For some reason, Wii owners young and old look stumbled when Excite Truck is suggested as 'the game' for them to buy. It is. Perhaps they've forgotten their love of Excite Bike, or maybe the lack of a launch fanfare with Zelda and WiiSports had them pass it's presence by; or perhaps they just always overlook the racing games. In any event, those who ignore Excite Truck will miss out on a challenging and addictive gaming experience all Wii owners should have.
The game is fairly straight-forward: you are tasked with using the offered variety of 4-wheeled, off-road vehicles to traverse the six countries and wide variety of track configurations, racking up star points by spinning, jumping, crashing, off-roading and eventually placing in races against five computer-controlled opponents.
At first attempt, many will likely give up because of the games' sensitive controls as they fish-tail left to right through the first few courses, smashing into every tree and rock along the way, only to run out of time before the finish line. The bias developed against this game in the early stages of gameplay is brutal, causing most casual gamers to turn their noses up.
The required tutorial is vague on the basic controls, and seems to fail at helping players acquire the skill of managing the Wiimote to control and turn the on-screen truck with any level of accuracy. Players will immediately find themselves in the ditch before they even get their barings. Only after one has found comfort with the controls are they going to figure out just what makes Excite Truck so great, and it only takes a bit of perseverance.
The graphics are stunning, the speed is accurately unforgiving, and the total lack of gravity is tuned just so. Acquiring an S-Grade for any track is equally challenging, rewarding, and frustrating; but more importantly, entirely possible.
The single player mode takes you through 48 races in 6 locations full of bumps, cliffs, trees, pipes, buildings, water, and volcanoes. Your mission is to collect a certain number of stars before you cross the finish line; winning or losing won't matter if you rack up enough trick points during the race, but that first place spot may often provide the 50 additional star points you need to hit your quota.
Star points are aquired by twisting and flipping the Wiimote just so to do spins, float in the air, smash other trucks, squeeze between trees, find shortcuts, jump through hoops, or just land "nice." With so many ways to build up stars, you'll end up finding the right combination of tricks that works for you.
On the multiplayer side of things, the game tends to lack. As is more and more usual, the lack of online play feels very absent. The multiplayer mode pits two players against each other to simply tally points race-by-race. There are no options to include computer-controlled opponents, no support for a third or fourth player, and no way to configure the races beyond selecting a truck and a soundtrack. The whole things ends up a little dry, and you'll quickly find yourself and your friends back in one-player mode passing a single controller around trying to progress through the game together.
But, hey, it's just that addicting. No worries, when you beat all the cups you can take a stab at the Challenge mode, offering three new types of race events that seem sorely missing from multiplayer once you discover them, and proving challenging enough to keep even the best drivers trying tirelessly for that perfect S Grade.
Positive
- Outstanding graphics with smooth rendering and animation
- Single-player mode makes a great multi-player turn-based game
- Unlocking trucks, tracks, and modes is challenging and fun
- Two player racing, challenge mode, and general addictiveness extends the replay value.
- Custom soundtracks
Negative
- Poor support for multiplayer, no configurable race types, no 4 player or AI
- The Excite-brand turbo meter and landing angles are present, but no course editor... not even course options.
- Hard for beginners, and the tutorial doesn't cover the basics.
Jose's Verdict
Unless you can't handle awesomeness, BUY this game.
A good racing game, with heavy emphasis on arcade-style, pick-up-and-play action. "2" accelerates, "1" brakes, the control pad activates your turbo, and the Wii Remote turns the vehicle. Environments are big, beautiful, and filled with shortcuts, and the trucks look purdy enough. The criticisms mentioned elsewhere, though—sometimes-unresponsive steering, a small grab-bag of locales, and Vs. play only between two human players—still stick with me. While it's a good game and has an excellent sense of speed and damage, it's not especially compelling, and deserves to host more than only two players in its races. The custom music feature is nice, but not enough to redeem this title from functional mediocrity.
For a launch title, you can't get much better than the sheer fun this game offers. Skeptics will write it off but there's a suprising level of depth here that has kept me playing since launch day. The real fun starts after you unlock Super Excite (no easy task) and it is well worth playing through twice on the harder difficulty to unlock the Lunar track. Simply Superb.
This game is great. I got it and couldn't stop playing it. I suggest you buy it if you are looking for a great racing game. I give this 4 stars for these reasons:
Music- 3/5
The music in this game has no vocals, or is by anybody you have heard of. It is just an electric guitar and some other things (drums, keyboard, ect).
Gameplay- 4/5
This game is long and challenging. It is fun enough to just pick up and play, and doesn't need many hours of your attention at a time, but you can give it that if you wish. You can spend just 10 to 15 minutes on this game and still be able to get a bit farther in it. This is one of those games you cant put down, and love to play. You race against 5 other racers, and can race against another person. There is also challenge mode which has 3 different challenges.
Cars- 4/5
The cars don't vary much, but look good. You can choose from trucks, trucks, and more trucks. There are also trucks that kind of look like dune buggies. You can choose colors such as dark blue, black, forest green, electric green and pink, and every other color under the sun. (oh yeah, and yellow)
Controls- 5/5
The controls are very fun, good, and just a bit too touchy with the steering. You steer the truck by tilting the remote like a steering wheel. The only bad thing is that if you move it too much, it doesnt register as the truck being turned.
If you can't think of a game to buy, buy Excite Truck.
The biggest surprise of Excite Truck is how awesome it looks. I mean, when you think about it, you really wouldn't expect much, graphically, from a arcade racer, but this game will make you do a double-take while playing. Okay, it might not be Zelda graphics, but its still very impressive.
The controls are tight and great. There is a slight learning period when you first pick up the game, as you will tend to over-tilt the remote thinking you need major movement to make the trucks turn harder. But going through the tutorials (which are mandatory) will get you in the right mindset to play this game.
The sense of speed in Excite Truck will pull you into the action. For some reason I never thought that I'd be going this fast in the game, but wow. The music will pull you even deeper.
Are you not a fan of the ingame music? Oh, in that case, why don't you put your own MP3 songs on a SD Card, and slap that into the game. Its a great feature that makes the game that much more custom to your tastes, but try not putting any slow acoustic songs onto the card. You will want put on some high tempo rock. But who knows? Maybe the slow acoustic songs will give the game a different flavor....In either case, you can do whatever you want, as its your music. And that's the best part.
I had zero clue about this game after I got my Nintendo Wii, and I was happy to have played a demo of this at GameStop. If you like racers of any type, this game will win you over, hands down.
A very fun racing game for the beginners. In the beginning of every race I try to smash my brothers car but he knows I try so I turbo boost toward him, miss, and then run into a tree. Atleast I get 1 star for nice crash!!!
The graphics are great and the game is just great fun all around. The down side to this game is the "multi-player" action. Two people can play only head-to-head, which is fun and all, but it would have been much better if two player action were in a bigger race or if there were 4 players head-to-head. Many unlockable trucks and tracks, three race modes.
Possibly the best racing game to come on Wii so far. although, there could be more levels, the levels in the snow are a little too hard sometimes. only a two player multiplayer wasn't enough, i feel that there is something missing in the multiplayer feature.
This is a game that I absolutely played right into the ground. I kept right on going until I had unlocked every track and truck. It's got an amazing sense of speed, and it is exciting when you catch air off of the jumps.
although it not very realistic, exite truck is the fundimental of having fun. and, if you follow these steps you can even get your own music to listen to while you play!
1: if you havent allready, buy an sd card.
2: dose your computer have an sd card slot? if not..
3: go to "the source" and buy a comp/sd adapter.
4: insert the card into the comp
5: find something with your cards brand name (a window will probably pop up).
6: open up limewire and click hold and drag your song into the the place with the sd card thingie (youl know what i mean)
7: remove the card after the transfer
8: let the dog out
9: you know that cover under the reset button? flip it and insert the card into the slot.
10: start up exite truck and just before the race starts go to sound options
11: chose sd card
This is one of the games that keeps on giving. When I bought it a couple days ago I couldn't stop playing it. When the wiimote was ripped from my hands by my parents, I checked my messages and somehow I was there for 3 hours.
A very awsome launch title. The game keeps you on the edge of your seat with all the quick turns and mile high jumps. Once you've completed this title unlocking all trucks and levels there is no reason to keep playing because of the lack of online. Not to mention none of my friends could beat me so I just sold it.
At first glance, my impressions of excite truck were les that enthusiastic...it was an attempt at a racing game...too boring to buy. But, after I had gotten my hands on my friend's copy, and loaded it into my Wii, it all hit me at once. The textures were crisp, the controls were simple, but extremely functional, and the default soudtrack was well chosen (I had to throw in an SD card w/ some other tracks, just for kicks). My brother and I flew through the game in 4-5 days, which is it's minor flaw, but the replay factor makes up for it. The fact that you have to tear up the track in order to win is is big motivator (not to mention challenging), but it also takes the racing element slightly out, and puts the destruction derby-esque, "I don't care about 1st, I'm gonna just smash cars into tiny metal cubes" mentality in top priority. But its fun nonetheless. It just goes to show that you dont need to dole out $600.00 for great grahics and even greater gameplay.
Bueno, creo que este juego es un gran "racing game". Los detalles del ambiente son bastante buenos y la velocidad de la carrera es excelente. Los plus de este juego es el "speed sense" y los cambios en el ambiente lo cual definen los grandes saltos. La velocidad es adquirida cuando mantienes un constancia en los "Nice Landing" los cuales son adquiridos cuando caes con las cuatro gomas a la vez. Los saltos grandes los haces cuando cambias el ambiente cojiendo unos items en la ruta. Todo esto para hacer trucos y obtener puntos por ello.
Overall es un buen juego pero es muy corto. Los stage son mas o menos los mismos en las diferentes dificultades. Es mas o menos el mismo concepto de Mario Kart DS (el single player). Mientras mas puntos y mejor tiempo hagas entonces sacas las diferentes guaguas.
Pienso que si no te gusta pasar mucho tiempo jugando lo mismo solo para unlock las cosas nuevas pues es un gran juego para alquilar y jugarlo un fin de semana.
***Pop it in and run through all the training to learn how to controll and compete for stars.***
A must own arcade style racer.The first time i put it in i played 3-4 hours and completed all first level tracks with an "S" rating, gained some new ride and opened next level.I enjoyed the fast pace arcade style and found the control easy to adapt to , ***my wife however (who likes racing games on other consoles) became frantic and could not control -she did not do the beginning training to learn controls***
So do the training and you will really enjoy this title.
Excite truck is a great new racing game for the wii which includes immense jumps and huge crashes.There are 4 options as soon as you start this game,1 saying options and that contains all the volume and all that rubbish,then theres the tutorial which you have to do before startig any race so you know how to do it,there are 2 different tutorial classes but two more for skills which you don't have to do,then there is the versus mode which pit's you up against someone else on the same wii console and let's you race with any races and cars you have unlocked on excite mode with a two player split screen(there is only two player on it)Then there is challenge mode which contains a contest where you get dropped in a huge environment and have to destroy 5 cars moving at fast speeeds and terying to defeat them all in the time limit.Then there is the ring competition where you have to go offf high slopes and drive in mid air through the rings which double in points as you go through them,but if you don't go through them then you los points for the next ring.Then there is the gate challenge which is nice and easy as you just have to drive inbetweeen two green bars,if you don't however you lose time which you need to get through the rings,you also get moe time for going through a gate.Then there is excite mode which is ne player mode,there is an immediate option of excite or dsuper excite which you may not unlock yet until you've finished excite mode.There are 4 cups but at the start you can only play one of them which is the bronze cup,it has 4 races which you must get a ranking b in and you have to have the amount of the stars that it says.You can get these points from drifting dodging tree's,going through rings,being in the air for a long time and crashing other cars and you get an odd star for crashing.Winning also get's you 50 stars,but you'r not on you'r own to throw you out there is 5 other trucks .
There is pow icons in races which if you touch them you will be invincible to tree's and can cause a super car crash immediatley.There is also question mark icons which when hit make an event happen or the environment change like a volcano erupting,avalanche or a bi hole in the hill as a shortcut.When you win all the races with a b rank then you unlock the next cup and then it gets even harder for the next cup.Along the way you will un lock new trucks and cups and then you will get paintjobs for getting super ranks three times on one veicle.To drive you simply turn the remote sideways so the control stick is at the left and then you have to hold 2 to go,1 to break and press forard on the control stick to boost but note there is a bar in the bottom right which when you use to much boost it will full up and you'r car will move really slowly for the next 10 seconds.and then you tilt the remote left and right to drive.A great game for it's genre.This review was written by gamegodmagazine see www.alifeoftime.piczo.com!!!!
Unquestionably the best racing game for the wii. There is a slight learning curve on the handling of the trucks but once you get the hang of it, it is a blast to play. Not a game that everyone can play, but most people get into it. The replay value is good. It does get a little repetitive at times. The story mode can be beaten moderatly shortly. It is a good one to pick up and play with your friends (If you have any...). I personally like this game and still haven't beaten it. I think it is a safe one to pick up if you can afford it.
Pretty awesome. Multiplayer is great, and so is single player. I just wish it had 4 player multiplayer and maybe some better music. Great game overall.
(560 Ratings)
For some reason, Wii owners young and old look stumbled when Excite Truck is suggested as 'the game' for them to buy. It is. Perhaps they've forgotten their love of Excite Bike, or maybe the lack of a launch fanfare with Zelda and WiiSports had them pass it's presence by; or perhaps they just always overlook the racing games. In any event, those who ignore Excite Truck will miss out on a challenging and addictive gaming experience all Wii owners should have.
The game is fairly straight-forward: you are tasked with using the offered variety of 4-wheeled, off-road vehicles to traverse the six countries and wide variety of track configurations, racking up star points by spinning, jumping, crashing, off-roading and eventually placing in races against five computer-controlled opponents.
At first attempt, many will likely give up because of the games' sensitive controls as they fish-tail left to right through the first few courses, smashing into every tree and rock along the way, only to run out of time before the finish line. The bias developed against this game in the early stages of gameplay is brutal, causing most casual gamers to turn their noses up.
The required tutorial is vague on the basic controls, and seems to fail at helping players acquire the skill of managing the Wiimote to control and turn the on-screen truck with any level of accuracy. Players will immediately find themselves in the ditch before they even get their barings. Only after one has found comfort with the controls are they going to figure out just what makes Excite Truck so great, and it only takes a bit of perseverance.
The graphics are stunning, the speed is accurately unforgiving, and the total lack of gravity is tuned just so. Acquiring an S-Grade for any track is equally challenging, rewarding, and frustrating; but more importantly, entirely possible.
The single player mode takes you through 48 races in 6 locations full of bumps, cliffs, trees, pipes, buildings, water, and volcanoes. Your mission is to collect a certain number of stars before you cross the finish line; winning or losing won't matter if you rack up enough trick points during the race, but that first place spot may often provide the 50 additional star points you need to hit your quota.
Star points are aquired by twisting and flipping the Wiimote just so to do spins, float in the air, smash other trucks, squeeze between trees, find shortcuts, jump through hoops, or just land "nice." With so many ways to build up stars, you'll end up finding the right combination of tricks that works for you.
On the multiplayer side of things, the game tends to lack. As is more and more usual, the lack of online play feels very absent. The multiplayer mode pits two players against each other to simply tally points race-by-race. There are no options to include computer-controlled opponents, no support for a third or fourth player, and no way to configure the races beyond selecting a truck and a soundtrack. The whole things ends up a little dry, and you'll quickly find yourself and your friends back in one-player mode passing a single controller around trying to progress through the game together.
But, hey, it's just that addicting. No worries, when you beat all the cups you can take a stab at the Challenge mode, offering three new types of race events that seem sorely missing from multiplayer once you discover them, and proving challenging enough to keep even the best drivers trying tirelessly for that perfect S Grade.
Positive
- Outstanding graphics with smooth rendering and animation
- Single-player mode makes a great multi-player turn-based game
- Unlocking trucks, tracks, and modes is challenging and fun
- Two player racing, challenge mode, and general addictiveness extends the replay value.
- Custom soundtracks
Negative
- Poor support for multiplayer, no configurable race types, no 4 player or AI
- The Excite-brand turbo meter and landing angles are present, but no course editor... not even course options.
- Hard for beginners, and the tutorial doesn't cover the basics.
Jose's Verdict
Unless you can't handle awesomeness, BUY this game.
Nintendo: online/multiplayer focused sequel. Now, please!
+ Great Graphics
+ Great Sound Effects
- Repetitive
Music- 3/5
The music in this game has no vocals, or is by anybody you have heard of. It is just an electric guitar and some other things (drums, keyboard, ect).
Gameplay- 4/5
This game is long and challenging. It is fun enough to just pick up and play, and doesn't need many hours of your attention at a time, but you can give it that if you wish. You can spend just 10 to 15 minutes on this game and still be able to get a bit farther in it. This is one of those games you cant put down, and love to play. You race against 5 other racers, and can race against another person. There is also challenge mode which has 3 different challenges.
Cars- 4/5
The cars don't vary much, but look good. You can choose from trucks, trucks, and more trucks. There are also trucks that kind of look like dune buggies. You can choose colors such as dark blue, black, forest green, electric green and pink, and every other color under the sun. (oh yeah, and yellow)
Controls- 5/5
The controls are very fun, good, and just a bit too touchy with the steering. You steer the truck by tilting the remote like a steering wheel. The only bad thing is that if you move it too much, it doesnt register as the truck being turned.
3+4+4+5=16/4= 4 out of 5
BUY THIS GAME!!!!!
If you can't think of a game to buy, buy Excite Truck.
The biggest surprise of Excite Truck is how awesome it looks. I mean, when you think about it, you really wouldn't expect much, graphically, from a arcade racer, but this game will make you do a double-take while playing. Okay, it might not be Zelda graphics, but its still very impressive.
The controls are tight and great. There is a slight learning period when you first pick up the game, as you will tend to over-tilt the remote thinking you need major movement to make the trucks turn harder. But going through the tutorials (which are mandatory) will get you in the right mindset to play this game.
The sense of speed in Excite Truck will pull you into the action. For some reason I never thought that I'd be going this fast in the game, but wow. The music will pull you even deeper.
Are you not a fan of the ingame music? Oh, in that case, why don't you put your own MP3 songs on a SD Card, and slap that into the game. Its a great feature that makes the game that much more custom to your tastes, but try not putting any slow acoustic songs onto the card. You will want put on some high tempo rock. But who knows? Maybe the slow acoustic songs will give the game a different flavor....In either case, you can do whatever you want, as its your music. And that's the best part.
I had zero clue about this game after I got my Nintendo Wii, and I was happy to have played a demo of this at GameStop. If you like racers of any type, this game will win you over, hands down.
Buy it. 5/5.
1: if you havent allready, buy an sd card.
2: dose your computer have an sd card slot? if not..
3: go to "the source" and buy a comp/sd adapter.
4: insert the card into the comp
5: find something with your cards brand name (a window will probably pop up).
6: open up limewire and click hold and drag your song into the the place with the sd card thingie (youl know what i mean)
7: remove the card after the transfer
8: let the dog out
9: you know that cover under the reset button? flip it and insert the card into the slot.
10: start up exite truck and just before the race starts go to sound options
11: chose sd card
Overall es un buen juego pero es muy corto. Los stage son mas o menos los mismos en las diferentes dificultades. Es mas o menos el mismo concepto de Mario Kart DS (el single player). Mientras mas puntos y mejor tiempo hagas entonces sacas las diferentes guaguas.
Pienso que si no te gusta pasar mucho tiempo jugando lo mismo solo para unlock las cosas nuevas pues es un gran juego para alquilar y jugarlo un fin de semana.
Good Game, Too Short!!!!!
A must own arcade style racer.The first time i put it in i played 3-4 hours and completed all first level tracks with an "S" rating, gained some new ride and opened next level.I enjoyed the fast pace arcade style and found the control easy to adapt to , ***my wife however (who likes racing games on other consoles) became frantic and could not control -she did not do the beginning training to learn controls***
So do the training and you will really enjoy this title.
Its a racing game in which you don't need to come in 1st to win.
???
There is pow icons in races which if you touch them you will be invincible to tree's and can cause a super car crash immediatley.There is also question mark icons which when hit make an event happen or the environment change like a volcano erupting,avalanche or a bi hole in the hill as a shortcut.When you win all the races with a b rank then you unlock the next cup and then it gets even harder for the next cup.Along the way you will un lock new trucks and cups and then you will get paintjobs for getting super ranks three times on one veicle.To drive you simply turn the remote sideways so the control stick is at the left and then you have to hold 2 to go,1 to break and press forard on the control stick to boost but note there is a bar in the bottom right which when you use to much boost it will full up and you'r car will move really slowly for the next 10 seconds.and then you tilt the remote left and right to drive.A great game for it's genre.This review was written by gamegodmagazine see www.alifeoftime.piczo.com!!!!