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This thread has been linked to the game 'Excite Truck'.
It was credited as being the “Best Racing Game of E3 2006” and marks Nintendo’s first attempt at developing a racing game for the Wii. The footage displayed a game that retained the fast, furious and airborne world of Excitebike but with far meatier vehicles at your helm. Yet, since its release last month (or in December in the States), Excite Truck has failed to receive the critical acclaim it enjoyed at E3.
Which is odd, because the game is one of the finest racers you’ll ever play.
GRAPHICS
Graphically, however, Excite Truck fails to excite. There are a few nice effects, with motion blur and morphing scenery providing most of the highlights. There are also some collapsing bridges, tornados and pretty water effects to enjoy as you hurtle through the courses. However some areas can be rather sparse and two dimensional, and although the truck models are solid, they do lack detail. It’s certainly not an ugly game, but like most Wii launch titles, it is no better than top end Gamecube software.
AUDIO
Excite Truck’s music tracks are nothing much to shout about either. The game adopts a generic rock soundtrack, which isn’t as ear splittingly awful as the one found in Sonic and the Secret Rings, but it won’t have you tapping your feet to the beat either. However, the game has set an interesting precedent by allowing you to import your own music using the SD memory card. If you do have access to this technology then use it, because flying over mountains to Iron Maiden is an experience I strongly recommend.
As for the sound effects, well these are fortunately spot on. The satisfying noise as you weave through trees, the crunching sound as your truck careers into a rock, the unusual yet exciting police siren that explodes whenever you grab a power boost and the silence that occurs as you fly through the air, are just a handful of the carefully selected sound effects you’ll learn to appreciate as you progress. When it comes to audio, Excite Truck is both a mix of the boring and the sublime.
GAMEPLAY
Excite Truck maybe uninspiring for the eyes and ears, but for the hands it is down right sensational. Excite Truck is a master class in good game design. Turn the Wii remote on its side and place your thumb above the 2 button and you’ll be ready to fly through rings, cause huge truck pile ups, boost over boats and perform 360 mid-air spins.
Progressing through the races is a little more complex than merely finishing first. Each race has a star value and you must meet or exceed that value in order to move on. You’ll collect stars depending on the position you come but you’ll also grab many by flying through the air, performing tricks, dodging trees and smashing into opponents. It is a lot more fun than your usual racing fare, especially when you transform scenery and snatch power ups to improve your star grabbing chances. You will also receive stars for crashing, reducing the frustration of such an eventuality, and the stars you collect can also result in special awards, which encourages you to continue even if you’re having a particularly bad race.
Yet, despite all this praise, Excite Truck has not managed to inspire the press in the way Wii Sports or Zelda has, and this is primarily down to what has been left out of the game. Excite Truck is a typical Nintendo racer, complete five races, win the cup, progress onto the next one. So there’s no career mode to speak of and there’s no option to tinker with your trucks either. The challenge mode and main game may provide an amazing racing experience, but it is also a shallow one. And that’s not mentioning one of Excite Truck’s most glaring omissions.
MULTIPLAYER
Excite Truck does feature a two player competitive multiplayer mode however the four player mode, a mode that has been the staple of Nintendo racers for two generations, is glaringly absent. There isn’t an opportunity to play online either, making Excite Truck appear archaic in front of its rivals.
CONCLUSION
Excite Truck could have been legendary. A decent multiplayer mode and a deep single player experience could have saved the game from a future of bargain bin obscurity. Yet, if you can look past what is missing and appreciate what is there, then you’ll find yourself playing something a little special. For Excite Truck is a lightening fast and frantic thrill ride from beginning to end, and well worth a purchase.
Which is odd, because the game is one of the finest racers you’ll ever play.
GRAPHICS
Graphically, however, Excite Truck fails to excite. There are a few nice effects, with motion blur and morphing scenery providing most of the highlights. There are also some collapsing bridges, tornados and pretty water effects to enjoy as you hurtle through the courses. However some areas can be rather sparse and two dimensional, and although the truck models are solid, they do lack detail. It’s certainly not an ugly game, but like most Wii launch titles, it is no better than top end Gamecube software.
AUDIO
Excite Truck’s music tracks are nothing much to shout about either. The game adopts a generic rock soundtrack, which isn’t as ear splittingly awful as the one found in Sonic and the Secret Rings, but it won’t have you tapping your feet to the beat either. However, the game has set an interesting precedent by allowing you to import your own music using the SD memory card. If you do have access to this technology then use it, because flying over mountains to Iron Maiden is an experience I strongly recommend.
As for the sound effects, well these are fortunately spot on. The satisfying noise as you weave through trees, the crunching sound as your truck careers into a rock, the unusual yet exciting police siren that explodes whenever you grab a power boost and the silence that occurs as you fly through the air, are just a handful of the carefully selected sound effects you’ll learn to appreciate as you progress. When it comes to audio, Excite Truck is both a mix of the boring and the sublime.
GAMEPLAY
Excite Truck maybe uninspiring for the eyes and ears, but for the hands it is down right sensational. Excite Truck is a master class in good game design. Turn the Wii remote on its side and place your thumb above the 2 button and you’ll be ready to fly through rings, cause huge truck pile ups, boost over boats and perform 360 mid-air spins.
Progressing through the races is a little more complex than merely finishing first. Each race has a star value and you must meet or exceed that value in order to move on. You’ll collect stars depending on the position you come but you’ll also grab many by flying through the air, performing tricks, dodging trees and smashing into opponents. It is a lot more fun than your usual racing fare, especially when you transform scenery and snatch power ups to improve your star grabbing chances. You will also receive stars for crashing, reducing the frustration of such an eventuality, and the stars you collect can also result in special awards, which encourages you to continue even if you’re having a particularly bad race.
Yet, despite all this praise, Excite Truck has not managed to inspire the press in the way Wii Sports or Zelda has, and this is primarily down to what has been left out of the game. Excite Truck is a typical Nintendo racer, complete five races, win the cup, progress onto the next one. So there’s no career mode to speak of and there’s no option to tinker with your trucks either. The challenge mode and main game may provide an amazing racing experience, but it is also a shallow one. And that’s not mentioning one of Excite Truck’s most glaring omissions.
MULTIPLAYER
Excite Truck does feature a two player competitive multiplayer mode however the four player mode, a mode that has been the staple of Nintendo racers for two generations, is glaringly absent. There isn’t an opportunity to play online either, making Excite Truck appear archaic in front of its rivals.
CONCLUSION
Excite Truck could have been legendary. A decent multiplayer mode and a deep single player experience could have saved the game from a future of bargain bin obscurity. Yet, if you can look past what is missing and appreciate what is there, then you’ll find yourself playing something a little special. For Excite Truck is a lightening fast and frantic thrill ride from beginning to end, and well worth a purchase.
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It was credited as being the “Best Racing Game of E3 2006” and marks Nintendo’s first attempt at developing a racing game for the Wii. The footage displayed a game that retained the fast, furious and airborne world of Excitebike but with far meatier vehicles at your helm. Yet, since its release last month (or in December in the States), Excite Truck has failed to receive the critical acclaim it enjoyed at E3.
Which is odd, because the game is one of the finest racers you’ll ever play.
GRAPHICS
Graphically, however, Excite Truck fails to excite. There are a few nice effects, with motion blur and morphing scenery providing most of the highlights. There are also some collapsing bridges, tornados and pretty water effects to enjoy as you hurtle through the courses. However some areas can be rather sparse and two dimensional, and although the truck models are solid, they do lack detail. It’s certainly not an ugly game, but like most Wii launch titles, it is no better than top end Gamecube software.
AUDIO
Excite Truck’s music tracks are nothing much to shout about either. The game adopts a generic rock soundtrack, which isn’t as ear splittingly awful as the one found in Sonic and the Secret Rings, but it won’t have you tapping your feet to the beat either. However, the game has set an interesting precedent by allowing you to import your own music using the SD memory card. If you do have access to this technology then use it, because flying over mountains to Iron Maiden is an experience I strongly recommend.
As for the sound effects, well these are fortunately spot on. The satisfying noise as you weave through trees, the crunching sound as your truck careers into a rock, the unusual yet exciting police siren that explodes whenever you grab a power boost and the silence that occurs as you fly through the air, are just a handful of the carefully selected sound effects you’ll learn to appreciate as you progress. When it comes to audio, Excite Truck is both a mix of the boring and the sublime.
GAMEPLAY
Excite Truck maybe uninspiring for the eyes and ears, but for the hands it is down right sensational. Excite Truck is a master class in good game design. Turn the Wii remote on its side and place your thumb above the 2 button and you’ll be ready to fly through rings, cause huge truck pile ups, boost over boats and perform 360 mid-air spins.
Progressing through the races is a little more complex than merely finishing first. Each race has a star value and you must meet or exceed that value in order to move on. You’ll collect stars depending on the position you come but you’ll also grab many by flying through the air, performing tricks, dodging trees and smashing into opponents. It is a lot more fun than your usual racing fare, especially when you transform scenery and snatch power ups to improve your star grabbing chances. You will also receive stars for crashing, reducing the frustration of such an eventuality, and the stars you collect can also result in special awards, which encourages you to continue even if you’re having a particularly bad race.
Yet, despite all this praise, Excite Truck has not managed to inspire the press in the way Wii Sports or Zelda has, and this is primarily down to what has been left out of the game. Excite Truck is a typical Nintendo racer, complete five races, win the cup, progress onto the next one. So there’s no career mode to speak of and there’s no option to tinker with your trucks either. The challenge mode and main game may provide an amazing racing experience, but it is also a shallow one. And that’s not mentioning one of Excite Truck’s most glaring omissions.
MULTIPLAYER
Excite Truck does feature a two player competitive multiplayer mode however the four player mode, a mode that has been the staple of Nintendo racers for two generations, is glaringly absent. There isn’t an opportunity to play online either, making Excite Truck appear archaic in front of its rivals.
CONCLUSION
Excite Truck could have been legendary. A decent multiplayer mode and a deep single player experience could have saved the game from a future of bargain bin obscurity. Yet, if you can look past what is missing and appreciate what is there, then you’ll find yourself playing something a little special. For Excite Truck is a lightening fast and frantic thrill ride from beginning to end, and well worth a purchase.
Which is odd, because the game is one of the finest racers you’ll ever play.
GRAPHICS
Graphically, however, Excite Truck fails to excite. There are a few nice effects, with motion blur and morphing scenery providing most of the highlights. There are also some collapsing bridges, tornados and pretty water effects to enjoy as you hurtle through the courses. However some areas can be rather sparse and two dimensional, and although the truck models are solid, they do lack detail. It’s certainly not an ugly game, but like most Wii launch titles, it is no better than top end Gamecube software.
AUDIO
Excite Truck’s music tracks are nothing much to shout about either. The game adopts a generic rock soundtrack, which isn’t as ear splittingly awful as the one found in Sonic and the Secret Rings, but it won’t have you tapping your feet to the beat either. However, the game has set an interesting precedent by allowing you to import your own music using the SD memory card. If you do have access to this technology then use it, because flying over mountains to Iron Maiden is an experience I strongly recommend.
As for the sound effects, well these are fortunately spot on. The satisfying noise as you weave through trees, the crunching sound as your truck careers into a rock, the unusual yet exciting police siren that explodes whenever you grab a power boost and the silence that occurs as you fly through the air, are just a handful of the carefully selected sound effects you’ll learn to appreciate as you progress. When it comes to audio, Excite Truck is both a mix of the boring and the sublime.
GAMEPLAY
Excite Truck maybe uninspiring for the eyes and ears, but for the hands it is down right sensational. Excite Truck is a master class in good game design. Turn the Wii remote on its side and place your thumb above the 2 button and you’ll be ready to fly through rings, cause huge truck pile ups, boost over boats and perform 360 mid-air spins.
Progressing through the races is a little more complex than merely finishing first. Each race has a star value and you must meet or exceed that value in order to move on. You’ll collect stars depending on the position you come but you’ll also grab many by flying through the air, performing tricks, dodging trees and smashing into opponents. It is a lot more fun than your usual racing fare, especially when you transform scenery and snatch power ups to improve your star grabbing chances. You will also receive stars for crashing, reducing the frustration of such an eventuality, and the stars you collect can also result in special awards, which encourages you to continue even if you’re having a particularly bad race.
Yet, despite all this praise, Excite Truck has not managed to inspire the press in the way Wii Sports or Zelda has, and this is primarily down to what has been left out of the game. Excite Truck is a typical Nintendo racer, complete five races, win the cup, progress onto the next one. So there’s no career mode to speak of and there’s no option to tinker with your trucks either. The challenge mode and main game may provide an amazing racing experience, but it is also a shallow one. And that’s not mentioning one of Excite Truck’s most glaring omissions.
MULTIPLAYER
Excite Truck does feature a two player competitive multiplayer mode however the four player mode, a mode that has been the staple of Nintendo racers for two generations, is glaringly absent. There isn’t an opportunity to play online either, making Excite Truck appear archaic in front of its rivals.
CONCLUSION
Excite Truck could have been legendary. A decent multiplayer mode and a deep single player experience could have saved the game from a future of bargain bin obscurity. Yet, if you can look past what is missing and appreciate what is there, then you’ll find yourself playing something a little special. For Excite Truck is a lightening fast and frantic thrill ride from beginning to end, and well worth a purchase.