Winter Sports 2009: The Next Challenge

Following previous winter sports titles (including the official game of the Torino 2006 Olympic Games), 49Games presents another light simulation of some of the most popular winter sports, including alpine skiing, snowboard half-pipe, ski jump, speed skating, biathlon, luge, bobsleigh, skeleton, figure skating and curling, for a total of 18 different events.

While not as complex as the specialized games developed by the German company (there's no waxing the skis, for instance), the game features a solid physics engine, which provides more realism than some of the more arcadish approaches to the genre. Gameplay varies by event, with the player being in full control of the athlete in most events like alpine skiing and half-pipe (which plays like most radical sports games featuring tricks and flicks instead of being "on-rails"), while other modes feature an higher focus on rhythm, like speed skating and figure skating. Curling plays like most games previously featuring the event, but there are two modes: simulation plays like the actual sport, where a team scores a point for each stone closer to the middle than the opponents' closest, while game awards points for each of the stones inside the target.

The game features three modes: Competition, where the player can participate in 5, 9 or all 16 events (or customize them), Campaign, where the player has to complete a number of quick goals to unlock additional tracks and features from previous games, while Career requires the player to compete in 15 levels with an increasing number of events to do the same. Single Events allow the player to train on any event.