We store cookies, you can get more info from our privacy policy.
Wii

North America

Excite Truck

by Mike Gamin - May 10, 2006, 5:03 pm EDT
Total comments: 10

A truck racing game from Nintendo? I thought it was strange too.

Excite Truck is an interesting title. It is even more interesting that Nintendo decided to use it in their press conference this year. The game itself just screams arcade. It’s very fast, has floaty physics, and big crashes.

You control the game using the Wii controller on its side with no attachments. You rotate the controller to steer as well as adjust your pitch/yaw when you are airborne. Just how you rotate the controller caused some confusion. Picture yourself holding the controller buttons face up. Many expected to steer by rotating the controller like a clock when looking down at it. You actually rotate it on a different axis entirely. To turn right, you push the right side of the remote towards the floor and pull up on the left side. To turn left, well, you get the idea. After you get the steering figured out, the d-pad is used for turbo, the 2 button is used for gas, and the 1 button is used for break (which you won’t be using much).

Excite Truck is, at its core, an easy to pick up racer. It makes for a great tech demo to show off the gyroscopes within the remote. There are two aspects of a race, style points and overall time. You are racing against five other opponents. On the show floor they were all computer controlled. Obviously, goal number one is to come in first. While racing though, style points are awarded that will affect your overall rating for the race. These points are awarded for many things, from perfect driving, to extreme crashes.

The tracks are openly laid out. Even if you don’t stick to the main road, you can still win. You actually receive bonus style points for driving through shrubs, trees, and cacti. The game feels quite fast. At times, it almost feels F-Zero like if you can get a good head of steam behind you. Certain aspects of the terrain are destroyable, others will send your car into a “Great Crash" camera angle. This acts as a car reset and feels a bit strange.

Last but not least, the main twist that Nintendo spoke about in their conference. The terrain can be deformed in real time. At first I took this to mean that trucks would leave tracks behind them that affected other trucks. This is not the case. What actually happens is that you can drive through blue question mark switches. These switches will make a mountain grow in front of you. This can be advantageous as you can achieve speed boosts by hitting turbo as you go over jumps. The scale is impressive and adds an interesting twist to game.

Excite Truck was fun and had a couple cool ideas in it but it felt a lot like a tech demo. It definitely doesn’t compare in scale to many of the other games on the show floor. I heard people saying “This is a Nintendo game??!" on more than one occasion.

Talkback

CalibanMay 10, 2006

To me it sounds like a fun, fast-paced racing game, cool!

"I heard people saying “This is a Nintendo game??!" on more than one occasion." Um, I don't get it, they say it in a bad way?

PaleMike Gamin, Contributing EditorMay 10, 2006

Hmm.. I don't know if it's bad or not either... I just put it in there to point out how out of character the game feels coming from Nintendo.

mantidorMay 10, 2006

I thought it was pretty obvious it was Nintendo's because of the excite bike reference in the title.

CalibanMay 10, 2006

I've watched some footage of the game and it looked fast-paced just as F-Zero GX and 1080 Avalanche are, and both are Nintendo franchises so I beg to differ on their opinions.

"A truck racing game from Nintendo? I thought it was strange too."

I don't know about you, but I want to drive A BIG DAMN TRUCK!

Bill AurionMay 10, 2006

I was feeling sad that we probably won't see another FZero game, but this looks just as fast! I'm excited for a racing game, what is wrong with me?

IceColdMay 10, 2006

I think we'll see another F-Zero iteration sometime in the middle of the Wii's lifecycle. Or, at least, I hope so..

Infernal MonkeyMay 10, 2006

Quote

Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
I was feeling sad that we probably won't see another FZero game, but this looks just as fast! I'm excited for a racing game, what is wrong with me?


It's that San Francisco Rush lust that's been dead for years. Nintendo does what Midway can't. ='D

PaleMike Gamin, Contributing EditorMay 10, 2006

Hey guys, I just wanted to throw in here that others on staff enjoyed this game significantly more than I did. Hopefully once we all catch up you'll see some competing impressions.

I still stand by the fact that I think it feels like a glorified tech demo though. face-icon-small-wink.gif

MarioMay 11, 2006

A glorified tech demo is a game. That's pretty much the definition of a game.

I am EXCITED about TRUCKS! This looks freakin fun. I still wish Nintendo would give us a real racing game exclusive though. (no, NASCAR isn't real racing either)

Share + Bookmark





Excite Truck Box Art

Genre Racing
Developer Monster Games
Players1 - 2

Worldwide Releases

na: Excite Truck
Release Nov 19, 2006
PublisherNintendo
RatingEveryone
jpn: Excite Truck
Release Jan 18, 2007
PublisherNintendo
RatingAll Ages
eu: Excite Truck
Release Feb 16, 2007
PublisherNintendo
Rating7+
aus: Excite Truck
Release Feb 22, 2007
PublisherNintendo
RatingGeneral
Got a news tip? Send it in!
Advertisement
Advertisement