Games for Lunch: Shaun White Snowboarding

In a nutshell: Snowboarding ... with Shaun White!
4/7/2009 6:33 PM | 1 Comments | Page 1 of 3

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: Nov. 16, 2008
Systems: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3, Wii, DS, PSP, PS2, PC
ESRB Rating: T
Official Web site

0:00 All these years later, I'm still looking for a snowboarding game I'll like as much or more than the original SSX. Here's hoping the Flying Tomato is up to the challenge.

0:01 This minute spent downloading and installing the obligatory Xbox Live update.

0:02 Jump directly to the title screen, with a simple red text against a white background. "Need help? Visit www.shaunwhitegame/com/help." What if I don't have Internet access? Huh, game? What should I do then?

0:03 "Man, me and the mountain, there's no way to describe it," says what I assume is White as we pan over the mountain. "It's like I'm the slayer and the mountain is my dragon." Um, I think that counts as a way to describe it, right there. "What's the first bit of advice you'd give a new player?" asks some snowboarding commentator. "You need to look good, you know what I mean." No, I do not know what you mean, Shaun. "Like, freaky, sexy good." Oh, OK, now I know what you mean.

0:06 I've got $4,000 to spend on boards, bindings, jackets, pants, boots, gloves, hats, goggles and backpacks. The prices are a bit insane ... $820 for a white checkered backpack. That's inflation for you!

0:07 I skip the shopping and just head straight into the game. I can putz around a bit on a half-pipe during the short loading sequence ... a nice touch.

0:08 Tap Y to put on my board, use the left stick to steer around. Simple enough. In the background, an excellent song about revolution and televisability is playing. This game has earned some early brownie points with that song.

0:10 The graphics are almost distractingly detailed. I find myself mesmerized by the texturing on my boarder's coat. Controls are pretty smooth ... nice, simple jumps with the right trigger, easy-to-pull-off spin and grabs in midair. Boarding speed varies between "slow" and "moderate," depending on whether or not I hold "up" on the left sick. I miss SSX's boost button already.

0:12 The game seems very forgiving about landing on rails, which is nice. I've already found some cool lines and pulled off a four-part combo. Booyah!

0:13 Abrupt transfer to a first-person cut scene, where I bail on a big jump. "Hey, are you all right? How many fingers do I have up?" says Shaun White as I get up. He sounds permanently stoned. He introduces me to Alex, "the best chopper pilot there is"; Enkai Lakido, his friend from Japan; Lars, from somewhere in Europe; Badger, from Alaska; and Harley, from here in Park City. Then he asks me to find 12 "Euros" hidden around four different mountains. These Euros are not currency, but rather large, floating orange discs. Why didn't they pick a different name?

0:15 The first Euro is trivial to find, sitting right in front of me, but the others are already up the mountain, way behind me, according to the radar. That's OK ... I'm having decent fun just riding down the mountain, pulling off grinds and air tricks.