Tony Hawk: RIDE

While the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of RIDE were made by Robomodo, the Wii edition was created by a different team, Buzz Monkey, and adapted to the specifics of the Nintendo console. The physical skateboard deck the game uses instead of a gamepad reportedly had a different weight and range of motion than the version for other consoles, according to contemporary comparisons – it was described as noticeably heavier and less responsive during quick movements, which affected the feel of the controls and the accuracy of trick recognition compared to the lighter peripheral used for Xbox 360 and PS3.

The most notable difference, though, lies in what the Wii version offers instead of online play: while PS3 and Xbox 360 let players race against others online, the Wii edition has no online multiplayer and instead supports Mii characters, which players can bring over from their Wii menu into the game as their own rider and also use in one-off local matches. This is a different solution to the game's social dimension, not just a technically weaker port of the same content offered by the versions for the generation's more powerful consoles.

Buzz Monkey had to adapt both the peripheral and the entire game to Wii's more limited performance compared to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, which also affected how the console processed data from the board's sensors – the Wii Remote and Nunchuk served here as supplementary input alongside the board itself, while on the more powerful consoles the board communicated with the game directly. As a result, the gameplay feels tangibly different, even though it's built on the same basic idea of controlling the game with a skateboard. The replacement of online multiplayer with Mii characters also shows how differently Nintendo and its development partners approached the social side of games compared to Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network.

Why play it: The Wii version will appeal to players who want to try the physical skateboard peripheral in its Nintendo-flavored form – with a differently balanced board from Buzz Monkey and Mii characters instead of the online races offered by the Robomodo-developed PS3 and Xbox 360 versions.