Nitrobike

"Same old"

Remember Excite Truck? I do, if only because I'm upset at myself for wasting 50 dollars on it at launch -- it just goes to show you what a decent bit of marketing and a good idea will do for you. Hell, it doesn't even need to work, but Excite Truck showed off that if you've got a neat game idea, push it and it will probably sell well. Nitrobike, now, adds insult to injury, because in addition to the game being pretty boring, the game play mechanic isn't even new.

The control scheme for Nitrobike works much the same way as did Excite Truck: one is brake, two is accelerate, you steer by tilting the Wii remote, and you boost by using the d-pad. Naturally, you're going to be holding the Remote on its side, like a NES controller. Personally, I'm pretty sick of this control scheme in and of itself, and then add to that the fact that it really doesn't work all the time. It's not always all that responsive, particularly in regards to the steering. You can also pull off some tricks in this game -- you'd think they'd be better-designed, seeing as they're pretty important to each race, but instead you're just going to use simple combinations of the one button and various directions on the d-pad.

The races themselves are fine, I suppose, but throughout the entire game something just feels missing. Nitrobike definitely goes after the cash of an arcade gamer -- the type who may have picked up Excite Truck -- rather than somebody who's looking for a fully fleshed-out racing experience on the Wii. Sure, the sense of speed is there, which is definitely cool, but the tricks are generally underwhelming and not nearly as fun as I expected. Why not try something like SSX Blur, where you actually use the Remote to pull off tricks? That's especially important when you take into account the boost meter, which gives you a bit of an edge speed-wise as your meter fills up. And yes, the only way to fill up your meter is by tricking in mid-air. A game where tricks are so important seems to put in a trick system as an afterthought? Something was seriously wrong here…

However, I do personally like the direction the developers, Left Field, took the game. There's far more of a focus on precision actually winning (thank God!) than there was present in Excite Truck. The courses are far less open-ended, leaving far less room for error and really forcing you to navigate the hairpin turns (and other bikers) expertly. Of course, this itself is a problem when you take into account the learning curve and occasional lack of response from the Wii Remote. Still, if you prefer more a racing experience than a crazy, off-the-wall unrealistic one that Excite Truck offered, you may feel right at home with Nitrobike.

Additionally, there's a good deal of depth here, as Nitrobike offers far more options of play than did Excite Truck. In addition to a mildly fun free race mode, there's also a career mode, which has you completing many events. Admittedly, most of them just involve racing, but there are some neat ideas here, such as Time Trials and even racing through fiery hoops. It's a decent single-player offering and while it's nothing groundbreaking by any stretch of the imagination, there's a touch of variety which keeps it more exciting for a single player than the regular racing mode.

The WiFi, which would have been a pretty good opportunity for this title to redeem itself and offer some significant replay value, is very disappointing. Playing against live opponents can only improve a game so much, especially because of the lack of voice chat or any other sort of communication, and particularly when the game itself just isn't that fun. There is a local multiplayer mode and this is pretty fun if you can find three friends to duke it out with, but with a not-too-fun game play mechanic, even multiplayer can't make a game much better.

Graphically, Nitrobike is also underwhelming, even compared to its close relative Excite Truck, which was released more than a year ago. Environments look somewhat grainy, as do other racers. Graphics are often a big part of racing games, because the genre is largely love it or hate it. If the game mechanic isn't fun, then there's not much that can be done to make the game better -- graphics, however, can help pull even a poor game from the mire. It's too bad that more attention to detail wasn't given to the visuals of Nitrobike, as they could have significantly helped out a suffering game.

In the end, I'll go ahead and say that about 80% of people out there should look past Nitrobike and instead wait for a more thoughtfully designed sequel or just hold off until Mario Kart Wii. Nitrobike isn't a terrible game, but at the same time it's also just not very fun. Combine that with the fact that it's a near carbon-copy of an underwhelming title (Excite Truck, of course) and you've got yourself a game that's most likely not worth 50 bucks. If, however, you really loved Excite Truck (and I know there are people like that out there, though I could never imagine why), then perhaps you should consider picking up Nitrobike.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/28/08, Updated 01/30/08

Game Release: Nitrobike (US, 01/15/08)