and scores for every event to reflect your control method, and you're free to change back and forth between events without sacrificing your overall progress.

The downside to either method is a familiar song for Wii games: less flexibility in controls. With buttons at a premium, your range of acrobatics is sorely limited. While pulling tricks off isn't a mindless cakewalk, the sense of risk and danger is considerably less than what the other game allows. "Trip" would have benefited from some kind of nunchuck attachment support, but the disparity between that degree of control and that of the available methods probably was too large for Ubisoft to justify its inclusion.

In the end, neither game completely nails it. Fortunately, neither game blows it, either. Issues await you no matter which poison you pick, but if you're steeled for those issues, a good time awaits, as well.

SHAUN WHITE SNOWBOARDING
Developer: Ubisoft.
Systems: Xbox 360, PS3 (also available for PC, DS, PSP, PS2).
Price: $60 ($30-$40).
Rating: Teen; lyrics, mild suggestive themes, mild violence.

SHAUN WHITE SNOWBOARDING: ROAD TRIP
Developer: Ubisoft.
System: Wii.
Price: $50.
Rating: Everyone 10+; comic mischief, lyrics.

Source: Star Tribune

Enter a snowboarding world of total freedom. You can create your own experience in this game, and choose when, where, how and with whom you want to ride.

Developed in close collaboration with Olympic Gold Medalist Shaun White – the most successful snowboarder in the history of the sport – Shaun White Snowboarding is the next-gen game that redefines the action sports genre.

Key Features :

• Open-World Mountains : Choose how you ride in open-world mountains across the world: Conquer the extreme peak conditions, create your own paths in the back country or compete with fellow riders in the terrain parks.

• Your Friends Are Always Around : Play in a world where your friends are always around. Do your own runs on mountains populated by real gamers, or join your friends for a quick session from anywhere in the mountains.

• More than Just Snowboarding : Have fun with your friends on and off the board: Throw snowballs, hike to access secret spots, film your friends doing crazy tricks. You can also upload your videos online to share with the world.

• Ride Your Way : Express yourself through tricks, riding styles and highly customizable avatars – both in single-player and in the online world. Use the intuitive dual analog control to pull off a huge variety of tricks that express your style.

• Next-Gen Technology : Built on the Assassin\'s Creed™ engine, this game creates a massive world with gorgeous visuals and realistic NPC interaction. This is also the first time a snowboarding game is completely driven by physics instead of animation.

• Authentic Snowboarding : Ubisoft has worked closely with Shaun White to infuse the gaming experience with authenticity, personality and humor. Shaun is a friend and mentor in the game, and will help you with your skills. And if you are deemed worthy, you may even be able to play as Shaun in the game…