I’M NOT a great one for Sunday night TV but if there is any correlation between the figure skating element of this game and Strictly Minor Celebrity Come Dancing on Ice I can tell you it’s not as simple as it looks.
I’d even go as far as to say it is quite difficult - not in the splitting the atom or building the Space Shuttle with a penknife sort of difficult, but in the rubbing your stomach at the same time as patting your head sort of difficult. More on that later!
Winter Sports 2010: The Great Tournament is one of those games that is fun to play on your own but requires you to leave your dignity and inhibitions at the door when there’s other people in the room.
WS2010 is, unsurprisingly, a collection of eight winter sports that can be played solo, or should you be so inclined online, including shorttrack speed skating, ski flying, snowboard cross, bobsled and the aforementioned figure skating.
Choices include career modes or one-off races too.
Using a combination of Wii controller and nunchuk, you basically try to go as fast as you can while remaining upright.
My wife says I should be brilliant at this as I’ve been going downhill for ages!
Wiggling and waggling controls moves you left and right, and pointing them to the floor makes you go a bit faster. That’s it really. The more exaggerated your movements the better the results.
You’ll look a fool but you’ll win the gold medal.
It looks pretty good. The graphics are at the higher end of what you expect from the Wii and watch out for the quite nice looking young blonde speed skater.
There’s even a half decent voiceover but the warning about bag snatchers in the ice arena starts to wear a bit thin after a while.
As for the figure skating? Well, I tried ... I really did. But it’s not for me, I’m afraid. I wasn’t so much throwing some shapes as throwing a fit.
Overall, Winter Sports 2010: The Great Tournament is a good fun distraction and that’s despite the fact the recent weather has seen us all figure skating, or slaloming, our way to work or school!
Verdict: 8 out of 10 - Released in time for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, this is a good collection of fun events for Wii players.
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