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Good: Wiimote works well for grinding, some exciting moments with huge tricks and jumps

Bad: Odd control scheme, less room for mastering the game, annoying characters

Needs more: Lemmy

If there's one main complaint about the long-running and extremely successful Tony Hawk series, it's that each installment only makes slight changes to the proven formula. Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam is a complete departure from that tried-and-true gameplay, and it's made exclusively for the Wii and the abilities of its controller.

Obviously, the most important aspect of this title is how well it works in conjunction with the Wiimote. It's playable, but I'd never take this method over the standard 360 or PS3 style of controller. Turning is handled in the same fashion as Excite Truck, meaning you can either "steer" or tilt the controller to corner. Holding in the A button will cause you to powerslide, and an extra boost is awarded if you release it at the right time.

Grinding is actually fairly easy to control using the motion, but tricks are a different beast altogether. Rather than having tons of buttons at your disposal (like Hawk veterans are used to), the Wiimote is far more limited. In midair, it can get terribly confusing and hectic when you want to pull off a massive trick. Held sideways, there simply aren't enough buttons to make it a complete skateboarding experience. As a "jump and grind" game, it works fine. As a trick-based experience, it fails.

In other titles in the series, it's possible to string together dozens of moves in a single combo if you're good enough. THDJ omits the reverts and manuals that made this possible, so expect to rely heavily on grinding to connect tricks. Just like in SSX Tricky, you're able to perform a few super-tricks that seem to be included primarily for comic effect. These will cause you to get off your board, torpedo through the air, and basically defy every law of physics. Certain trick gates will slow down time so you can focus on achieving a maximum score, and these super-tricks are a fantastic way to achieve it.

Whereas other games in the series send you into a huge, open world to explore at your leisure, Downhill Jam is purely business. As its name implies, you'll start at the highest point in the level, and race your rivals to the bottom. There are several variations of races, but each track follows this basic formula. Your rivals are mostly annoying cartoon stereotypes, and you'll quickly learn to skip their pre-race trash talk.

Everyone knows that the Wii is the least powerful of the next-gen systems, but Downhill Jam looks like it could have easily been pulled off on a PS2 or Gamecube. It supports 16:9 and 480p, but this isn't exactly the title to play if you want to show off your new HDTV. It does, however, feature a fairly impressive soundtrack that fits the fast-paced mood of the game well (Motorhead!).

As a longtime fan of the series, I was intrigued at the idea of changing the fundamentals of the game engine. Unfortunately, Downhill Jam is in no way more entertaining than the standard series. For those looking for an immersive skateboarding experience, Project 8 is only a 360 or PS3 away.

Graphics: 6.5

Sound: 7.0

First Play: 7.0

Replay Value: 6.0

Gameplay: 6.5

Overall: 6.7