For a game predicated on racing down mountainsides at lethal velocity, Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage's remarkably milquetoast. Newcomers might wonder World Stage's casual gaminess, typically rewarding players like it's the Special Olympics: everyone wins so long as they show up. But fans of the franchise know it has a knack for capturing the sport's chiller than an icicle attitude: the Saturday morning look, magnetic controls and wanderlust story create the season's most whimsical racing game.
This year's brew -- excluding a few new spices -- sticks to the original recipe.
Ubi, unlike its competitors, does a commendable job incorporating the Wii's many peripherals in each of its titles for the system. Here, the Balance Board returns as snowboard stand-in. It feels tweaked and slightly improved over last year.
But it seems this year much of the peripheral-centric dev time went into the Wii Motion Plus feature: Trick Editor. Using the plug-in's 1:1 controls, the player can contort the boarder, creating a custom aerial maneuver. What could have been a proof of concept feels surprisingly refined.
Locales are once again bright and well rendered, if not disappointingly locked into the background. For Shaun White's predictable third installment on the Wii, Ubisoft ought to draw the set pieces in the playable foreground.
In all, World Stage features 75 events. All of them feel much like last year's, but relax, that's not a bad thing. If you can chill out and enjoy cutting fresh snow on a similar board, this is a perfect ride.
