I played three of these Family Jockey, Family Tennis and Family Circuit so much that the pin contacts were nearly worn bare. I owned two of the other three, Family Boxing and Family Mahjong but I never got around to trying Family Pin Ball - in my opinion, the Gameboy's 66 Hiki no Wani Daikoushin (Revenge of the Gator in US) ushered in the video game pinball era. But I digress.

Besides Namco, Bandai's 'Family Trainer' was the only other 'Family' series released on the Famicom. Fast forward about 20 years to the recent Namco/Bandai merger, naturally, what better a time or system (Wii) for a series revival by the two originators.

The Family Project, (as it's officially called in Japan), is a new series of games from BandaiNamco targeting two rapidly expanding gaming demographics: the new-found casual Wii/DS gamer and the now grown-up gamer of the Famicom generation. The project's plan is to regularly release games built on the 'Family' series principles: games that can be played 'with everyone' (minna de), 'with laughter' (waiwaito) and 'with fun' (tanoshiku).

The first game in the series is Family Ski. Dated for release on January 31 of 2008 in Japan, the series creators took timing into account and decided to release a ski game this Winter. This will not be Namco's first ski game venture having previously released 'Super Family Gerande' (gerande = ski resort) which could be only purchased at a Loppi station (Lawson Online Shopping) using a rewritable Super Famicom cartridge.

If you use the balance board bundled with Wii Fit, you can control your core ski movements by shifting your weight over the board. However, using the Wiimote and Nunchuk is also possible and easy to do. Basically, the Nunchuk and Wiimote become your left and right ski poles as you navigate the slope. Tilt the Wiimote and you change directions, lift the Wiimote and Nunchuks and your speed increases, twist the Wiimote and Nunchuks in the same direction and you brake. Essentially, it's just these three movements; easy enough for anyone to pick up in a matter of minutes.

There are over 10 different ski areas each with separate beginner, intermediate and difficult slopes to choose from. If you change the time setting to night, you can enjoy a brightly-lit night ski slope which has a totally different feel from daytime. Players can customize their character's age, sex, height, etc or can choose to use one of their Miis. Both single player or a multi-player up to 4 players is possible. Unfortunately, there is no Wi-Fi play option.

Even though, technically, one might call this a sports game, it also has an Animal Crossing element as well. In-game AI characters may challenge you to a race or initiate some other fun event. As you advance into the game, mogul runs become an option. When you take a jump, you can pull off a series of tricks much like you could in 1080 for the GC and 64 by pressing the Wiimote's D-pad.

For marketing the series, BandaiNamco is shelling out over 4 million dollars (400 million yen), the most they've ever invested into one game series. Also, they have joined forces to co-promote their game with the upcoming Japanese ski-drama "Gin iro no Season" which opens January 12 in Japan. Apparently, the movie will include in-game advertising...

Even if you have no plans to purchase Wii Fit, this looks to be a fun title for the casual gamer and an ideal lead-off game in the 'Family' series revival. Like Forever Blue, it would be awesome if you can ski to your own BGM tunes.... If it's not too late, please add this!

[Translated from Shinobi-san, (Japanese)]
Translation by Pink Godzilla