No doubt about it -- Surf's Up wins best penguin surfing game ever, despite being the ONLY penguin surfing game ever made. It may not appeal to older gamers (outside of a few Achievement mongers who want 1,000 quick and easy points), but younger players and pre-teens should have a good time hanging ten with this gang.
The game lets players choose from several characters from the Sony Pictures Animation film, such as the heroic Cody Maverick or his goofy chicken friend Joe. From there, they enter Championship Mode, with various racing stages to complete throughout different locations. Early stages start out in Cody's Antarctic hometown before moving to more tropical settings. Throughout each stage, the player completes airborne tricks by launching off ramps and tidal waves. They can also run through gates, use a speed boost to ram into solid objects and rival surfers, and grind along glaciers and rails.
Surf's Up contains similarities to other surfing games on the market, but Ubisoft geared it towards a young audience. The trick system works without much complication, aside from the strategic use of speed boosts and special moves. This leads to a problem, though -- the Championship Mode only lasts a couple of hours. Players can try their luck with a side Leaf Surfing game, along with a lively offline multiplayer game for up to four people. Past that, however, only a few customization tools (like creating a character or a dream surfboard) and unlockable items (artwork and movie clips) make it worth messing around with again.
At least Ubisoft took a more clever approach to the design instead of making another easily forgotten platformer. While the graphics don't make use of the 360's horsepower, they hold their own. The water and animations look very good and the game never loses that much of its detail, not even during the fierce showdown with rival surfing legend Tank. The audio department has surprisingly good content, thanks to a solid alternative rock soundtrack and fine dialogue, some of it supplied by the movie's actual voice cast.
Surf's Up would have been a smoother ride on the waves with more additions to the gameplay, a few more modes and maybe even online play. With that said, it's a fun extreme sports game for kids and fans of surfing penguins... and other animals.
Final Score: 6 (out of 10)
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