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Excite Truck (Nintendo Wii, 2006)
Price:
C $65.99
Approximately£37.88
+ C $55.76 postage
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Excite Truck is not for the fans of realism. This Wii launch title isn't designed to be anything more than an adrenaline rush of a racing game, and it definitely achieves this focus. It is, however, a title that suffers a bit from launch title-itis: its presentation isn't quite as fleshed out as far as current generation racers go, but even with a few small gaps like its weak multiplayer component, the game is a hell of a lot of fun to play in its solo outing. Excite Truck borrows its namesake from Nintendo's classic Excitebike NES and arcade game, but beyond this Wii racer's focus on excessive use of turbo boost, there's very little to compare the two games together; and no, you can't design your own tracks like you could in the NES game and its Nintendo 64 sequel let's get that one out of the way right from the start. But those who might not hold the nostalgia for the NES classic will see that the "Excite" more refers to the complete disregard for realism in favor of pushing some amazingly intense off-road racing on the console. Excite Truck is clearly a first generation console game that will, without a doubt be outdone in the Wii system's later years. But as a game that bursts right out of the gate as a launch title for the system, Excite Truck is a fulfilling, fun, energetic arcade-style racer that features a good balance of technology and technique. There are a few spots in places that could have been filled, like its weak two player option and trick system, but overall this game definitely pulls off the intense racing rush that quality arcade racers offer.Read full review
WHAT I LIKED: Excite Truck is a well put-together game. All of the elements in it serve a purpose and make the game more enjoyable. Some of the more unique elements of the title, elements not seen in other games of the Excite series, are the deformable landscapes, the unique racing structure, and the conditions for success. Around each track that you will race through, there are (!) icons that you can drive through. Whenever you touch one, the landscape in front of you will change shape, typically resulting in trick opportunities. Generally, this means a hill will appear in front of you, which you can launch off of. The unique racing structure is also a plus. Unlike in most racing games, you aren't forced to race each of the tracks in a circuit one after the other in order to get an overall grade, which would usually determine whether or not you can move on to the next circuit. Instead, you can race through each track one at a time, which reduces much of the frustration one might experience if he has trouble on one specific track. You'll no longer have to redo the other tracks again and again if you only have trouble with the one. Of course, you still need to get an certain overall grade for the circuit based on the individual tracks' high scores, which must all be at least a B, in order to progress to the next set of tracks. The conditions for success on any particular track are given by the STAR requirements. A STAR requirement tells you the number of STARS you need in order to get an S ranking, which is the highest ranking possible and what you should be shooting for. Not meeting or exceeding the STAR requirement will earn you a rank anywhere from D (the lowest) to A (the second highest). To obtain STARS during a race, you must perform tricks, which can be as simple as getting lots of airtime or driving close to trees without hitting them. The most complicated trick is the air spin, which requires proper timing if one intends to string several spins together. For each trick successfully completed, you receive a certain number of STARS, depending on how well you performed the trick. Lastly, at the end of the race, bonus STARS are added to your total, the number changing depending on how you placed. In this way, racing becomes much more than simply coming in first, which I believe makes the game that much more fun. WHAT I DISLIKED: Although the game is a lot of fun and definitely worth buying, the game could be a little more rounded. While there are a decent selection of trucks to choose from which do handle differently from one another, more variety in the track selection would have been nice. There are probably about 20 or so tracks, but only really 4 or 5 different environments. Thankfully, similar looking tracks vary in difficulty. I just wish they looked different. Though there are 3 additional modes of play for single-player, each mode only has three tracks to play on. As a result, these extra modes feel very tacked-on. It's sad, because they really showed potential. Multiplayer modes are limited to 2-Player VS races, and that's it. Why 2 players couldn't have played together in the extra modes, or why there isn't 4 player support, only the developer knows. Frankly, it's a missed opportunity. You should also know that if you intend to complete the game through "Super Excite" mode, it can be quite difficult. I haven't completed it myself, which I blame Canada for (it's a track in the Gold circuit). OVERALL SCORE: B+Read full review
The gameplay is great, the controls could used more work, It's quite challenging at first getting used to the motion controls for beginners until they get better. Quite a selection of trucks to choose from based off stats. Despite being one of the few first launch titles for the Wii. Does anybody else think what would happened if this game was created for the gamecube instead? Maybe then the game itself could've been a lot more popular into getting a sequel?
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Way back in 2006 (those were the days) when the Wii was released, Excite Truck was one of the few fun, technically sound games that was around on day one to prove that the Wii remote actually had a purpose in gaming, and was not just a clever ploy by Nintendo to make us purchase more crap. Cough. Cough. Using the remote as a wheel, you can turn simply by tilting the remote to the left or the right. While this may sound dumb, in practice it's somewhat accurate, and is a fair replacement for a joystick. Also, making this an 'offroad' game allows for the inevitable sloppiness when getting used to, and using, the controls. If this game was set up to require the pixel-perfect accuracy of say, the Burnout series, it would fall apart thanks to the non-tactile nature of the Wii remote. Either way, for what it is, it works. Speaking of the Burnout series, this game draws some pretty heavy influence from those games. Not only are the controls of the same simple nature (gas, and.....brake) but whenever you crash, time slows down and allows you to gaze at your damaged vehicle careening off the road for about three seconds or so. This gets annoying though, because unlike the Burnout series, Excite Truck features almost no damage/physics engine. In Burnout, you could watch amazed as your car acquired 'real-time damage!' In Excite Truck, you just bounce along the ground like a Hot Wheels car. Boring. Other than that, the game is a lot of fun, mostly because of the sheer amount of air time you get when driving these trucks. Each map is set up with enormous, ridiculous jumps, all waiting for you to boost off of. To land these jumps, you simply tilt the remote so that all four wheels hit the ground at the same time. Its emphasis on 'catching major air' (dude) is a fresh direction from the other racing games that I have played, and is honestly a lot of fun. However, for some reason, the multiplayer only allows for two people. That's it. No computer players, no nothing-which is a stark difference from the large group of computer racers that join you in the single player mode. Simply put, the multiplayer feels empty, and is a real lost opportunity with an otherwise fun, solid game. Overall, if you enjoy racing titles, and you've got a Wii, you've got a pretty good chance you'll enjoy Excite Truck. (unless you only like those 'realistic' racing games. Snob.)Read full review
I decided to buy this because I was looking for a driving multi-player game for the Wii console that had good ratings but was not going to cost be $49.99 I was looking around on Gamefaqs.com under reviews and ratings. This game seem to have a lot of ratings and the total rating was fairly high. You can use the Wii-Wheel with it but it only plays up to 2 players. Graphics are great, steering is a tiny bit over-sensitive. It is a little hard to stay on the roads/tracks most of the time but the game has boundary walls that it will not let you penetrate. Scenery and realism is good. Music is a little repetative but not obnoxious or not too cheesy. Anyone can play this game and is very hilarious at first. The tutorial is very useful but you may have to make a few attempts to get the hang of it. Not worth paying any more than $39.99 for it. I would highly suggest this game to absolutely anyone, it might be a little dificult for anyone under the age of 6.Read full review
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