Now here is one of the first 3rd party Wii games I got back when I got the system. I was a big fan of the SSX series since the first game back on the PS2 and really have enjoyed the series. To me SSX Tricky and SSX 3 are my favorites but SSX and SSX On Tour were not bad just not as good as Tricky and 3 IMO. So when I heard there would be a SSX game coming to the Wii I knew I was going to get it and hope I would enjoy it which I did. Well I decided to go back and play through this again and here are my thoughts.
SSX Blur design is very similar to SSX 3 at least to me and that is not that bad at all. The menus are a bit on the simplistic side that is for sure. You have your basic modes with the bulk of the game being in the Career mode. Now working the menus does take a bit to get used to since it uses the IR sensor only for navigation. Where most games also use the Analog Stick for navigation through the menus. But it does not take too much to get used to it.
After getting into the game I started to play in career mode. Now this is a nice setup, you basically wander around the mountain going from peak to peak looking for challenges. The peaks themselves are mostly rehashes of peaks from past games but that is not that bad really since they have been redone to the point that they look fresh and new. Speaking of the visuals, I have to say for an early Wii game EA did one heck of a job with the visuals. It definitely looks like a step up from the last generation SSX games. The Snow effects are great as are the animations on the riders the polish EA gave to the presentation definitely shines through in this game that is for sure.
(http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/article/763/763408/ssx-blur-20070209043330712_640w.jpg)
Nice visuals for a 2007 Wii game that is for sure
Audio wise this game is pretty good I will say. You have the cometary like in past games from DJ Atomica, which while somewhat annoying after a while is not that bad really. As for the music well it unlike other games from EA actually original and not licensed. The tracks were all done by Junkie XL and fit the game perfectly.
Now once I started to play I got to work with this games unique Wii control scheme which I must say takes a bit of getting used to. Since it had been a while since I played so I had some trouble with the more advanced controls but the basics are not that hard to get used to. One thing I really like is moving your character around, this is done not only by using the Analog Stick but also by using the motion sensor in the Wii Nunchuk. This really works well and feels almost perfectly done.
Not all the controls work so great though. Tricks for instance can be hit or miss. The basics are easy. To do spins you just flick the Wii Remote Right or Left when in mid air, to do a flip you just flick the Wii Remote Up or Down, and to do grabs you press the Z button on the Nunchuk and tilt it in any direction. But the trouble comes when trying to link tricks. Not all the grabs register when done in combination with a Spin or Flip. That is minor though, the real tricks that take a lot of work to get to work right are the special or Uber tricks.
The SSX series has always had over the top special tricks and how you did them has always been different from game to game. In SSX Blur you do these tricks by pressing A and drawing shapes on screen with the Wii Remote IR sensor. The problem with this is that the game just does not seem to be consistent when reading these motions. Now it is not so bad that it cannot be done but it is not easy to do since you have to be so close to perfect to get it right and even then it won't read it at all times.
(http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/article/758/758272/ssx-blur-20070124041017287_640w.jpg)
These tricks look so cool but it can just be a pain to do them that is for sure
As I was playing through though I have to admit this game is just a blast to play. Yes it is not the best game in the series but it still is so much fun to play. EA just nails this gameplay in Blur and it is just fun once you get used to the controls. It is too bad this game did not get the attention it deserves since it really is a great Snowboarding game and did a great job using the Wii's unique controls. I highly recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of the series and even if you are not a fan of the SSX games I recommend at least checking it out since it is one of the better 3rd party Wii games out there.