[merylsilverburg]

Originally Posted by Beretta55

I really didn't see how the controls were fluid, you could get use to them given enough time but I still felt the mechanics could have spent more time in the oven. I know each Wii game (most of them at least) have a learning curve not applied to any other games, but when you play this game for the first ten minutes and know how to handle the Wiimote pretty well originally. Only to see your boarder waling around in the snow like a retard and hard to keep him balanced, you have some issues.

When I first started the game, the idea of turning with the nunchuck and the analog stick and jumping by flipping it up was a total mess to me. Controlling the characters was awkward and annoying. However, after I played through the tutorial and one race, the controls were not so bad and really do become second-nature. I'd say the nunchuck controls a lot better than the Wii Remote. So with that said, the controls were, to me, fluid. Others can and may disagree.

Originally Posted by Beretta55

They are hard to see, you don't have enough time to get them off most of the time because the game is fast paced. I mean wouldn't a simple "move wiimote to the left, and then to the right" suffice? It may not be "flashy" to do like some gamers would want but with a game as fast as this, you don't have all day to play the 'invisible shapes game" in the air just to do a stupid move.

Precisely! This is a fast-paced game so having to do really stupid tricks while in the air that don't respond doesn't sit well with me. I went through the tutorial where you have to perform 4 UberTricks about a billion times and I have yet to see one UberTrick.

Originally Posted by Beretta55

But the entire series besides the first SSX has tapped into that "idiot hipsters" thing. You can't tell me the characters for SSX Tricky and 3 were not in some form hipster fashion idiots, the entire series has been this way if you ask me and On Tour didn't suddenly start this trend.

I may have been confusing in my initial post. First off, SSX did start the trend of "hip" characters. You cannot say that Zoe or JP became idiotic looking in Tricky or 3 because they were already designed that way from the first game (although I don't think they were idiotic looking). However, when I said "mature and sophisticated" in the first 3 games, it was referring to the stylized style they all had. Everyone had a very outrageous and fantasty-esque look to them which is what I consider stylish. The mature and sophistication came from the way they successfully pulled off their looks without seeming pretentious or stupid, at least to me. I actually enjoyed many of the characters whom everyone probably hated, like Zoe, Seeiah, Eddie. Yes, they were stereotypical but their style was so outlandish it was appealing. Also, even though their designs should've made them look much more younger in age, they all still looked quite mature and professional, IMO.

Now, On Tour (with its moronic cover of notebook paper with doodles, something that I've always hated with a passion) had character designs that were much more realistic than the predecessors (like facial features, anatomy, etc.). Yet somehow, they actually looked more idiotic to me because of the realism. With realistic features and "hip" clothing, they looked nothing more than a bunch of high schoolers who were trying to be cool; which is pretty much what you'd see everyday from actual high schoolers. And, if you look at their faces, they did look much younger.

Now Blur ruined it completely because they reverted to the fantasy look but they've all become shorter, uglier, and tackier. The character selections no longer show the 3-D models of the characters but frighteningly-ugly, third-grade cartoon illustrations instead. And the actual characters reflect this cartoon-y mess. I find it terribly offensive on my eyes and this is why I am appalled by this game.