The first thing that may worry fans of the long running Tony Hawk series is the fact that Neversoft hasn't developed Downhill Jam. That for many may well be enough to put them off the prospect of an altered approach to the much emulated but never bettered formula of the Tony Hawk's series. Alas, although ridiculously named, Toys for Bob have tackled the Tony Hawk's framework before with their work on Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure. This game saw the studio take the basic engine and simplify into a competent but lightweight version that would be more accessible to children. In Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, Toys for Bob have done a similar job in that they have simplified the trick system but added it to an SSX style framework that utilises the Wii-mote's specific motion-sensing to steer and balance. Therefore, to compare Downhill Jam to Tony Hawk's Project 8 would be unfair on the grounds that they are two very different games. Sadly for Downhill Jam, it would also be unfair on the grounds that whereas everything in Project 8 feels slick, focused and sharp, Downhill Jam, although competent, never feels far from ordinary and occasionally plain annoying.

In this streamlined skater, the name of the game is racing, as regardless of the simplified trick system, this is without question a racing game at heart. Much like SSX, you pull tricks primarily to speed up your racer, find shortcuts and fill that all important boost bar, or 'Zone Bone' as they have inexcusably decided to call it. It's a shame then that Downhill Jam never feels as well paced or planned as SSX. This may well be unsurprising given the new technology and the history of SSX, it's just that it never quite feels worth your time, seeing as you could simply play the superior extreme sports racer that is SSX or the superior skater that is Project 8. Competition aside however, Toys for Bob have made a pretty decent stab at taking the Hawk series in a new direction while not straying too far from the old Tony Hawk's framework so that it feels foreign to longstanding fans of the series.

If anything, Downhill Jam should be applauded for feeling immediately accessible to those who have played previous games in the series. Although simplified to successfully blend with the racing elements of the game, most of the tricks are present and accounted for. If anything, those who played the original Pro Skater on the PlayStation with fond memories of the original Downhill Jam level should feel at home immediately. This is also largely down to the success in which Toys for Bob have incorporated the motion sensor for handling. Holding the Wii-mote like a traditional controller, a simple tilt to the left or right steers your chosen skater. This aspect of the control scheme, although not particularly more impressive than traditional analogue controls, does feel fluid and never hinders the gameplay in any way. The sensor is also used to boost your skater when the 'Zone Bone' meter is filled, by shaking it up and down. This is largely made redundant however, with the choice to simply push the easy to reach B button, which executes the same move without fear of accidentally pushing your skater into a wall or lamppost.

Other than that, it is very much business as usual, with grinds and jumps executed with the 1 and 2 buttons, leaving the A button to deal with powerslides for quicker cornering and added boost. The d-pad is only used in conjunction with the 1 or 2 buttons, to pull of an array of very familiar tricks in the vein of every other Tony Hawk's game that has come before. Although these controls work comfortably in light of the game mechanics, there are a few issues that almost ruin the game entirely. Firstly there is the matter of a slight bump sending you back the wrong way, i.e. uphill. This may sound like no more than a minor bug, but getting your skater back on track using the sensor-based steering can often turn into a headache that more often than not encourages restart rather than atonement. However, surely the most annoying aspect of the controls comes from the fact that it is nearly impossible to get off a grind line once you are on it. A diminishing sense of control in this area is understandable given the fast pace of the game, but the fact that you simply have no choice but to carry on the line you are travelling with little room for improvisation can lead to some really nasty, unavoidable blunders that mean you miss the shortcut that you can see but can't get to, or falls that you want to avoid but simply cannot. It is a truly infuriating aspect of the control scheme that could have been ironed out with a little more work, but has instead been left to infuriate, especially those well versed in Tony Hawk's lore.

Although the racing found here is reasonably straightforward, minus minor niggles of course, the actual courses are multi-layered, shortcut-ridden, grind line delights. Although there are only eight different courses, encompassing such geographical marvels as Hong Kong, Edinburgh and unsurprisingly San Francisco to name a few, each course has numerous different routes to the bottom, with each one often split into subsections for each race, giving the game more variety than you might expect. Each course is filled with numerous lines and high risk shortcuts, which may sound like great news, but the fact of that matter is that it is easy to get confused and even easier to get knocked the wrong way back up hill in a rather disorientating manner. Luckily, with time and practice, the levels become easier and easier to negotiate. Before long you will find yourself flying through windows and jumping out of car parks on the fourth floor. It's just a shame that things are as confusing as they are for the first few runs, with little choice but to get cracking at the trial and error aspect of the racing that saps the gameplay of some of the fluidity it might otherwise had had.

Although the name of the game is racing, there are a few variants that test your skills in other departments, such as slalom events and score events, although both still have you pitted against the clock. The Slalom events have you passing through gates that give you extra time to complete the course, whereas Score events have you attempting to gain the highest score while finishing the race within the allotted time. These race types come along with traditional Race mode and Elimirace. Finally there is the rather underwhelming mode in which you are tasked with knocking down pedestrians, which feels unnecessarily tacked on for the most part. All of these events can be raced in the reasonably fun multiplayer mode for up to four players and although great fun in two players, unless you have a top of the range TV, things can get a little confusing when three or four players go at it, due to the complexity and subsequent clutter of some of the courses.

One added bonus for the multiplayer aspect of Downhill Jam is the Chase the Head mode, which has the leader as the only one with a head - quite strange admittedly - leaving those trailing needing to catch first place and thus a return of a head to their own shoulders. The one who spends the most time with their head on their shoulders at the end of the race is declared the winner. It's a novel and very fun twist on capture the flag and is one of the exciting aspects of the game as a whole. Sadly there's no online play, which feels like a missed opportunity given the unique nature of Chase the Head mode, which could have been a riot when playing other would be Tony Hawk's from all over the world.

There are numerous skaters to choose from in Downhill Jam, but Tony Hawk represents the only real-life character in the game. The rest of the cast is made up of extremely clichéd stereotypes, such as the stoner, goth, and cute skater chick. Although reasonably well designed, the real annoyance comes in the form of each character's own little interview-based introduction to each race. It's not quite clear what Toys for Bob were trying to achieve here, but they have inadvertently given the game a more childish demeanour and thus taken a lot of the attitude out of the game by incorporating them into the start of every race. Although these introductions do give each character a bit more personality, the look and sound of each is so clichéd that it really could have been left out. Each character, as is the case with every Tony Hawk's game, starts with different stats, allowing the player to choose the skater that best suits their own style straight off the bat. Again though, due to the annoyingly boring stereotyped manner of each character, it wouldn't be surprising if 99% of players go straight for Tony Hawk.

The presentation throughout Downhill Jam is average at best for the most part. Although the characters are rendered quite impressively in a comic book kind of way, the backgrounds are often filled with muddy textures that don't help when it comes to spotting racing lines. Luckily, the game moves at a very impressive speed that all but makes up for the slightly ugly looks that adorn each course. It's this speed that pushes the game ever so slightly above mediocrity, while showing potential for a sequel that could iron out some of the bugs that dog this decent if unspectacular take on extreme sports racing. The animations for tricks and movement are also quite impressive, even though you are unlikely to notice them, given the speeds that you travel at for the majority of the game. The soundtrack, as you might expect from a Tony Hawk's game, is full of licensed tracks from bands such as Lupe Fiasco, Public Enemy and Iron Maiden, which perfectly suit the style of game, but sadly clash with the kiddy friendly characters and intros. The actual in-game sound effects are your run of the mill Tony Hawk's effects from games past, yet the use of the Wii-mote speaker does add a little extra immersion to the experience.

All in all, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam offers a solid if unspectacular racer that incorporates traditional aspects of the series quite successfully. It never reaches the heights of SSX or the pure finesse of Project 8 though, leaving Downhill Jam stuck somewhere between a rock and a hard place. If, however, you have always liked the idea of SSX but have never been a big fan of snow then Downhill Jam has enough here to warrant a look for the curious.

Reviewed by Liam Pritchard for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).