Have a hankering for some wintery family fun without actually going outside where its cold? Then Polish developer Teyon’s new WiiWare title Hubert the Bear: Winter Games might be just what you are looking for.

Hubert and his fellow bears are taking part in eight different snow-filled minigames, including sledge racing, catch the rabbit, christmas tree decorating and snowman building. The eight games are diverse, and none are simply reskinned versions of others, so you get a true eight different games. However none of them really stand out as better than the others, so you have eight decent but not great games.

The best of the bunch is probably the sledge race, in which you follow a rabbit down a hill, picking up the presents he drops. Its fun and fast paced, though trying to steer side-to-side while turning the Wiimote in circles to accelerate will likely see you miss more presents than you collects.

Game modes include single player, two player head-to-head, or a tournament mode in which up to 16 players can compete individually in each of the eight minigames. One small critique here: through each game, your success is measured in presents, yet the scoring in the tournament mode is handled entirely by points awarded for where you rank. I’m not sure why total presents accumulated through all six challenges wasn’t used for scoring, but it seems that tracking your presents would have been more  appropriate.

Because Hubert will likely have parents playing with their young children, its great that the game has build in a simple method for regulating difficulty. When each player creates their bear, they choose their difficulty level by choosing whether their bear is a youngster, teen, or adult. Its a simple mechanic and the difference in gameplay is quite significant, meaning that parents won’t have to throw the game to give their kids a chance to win.

The graphics in Hubert are colourful, but like the rest of the game, nothing really stands out. There are plenty of customization options for your bear, including fur colours, winter clothing and accessories.

The best thing that Hubert the Bear has going for it though, is the price. Costing only 500 points, it’s right for this game, helping to rise above the glut of Wii minigame titles. At that low price, Hubert a title that a family can enjoy for a week or so, and if they never go back to it, they’ll have still gotten their money’s worth. And who knows? On the flip side, saying that “it’s cheap” is the high point to a game isn’t exactly the strongest compliment.

On the downside, since Hubert is a game that will appeal primarily to young gamers, there are a few areas where the game could have been simplified for that audience.

Clarity is an issue with Hubert the Bear: Winter Games. The menu system is far from intuitive and should have been simplified, while in-game explanations are not all that clear. Even when you are choosing the skill level of your bear, there’s no on-screen instructions to guide you. And when you are trying to type in your bear’s name, why does the oversized cursor allow you to simultaneously press three different letters at the same time? And that/s for an adult, let alone a child trying to input their name. Shoddy attention to detail, unfortunately.

For a game aimed at the youngest of gamers, the controls seem more complicated than they needed to be. Mixing Wiimote and nunchuck control schemes, the controls work for the most part, but they could certainly be more simple and kid friendly. In particular, the snowball fight, where you have to throw snowballs at pesky rabbits, seems too complex for young players. You have to aim with the Wiimote and select your target with the A button, then swing the Nunchuk while pressing Z to throw the snowball. I just don’t see youngsters being able to work through that control scheme. A simple aim and A button option would have been a better choice.

That’s not to say all the controls are too tough. Building a snowman is something almost any younger play should be able to succeed at, require only simple button presses, waggles and a simple follow-the-path activity.

Hubert the Bear: Winter Games is a cute WiiWare title that can provide a fun bit of gaming at a very reasonable price. It probably isn’t something you’ll invest hours and hours into, but as a fun and inexpensive diversion, its something that younger kids will enjoy along with their parents. An good family choice for a cold winter weekend.

Hubert the Bear: Winter Games is developed by Teyon for the Wii. A review copy was provided to GamerPops.

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