Shaun White Snowboarding Road Trip

by Ubisoft

• Snowboarding video game for Wii lets you do everything you would at the mountain
• Four areas to explore: Alaska, Park City, Europe, Japan
• Perform different tricks on the ground, in the air, or on rails
• Ride down the slopes, create new paths in the back country, or do tricks in the terrain park

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001B1W3KM
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches ; 3.5 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: November 16, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,534 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #3 in Video Games > Wii > Games > Sports > Boarding & Blading
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: Nintendo Wii

Amazon.com

Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip for Nintendo Wii introduces a whole new way of playing snowboarding games. Developed by Ubisoft, Shaun White Snowboarding was developed from the ground up to take advantage of the Wii Balance Board, giving you an experience that is more intuitive, realistic, and fun.

Land your favorite tricks in combination for the ultimate score. View larger.

You can ride on mountains all over the world, including in Japan. View larger.

Hop Onto the Wii Balance Board for a Realistic Experience
The Wii Balance Board is an accessory from Nintendo that works and is shaped like an elongated scale, with sensors that can tell how much and where pressure is applied when you stand on it. This works perfectly with Shaun White Snowboarding, as it can detect whether you are leaning forward, back, left, or right, and it reacts like a real snowboard would.

The Wii Balance Board gives you an unprecedented, realistic experience. View larger.

To jump, you quickly shift your weight to the balls of your feet, and while in the air, you tap the A or B buttons and lean left and right to grab the board and spin, respectively. A multitude of tricks are available for you to learn, and chaining them together lets you amass more points. As you do tricks, a small little icon shows up on the screen to let you know what you did. For example, if you do a 720-degree turn called a "melon," a little watermelon slice will show up on screen.

If you would rather forego the Balance Board, you can play with just the Wii Remote as well.

Beautiful Graphics with Unique Camera System
Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip features a unique camera system, where you can choose different cameramen and camerawomen to follow you around. Some are better for tricks and others for speed, so be sure to pick the right one, as they'll give you abilities during your ride.

As the cameraperson follows you on your ride, you'll notice different effects, such as image blurs around the edges of the screen to give a sense of speed. The camera will collect snow when you fall, and sometimes the camera will white out after completing a big jump, as the cameraperson has to follow you and do the same moves as well. This unique system adds another element of strategy and fun to the game.

Tour the World with Shaun White
Road Trip begins with you as a newcomer to the snowboarding scene. Shaun White serves as your mentor, and together you travel the world, tackling mountains and making friends as you work your way up to becoming the world's best snowboarder.

As you win competitions and meet new people, they'll show you new tricks and special abilities that will help you against the competition. You'll have to learn different snowboarding skills as you compete in races down a mountain, half-pipe events, slaloms, rail jams, and more. You can also take a breather and just free ride in the back country at your own pace.

Play With or Against Your Friends
Road Trip doesn't have online multiplayer options, but you can play both competitively and cooperatively with a friend on a split screen. In competitive mode, you and a friend can race to the bottom or try to out-trick each other for the highest score. In cooperative mode, both of you ride down the same slope, and the scores are added together. The entire game can be played cooperatively, so you and a friend can tour the world together and unlock new extras.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

108 of 112 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Get up off the couch and hit the slopes! November 16, 2008

By PT Cruiser TOP 50 REVIEWER

Platform for Display:Nintendo Wii

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

When you go flying down the slopes on your snowboard (aka balance board), I swear you can almost feel the rush it in the pit of your stomach, it's that much of a total immersion. This game makes great use of the balance board and is very sensitive to your movements. You can actually set the sensitivity to low, medium or high. When you lean forward, you move faster. Lean back and you slow down or stop. When you lean to the side, you go in that direction. When you lower yourself and then quickly straighten your legs, shifting your weight to the balls of your feet, your character jumps. You're in constant motion, using the board and the wiimote to help with some of the more complex movements and tricks. Using the balance board you can just get onboard and play right away, without a big learning curve. (We won't mention that tree that came out of nowhere and smacked me on one of my first tries.) It gets more difficult and there are tricks to be learned as you progress through the slopes, but you can have fun right from the start. You can also play it using just the Wiimote, but why would you want to?

These are some of the best graphics I've seen on a Wii game. You can tell that it was well thought out. There are slopes in five places to explore: Switzerland, Japan, Chile and Park City, and you start out in Canada where you learn the basics, some of which are speed, balance and doing different spins and tricks, such as jumping up on these rails and maintaining your balance til the end which is a way of accumulating points. When you clear the required slopes in one location, the next is unlocked. You really feel the sense of speed as you race down a slope with the different camera angles. and when you fall down, your character gets covered with snow and your camera man's lens gets snow on it which adds to the realism. The vistas are beautiful. The sound effects are realistic and the music is fun and energizing. You can switch through the different music selections using the "1" key on the Wiimote.

Then there's the whole storyline of traveling with Shaun White and other characters that join you on your snowboarding trip around the world. It adds another fun aspect to the game.

The exercise aspect of this game goes almost unnoticed while you're playing it because it's so much fun. But after a few hours "on the slopes" I can feel that a lot of leg, thigh and abdominal muscles are going to be sore tomorrow from all the leaning, twisting and turning. My ankles feel like they did after I ice skated for the first time. It has to be great for balance and flexibility as well as strengthening muscles.

I'm in my 50's, and I absolutely love this game so far and I think it's great for "older kids" who've never tried snowboarding as well as for younger ones. And I just started playing it today so I'm sure there's lots to discover. It will definitely be one of the classics in my Wii collection. Two thumbs up!

46 of 49 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun game that makes excellent use of balance board November 19, 2008

By mellowspaz

Platform for Display:Nintendo Wii

Fun: 4.0 out of 5 stars   

I've snowboarded for several years and with the balance board, Shaun White Road Trip feels surprisingly true to snowboarding. This isn't a simulation of snowboarding obviously, but for fitness fanatics, you're going to have a fun workout when playing. I can actually feel the same muscles burn, as I would from snowboarding, after a 3 minute run.

The controls are fairly straightforward with the exception that you will need to hold the wiimote while on the balance board. Also, I think it's important to note that unlike wii fit's snowboard minigame, Road Trip has quick and responsive controls in calculating the varying weight shifts and distributions; which makes the balance board a must buy with this game. However, I found it extremely difficult to do any spins in the air. And, if you're a snowboarder I recommending using the highest settings for better board control.

The graphics in the game are unique, but leave a lot to be desired. I feel that I must be playing a different game from other reviewers because this is definitely not one of the prettiest games on wii. There isn't really much going on during a run down the mountain. In fact after playing 1080 on my virtual console, I can't see too much of a difference on my hdtv. However, the game's artistic style and great sense of speed somewhat make up for this.

The gameplay is comprised of a linear run down a mountain where you collect items, ride in a time trial, or score a certain amount of points to advance to your next destination. After playing through several levels, I wish there was more emphasis on riding (mainly because the balance board controls so well). I must note that I've only played up to Switzerland (the 3rd level), so this may change.

Really though, what makes this game unique are the controls. If you've got that snowboarding itch or looking for a good work out, Shaun White Road Trip will be a nice addition to your library to pull out and play. (and have enough cash for the balance board or you won't have the full experience)

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great game for the wii November 18, 2008

By S. Harris

Platform for Display:Nintendo Wii

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

I was really excited about getting the game because of the integration of the balance board, and it's definitely lived up to my expectations.

The wii remote and the board work great together and coupled with the onscreen control aids learning how to do different tricks is a snap. The graphics for the game are suprisingly good for the wii, because I have to admit I was half expecting a mii to go flying down the slopes with me.

Finally the best part of the game has to be the unexpected work out you get. I've been snowboarding before and while I'm nowhere near as sore as I was from doing that, my legs know they're not just walking to the fridge.

It's nice to see nintendo coming out with more games for the balance board and this one is a definite must.