Winter Sports 2: The Next Challenge review

Cross-platform winter sports title skids onto Wii

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Pretty good motion controls

  • +

    Decent snowboarding and skating

  • +

    Curling stands out as a joy

Cons

  • -

    Bog standard

  • -

    dull events

  • -

    Lack of variety and depth

  • -

    Some irritatingly over-sensitive steering

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Feeling nostalgic, we booted up Winter Sports 2, hoping for a quick hit of snow-filled sporting frolics. Our enthusiasm soon melted away like a snowball down our pants, however. Winter Sports is the sort of title that lives or dies by the quality of its events. Alas, they’re a bit dull. The modes are all similar – Career sees you leveling up your skills, Singles mode lets you practice each event individually and Challenge gives you impossibly specific tasks to complete. Amazingly, the controls are pretty responsive, with a mass of specific instructions for each event.

The half-pipe snowboarding and skating challenges are decent and the curling stands out as a joy when you master it. Sadly, these are small exceptions. The rest of the events are near identical, such as bobsleigh, skeleton and luge, which force you to use the remote like a steering wheel. Irritating, over-sensitive and just plain baffling, it’s the scratch that exposes the game’s lack of variety and depth. Having to win a gold medal every time to unlock further events sent a chill down our spines and the balance board support makes events more confusing.

The overall presentation is sub-par, though there’s a photo of speed skater Anni Friesinger on the box if that floats your boat. Turn off the commentary as soon as you can because doing so gives you a chance to hear the quite brilliant funk soundtrack – the only real gold medal here.

Apr 22, 2009

More info

GenreSports
DescriptionWith nine different events, most of which are not fun, there is no real reason you should spend a lot of time on this game. Unless you really enjoy curling.
Platform"DS","Wii","Xbox 360"
US censor rating"Everyone","Everyone","Everyone"
UK censor rating"3+","3+","3+"
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
More
CATEGORIES
Latest in Sports
FC 25
FC 25 Season 6 Ladder Players list and how to unlock them all
WWE 2K25
WWE 2K25 locker codes guide to free MyFaction cards
Skate 4
The Skate reboot isn't even out yet, but it already has an EA specialty: microtransactions
Umaga is a key player in The Bloodline Showcase
How to unlock all wrestlers in WWE 2K25
FC 25
FC 25 FUT Birthday guide and full cards list
WWE 2K25
WWE 2K25 review: "A colossal package even if you never go anywhere near Virtual Currency"
Latest in Reviews
A reviewer turning the modules of the Turtle Beach Stealth Pivot
Turtle Beach Stealth Pivot review: “Its novel concept of a spinning, modular design is hamstrung by its lack of options”
Razer USB 4 Dock in silver on a wooden desk
Razer USB 4 Dock review: "solid, reliable, and surprisingly well-priced"
Lenovo Legion Go S with FlyKnight gameplay on screen featuring player character holding bow and arrow with enemy ant in backdrop.
Lenovo Legion Go S Windows 11 review: “my heart aches for this mixed up handheld”
Talisman 5th Edition game components
Talisman 5th Edition review: "The characterful imperfections of the original game remain clear to see "
WWE 2K25
WWE 2K25 review: "A colossal package even if you never go anywhere near Virtual Currency"
Altered: Trial by Frost booster box and packs on a playmat
Altered: Trial by Frost review - "Satisfying enough to offer highly varied gameplay"