kate took the video game world by storm by representing the sport via analog stick tricks. This felt so familiar to players that it quickly seemed like this was the way it should have been done all along. Now the franchise is going back to square one with the Wii to craft a control scheme just as natural.

The Wii controller – which is notorious for a level of inaccuracy that muddles player motions into onscreen gibberish – may seem a poor choice to translate the myriad moves in a skater’s bag of tricks. However, Skate It is more than up to the task of laying the world at your feet…or fingertips (see sidebar for more). Your trick book is filled with moves, and pulling them off – particularly with the remote and nunchuk setup – is relatively easy. Skate It’s controls don’t suffer from a lost in translation effect, nor are they just a poor substitute for the analog sticks of the other consoles. They represent skating’s acrobatics and are much more fulfilling than the usual lazy uses of the Wii remote as either a toy sword or a glorified light gun/laser pointer.

Skate It’s ease of use comes at a cost. The developer has (wisely) papered over some of the vagaries of interpreting player motions by sometimes giving you tricks you had not intended. At least the game’s challenges don’t often ask to perform specific moves. Still, I miss the satisfaction in the original Skate of mapping out a series of tricks in your mind as you approach a curb and then executing them perfectly. Furthermore, the game requires you to pull tricks earlier than you’d think due to slight lag. This makes judging rails trickier and your combo strings shorter. Finally, the ramps and kickers don’t deliver enough air, making these setups less fun than traditional street rails and curbs.

The best part about Skate It is that it doesn’t feel like a translation of another game. It’s its own beast. Granted, this means it comes with its own problems, and EA has its work cut out for it as it tries to iron out the game’s kinks for future titles. These include the sometimes skittish nature of your board’s movements, the simple challenges, and the small skating areas, which removed the exploratory, open world appeal of Skate I loved so much. Still, the game makes you want to hop on your board, because you never know where it’s going to take you.