EA Skate It for Nintendo Wii - Video Game Review

EA Skate It is a remake of the original Skate, made for X Box and Playstation 3. Sort of. It takes place in the same town, but after a mysterious disaster has destroyed the place. Now, it's your civic duty to skate the crud out of it. Skate It is only on the Nintendo Wii, plus a smaller version on the Nintendo DS. Skate It does some interesting things, combining Skate's unique Flick-It controls with the Wii's controllers, and is one of the few games for the Wii that uses the balance board. But is it fun? Well, it all depends on what you are looking for...

Here is what Electronic Arts says about Skate It for Nintendo Wii -

"Skate It has Nintendo players riding with the skate pros, owning the best spots in San Vanelona and pulling off the sickest tricks using the popular FlickIt controls. Loaded with all-new gameplay features, Skate It breaks new ground by introducing innovative support for the Wii Balance Board which gives players a fresh way to create their own signature skateboarding style. Skate It unleashes the FlickIt revolution on to the Nintendo platforms, letting gamers use the Wii remote or the Nintendo DS stylus to string together their best tricks for the ultimate skate line. The Wii remote becomes a skateboard and reacts to gestures that mirror actual skate flips and moves. Players can also deepen this experience by planting their feet on the Wii Balance Board. Skate It brings the Skate franchise to a new level of creative ingenuity and gameplay excellence."

Here are the basis stats for Skate It on Nintendo Wii:

• PUBLISHER: Electronic Arts
• DEVELOPER: EA Montreal - Black Box
• PLAYERS: 1
• ESRB RATING: E (Everyone)
• RELEASE DATE: November 17, 2008

Skate It takes place in the same city as the original Skate, released on Xbox 260 and Playstation 3. The city has been destroyed, and now you get to skate all over it. It's wierd not having people around, but I think this might be just to save memory. I mean, it IS on a Nintendo Wii.

When it comes to how the game looks, I thought that the Nintendo Wii couldn't actually pull off graphics this good! I was surprised, and also curious why so many other Wii games look like they were made ten years ago... Check out this Skate It Screen Shot Gallery to see for yourself. The best part about the graphics are the animations of your skater. He looks good.

The important deal though is the gameplay. Personally, I think that combining the Flick-It controls with the Wii's controllers is a brilliant idea. Whoever thought that one up deserves a cookie. Basically, instead of pushing complicated button combinations, like in the old Tony Hawk video games, in Skate It you flick the controllers certain ways. It's all about making sure your timing is right. And, even if you do something a little off, your skater will probably do something.

It's best to use the numchuk attachment for your controller - you can play the game with just the remote, but certain things (like spinning, for example) are harder with just the remote. You can try the Wii balance board instead, but ... it's tough! Fun, but tough.

The game's storyline is pretty basic - either just skate around and have fun, or try and become the best skater in the world by jumping through hoops. I'd love to see someone come up with something truly new in this sense. The last Tony Hawk game tried to, sort of, with the whole three different styles of skater you can be. But, the way it worked out you needed to do all three, so it didn't really matter.

Skate It does have some pro skaters, just like in Skate 1, and they sound pretty believable.

For complaints, I don't have too many. If you are looking for a fun game for the Nintendo Wii, then I recommend trying out Skate It.

However, if you are a skater, looking for a skateboarding game, I would recommend waiting for Skate 2. It should be a LOT better. There are just some things that the Wii can't do, no matter how hard it tries. The graphics, while good for the Wii, aren't good compared to Xbox and PS3. The music is great, but the voice you hear while playing the game gets very old. The fact that the city is empty is a little creepy. And the controls are fun, but if you want to be precise, then this might not be the game for you! Like I said, you'll do something each time to flick those controls, but it might not be the thing you wanted to do!

Even so, Skate It is fun. Most kids will love it, and like most Wii games, it's something your grandma could pick up and play! There's no multi-player, which is sad, but you should have plenty of fun watching other people try it.