Customer Reviews

Jeep Thrills

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I'm not sure why this game is getting such bad reviews... My husband and 2 boys (ages 3 and 5) love this game. They mastered Mario Kart and this game was a no-brainer for them. They are all Jeep enthusiasts (inspired by Dad of course) so maybe that's part of why they love the game. The kids get a kick out of picking their Jeep style and color, and particularly like when the mud flings all over the screen. My 5 year old said it's just like going on the Jeep Jamboree in Vermont. For 20 bucks, this game rocks for the Jeep lover!!

This is a fun game, plain and simple. My son & I had a lot of enjoyment out of racing our Jeeps, and exploring the maps. The additions of side-paths, & short-cuts (along with hidden jumps, like the stairs!) lends a lot of replay to this title, along with a very approachable game-play.

Is this the best title out there? No. Is this the best racing game, even? No. Is this a fun game, that can be played by all ages? Yes.

In the end, doesn't it matter if you're having fun?

Final review: Fun for the family, probably not for the hard/medium-core gamer.

You control your jeep with the Wii mote turned sideways. The game is Wii Wheel compatible, which is what I use. The basic gameplay is: gas pedal, brake, steering, and turbos. Steering and turbos is where this game has problems, mainly the turbos.

Firstly the steering, the jeeps don't turn well and that part won't get any better by unlocking other ones, because you can already pick a jeep at the beginning that has 100% handling and the turning isn't great at all. It can be difficult to take some corners and will always decelerate, sometimes completely and causing you to wipeout.

Bringing me to the turbos which you can use as you brake the corners and regain speed by using them. The turbos are the green bars left-side of the screen, they will refill somewhat quickly and you can use a lot or a little by clicking the trigger button. It works similar to Mario Kart's mushroom, except it refills. You must use this very often, if you don't, you miss an opportunity by just letting your turbo boosts just sit idly full. When you initiate a turbo, the camera that follows your car switches views, and makes your car smaller and the screen moves a little faster on the edges. The camera view switch is extremely annoying. It takes away from the flow of racing and it makes it a lot harder to focus on the turns and obstacles in your path. And since you must use the turbos very often, your view will go from BIG, small, BIG, small, BIG, small, etc. You can't turn it off, the option's menu is useless, you can only view the credits or change the volume for sound FX and the music. This is the biggest turn off for me. It didn't bother me too much at first, but after a while when I had to use the turbos at more frequent intervals, I literally got headaches from playing. I quit, went back to the game and still got another headache after thinking maybe it wasn't the game's fault. This is unplayable for me, I've never got a headache from a game or rollercoaster. WAY TOO MUCH camera switching.

Obstacles are easy to crash into and other jeeps can really mess you up by ramming into you. Another annoying part of the game, when you get close to other jeeps it lags like the Matrix effect. By design or flaw, its irritating and takes away from the flow of the racing as well.

The "A" button respawns your jeep and when I found this out I knew it was not a good sign, because the game creators knew that there are spots you can get stuck and it is impossible to move anywhere and whenever I had to use this it was game over, too hard to catch back up. The camera view switches when you reverse so you view backwards, it's kind of annoying since most games don't do this, but just a minor annoyance since you don't reverse too often.

The graphics of the jeeps and environment/race tracks are good, the interface and menu design look unpolished and cheap. I liked some of the shortcuts, the best one was with a tunnel in a mountain you can go through and it exits abruptly so you fly through the air till you land on the road.

Another downside is that you must unlock multiplayer before you can play it and much of the content must be unlocked.

This game had potential with some cool ideas like the refillable turbos and shortcuts. However, it is unbearable because of the turbo-camera-switch. The bad steering and easy crashing don't help either. Ever hear of DSI before? I'll give you a hint, they make lousy games.

What a dissapointment! When you first start you're struck by the fact that there is a very limited Jeep choice and constimization (whoopty-doo, you get to pick the color). Then you start to play and realize the handling is so bad it's near impossible to win a game. Plus -- let's face it -- it's just a racing game. This is supposed to be about Jeeps. Wouldn't it make more sense if this game had some 4 wheeling challenges?! Seriously, even if you like Jeeps and racing games, you're only going to attempt to play this once and then pack it away.

Contrary to what some people say I think the handling is pretty accurate for driving a Jeep on rough terrain. That said, you'd better not make mistakes while you're racing if you're interested in moving your career forward.

It took me several races to get myself in the top 3 on the first track in the game. The AI is totally unforgiving, driving just a shade below professional seemingly all the time. Once I learned some little nuances (I love using the wheel, too many people just yank it around and expect results) and got better at sliding around turns, I started enjoying myself a lot more. Still, hitting something that makes you stop means you might as well just restart, you're almost guaranteed to finish dead last. Why can't your opponents hit some stuff?

There seems to be a lack of really good racing titles for the Wii, and this one probably adds to the problem. When we get MaterNational this one will probably gather dust, but for now I'll take it.

First let me say that I am a 55-year-old female who was racing against her (reckless) 61 year old brother and we had a blast! However, I may understand some of the negativity this game is getting regarding the handling of the Jeeps. In the beginning of the game you are only given a choice of 4 vehicles. (You earn more choices as you improve.) Directly under each selection there is information about each vehicle's speed and handling. As "we" have deciphered, it goes like this -
The Liberty is Good Steering and Good Speed. (steering diagram shows less bars - Higher bars indicate looser steering)
The Renegade is Loose Steering and Good Speed. (steering diagram shows more bars)
The Commander is Fair Steering and Fair Speed.
The Gladiator is Loose Steering and Fair Speed.
(Now that is IF I wrote it all down correctly, but anyway, you get the idea.)
So, for those saying that the handling was terrible, they may have found it much more manageable with a different vehicle.
We had a lot of fun in the game "Competition/Valley of the Gods". The track will also allow you to go the wrong way which brought us more challenges by going head-on at each other and even coordinating jumps for near or mid-air crashes! Well, it's one of our favorite games however we also love the Wii Sports, Mario Cart and I am really enjoying the Wii Fitness. What can I say? Some people never grow up! (now if I just had a grandchild to play with me!!)

This is an extremely hard to drive racing game. My 6 year old son got this for his birthday yesterday and we can't even unlock any of the tracks, only the ones that are unlocked when you start it up. The computer drivers have a perfect line but using the wheel, the steering is very difficult to keep in a straight line or control the jeeps. They need an easy/intermediate/advanced level on this game. I wouldn't suggest it for young kids. I couldn't get any tracks unlocked and I'm in my 30s and have played plenty of video games in my years.
The graphics are good, it just needs a better driving simulator to make it easier to control, or slow the computer racers down a lot. There is no way to keep up with them for more than a lap, if that.

Personally, since I have played a lot of racing games I found that the Need For Speed Pro Street and Undercover are the best for the Wii. Mario Cart is following them but the new Need For Speed games are bellow this game. This has more graphics then Need For Speed Hot Pursuit or Nitro. This is a race game and the game itself does not look like whats on the cover. If you have a younger child who has not played many racing games I would get it for them. Right not my 7 year old sister love it. I guess she has turned into a car fanatic like her brother.

Game is very challenging racing against computer.
Need to place in top 3 in order to unlock other vehicles and courses.
The graphic on the courses aren't always clearly marked, so it's easy to off the track.

Jeep thrills is not as bad as some would lead you to believe. You defintely need patience to get good enough to start unlocking new tracks, race types, and vehicles. The game could have greatly benefited from some other difficulty modes besides the default which seems to be very tough when racing against computer opponents. This is a budget title, so in that respect I think you get enjoyment commensurate to the price tag. I will say if you are not a fan of the racing genre in general then steer clear of this one and pick up something like Mario Kart if you are looking for a taste of driving fun.

Pros:
Actual racing action is fun. Graphics are decent but not spectacular. The tracks are varied and seem to be well thought out with different terrains and challenges. Finding the shortcuts is always fun for any track, and in some cases seem to be the only chance you have to pass opponents cleanly. Racing against another player head to head is enjoyable as they are likely to be "human" in terms of their driving skills. Having to unlock new things keep you coming back for more. Different play "modes" are also nice including the Tournament mode which adds points over a short series of races similar to that found in Mario Kart (kind of a mini-NASCAR points type system)

Cons:
Computer opponents are very fast and never seem to make a driving mistake. If you get too far behind in any race you can forget about finishing anything but last. Also computer opponents will crash in to you and send your car off course and/or tumbling, but when you do the same to them they bounce off and move ahead as if nothing happened most of the time. Also some of the solo crashes lead to unbelivable "air time", tumbling, spinning, rolling, etc. Anytime one of those type wrecks occur kiss that race goodby as the computer opponents are long gone. Steering is very difficult with almost all the Jeeps, but eventually you will get the hang of it. Turbo mode is a little "out of control" in terms of the speeds produced and the zoom/reverse zoom graphics effects. Finally several times I have driven the Jeep in to scenarios where you are completely stuck and cannot move forward or backward to get out. Very frustrating especially if you are in tournament mode.