Customer Reviews

Excite Truck

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Excite Truck, in adding a vertical component to a standard racing game, has created one of the more enjoyable games that I've played in recent memory.

Controlling the trucks in Excite Truck is both unique and simple. Holding the standard Wii remote sideways (keep the d-pad under your left thumb and the 1 and 2 buttons under your right), you steer the truck by turning the controller. The courses feature many ramps from which you can launch your truck into the air and control how long it stays aloft by rotating the controller back toward you. And if you stick the landing, so to speak, by aligning all four of the truck's tires with the ground (again, by rotating the controller), you can get a speed boost.

The game play in Excite Truck is very compelling. The game offers a head-to-head mode that pits two racers against each other, but my friends and I preferred collaborating on clearing the levels. In a twist that is, in my experience, unique to Excite Truck, you do not clear a track based just on score. Instead, you must collect stars as you run through the course. Stars are granted for, among other things, jumps with long hang-times, daring runs through trees, hard slides through curves, and smashing other trucks. You can also get points for how you place in the race, but it is much more important to collect stars during the race as you cannot get an 'A' or 'B' for a course simply by coming in first. In fact, no matter how fast you race, your competitors will likely be able to match your pace, especially in the 'Gold' and 'Platinum' level tracks. It takes deft maneuvering at the end of the race to secure a first place finish in some of these later levels. All things considered, the focus on tricks and jumps makes for a very enjoyable game, especially for a group of players.

Quibbles:<ul><li>The initial setup of the game -- all of the game actually -- requires that you hold the remote sideways. However, no indication of this is given when you are asked to create save data at the beginning of the game, so you have to figure out on your own why pressing the up arrow moves the cursor to the left. Driving the menus with the standard Wii point-and-click interface would have been a useful improvement.
<li>The controls take some getting used to. Some of my friends had a tendency to try to steer with the directional pad. Others would over steer by turning the remote all the way past vertical when steering, which had unpredictable results. But a little more time with the game will probably get people used to the controls. (And, as a full disclaimer, none of the ones who had difficulty steering had completed the tutorials.)</ul>All that aside, Excite Truck is a must-have game for the Nintendo Wii.

Excite Truck is a launch game for the Nintendo Wii and is FANTASTIC! The game is perfect in nearly every way, so here's how:

PLAYING IT: Excite Truck is a simple game, really. You turn the Wii remote sideways and then tilt it left and right to steer your truck! '2' is accelerate. '1' is brake. And the D-Pad is turbo. And the D-pad is turbo. And the D-pad is turbo. And the D-pad is turbo. Get it?

GAMEPLAY: Excite Truck's winning conditions are unlike any other racing game. While it does help enormously to get in first place, the game is not a race, but a competition of points. To get these points you must do insane stuff: Going extremly close to tons of trees in a row, staying up in the air for seemingly hours, pulling off air spins, morphing the terrain and sending other trucks into the air, ramming straight into anything possible, and MORE!

GRAPHICS: Graphics are usually things that fans of other consoles taunt when it comes to Nintendo. But Excite Truck's are absolutley astounding! Water is realtisically rendered, dirt on the ground goes into the air when your truck lands, paint is thrown off of the truck when you crash, and coconuts fall from trees making the sand sprinkle when you crash into a palm tree!

COURSES: Perhaps this is where Excite Truck does not exceed so much. Each course is insanely fun and perfectly made, but they seem to be...similar. Too similar. Oftentimes, a new course you unlock is an exact replica of an old course you already beat, just taking a diffrent route every 5 seconds and then veering back to the old level.

TRUCKS: Another place. Excite Truck's trucks are made great, but almost every truck seems to have a clone. Of course, trucks like the Boulder, Dynamo and Alpine and expert cars, there seem to be wannabees of these cars, some that are short and long, which reangle the camera during a race more towards the ground.

EXTRAS: Excite Truck doesn't have many extras to speak of. You beat, 4 or 5 courses, and you unlock another 4 or 5. And when you do certain stuff, you get new trucks. Although working for the Diamond Cup in the Super Excite difficulty is defiently worth your frustration and time. Not to say that it needs extras,anyway. And even though not much comes from winning trophies of pulling of those 250 Super Tree Runs, you still can't help but just think 'but maybe..'

DIFFICULTY: Excite Truck seems to have uneven difficulty at times. The bronze cup is insanely easy, and the silver cup is a bit mixed, but the Gold Cup is INSANELY difficult, yet the platinum cup doesn't present much challenge, although it does contain the best courses in the game (landing that jump means racing on the GREAT WALL OF CHINA!) yet the secret Diamond Cup is amazingly difficult..I reccommend the Sargon for beating it.

MULTIPLAYER: People seem to complain that Excite Truck's two-player mode is boring. While it does seem dull compared to single player, its still a rousing good time with your friends. And there are no framerate issues!

REPLAY VALUE: Excite Truck has infinite replay value, not because of graphics, difficulty or anything like that, just because its fun. It's a fun game for all ages.

FINAL SCORE:
Gameplay: 9.8
Graphics: 9.2
Courses: 8.7
Trucks: 7.0
Extras: 6.3
Difficulty: 9.1
Multiplayer: 7.9
Replay Value: 10.0
TOTAL (Not Averaged): 9.7

Excite Truck might seem to be a straightforward truck dirt-racing game, but they include a number of interesting features like morphing terrain, super speed, and stunts.

The graphics are rather nice. You get a variety of terrain types - deserty mountains, snowy slopes, sandy dunes, tropical paradises, and much more. There are numerous models to choose from - four by fours, buggies, SUV styles, and other styles you can unlock as you go. You get all the colors of the rainbow to paint your vehicle.

The sound is reasonably good - what do you really care in a racing game? It's a collection of upbeat rock songs, along with the squeal-crash-wrrrrrr of the trucks racing.

The fantastic fun here is the actual racing. No, this isn't high end technical Indy car tuning. This is out and out fun, the kind where you have friends over for the afternoon and laugh yourselves silly with the moves you are making. You can play against friends, play with friends, or play on your own to get the longest jump, the most impressive crash, or any other of a number of stats.

That's because this game isn't just about who makes it to the finish line first. You have to gather up enough stars to win, too. Stars are earned by doing outrageous feats. Do a flip in the air, crash in an impressive manner, go for a long distance slide.

The courses make this fun to play and replay. There is lava rolling down at you, boulders crashing, landscapes changing before your eyes. These aren't courses you master in one pass. There's always something new to learn if you keep your eyes open.

The game is definitely family-friendly - grandparents can play with their grandkids and both would enjoy it.

Is there a downside? You could argue that the same is too "silly" - but that's its purpose. It isn't meant to be a serious racing game. Maybe the trucks are a little too shiny, but I find it hard to object. I think my biggest complaint is that you can only have two trucks in multi-player, and it's just head-to-head. It'd be cool if you had more than 2 players, or 2 players in a regular field with computer-controlled enemies, or co-op modes on the real courses.

Still, these are minor complaints. The game is quite fun.

Well recommended!

This is arcade fun at it's best. Excite Truck is just plain fun. It takes a while to get used to using the Wiimote as a steering wheel. After you have played this game for a few minutes you get used to the non stop fun. This game is pure arcade based aderaline pumping fun. There is no realism here and that was never the intent. This is a perfect example of what Nintendo is trying to accomplish with the Wii. Simple fun...It's hard to believe that something so simple has eluded game designers for so long. Now with the full interaction you can be steering your monster truck over jumps going crazy distances. The game has this feature where if you hit a bonus the terrain changes before your eyes. Bumps turn quickly into hills. It's an amazing site and adds more fun to each level...Just because I have commented on the fun factor doesn't make this game simple to beat. The non stop speed and the terrain will have you facing quite the challenge. If you are in the market for new games for your Wii look no further than Excite Truck.

Nintendo wants you to forget about the GameCube. It was all a bad dream (except, in my opinion, Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker). While Sony and Microsoft slug it out over who has the best graphics and functuality (and in the process, paint themselves into a corner), Nintendo is doing what we have waited years for: Make video games fun again.

Excite Truck for the Wii is a very fun game, and reminds me of WaveRace64 for the N64. Graphically, it's nowhere near as crisp and grand as anything you'd see on the 360 or the Ps3. Nowhere near. But, this is what Sony and Microsoft want you to believe video games are supposed to be. That's funny, I thought video games were supposed to be fun? That's what Excite Truck is. This is what you seek by playing video games in the first place. If you want realism, go outdoors and experience life.

The Wii remote is your steering wheel, and you'll be so caught up in the game, you'll forget how to steer. Not to mention the pure speed captured on screen. You don't have TIME to concentrate! As an old-school gamer, I am so used to controlling with the D-pad, that I instinctively try to steer the truck using that, instead of moving my wrists to steer. That's not a bad thing, it just shows how fun it is. Give me a game like this to forget my problems, 2 hours passed by as if it were a minute.

Is the game flawless? No. The only flawless game I've played is Super Mario 64 or the original Legend of Zelda for the NES. I give this a fun factor of 5, with an overall score of 4.

This is the first game I've purchased for the Wii (which came with the fantastic Wii Sports), and by all indications, Nintendo has righted themselves and are about to strike gold again. To anyone who doesn't want to own a Wii over the controller, you are really missing out.

In the young life of the Wii thus far, Excite Truck is a game you'll want to own.

This game is not for those who like realistic driving games but that is why I like this game so much.

This game is insanely fun. Doing tricks and stunts with a truck, flying through the air off jumps and boosting. It is just tons of fun. You can also get points for ramming your opponent off the road and having nice crashes.

This game and the tutorial learning how to use the controls is not hard to learn at all. The driving is very intuitive. Anyone can play it. When you turn the Wii reomte controller sideways then you can use it as a steering wheel. You then can steer the truck by turning the controller as if you are steering a car.

I would have to say besides the new Zelda, Excite Truck is my favorite game to play on the Wii so far.

Just remember when purchasing this game, the graphics are not as intense at the XBox 360 or the new PS3. But the action is fast and fun.

I highly recommended this game for anyone purchasing the Wii.

First off, this game's graphics are not mind-blowing. They are very good, but they are not as beautiful as the Xbox 360 or the Playstation 3. That said, that is not the reason that you buy this game. The game has amazing replayability because of it's amazing controls and fun factor. You turn the Wii remote on its side and use it as a steering wheel. When on a massive jump, use the "steering wheel" to change your pitch and land safely. Perfect landings are met with speed boosts. Playing this game with friends is a blast. Your friends will be wowed by the controls and then wowed by the fun they're having.

I have played several of the Wii games already and this is my favorite!

Must buy!

We have had this game for about a year. It is a lot of fun for this 43 year old Mom. I don't usually play console games because my button pushing coordination level is about 0. This game, like other wii games, has limited button pushing and more closely RESEMBLES actual driving. The turning of the wii remote is a bit different than turning a steering wheel but can be mastered . It is incredibly fun and addictive. It is also extremely gratifying to occasionally beat my "gamer" son. Your advantage: practice at night a few times when he has to go to bed!

My title there says a lot. My wife does not like video games. She doesn't have anything against them, she just doesn't like to play them. Then came the Wii.

My story is similar regarding racing games. I don't like them very much. I'm not good at them and if you can't ever win the race, then they're not much fun.

After reading the reviews for Excite Truck though, I decided to rent it to give it a shot. I was bit annoyed that I was forced to do the tutorial to open up the main racing modes, but I'm glad I had to do it. It shortened the learning curve and I'm glad to have those extra minutes to play this game.

All I can say is WOW. Though the game overall lacks depth and could use more options, it is an absolute blast to play. My brother and I started playing it and neither of us was that excited. That changed during our first race.

The feeling of speed that it gives is incredible. You barrel around corners and turbo jump into the air for what seems like forever. This game is as far from a racing simulation as you can get. Which for me increases the fun factor immensely. Though there are not a whole lot of tracks, there are many variations of each one. New areas, jumps, & obstacles are in each one.

I finally talked my wife into trying it and now she has almost fallen out of her chair a couple times trying to turn the "wheel" so hard.

Anyway, this is in the top 3 games I've played for the Wii so far (and I've rented most of them) with Zelda and Wii Sports. As long as you're not expecting an offroad version of Need for Speed, then you'll have a lot of fun with this.

Pros:
Dizzying speeds and gravity-defying jumps
The controls feel strange for only about 5 minutes. They work flawlessly.
Don't have to win every race to unlock new trucks and tracks.
Fun for anyone of any age.
"Morphing" the track is a fantastic idea and really adds to the game.
A lot of races to run in single-player mode.
Lots of ways to earn points.
No matter how many times you crash, you're always in the race

Cons:
Need to be able to do more tricks in the air
Needs a two-player "Grand Prix" mode so 2 of us can race against other trucks. Currently 2-player mode is only the two of you on the track.
More tracks would be nice
No matter how many times you crash, you're always in the race (Yes, this is a pro & a con. For my wife this is good, because she crashes a lot. For my brother this is bad because he's an excellent driver and should have left everyone in the dust)

Bottom Line: Outstanding game with good graphics and unbelievably fun gameplay.

This game is perhaps one of the best available for the Wii Console. The graphics are good, the courses are elaborate, and the sheer number of vehicles to choose from is astounding.

This game comes with the option to race a friend, or play the Excite Races to unlock new vehicles, new paint jobs, and new courses. If you earn an "S" on every course, you open up "Super Excite" races which gives you the chance to unlock even more vehicles, paint jobs, and when you get an "S" on all of those courses you unlock "Mirror".

This game is easy to control, even a younger child will enjoy crashing into everything and will find it not too difficult to control. Moving the Wii Remote (like a steering wheel) is how you steer and you can change the terrain (making steep jumps, throwing other vehicles, putting up rings to go through) and it just makes it exciting.

This is a game that will get a LOT of play and even after opening everything up, you can do it all over again.

I highly recommend this game even if you aren't in to racing games.