The Ultimate Red Ball Challenge (Wii) - Review by Chris

Introduction

Having been a hit TV show in many other countries, Total Wipeout finally hit our shores earlier this year, with Richard Hammond taking up presenting duties in the UK and Amanda Byram taking up the duties on the course in Argentina. Having become a hit here thanks in large to seeing people fall from obstacles and getting covered in mud, the formula has now been replicated into game form, crossing the gulf between the media. Yet while entertaining to watch, these kinds of shows are difficult to replicate in a game and so the end result here is one that is ultimately expected: a poor replication of a decent TV show.

Gameplay

The Ultimate Red Ball Challenge aims to replicate all of the excitement of the Total Wipeout obstacle course for you to enjoy in the comfort of your own home without having to worry about getting wet or covered in mud. The game provides 3 modes in total, all of which can be played in their entirety in multiplayer, with up to 4 players supported. The first mode on offer allows you to play through the game, selecting a character and choosing one of 4 show setups. Each of these 4 setups is unlocked in sequence with the prior one having to be completed and won before the next can be played. These become progressively more difficult, starting off with some of the more simple obstacles from the show before moving onto some of the more taxing ones. Taking part and winning these obstacles will grant you medals which go towards one of the game's other modes. The bonus mode has items which are unlocked as more medals are collected for completing and finishing first in a challenge. In this bonus mode, you'll unlock certain challenges which will have your playing indefinitely in some of them until you are unable to complete it. It therefore provides some small bites of content to enjoy but as stated, these have to be unlocked by playing through and winning medals in the shows.

The game's only other mode is one where you can create a show of your own design. This is perhaps the best of the modes on offer because as you play through the main show you unlock the challenges to be used in your own designs and with these challenges, you can pair them up together in whatever way you like to make an alternative course for you and your friends to play. While the possibilities are far from endless, there are enough obstacles on offer, with their being 16 in total, that plenty of variations can be created for your enjoyment. But enjoyment isn't something which particular occurs while playing the game. For the initial playtime you have with the game, you harbour the feeling of joy that the show has made it to game form but when it comes to actually playing the thing and navigating the challenges, you see that it isn't very good. The excitement from the show seems to have been all but removed from the game and while it would have been difficult to replicate, it should have and could have been done to a better standard than this because it just doesn't level the same want to continue as you get from watching the show. It feels very sluggish which is not what the show gives us and while that is edited for airing, there is no way it would match this form of sluggishness. Even in multiplayer, the game fails to excite in the way that other games at a similar price point manage.

Controls

You'll be making use of both the Wii-mote and the Nunchuk to control your character through the obstacle courses which you'll need to complete. The analogue stick is used to manoeuvre the character yet it doesn't feel natural with the camera following your character from behind and it controls very inanimately making some of the pathways and obstacles difficult to manoeuvre. A mix of both button pushes and motion gestures are used but the buttons are mainly used for quick time events and whereas the motions are used for things which really should be done with buttons. Jumping for ledges or over the sweeper is done with a flick of the Wii-mote but with a short delay between the motion and the in game replication, it's not the most ideal setup. The controls work but only just and could be far better given the gameplay.

Graphics

The courses which you'll be playing through are all representative of those which you may have seen in the TV show and they're all replicated faithfully. However, they do suffer from a general lack of detail, due to muddy textures and a general blurriness to the visuals, with things looking of a mediocre quality at best. It gets the job done in looking like the show though and that is the main thing. There are only 6 characters to choose from and all of them are accentuated in their features. They all look good, if a little on the basic side of things, but their animation isn't of the highest standard, looking rather automated and robotic. There are also some lip synch issues for the female presenter character. Richard Hammond puts in an appearance through some cutscene videos and these do look good but they again aren't compressed in the highest of qualities.

Sound

The theme from the show and all of the other music pieces make an appearance and all sound exactly like the real thing, which is nice for bringing the whole thing together. Richard Hammond voices all of the cutscenes he appears in and it's of a good quality if not sounding a little hackneyed. The female presenter provides some voice work through the brief introduction sequences and while being of a somewhat decent quality, it doesn't quite live up to the standard of the rest of the audio work and it isn't helped by the lip synch issues. But when playing, you won't hear much in the way of sound other than some background music, seen in the TV show, and some sound effects for falling into the water or some of the obstacles and these again don't live up to the higher standards of audio elsewhere.

Final comments

Total Wipeout isn't the kind of show you'd see as making a good game, even if your mind would suggest it would, and The Ultimate Red Ball Challenge proves this to be the case. While it makes in roads to replicate the show, the extent to which it does this makes it feel more like the show has been neutered and left to fend for itself. It's sluggish and contains little in the way to make you as the player enjoy that which you are playing. This game works as a perfect example of the following: just because you can make a game of a license doesn't mean you should.

Pro: Creating your own courses is a nice touch, visual presentation isn't too bad
Con: Feels very sluggish in both the gameplay and controls, general lack of excitement, presentation doesn't quite match up to the standard of other similarly priced games
Final score: 2.3

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