Last updated: 05/10/2006 by Evan Burchfield

In the first Tony Hawk game for Wii, every level is downhill, and you steer Tony and the other skaters by tilting the Wii remote. It’s not a steering wheel motion but more like a see-saw, tilting the controller about the axis between your abdomen and the TV. The buttons are used to jump, grind, and do air tricks. After doing a few tricks, you fill up a boost meter for extra speed, which is activated by violently shaking the remote as you would a crying baby. This synergy of tricks and speed is highly reminiscent of EA Big’s SSX series, and in fact the entire Downhill Jam demo has an SSX feel to it. There are some physics differences due to using a skateboard instead of a snowboard, and Downhill Jam benefits from the superior Tony Hawk trick system, including those all-important grinds which have never felt right in the SSX series.

The Wii version of Downhill Jam is being developed by a company called Toys for Bob, whose representative at the demo station told me that the final game will have three gameplay types: straight racing to the bottom, slalom, and trick attack. There will also be freeskate, presumably for practice. Currently there is a two-player mode, but they are trying to get four-player working; no word yet on online play.