It would be really cute to begin these impressions with some sort of allusion to how I was tentatively excited about Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam because it looked interesting but controlled like garbage at e3. I could say something like, “is Tony Hawk worth your Wii launch dollars, the answer after the jump.” I could, but I won’t. Downhill Jam deserves better than that. Downhill Jam deserves for you to know that this is an amazingly fun game. A game uniquely suited for the Wii that plays like an absolute dream. A game that tells me that Nintendo did the right thing with the Wii controller. Instantly accessible but deceptively deep, Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam is the most fun I’ve had with a Wii controller in my hands. If that’s all you need to know, then continue on your merry way but read on to find out why.

For the uninitiated, Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam is unlike any Tony Hawk game before it. DJ is actually centered around longboard skateboarding. Any longboarder will tell you that longboards aren’t exactly suited for the tricks, combos, and manuals that the Tony Hawk series is known for. Longboarding is the faster, more stable cousin to skateboarding. As such, DJ focuses on downhill racing (or bombing hills in longboard speak). In principle, this makes DJ feel a lot closer to a game like SSX, where tricks serve as a means to get down the hill faster. What makes DJ stand out, as with most Wii games, is control.

Control, control, control. At e3 Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam had the smallest line at the Wii booth. The people manning the kiosk literally grabbed me to play it, and I obliged… falling off more cliffs and crashing into more things than Sonic in any recent 3d outing. It certainly looked interesting, but control was frustratingly difficult. DJ uses the wiimote in “NES mode,” with the controller held with both hands parallel to the body. In order to move your skater, you tilt the controller left and right (like a skateboarder would lean on a board). At e3, this system was extremely sensitive, causing the aforementioned Sonic-like frustration.

Fast forward (or rewind, depending on your viewpoint) to Oct. 4th, 2006. I sit down in front of Downhill Jam and begin a race, expecting equally difficult controls. Instead, what I get is butter. Absolutely smooth, intuitive, amazing controls. Turning with the wiimote feels completely and utterly natural, no calibration or sensitivity changes needed. This is the most intuitive control scheme I’ve played on the Wii since Wii sports… it’s that good. So for casual gamers, this game is easy to jump into and be successful at. For “core gamers” the controls have tons of little intricacies to master.

The intricacies of controlling DJ feed off of DJ’s Tony Hawk moniker. The 2 button is held to crouch for more speed, releasing it ollies (i.e. jumps). When you’re in the air, the 1 button is used as an all-purpose trick button. Press 1 to grind on anything grindable. Press 1 while grinding to change up your stance and combo grind. Press 1 in the air in conjunction with the d-pad to do a variety of flips and grabs. Press 1 close to a wall or sign to do a stickerslap, possibly uncovering shortcuts and shaving seconds off of times. It may sound one-dimensional, but the system is actually quite liberating.

Early in development, the developers were considering going with an SSX-like system where tricks were a bit more complicated. I’m glad they didn’t. The one button trick system makes it so that racing is what is front and center, tricks are a means to speed. On the right side of the screen is a boost bar, that fills up as you trick your way down the course. It can “hold” 4 boosts, and when it’s filled completely you can do ubertricks in the air. Boosting is handled by flicking the controller outward, and it feels really natural and fantastic to pull off.

Another longboarding move that makes its way into DJ is sliding. In real longboarding, sliding is when you get low on the board, stick out your hand and use it to slide sharply into a corner. In DJ sliding is used as a powerslide, but built into it is a risk/reward system that makes it stand out as one of the coolest control additions to the game. See, when you go into a slide a little red circle appears next to your boarder. If you release the slide button (I think it was the b trigger, but I may be wrong) too early or too late… you just slowed down for no reason. But release your slide at the exact right moment (when the circle turns green) and you’re rewarded with a little boost. It’s a really small detail, but it FEELS so right… it stands out in my mind.

Speed wobbles also come into play when you hit another player. When you hit another skater (with the dpad) they’ll careen slightly out of control because their board will wobble a bit. Speed wobbles suck in real life (they’re pretty damn scary actually) and in the game theyre equally sucky… taking you off track. Combat does build up the boost bar though, so violent people get rewarded for alienating their friends.

So DJ impresses with solid controls, but it also impresses with its level of polish. DJ looks leagues above both COD3 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. The game’s frame rate is about as smooth as its controls, and tracks are impressively large and varied. Tracks have a plethora of alternative routes, grinds, and shortcuts for the player to take… and every track I played was fantastic. Course and characters are all a bit deformed, and burst with color. Finally, a Wii game that looks like it’s improving on GCN graphics.

The art style shines as well. Where SSX is all about ice cool colors and slickness, DJ has a warmer, laid back art style about it. Characters aren’t you typical Tony Hawk cast, with everything from a “goth” chick with pink hair to a large Scandinavian sounding guy who speaks like 50 cent. Another little extra is the use of the wiimote speaker for ambient effects. These sounds would have not gotten much attention through normal TV speakers, but bringing them closer to you adds a bit to the experience. As an added bonus, one of the games sponsor is Sector 9, whose decks will be unlockable in the game. The music was also pretty damn good as well, with known Nintendo fan Lupe Fiasco’s single “Kick Push” being played in the menus.

Single player consists of 108 events spanning from straight up racing to score attacks. Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals are earned for doing well in the events. As you make your way through the game, there are tons of new characters, concept art, and new boards to unlock. That last one will be most important, because much like recent entries in the Mario Kart series, the board is what controls all your stats, not the boarder. Activision was also highlighting the multiplayer modes of the game, which are equally (if not more) fun than the single player mode. Up to 4 people can play against each other in everything from standard race and trick events to odder entries like Slalom (where you’ve got to jump through rings to gain time and stay in the race), to Steal the Head mode (where everyone except the leader loses their head and must regain the lead to get… wait for it… a head). They were all a blast.

So if you haven’t figured it out yet, Downhill Jam is a must buy launch title for me. The second I stopped playing the game, I wanted to play it again… and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Regardless of your previous thoughts about the Tony Hawks series, DJ deserves a very serious look in your launch plans. It’s a game that shows of everything the Wii is about. FUN. Controls are easy enough for Grandma to get her grind on, and deep enough to be rewarding for gamers like you and I. The graphics look appropriately “next generation,” and the race events seem like they’d take a decent amount of time to conquer. For a longboard enthusiast like myself, the game is great at capturing the thrill of bombing a hill… and for a gaming enthusiast like myself, the game is great at just about everything. DJ deserves to be in your Wii come launch day, it’s that simple.

Tony Hawk Downhill Jam Developer Video

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