Excite Truck

"Excite Truck = Exciting. :D"

This review is coming from someone who does not like racing games unless Mario is in it. When I first played Excite Truck, it was on the Nintendo Fusion Tour in Indianapolis on September 28th. I only played one race and I thought it was okay. Out of all the games that were on
the tour, Excite Truck was the least appealing. It wasn't a bad game, I just didn't find it all that amazing.

Fast forward to late November. GameStop had their Wii demo stations in and Nintendo chose to have Excite Truck as the only playable demo. I
played it at GameStop a few times but I could never get into it. The game looked graphically amazing but I couldn't get into the game.

Something about racing trucks in the dirt was just not impressive to me.

Christmas of 2006 hits and I get a few Wii games. My friend comes over a few days later and tells me he is going to introduce me to Excite Truck. "Sure", I said.

Well, he comes over one night and we do some two player racing. I'm driving all over the track because I cannot get used to the Wii controls. I eventually start picking up on how to play and it becomes a bit more interesting.

About a half hour later, he lets me try the single player. Before I even knew it, I was addicted to the game. It was really hard for me to stop playing single player. I kept on saying, "Just one more race."

Eventually he had to go and I didn't get to play it again for nearly a month. However, I actually bought the game myself and I can say that I'm a proud owner of Nintendo's Excite Truck.

Story
There is absolutely no story - which is good. Most of the time, storylines in racing games just kinda bite. In Excite Truck, you pretty much just race. There are no characters, just trucks. Race! Race! Race!

Gameplay
Excite Truck is extremely simple. However, it manages to be extremely fun. You and five other trucks race in areas such as Finland, Canada or Mexico. Your objective is to race to the finish and win.

During a race, you're given star points for pulling off simple stunts such as getting major air time, riding between a ton of trees without hitting any, spinning in the air, or smashing into other trucks.

There are icons throughout the track that you run through to alternate the environment. Once you hit an icon, the track will morph from a straightaway to a full on ramp that will make you airborne. The shift in environment might also throw your opponent upwards if they are right above where the track morphs.

At the end of the race, you're given star points for finishing. Of course, you get a lot of star points if you finish first. However, you can come in last every race and still progress through the game. You just have to make up your points by doing stunts throughout the race.

To get the most points though, it would be best to finish first and get a ton of points along the way.

As you progress through the game, you unlock trucks and tracks to race on. You can unlock one skin for every truck.

The gameplay sounds extremely simple, but trust me. It is extremely fun.

An online mode would've made this game absolutely perfect. The game is only two player splitscreen. And, for whatever reason, Nintendo doesn't give you the option of making the vertical split a horizontal split. So, you're stuck with a vertical split screen racer.

Two player mode consists of you and a friend. No other AI opponents are there.

Sadly, multiplayer is the weakest area of Excite Truck. You're better off playing single player and passing the controller to a friend after every race.

Controls
The controls are extremely simple. You hold the Wii remote like you would an NES controller. Press 2 to accelerate and press 1 to break.

You tilt the left side of the remote down to drive left and you tilt the right side of the remote down to drive right.

Once you get driving down, you can move on to the next set of important controls to learn. When your truck is airborne, tilt back on the remote to raise the front of your truck. This allows you to get more airtime. If you want to land quickly, tilt the remote forward to make the front of your truck move down.

When you're airborne, you can hold the 1 button down and tilt the remote left and right to spin in the air.

Visuals
Excite Truck is a pretty nice looking game. I don't think anyone will be shocked by the graphics but they are still pretty to look at. If you watch the replays of the races, you can really see some neat visuals. This is because you can pretty much see the whole track from where you are. The draw distance is pretty far. The only things that fade in front of you are trees, but that really doesn't pose any problem.

While the visuals probably could've been pulled off on the GameCube, they still aren't all that bad.

Sound
The sound isn't spectacular. It sounds pretty good when you hit a truck and the engine roars are pretty standard. The in game soundtrack is
extremely generic. I would recommend loading an SD card up with music you would love to race to. Insert the SD card into the Wii and have fun. Racing to your own soundtrack can be pretty motivating in intense races.

Imagine racing in a forest area with a thunderstorm and heavy rain. You and five other trucks are taking a wide turn at high speeds while a tornado gets awfully close to the track. This is all happening to the song "Advent One Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

wrapping it up
If you're looking for a wild off road arcade racer, then look no further. Excite Truck is fast, fun and can be challenge for most gamers.

If you're still not sure about this game, then at least give it a rental. And, as I stated before, the lack of an online mode is pretty much a bummer. However, the single player will keep you busy for awhile.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/26/07