Courtesy of the Hollywood dream machine, we’ve seen penguins unleash their martial arts prowess on unsuspecting humans, commandeer entire shipping vessels and stand in raging blizzards protecting their precious little eggs. Is there anything these delightful seabirds cannot do?
And just when you thought you’ve seen enough of those waddling tuxedos to last a lifetime, Sony Pictures is bringing them back to the beach in the animated film ‘Surf’s Up’. A surfing movie without the gruesome twosome of Frankie and Annette? Now you are speaking my language, moon doggie.
Like the lives of our flightless feathered friends, ‘Surf’s Up’ for the Xbox 360 isn’t a convoluted offering. At the ‘Big Z Memorial Surf-Off’, you pick your penguin, your board and then compete for the championship. The tournament environments include races at night, during stormy weather, around icebergs and erupting volcanoes.
Even though the settings are distinct, the gameplay is not. ‘Surf’s Up’ can get on your nerves really quickly if you happen to be over…let’s say…8 years-old. While riding a wave at the left or right side of the screen, you hit A, X, B, Y or the right analog stick to pull off tricks for points.
With each successful move, your energy metre grows until you can perform dizzying “Stoke Tricks” that provide greater air time and bigger point totals. To shake things up, sometimes a wave will form into a “tube” and you will be able to ride through it. Cowabunga, dude…for real!
To complete other objectives, you have to collect special icons and you do so by leaving the waves behind and surfing, grinding through the environment. Certain collectables will multiply the trick points you earn and unlock more surfers, boards, special videos and songs to surf to. Each time you wipe out though, all of your multipliers will disappear. You will crash frequently too as you are pushed headlong into environmental hazards, so you had better get used to it.
Besides racing against up to four other players, customizing your board and the leaf sliding mini-game, there isn’t much more to ’Surf’s Up’. It is a bare bones effort but at least UbiSoft is trying to do something different by producing a surfing simulator and not just pumping out another routine platformer that kids will get bored of when the lingering excitement of the movie fades away.
If you’re a kid and a big fan of the Tony Hawk series of skateboarding titles or similar games, ‘Surf’s Up’ may be a cool addition to your collection as it is a decent pick up and play title for the ankle-biters but it really doesn’t present much of a challenge to anyone who has experienced puberty.
WHAM! Rating: |
6 out of 10 |
ESRB Rating: |
E (Everyone) |
Official Web Site: |
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