good start
One thing that people have been trashing a lot are the controls. Either, they honestly suck at the game, or they never played it. After a bit of practice, the controls are a breeze. You tilt the Nunchuck to carve, and can also move the control stick for added steering. For those of you worried about having to jump by flicking up with the nunchuck, stop worrying, you can use the A-button. I hardly ever use the Nunchuck to jump. Once in the air, spins and flips are performed by flicking the Wii-mote to the side or up and down, respectively. It's fairly simple, the only criticism being that I found it difficult at first to do flips and spins at the same time (flicking diagonal to the northeast, for example). After a while, you get a hang of it, but it has to be precise. Also, grabs are done by holding down Z and moving the Nunchuck the same way you would for flips and spins. Moving the control stick will tweak your grab, something that I wasn't expecting. Most of the time, you will have to press A before you land in order to land safely. Another great thing about the game is the ability to pick up and throw snowballs at opponents while racing. You simply press and hold the B button in order to pick one up and then flick the Wii-mote and release the B button to throw. The game does a fantastic job of knowing where you want to throw, so if you aim right, most of the time you will get a hit.
The most common complaint that I have heard about this game is the controls for the uber tricks. No, it's not perfect, but they aren't as bad as everyone says either (if you're not a retard). To perform an Ubertrick when your groove meter is sufficiently filled, you hold down the A button and draw a shape on the screen (a heart, a "Z" shape, a loop, etc). Its not that hard to do, really. I think that most people have just been trying to do them too fast, or dont press the A button soon enough, or too soon, for that matter. The trick to performing Ubermoves is to take your time. RELAX. Now you shouldn't go so slow that you finish drawing your shap while your own the ground, but you really have to draw your shape to preciseness and you need to make sure that the jump you launched yourself off of got you a sufficient amount of air, because as far as I have played, I haven't been able to cancel an Ubermove mid-flight, so I'm just gonna stop trying and accept defeat when I foolishly perform one off of a simple bunny hop. The other word of advice while performing the Ubermoves, is to make sure the remote is where its going to be when you start the drawing. So many times when I started playing, I found myself swinging the remote up to the left so I can start to draw a "Z", only to have my rider perform a spin or a flip unwantedly. If you remember these tips, you should be find and I don't see why it should be a problem to be talked about anymore.
Now that I have set some common misconceptions straight, I will sadly tell you that SSX Blur is not a perfect game. The faults I find with it aren't that big of a deal, but they do take away from the overall SSX experience. First of all, there aren't any cutscenes where the riders talk trash. Cutscenes in past games were what made me want to smoke my rival down the hill, and really made me hate some of the riders. Not only that, but there isn't any big trash talking while riding either. If I was in an all-out snowboarding race with insane jumps and crazy tricks, you wouldn't be able to shut me up! I don't know why EA Montreal took out the trashtalking, so now I have to yell at the noob that just ate my powder instead of letting Mac do it for me! But hopefully it will be back in the next installment.
The final problem I have found with SSX Blur is the new art style. Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed the cartoony new character looks? For goodness sake, Psymon looks like a white Bob Marley without eyes! But while that does still annoy me, it doesn't matter much when you are carving down the mountain at blurring speeds (literally) and your character is covered in white powder.
The last thing I will mention about Blur is the multiplayer. Eh, its a bit shallow, but certainly not boring or a waste of time like critics have been calling it. If you play with 2 people, its fun, but you might get bored after a while because it really just feels like you two are playing alone. If you play with 3, you will have a blast, and will get in some great target practice with snowballs. But, if you play with 4, you could seriously be playing SSX Blur all night long and never get tired.
Bottom line, SSX Blur is a great game and a worthy installment into the series. The unique control set brings something fresh to the SSX franchise, and it is a very welcome addition. If you have ever been a fan of any SSX game at any time ever, chances are you will love blur. If you've apposed SSX games ever since it debuted on the PS2, you probably won't be swayed into accepting it. But if you're like me, and are one of the Wii owners with only Zelda and Wii Sports in your collection, this game is an absolute must buy, especially if you've got friends that won't leave your Wii alone.