Last year EA released the Tony Hawk’s killer simply called Skate. The game was well received and while it had a lot of minor issues that had to be dealt with, the core of the mechanics worked well enough for it to be interesting. Obviously when EA release a new franchise and it goes well, it’s not surprising to start seeing it show up on every console under the sun. Here’s what they came up with for the Wii version of the game.
Skate It is actually surprisingly similar to the original. The innovative controls are copied over from the analog stick to the wii-mote and you would expect this to work a lot better than the original. That same original was mainly panned by critics because of the controls that required you to be incredibly precise. Now you use a Wii-Mote without limitations so it should be a lot easier right? Wrong, Skate It’s controls seem to be even more sketchy than said original. You could do the same action x amount of times and get x amount of different tricks. It’s a shame because broken controls really put a downer on the rest of the game.
Not so luckily the game also features a few alternative control methods. It has a Wii-Mote only option that has all of the controls crammed onto one Wii-Mote which is simply disappointing. You can also use your Balance Board as a natural fit for the game. It takes a lot of getting used to but feels a bit too twitchy for my liking. It makes sense that the game can be controlled through this device but feels like it needed a bit more work in terms of sensitivity.
The rest of the game is surprisingly good. You play out similar scenarios to the original across different areas of San Vanelona which has recently been hit by some disaster. It’s not really talked about that much and seems to be a way of taking out all the pedestrians and cars. It’s slightly cheesy but it isn’t trying to fool you for a second. You’ll also go outside of San Van for the first time but apparently there have been disasters that get rid of the pedestrians their as well although that’s never mentioned.
Despite the major critisims you could have of the game it should be able to keep your attention for a while. There is a brilliant various of challenges even if some don’t lend themself well to the controls. The soundtrack is average if only saved for the brilliant use of ‘Lowrider’ by WAR and the graphics actually look pretty decent for the Wii. Skate It as a package is overall great but the twitchy controls simply don’t work and although that’s the only flaw the game has, it has a tendancy to ruin the experience. Although Skate It does present a few decent ideas but overall it’s not worth your time in a busy holiday schedule.
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