GENRE
	Driving
	DEVELOPER
	Zoo Digital Pub
	PUBLISHER
	Destination Games
	LOCAL WIRELESS MULTI-PLAY
	Yes
	Wi-Fi/GLOBAL ONLINE MULTI-PLAY
	No
	MICROPHONE
	No
	BUY NOW AT

If repeatedly driving between six different locations for around six hours sounds like fun to you, this may be your game. Big Mutha Truckers for Nintendo DS is basically a truck-driver simulator where you buy, transport and sell goods; all this while managing your rig’s fuel and repairs.

visuals

The top screen of DS is used to render all of the action in 3D. The engine is nothing amazing, but it doesn’t look terrible either. Sure, some of the textures are reminiscent of SNES games, but the gameplay is unaffected by it.

The developers did add a lot of little details. The terrain is littered with billboard signs, trees, mountains and plenty of highway traffic. As you traverse around the map you’ll encounter city streets, mountainous regions and even snow covered hills. They even added a real-time shadow to all the vehicles that is affected by the source of sunlight.

Probably the worst graphics of the game come when you enter the cities to deal with the townspeople. You talk with people at the bars, mechanic shops and retailers by simply selecting the text of the location you want to visit. Once selected, you’re treated to a horribly low-res image of the person you’re talking to. It’s almost as if the picture was originally created for a GBA’s screen dimensions and then just zoomed and stretched to fit the DS screen.

The bottom screen of the DS is used for an overhead map, called the SAT NAV, during driving sequences. The map won’t help you with upcoming turns or navigation, as it only is representative of the fact that the cities are not close to one another. Its only purpose is to show you and your rivals moving about the world map, racing to make deliveries.

audio

The music in the game is pretty lackluster. There are five different radio settings to listen to while driving around. The stations are: MC ESCHER which consists of generic techno; SPACE 108 is also generic sounding techno; K-ROK is rock music synthesized on a keyboard; YEEHAW! FM is bluegrass/country music; and finally a RANDOM setting, where it mixes the four stations. All of the music is forgettable, but not bad enough that you’re forced to turn it off.

Sound effects in the game do a descent job of capturing the sounds of driving a big rig on a busy highway. Car horns, police sirens and the sound of a diesel engine cranking out the horse power fit well. The only complaint would have to be the sound of the text being generated in a conversation. It basically sounds like the “clicking” noise that is on an iPod when scrolling through selections. Considering you’ll be talking to a lot of people, you’re going to be hearing this a lot.

gameplay

Big Mutha Truckers is a solid driving game. It controls as well as you’d expect a two-ton rig would handle. It’s not a real fast game, but it’s still fun cruising around dodging traffic, avoiding police cars and doing everything you can to not hit the motorcycles so as to not bring about the wrath of a biker gang.

While driving you have to monitor your fuel and damage meters. Run out of fuel or incur too much damage and you lose a day of progress being towed back to BMT Inc. headquarters.

There are two different game modes available from the start. Trial by Truckin’ and Mission Mode.

Trial by Truckin’ is where the meat of the game lies. In this mode you have 60 days to make more money than your other 3 siblings. You select from one of four characters, the remaining three being your competition. Pick from Cletus Jackson, Earl Jackson, Bobbie Sue Jackson or Rawkus Jackson. All characters have their own rigs, but there is almost no perceivable difference to the vehicles’ handling or performance. The winner with most earnings at the end of the 60 days gets to own BMT Inc. (Big Mutha Truckers Incorporated).

You start the game with $25,000 and head off to make your first delivery. At the outset of every single day, you pick the city you going to visit and then drive there. There are only six destinations to choose from: Greenback, Skeeter’s Creek, Smokestack Heights, Salt Sea City, Capital City or the BMT Inc. headquarters in the center of the map. Once you arrive in a town there’s a quick parking mini-game where you have a chance to earn a few thousand dollars, and then it’s time for the most tedious part of the game.

Essentially, you repeat these same exact steps every time you visit a city:

• Sell what you’re carrying to the SHOP.
• Go to the BAR and find out what the hottest selling items are. For example, Shirley in Greenback may say “Smokestack Heights is getting real desperate for Iron Ore.”
• Visit the GARAGE to refuel, repair and change the trailer of your truck. Pick from Flatback, Tanker or Refrigerated trailers. The type of goods that you need to carry can only be transported in certain types of trailers. For instance, you’ll need a Tanker to transport Milk.
• Go back to the SHOP and purchase the goods that were recommended in the BAR.
• Finally, leave the town and pick the destination city that needs the goods. Drive to that location and start the five steps over.

You will repeat those same steps sixty times. It begins to get especially tedious by about Day 20.

There are a few other things you can do in the game. As you leave each town you can choose to wager money to accept a rivals challenge to race to the next destination. In the BAR of each city you can also take out a loan from a guy to purchase more goods. You can play a slots mini-game, where you choose to bet $100, $300 or $500 to watch the slots spin and hopefully get you three of the same item in a row. You can upgrade your rig in the GARAGE of each town to increase your performance. However, the game was able to be finished and win the entire 60 day challenge with absolutely no upgrades, so there’s little motivation to spend money on upgrades. Finally, there are missions you can accept from various people where you perform random tasks such as “run over all of the news stands,” etc.

The second gameplay mode is Mission Mode where you can repeat any of the unlocked tasks people have given you while playing through Trial By Truckn’ mode.

multiplayer

The multiplayer offered is pretty minimal. Both players will require their own copy of the game in order to challenge each other to races. There is no Nintendo Wi-Fi support.

overall

As a budget title, Big Mutha Truckers isn’t a terrible package. Sure, the game has its flaws and quickly becomes tedious, but it's strangely addicting in its own way. If you’re absolutely starved for another portable driving game, Big Mutha Truckers might be worth checking out. Otherwise, DS has plenty of other great games to save your money for.

6.5/10