Slow and awkward at first, but value increases after you get used to it.
I started out disliking the controls: being a Tony Hawk's pro skater game fan, the controls were all new and tilting was a bit difficult to use in mid-air while trying to figure out what moves you wanted to pull off. I didn't like the tilt-to-spin control, and would much rather use the D-pad like in the classic TH games. Tilting it to steer on-ground and to balance on rails feels perfectly natural though. After a few levels on the lower tiers, though, you will slowly get used to the new style of control and begin to play the game for real.
The "story" mode is called "downhill challenge" or something similar, and though it lacks a storyline like in THUG2, it pulls through gaming swiftly through a few different modes of play: Race (Beat the other characters to the finish without checkpoints or straightforward lines, use shortcuts and combat to your advantage) , Slalom (Take a straightforward skating line to hit the blue slalom gates which give you extra time, make it to the finish with extra bonus points for how much time you had left), Trick (Get as many points as you can using combos and special moves, checkpoints are spread around and a bonus is given for how much time you had when you finished), and an occasional "See how many pedestrians you can knock over!". Being truthful, the combat mode seems like it is there to give the skaters a punk "I can do whatever I want" feel, though it is most probably just another game mode because 3 modes is a little lacking.
The goal in the game is basically to beat the levels and rank up, eventually reaching higher ranks and unlocking more tiers of stages, more areas, more characters, and extra skateboards which add stats that can be used to your advantage depending on what mode of game play you are about to engage in. The game doesn't go into much depth anywhere, but this has a good side as game play manages to move along quickly with only quick "interviews" between the fictional characters (All characters in downhill jam are fictional except for Tony himself,) and the interviews can be skipped anyway. Game play becomes increasingly difficult, giving about a perfect amount of practice for when you have to move on to the next tier. It is only the awkward start-off you have to go through when you first encounter the game's controls. One big thing fans may not like is that all you need to pull off to do a special trick is hit the A button. Voila. The game may even be at the level of button-mashing when it comes to flip tricks and throwing a few special tricks around because it is so simplistic, but trying to add in the classic grab moves takes calculations in whether it would give you more points to keep holding or to switch to another grab or trick altogether, leaving a challenge if you want to master trick mode.
Though many long-time Tony Hawk video game fans will be disappointed at the fact that you seem unable to bail if you land incorrectly, adding easiness, the truth is that it grades you on a letter based scale on how well your landing was, not to mention if you land awkwardly it may just send you flying into a wall or off a cliff, which will inevitably cause you to bail or lose a lot of time. Landing is probably the hardest part in the game anyway, because the tilting of the remote can be tough when you have to tilt in the other direction to slow your spin a little. Overall the game play is satisfying, especially when you become better at the controls, and will keep you occupied due to a fair and gradual increase in difficulty as you traverse the tiers.
The graphics in this game are actually quite good, compared to the general thought on how Nintendo is labeled as the company who has the games with "Ewww horrible graphics". The characters look smooth and life-like, and during the interviews it seems as though the characters are actually the ones talking; their mouths move really fluently in my opinion. Some may call it cartoonish, but I find it to be above sufficient for my tastes. Stages can get a tad in-depth with detail, but don't expect for a second that it will wow you with anything. Sound is the usual skateboarding noises, with the "Screeeeeeee!" when you grind a rail and the wheels going "wshwashewashwehsahwa" when speeding down pavement. Voice acting is definitely solid. Music is varied, but may not appeal to some audiences. There is a multiplayer mode, but I have yet to try it out due to my lack of a second controller...and some friends.
Overall a good game once you get into it and get used to the controls. I will remind you once again that even if you are used to the Wii, these controls could take a while to master without button smashing and a little random tilting while in the air. A free-skating practice mode would have easily remedied this; I am quite disappointed about that. Graphics and sound are relatively solid, though nothing to write home about. Pretty good buy; I recommend it to Tony hawk video game fans who want a different style game then what was given previously. If you want to stick with the old story mode/do-whatever-you-want style, you probably want to steer clear. It mostly depends on preference.