I just finished playing around with SSX Blur on the Wii for the past hour or so.

I'm sort on the rail with the game. I really like it, but some of those spinning and rolling moves and the grabs seem to work better when you flail your arms around wildly rather than trying to do what they say you should do.

In the tutorial I found that even under the best of circumstances the air controls just weren't 100 percent. For instance, to roll you're suppose to turn the remote to one side or the other and to roll you tilt it foward or backwards. I discovered that no matter how hard or often I tried the game only let me roll and spin in one direction. It was really weird.

And the grabs, which entail holding a button while in the air and moving the nunchuck in a direction, only seemed to work about two-thirds of the time.

Initially, I thought the steering was just as touchy, but after playing it for a bit I got into the groove and now I love it.

To steer you use the thumbstick on the nunchuck, but to carve (do wider smoother turns) you also have to tilt the entire nunchuck. Initially it's as awkward as it sounds, but after a bit I got really into it and the ground controls felt incredibly responsive.

The graphics are fairly good, lots of sunlight glares, flying snow and powder. The character models are a little rough, but Electronic Arts decision to go with a more cartoon-like look helps to disguise that.

The game plays a lot like other SSX titles. You unlock different parts of a mountain and can free ski or snowboard or run into different contest that test your racing and trick skills.

I played the split-screen a few times with my son and we both enjoyed it. No slowdown and the front racer is marked with a column of light, so if you're not too far away you can sorta see where they are.

I've got to spend a lot more time with the game, but right now I'd put it firmly in the buy category. Lots of fun, with a bit of frustration thrown in, but nothing that totally kills the experience. Brian Crecente