If anyone cares, I just got SSX Blur. It is HARD on the Wii, and this is all about the control scheme. The graphics are fantastic, much better than SSX3 for the gamecube, though a lot of the tracks are the same.

Most of the reviews complained about Ubers being hard to pull off; however, I don't think this is much of an issue. I don't find them THAT hard, though they are a little more effort than "mash the trigger and press up-right"- this seems fairly reasonable to me. If I take my time I can nail them consistently, but I have to be paying attention to what I'm doing. It makes sense to me that pulling off big stunts should take a little bit of effort.

Regular tricks, however, seem more difficult than they should be. Often I'll feel like I'm flicking the remote properly and my character just doesn't do anything (though I had this problem with button mashing in SSX3 as well). I haven't quite figured out how to combine board grabs with spins/flips- I think you have to start the spin/flip before grabbing the board, which means you have to really pay attention to the order of things. This kind of leads to feeling like I don't have much much control over what I'm doing in the air.

Even more problematic is landing tricks, whatever you do. In this version you now have to align your body before you hit the ground, and so often, especially on the pipes, I'll do some trick and then wipe out either because I'm accidentally tilting the character by pushing on the control stick or because I'm not doing anything at all and he needs to be lined up. Also, in the previous versions you would hold down the button to keep spinning/flipping and then release to stop- in this version you hit the "A" button to stop, completely the opposite from previous SSX games (which makes sense, because how would it know to keep going/stop when you initiate a trick by flipping your wrist?). The problem is that sometimes I'll hit "A" twice and for whatever reason the character will misalign and crash. Landing seems unnaturally hard.

Carving is brilliant, if a little difficult to get used to. Rather than controlling with the stick, as is the natural inclination, you have to tilt the nunchuck. This was annoying and first and took me a while to get used to. Now that I have, it is a LOT of fun- feels a lot more like I'm snowboarding, swaying this way and that. Is it more efficient than just using the stick (which you can configure to do)? probably not. But it IS more fun.

The new soundtrack thing is pretty cool. They aren't using licensed music anymore, which I DID enjoy on SSX3, but the new concept is pretty cool. Each tune has 5 layered tracks that can be overlayed to add intensity. As you preform well, more tracks get added to make the music kind of stay in sync with how you're doing. The idea is when you find your "groove", the music does too. This works out well and I like the effect.

Overall, I think once I get used to the trick system and get better at it I'll really enjoy this game. For the the moment I'm enjoying the races a lot, enjoying the slopestyle somewhat, and dreading the half pipes. I haven't tried the new slalom yet, but I've heard it's hard. I honestly prefer games to be playable right out of the box, but there's enough fun here that I think it's worth it. I probably give it a 7 out of 10.

Pros:
Great Graphics
Carving is fun
Fun, layered Soundtrack
Ubers take some effort to pull of, and are rewarding when you do

Cons:
The trick system is difficult and pulls away from the "fun" factor
Repeat courses from SSX3