Unlike past games, which have focused on pulling off major tricks, Downhill Jam is all about speed. If you can race with style, that'll help you out, but all that matters in the end is being the first to cross that finish line. Moreover, the usual cast of pro skaters is gone, replaced with a fictional cast of varied skills and backgrounds. Mr. Hawk shows up too, of course, but he's one of the few links that the fantastical, over-the-top action of Downhill Jam shares with mundane reality.
Not as You Know Him
Of all the Wii games I've seen so far, Downhill Jam might just make the best use yet of the system's unique controller. The Nunchuk add-on is not used; all you need is the Wii Remote itself. Unlike most games, Downhill Jam asks you to hold it horizontally, more like a traditional game pad... or a skateboard. The basic concept here is tilt 'n go, and it feels extremely intuitive after just a little practice. At first I thought I had to push up ("right" on the D-pad, normally) to gain speed, until someone pointed out -- and I had to sheepishly acknowledge -- that I had just been tilting the controller forward every time I hit the up button. Oops.
The horizontal remote also makes a wonderful metaphor for balancing a board during grinds; tilting to correct your balance is instantly understandable and easy to master. If anything, the trickiest part of controlling the game was remembering what the controller's "normal" buttons did. The 2 button, the furthest one to the right, controlled jumping. (Held down, it also substituted for the aforementioned "forward tilt"-activated speed gain.) Left and right (normally up and down) on the D-pad unleashed side attacks, the 1 button held grinds, and the big A button performed bert turns, about which more is below. I believe there's also a trick button. As with other Wii games, I found the unfamiliar controller layout a bit tricky to fully adapt to right away, which is no fault of Downhill Jam.
