Reviews// Skate it

If the game was out-and-out crap, it would be easy to write the problems off, and trash it, but something here feels promising. The game looks decent enough - the Wii is a last gen machine at heart remember. So, the lack of other skaters is not too big a surprise, Electronic Arts has saved its polys for where they matter most: your character and the environment.

When you are aimlessly free skating, popping flip tricks and busting grinds, Skate it captures the joy of real life skateboarding like no other game ever has. But one of the great joys of skating is being in control, being master of your environment. In Skate it, while you glimpse what that feeling could be like, you never feel in control enough to truly feel you deserve the rewards of those dope moves your character is pulling.

You can of course choose to control Skate it by the WiiMote or WiiMote Nunchuk combination, and if you do this, the game is about timing your wrist flicks to control your moves. It's different, but it's still kinda random, and certainly not better than the twin analog method used by the 360 and PS3 version of Skate it. But in this mode the game gets a considerably higher score than when using the Balance Board.

Skate it has shot for the stars, but in missing it the developers didn't hit the moon, they just crashed back down to earth. Controlling a skateboard game by foot is still the dream, it just hasn't been realised yet.

[b]Conclusion
Skate It is incredibly frustrating and annoying. If (unlike us) you can get the hang of controlling your direction, this game could be incredible fun. Otherwise, you'll want to bin it and the balance board with it. EA deserves props for (once again) trying something brave and innovative. But you can't land every trick, and this one has resulted in a pretty gnarly faceplant.

SPOnG Score: 58% (Balance Board) 82% (WiiMote)[/b]