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IGN Review of Shaun White Snowboarding
Ubisoft tossed its Shaun White Snowboarding game onto every console under the sun, even the aged PlayStation 2. Cosmetically it looks like the Wii game with its cartoon, stylized visuals. Of course, it lacks the motion controls of the Nintendo version, but it also doesn't follow the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 design of mapping tricks to the analog sticks a la Skate. Shaun White on PS2 is a perfectly playable, traditional snowboarding title, but it's not very exciting.
With very little setup, players are apparently supposed to snowboard their way over a linear progression of mountains for nothing more than the pure enjoyment of the sport. There are three riders to choose from, which is far fewer than are available on the Wii. Once you pick an avatar you're stuck with them -- a missed opportunity because, again on the Wii, players are able to select a rider and a cameraman for each run. The characters you chose affected your abilities, adding a layer of strategy to the experience. This PS2 version ends up feeling a bit shallower because of this omission.
You do have many more tricks available to you here. Every button on the PS2 controller is put to use for jumps, grabs, spins, and carves. While in the air you can customize your performance down to what part of the board you grab. Pulling off feats is very easy, and the game is quite forgiving when it comes to landing and keeping your balance on rails. This is definitely aimed at the casual crowd.
Mountains become increasingly complex as you progress and there are some inventive tracks to be found. Each run contains multiple objectives, and there are five areas where you can earn experience points: speed, trick, slide, carve, and focus. You may be focusing on completing your primary objective (say, getting to the bottom of the mountain within a certain time), but along the way you'll also be earning experience points by performing actions within these categories. Your XP can then be spent to upgrade your abilities or buy new boards -- a nice feature not found in the Wii game. Even if you miss your objective you've still earned XP, so you always feel like you've been productive.
While the art style mimics the Wii game, gone are the flashy camera effects and the great sense of speed. Shaun White doesn't look terrible on PS2, but it's missing some bells and whistles and the framerate is uneven.
©2008-12-11, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
With very little setup, players are apparently supposed to snowboard their way over a linear progression of mountains for nothing more than the pure enjoyment of the sport. There are three riders to choose from, which is far fewer than are available on the Wii. Once you pick an avatar you're stuck with them -- a missed opportunity because, again on the Wii, players are able to select a rider and a cameraman for each run. The characters you chose affected your abilities, adding a layer of strategy to the experience. This PS2 version ends up feeling a bit shallower because of this omission.
You do have many more tricks available to you here. Every button on the PS2 controller is put to use for jumps, grabs, spins, and carves. While in the air you can customize your performance down to what part of the board you grab. Pulling off feats is very easy, and the game is quite forgiving when it comes to landing and keeping your balance on rails. This is definitely aimed at the casual crowd.
Mountains become increasingly complex as you progress and there are some inventive tracks to be found. Each run contains multiple objectives, and there are five areas where you can earn experience points: speed, trick, slide, carve, and focus. You may be focusing on completing your primary objective (say, getting to the bottom of the mountain within a certain time), but along the way you'll also be earning experience points by performing actions within these categories. Your XP can then be spent to upgrade your abilities or buy new boards -- a nice feature not found in the Wii game. Even if you miss your objective you've still earned XP, so you always feel like you've been productive.
While the art style mimics the Wii game, gone are the flashy camera effects and the great sense of speed. Shaun White doesn't look terrible on PS2, but it's missing some bells and whistles and the framerate is uneven.
©2008-12-11, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved