ometimes Wii games make me feel like I’ve been given a bowl of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. Only instead of a spoon, I’ve been given chopsticks. After some combination of shoveling and slurping, I’ve definitely had a unique eating experience. However, it doesn’t distract from the fact that I’ve just had the same bland old broth.

We Ski allows you to steer by using both sticks as ski poles or using the balance board to navigate as you would in real life. For a while at least, it’s a neat gimmick. I definitely prefer the balance board controls, as they made the pedestrian races both more challenging and exciting (it’s worth noting that the balance board cannot be used in ­multiplayer).

The race modes are unsurprising: straight-up vanilla racing, slalom, and moguls. There are some tricks, but the response time is slow and they don’t really add to the experience. You’ll be better off in the Freestyle mode, which at least lets you explore the mountain RPG-style, taking missions from random skiers and finding a few Easter eggs along the way. It’s cute, but after awhile the “fetch quest” missions start to grate.

All in all, We Ski tries, and is largely successful, at creating a casual skiing game with a novel control mechanic. Which is great, but the actual content wouldn’t have held my attention for even an hour if it were just some old PS2 game (which, graphically, it sadly resembles). So, can a game be both a failure and a success at the same time? I believe philosophers call this the “Wii paradox.”