By Richard Southam

The Game: Excite Truck

Published by: Nintendo Developed by: Monster Games, Inc. Genre: Racing Number of Players: 1-2 Release Date: US: November 19, 2006 Japan: January 31, 2007 Europe: December 8, 2006 ESRB Content Descriptors: Mild Violence

The Premise from Nintendo:

In the grand racing tradition of Excitebike, get ready for a big-air experience like no other! Players rocket their trucks across dynamically changing terrain in this nitrous-injected, high-flying racer for speed junkies. Showing the Wii Remote controller’s versatility, players tilt the controller on its side to turn it into a wireless steering wheel!

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The Game:

Excite Truck is the first Nintendo Wii launch title that will require you to sit in order to truly enjoy the experience. Don’t think of Excite Truck as a traditional racing game, because it’s quite the opposite. Influenced by Nintendo’s Excitebike for the NES, Excite Truck is an arcade style racing game. Finishing first is not the only way to win.

Gameplay:

The first thing you will notice about Excite Truck is its incredibly fast pace. The races are insanely fast and require you to stay on your toes. One false turn and you’re toast. The single-player game is quite short. In fact, there are only about a dozen playable tracks. This results in a somewhat unsatisfying experience. The multi-player, although helping a bit, doesn’t help quite enough to keep you satisfied. The main multi-player mode consists of a 2-player split-screen race. Although this is a nice addition, I feel that a 4-player multi-player mode would have been much better. Having only a 2-player multi-player mode, as well as only having 12 tracks to race on, makes Excite Truck’s replay ability quite low. Once you’re done with the single-player experience, there isn’t really anything to draw you in a second time. A great addition to the gameplay is how Excite Truck let’s you import your own music into the game. This is done via SD Card. The handling in the game is also quite remarkable. It does take a little bit of time to get used to; however once you’ve mastered it you’ll never want to go back to a regular remote again.

The Controls:

Excite Truck displays how versatile the Wii remote really is. You simply turn it on its side and use it as a steering while. The accuracy and control are fantastic. The controls take a little bit of getting used to, simply because you’ve never played a game this way. A steering wheel attachment is available but not necessary to play. It retails separately.

Graphics:

The graphics in Excite Truck are actually quite beautiful, although you’ll never have any time to actually stop and look at them. The game features great textures and visual effects, as well as great level design.

Audio:

The default soundtrack for the races is quite sub-par. However, Excite Truck allows you to import your own songs via an SD Card. This is a great addition that adds a much needed personal touch to the game.

Pros and Cons:

+ Beautiful graphics + Ability to import your own music into the game + Intuitive and accurate controls – Limited replay value – Lack of multi-player support – A low number of tracks

Overall:

7.1 / 10