GENRE
	Racing
	DEVELOPER
	Monster Games
	PUBLISHER
	Nintendo
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-2
	WI-FI ENHANCED
	No
	DS COMPATIBLE
	No
	BUY NOW AT

Excite Truck was initially credited as being the "Best Racing Game of E3 2006." The E3 footage displayed a game that retained the fast, furious and airborne world of Excitebike, but with far meatier vehicles at your helm. Since its release in December (or last month if you live in Europe), Excite Truck has failed to receive the critical acclaim it enjoyed at E3; which is odd, because the game is one of the finest racers you’ll ever play.

visuals

Graphically, Excite Truck fails to excite. There are a few nice effects, with motion blur and morphing scenery providing most of the highlights. Some collapsing bridges, tornados and pretty water effects are also there to enjoy as you hurtle through the courses. However, some areas can be rather sparse and two-dimensional, and the truck models do lack detail. It’s certainly not an ugly game, but like most Wii launch titles, it is no better than top-shelf GameCube software.

audio

Excite Truck’s music is nothing to shout about. The game adopts a generic rock soundtrack, which isn’t as ear splittingly awful as the one found in Sonic and the Secret Rings, but it won’t have you tapping your feet to the beat either. However, the game sets an interesting precedent by allowing you to import your own music using the SD memory card. If you do have access to this technology then use it, because flying over mountains to Iron Maiden is an experience I strongly recommend.

Fortunately, the sound effects are spot on. The satisfying noise as you weave through trees, the crunching sound as your truck careers into a rock, the exciting police siren when you grab a power boost and the silence as you fly through the air are all just a handful of the carefully selected sounds you’ll hear. When it comes to audio, Excite Truck is both a mix of the boring and the sublime.

gameplay

Excite Truck may be uninspiring for the eyes and ears, but for the hands it is downright sensational. Turn the Wii remote on its side, place your thumb above the 2 button and you’ll be ready to fly through rings, cause huge truck pile ups, boost over boats and perform 360 mid-air spins. Excite Truck is a master class in good game design.

Progressing through the races is a little more complex than merely finishing first. Each race has a star value, and you must meet or exceed that value in order to move on. You’ll collect stars depending on what place you finish and by flying through the air, performing tricks, dodging trees and smashing into opponents. It is a lot more fun than your usual racing fare, especially when you transform scenery and snatch power-ups to improve your star grabbing chances. You will also receive stars for crashing, which reduce the frustration of such an eventuality; and the stars you collect can result in special awards, which encourage you to continue even if you’re having a particularly bad race.

Despite all this praise, Excite Truck has not managed to inspire the press in the way Wii Sports or Zelda has, and this is primarily because of what has been left out of the game. Excite Truck is a typical Nintendo racer: complete five races, win the cup, then progress onto the next one. There’s neither a career mode, nor an option to tinker with your trucks. The challenge mode and main game may provide an addictive and compulsive racing experience, but it is also a shallow one. But the most glaring admission is the lack of multiplayer options.

multiplayer

Excite Truck features a two player competitive multiplayer mode; but the four player mode -- a mode that has been the staple of Nintendo racers for two generations -- is glaringly absent. There's no online play either, making Excite Truck appear archaic when compared to its rivals.

overall

Excite Truck could have been legendary. A decent multiplayer mode and a deep single player experience could have saved the game from a future of bargain bin obscurity. Yet, if you can look past what is missing and appreciate what is there, then you’ll find yourself playing something special. For Excite Truck is a lightening fast and frantic thrill ride from beginning to end, and well worth a purchase.

9.0/10