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

North America

18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker

by Steven Rodriguez - June 3, 2002, 10:49 am EDT

4

It's the only game where you can go from New York to San Francisco in under 10 minutes!

Ah, the open road. What better way is there to travel cross country than to hop into the cab of an 18-wheel rig loaded with cargo, plow your way through cars and roadblocks, sideswipe a rival rig, plunge off of a 20 story cliff, then find a parking spot at your destination? Well, you can do all that and more with Acclaim’s port of Sega’s arcade game, but much like the arcades, you can get full enjoyment from the game if you can manage to find one there.

Upon starting, your main gameplay options consist of Arcade, Parking, Score Attack, and Versus. The Arcade mode is the true-to-form port from the arcade, where you pick a rig based on its speed, torque, and toughness ratings, then race cross-country from New York to San Francisco as fast as possible. Scoring is based on how quickly you can carry your cargo to the goal line, and how much damage it’s taken en route. You’ll also be racing against a rival truck, and if you manage to beat it, you’ll score even more bonus money. After the first stage, you can choose what kind of cargo you want to carry: Long and heavy for more reward money, or shorter and lighter for less money. As you’ll soon discover, the bigger loads always yield the higher scores, so after you become accustomed to the game, you’ll always pick the more massive ones.

However, the major problem with the arcade mode is its length, or to be more precise, its lack thereof. It’ll literally take you 10 minutes to beat the game with a decent score. On top of that, the levels are setup so that you’ll barely make it to the end on time (many times you’ll coast across the finish line), but then again, most arcade games work like this, so it’s expected. Still, the aggravation you’ll get from just coming up short many times doesn’t seem to be justified by actually completing the level and moving on, as there are only four levels.

Score Attack and Versus work in similar ways. The goal in both is to finish a level with as much money as possible, except that the Versus mode takes place on different closed-circuit tracks (with two players), as Score Attack uses the main game’s point-to-point levels. Parking mode, if you can believe it, is actually the game’s most time-consuming mode, as you need to navigate your truck around various parking areas as quickly as possible, all without hitting anything. The mode’s first levels are easy, but as you move into the later levels, things get pretty challenging. Even if it is a fine balance between frustration and challenge, you’ll still grow tired of it after a few days. Not good for an asking price of $50.

Control is never a reason for frustration, though. The Analog R and L are gas and brake, while A and B are your gearbox (High/Low gears and Reverse). That’s all you need to play this game, although the horn does help to move cars out of your way on the road if you use it properly. The game does a fine job of mimicking the actual control a real rig needs to deal with, and as you’ll discover in the parking modes, there’s a reason why these types of trucks need to take wide right turns.

Everything else in the game is rather iffy. The game’s graphics look pretty nice for an arcade game, with good truck detail and above-average landscaping, but everything else is plain. Other cars and buildings look like N64 things rather than GameCube objects (then again, there are quite a few of them out there). The sound effects are spot-on, but your boss and rival blaring the same things over the radio to you every time you play is just not good. Music isn’t worth listening to, either.

Here we have another port where there’s simply not enough to do, even for a rental, let alone a purchase. The game does have its moments, and it always slightly more fun with another body, but there’s no reason for anyone to own this one unless there’s someone out there who needs to own every single GameCube game. You should try to play it, but don’t rent it unless you’ve got a rent one-get one free coupon around, because you’re better off plunking about $3 worth of quarters into the actual arcade unit rather than having had to pay for this disc to waste space in your GameCube for 5 days.

Score

Graphics Sound Control Gameplay Lastability Final
6.5 4 7 5 3 4
Graphics
6.5

It’s a pretty game, even if it is a straight arcade port. Trucks look detailed, landscapes look a bit more realistic than one would think, but everything else is still simple. Could have been a lot better if Acclaim wasn’t just porting.

Sound
4

The sound effects sound well enough, but the “radio” transmissions don’t do a thing. After the first trip through the main game, hearing the exact same things at the exact same points on the track becomes downright nerve racking. Music is just a place holder.

Control
7

The best aspect of the game. It actually feels like you’re controlling a hauler when you’re playing, especially when you’re driving at low speeds (like in parking mode), and the physics of it all seem quite precise for a game like this. However, there are times when you stop on a dime, something these big rigs usually don’t do.

Gameplay
5

The arcade mode is designed for you rack up the highest score possible, and the gameplay reflects this. Just haul-ass to the end as fast as possible-that’s really all there is to it. The parking mode is far better, because you need to be precise and fast.

Lastability
3

After you play and beat the arcade mode for the third time, you’ll give it up and head for parking mode. This will actually take up most of your time with the game, as there are more parking stages to unlock and times to try and beat. However, once you master it (it’ll take about three days), there’s nothing left in this mode either.

Final
4

It’s another quick-and-dirty arcade port. Don’t expect to get anything out of this game other than a mindless diversion. If you can manage the to find the actual arcade cabinet of this game, dropping $3 into it would get you the same experience as if you would have paid $50 for this game.

Summary

Pros
  • Graphics don't look half-bad
  • Parking mode is a nice challenge
  • Trucks control like the real things
Cons
  • Another arcade port that could have been better
  • Not very much replay value
  • Sound is really annoying and repetitive
  • Ugh, main mode is way too short
Review Page 2: Conclusion

Share + Bookmark





Genre Racing
Developer Acclaim
Players1

Worldwide Releases

na: 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker
Release Feb 18, 2002
PublisherAcclaim
RatingEveryone
jpn: 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker
Release Sep 12, 2002
PublisherAcclaim Japan
RatingAll Ages
eu: 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker
Release May 31, 2002
PublisherAcclaim
Rating3+
aus: 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker
Release Year 2002
PublisherAcclaim
RatingGeneral
Got a news tip? Send it in!
Advertisement
Advertisement