Skate It

Grungy (in a good way)

The idea was pre-ordained since the beginning of time - a balance board skating game seemed an inevitability. Skate It from EA finally delivers on this promise and is testament to EA's abilities to prioritise gameplay over graphics.

Let's be frank from the off - kind of what we are here for - the Wii doesn't have the graphical grunt to pull off the stunning visuals we witness in Skate on the 360. When you consider the PS3 version (being something of a port from the 360) itself had the odd judder and frame rate issue, it's not surprising that the Wii game needed to change things up be viable.

To that end the game starts with a cursory plot that gives reason to remove the populace from the various skating locales. We could go into the ins and outs but the bottom line is that this is an excuse to leverage enough processor power for the skater and board. Whilst this makes the environments feel a little lifeless and sparse it has to be the right decision to focus on the part of the game that you control rather than the trimmings.

Also gone is the open world environment. Skate It on the Wii is all arena based. No longer can you cruise the city looking for spots to skate. This limitation has more impact on gameplay and certainly limits the amount of creativity the player can have with the environment. Each bench, step, rail and band feels like they have been placed for a specific trick. There is a lot less of the incidental skating moments that made Skate on 360 and PS3 such an enthralling experience.

But all these limitations are, in my opinion, well worth it. They are there for one reason - to make possible that marvellous low slung camera, board focused skating experience on the Wii. And that's significant because of the two controllers - the Wiimote and the balance board.

The balance board offers most novelty. You position it sideways, with one end pointing towards the TV, step on, let it calibrate and away you go. With a Wiimote in hand you press A to get up some speed before trying out some moves. Leaning left and right to steer creates a great sense of connection between the player and the real world motion - the basis of the success of the concept.

Then, tapping, swaying and 'jumping' on different quadrants of the board results in different skating moves. Manuals can be achieved with greater precision and consistency than on the 360 or PS3. However, the first time you try an Ollie you are likely to come unstuck. It is really hard not to actually jump off the balance board and if you do so the game pauses. As in Wii Fit this is a limitation of the hardware - you have to retain contact with it at all times.

Give it a bit more time and you start to get a feel for your new deck. The initial oddness of these fake jumps and full body steering start to meld together. Don't get me wrong, this is a frustrating process - but given time and patience and there is a really intuitive control scheme there. The question is whether many people will be able to invest the time required.

This brings us to the Wiimote controls. Not only is this much easier to pick up, but it is a lot less fussy and limiting. You tilt the controller left and right to turn, tilt it forward and back to manual, and flick it in various gestures to achieve the Ollies, jumps and flicks. In seconds you will be stringing together complex lines of tricks with relative ease.

This scheme essentially transforms the Wiimote into a virtual skateboard. As you watch people play you can really see this as they each develop their own style, mirroring the widely varying skate styles in real life.

Those who want a more traditional control scheme can opt to plug a Nunchuck in to control steering. In addition to this, all three schemes use button presses to extend the variety of controls available. Hold B to grab the deck in the air, press A to move forward. When on the balance board you can also use the D-Pad to select the style of tricks available.

Having waited a long time for a decent skate game on the Wii, Skate It certainly delivers in some style. The career, freestyle and other modes offer enough variety to provide a long lasting experience. As you unlock new sponsors, skaters and locations you expand your trick vocabulary. Through each of the different arenas you are tasked with achieving specific scores and trick combinations. These really help to drive the game on - although I spent many happy hours just tooling around with the new control schemes.

It's a shame that the visuals couldn't be up to the previous Skate games, but the developers have made the right (tough) decisions to keep the action fluid and the frame rate up. A bit more colour would have been nice - but the grungy washed out aesthetic is at least in keeping with the underground subject matter.

This is a game that will appeal most directly to the Wii's casual market. But anyone who enjoys an innovative game should spend some time here. In staggering their releases on Wii and 360/PS3 EA have certainly kept Skate in the public eye. The only problem now is whether we will be willing to give up these flexible controls when Skate 2 hits the shelves in the new year.

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By Paul Govan