Review - Skate It for Wii

Released by Electronic Arts in November of 2008, Skate It is best described as a game that allows the player to skate through the street of the fictional city of San Van, and then venture out to shred through some of the world's best skate cities. The game also allows the game player to create and customize the ultimate skate spot.

What is innovative about this game? What sets it apart for so many other skating simulation games that are already out there? The differentiator of this game comes from the unique set of controls designed specifically for the Nintendo Wii and Wii Balance Board. The use of both the motion sensitive hand held remote and the pressure sensitive Balance Board create a unique gaming experience.

For this review, I've ask an expert to test the game and put it through it's paces. Our guest reviewer is a 7 year old experienced gamer and skate boarding enthusiast, Connor Stewart.

PAKRA Games: On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate this game?

Connor Stewart: 10 because it you can create your own person (editor's note: avatar). There is a Career Mode that lets you pick your own shoes, clothing, and hats. I like that you can pick your own board too. The thing that I don't like about it though is that some stuff is locked like clothing and boards.

PG: That's cool, but tell us about the game play. Did you like playing the game?

CS: Yeah. It's fun playing the game because you can go down ramps and you can crash and the game tells you if you have bruised, sprained, or broken anything. I also like it because you can go to free skate mode from the menu and I always do that. I can pick my own place where I want to skate and that's cool.

PG: Tell us about using the Wii Remote and Balance Board. How does that compare to playing skating games with a typical hand held remote?

CS: It's fun playing with the Wii remote because you can control the skateboard movements by moving your remote and not pressing buttons with my fingers all the time. I don't play on the balance board mode because it's too hard for me right now. The remote seems to work better. I do like to stand on the Balance Board though and pretend that I am on a real skateboard while I play the game using the remote.

PG: Can I ask you one last question?

CS: Not right now. I want to go back to playing Skate It now. Can I be done?

And there you have it! The balance board is a little complex for this 7 year old gamer to manipulate at this time but the hand held remote seems to be very intuitive. The free skate mode and customizable options are a big hit as well.

To check out additional reviews of this game, CLICK HERE for customer comments posted to Amazon.com

COMING SOON... A 30-something mom (who knows very little about football) reviews Madden 09!

Tweet