Excitebots: Trick Racing

[Retro_Link]

That trailer is awful. Zechs' prediction - this game will sell badly. It looks like utter infantile rubbish.

In what way is that trailer awful?

It's no more infantile than Mario Kart!

[Zechs Merquise]

In what way is that trailer awful?

It's no more infantile than Mario Kart!

 

Mario Kart looks great and has a pretty deep heritage. This looks like a cheap third party game that you'd see in the bargain section for 24.99 on release. The whole design of the vehicles, the silly 'pie face' style mini games and the whole 'feel' of it are just terrible.

 

There's a lot of Wii games that get the hate, and I'm usually one to stand up for them, but this... sorry, it just looks awful to me.

[mcj metroid]

my prediction: this game will be much better than excite truck and will sell very well.

I expect scores to range from the 80% onwards. I can't believe people think it's going to be bad because they are too stubborn to admit they jumped the gun......again..

[DiemetriX]

/cry

 

The game is probably gonna be good, but I hate the fact it's so "kiddy" [Yes, I said it].

[Retro_Link]

It's funny 'cos I don't particularly get any kiddy vibe from this game.

[Fierce_LiNk]

It's funny 'cos I don't particularly get any kiddy vibe from this game.

 

That's how I feel, too.

 

To me, I see it as ExciteTruck with a twist. Which is exactly what it is.

[Hero-of-Time]

Has there been any word on whether this will support Wii Speak while playing online? Surely there is no excuse for all the online games that are coming up not to have this feature.

[darksnowman]

Has there been any word on whether this will support Wii Speak while playing online? Surely there is no excuse for all the online games that are coming up not to have this feature.

 

Don't think we've had any solid info on it other than what Nintendo Power previewed. On the IGN podcast they mentioned how its being released in the coming weeks so there should be a steady news stream starting soon.

[Retro_Link]

On the IGN podcast they mentioned how its being released in the coming weeks so there should be a steady news stream starting soon.

It's pretty exciting that it's just a few weeks away! I think more games need to start doing this!

[EchoDesiato]

Argh, these sudden releases really mess up my game budget planning.

[Konfucius]

/cry

 

The game is probably gonna be good, but I hate the fact it's so "kiddy" [Yes, I said it].

 

That is also something that's putting me off a bit but Excite Truck was too fantastic to not keep an eye on it.

I was thinking some time about what they could actually do instead of the Bots which would allow them to include the same moves and came to the conclusion of oversized truck drivers. Take more or less the Trucks from Excite Truck and for instance if they are close to a pole a giant hand reaches out from the side window and grabs the pole. Instead of the Bot-running-mode the could just have the drivers stomp through the chassis and start running.

That would actually look quite funny too if done right.

[D_prOdigy]

It's laughable that people are put off a game that they admits look fun, but think seems "kiddy". Is it because that have friends that will judge them or something? Or would they judge themselves in a sort of schizophrenic way?

[Emasher]

Mario Kart looks great and has a pretty deep heritage. This looks like a cheap third party game that you'd see in the bargain section for 24.99 on release. The whole design of the vehicles, the silly 'pie face' style mini games and the whole 'feel' of it are just terrible.

 

There's a lot of Wii games that get the hate, and I'm usually one to stand up for them, but this... sorry, it just looks awful to me.

 

But remember, this was made under the supervision of Nintendo, by Monster games, the studio that made Excite Truck. Not Ubisoft. This is bound to turn out good.

[Konfucius]

It's laughable that people are put off a game that they admits look fun, but think seems "kiddy". Is it because that have friends that will judge them or something? Or would they judge themselves in a sort of schizophrenic way?

 

I also think it's way too kiddy but I'm still going to play it. But I'd even go as as far as to say that "kiddy" is just another graphics style. Some people have problems to bring themselves to play for instance something cell-shaded and others to play cute animals with big grins on their faces.

[Fierce_LiNk]

It's laughable that people are put off a game that they admits look fun, but think seems "kiddy". Is it because that have friends that will judge them or something? Or would they judge themselves in a sort of schizophrenic way?

 

Well, they've got to do something before sixth form sucks up all of their time.

[mcj metroid]

It's laughable that people are put off a game that they admits look fun, but think seems "kiddy". Is it because that have friends that will judge them or something? Or would they judge themselves in a sort of schizophrenic way?

It's amazing to think that these same people buy mario games for years and NOW complain about a game looking kiddy

[D_prOdigy]

Well, they've got to do something before sixth form sucks up all of their time.

 

Heh, ye- wait... HEY!

 

:p

[Fierce_LiNk]

Heh, ye- wait... HEY!

 

:p

 

Haha, you're ok, though.

 

I'm thinking of cracking out ExciteTruck in preparation for this. Could do with some tree runs, hehe.

[The Peeps]

I lent my Wii to my friend, it's only now that it's gone that I'm feeling the need to play on it again. Just Twilight Princess and Excite Truck.

[Retro_Link]

From the new Nintendo Power:

 

http://www.nintendoeverything.com/?p=12189

 

Controls:

 

- 1 button to break

- 2 for gas

- Hold down control pad for continuous boost

- Pressing control pad too long can cause bot to overheat and slowdown

- Tilt Wiimote in quick seesaw motions to make bot go faster when it’s running on two legs

- Can play with the Wii Wheel

- There is a difference in how the bots handle compared to the trucks from Excite Truck

 

Features:

 

- Has a bunch of Challenge modes - more than in Excite Truck

- Has split-screen two player racing, online support with up to six players

- More Wi-Fi features that are still under wraps

- Unlock new tracks and bots in Excite Race

- Need to complete School Cup (tutorials) first

- Complete five tracks in each cup (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) to go on to the next

- Can race tracks in any order

- Tracks considered cleared only if you earn a B rank or higher

- Also has old tracks from Excite Trucks.

Locations include Kilimanjero, Egypt, Canada, China.

 

- New attack items

- Chomper Mouth - set of fake teeth chatters away, launches onto closest opponent

- Soccer goal kicks, darts, football field goals, pie throwing are some of the mini-games

- Doing mini-games correctly can give you extra points

- Completing a mini-game can trigger a surprise such as opening up a hidden route

- Has a variety of unlockables

 

- The bots don’t overheat as much as the trucks did

- Has more of a techno soundtrack

[Konfucius]

I hope they also include SD-Card music support. That was really cool in the first one.

Edited March 14, 2009 by Konfucius

[mcj metroid]

sounding better and better. But I hope they exaggerate the locals a little unlike the first.. give us some snow levels or fire levels etc... if you're going to have bots they are obviously not caring about realism so go the whole way!

[Dante]

IGNs Hands On:

 

Perhaps one of the biggest sleeper hits on the system, Nintendo's launch racer Excite Truck is still one of the fastest, intense, most beautiful, and pure entertaining titles on Wii, and right up there with the best of the best in Wii racing. After seeing some decent success with the game at launch, developer Monster Games is now letting the throttle loose one more time on Wii, bringing the odd – but oh so awesome – Excitebots to Wii in just a few short days.

 

And it blows the original away.

First, we got a name on a release list. Shortly after, an odd trailer that showed everything from goal-kicking to bowling mini-games set within the race itself, and perhaps the oddest of the new game's design elements, the vehicles themselves, now changing from trucks to transforming robot insects and animals. Why? Why the heck not!? Robotic things rule!

 

 

If you haven't seen the official trailer, start here, and then read on.

 

 

To say that this game is unconventional is an understatement. In our first two hours behind the wheel with Excitebots we've had office members stop and stare, and we've had comments about it being a 3D reincarnation of Uniracers, Wario Ware mixed with racing, an F-Zero style game, and others. The real obvious truth, however, is that the game simply does whatever it wants, as long as it ensures more fun in the process. You'll still get the star-based racing from the first Excite Truck, you'll get crazy air, terrain morphing buttons, a boost meter that needs to be kept in constant check, air spins, jump boosts, and plenty of locales to blaze through at ridiculous speeds. Add on top of that, however, is the some of the most insane stunt and micro-game elements I've ever seen in a racer.

The game kicks off with you selecting one of a few starting "bots" to race with. Each has a weight, grip, boost power, and boost longevity stat. The turtle, for example, is heavy, but packs serious boost, while the frog is an all-around medium across the board. My personal favorite in the bunch, the bat, is as light as a feather, has amazing boost power and longevity, but lacks grip, making him a perfect jump/glide racer. Available from the beginning of the game, players can select from the frog, beetle, ladybug, bat, turtle, and grasshopper. As you unlock stars by racing, they can be used to cash in on new vehicles, as well as other goodies we're not allowed to talk about yet. Each of the vehicles feels very different, and has four stock colors, seven unlockable ones, and a special design. As for three unlockable bots we can talk about, you've got the mouse, mantis, and hummingbird each available for a certain price at the beginning of the game. Being a fan of the lighter racers, I unlocked the hummingbird for a cool 2,500 stars, and it was worth every penny. He rivals the bat as far as flight and gliding goes, making for serious air bonuses and tricking.

 

When it comes to racing, Excitebots delivers more than any other game of its kind on Wii. The game is blazing fast, but it's the micro-challenges that really make it a chaotic, entertaining experience 100% of the time. They're completely random in design too. The red horizontal bar, for example, has you motioning with increasing speed as if you're rowing a boat, going slow at first, and then faster and faster as your vehicle gains momentum. After charging it up, the bot will release automatically. With yellow bars, however, it's the opposite experience. You latch on, the bot automatically swings, but as it slows down you shove forward to release at the right time, with better timing offering more boost. The vertical bars – basically Clu-Clu Land in racing form - have you latching onto it, and then swinging as you shoot up into the air. Again, a quick shove will let go, though if you screw up on that one you'll go into a boost-powered death. Your bot tumbles in mid-air, with tilt controlling (slightly) as you sail out of control. If you can manage to land wheels-down, you save yourself and can continue. If not, it's crash-and-burn time, using shake to power yourself back up and into the race again.

 

Oh there's more.

 

Briefly in the first trailer you could see bots running on the ground, rather than driving. This is also a new power-up, collected by grabbing a wrench on the race track. For anyone that snags this amazing item, it could mean a serious edge on the competition, as your bot seamlessly transforms into a biped and starts running. Tilt control is still in effect, but slamming down left and right while trying to turn at the same time (basically a more exaggerated tilt) will cause the bot to sprint, busting into flames and tearing through the competition as it trots over trees and speeds ahead. The game takes it one step further though, adding another layer of awesome on top of the already in-place awesome for now double-awesome goodness.

 

That's only the beginning though. There's also a rubber band bar that hovers in mid-air, allowing you to trampoline off it and do front flips for more stars. Question mark boxes on the track now either morph terrain, open up shortcuts, or bring on micro-challenges such as the random bowling and soccer events shown off in the trailer. These are available only to the person that hits the question mark, and are quick star-earning trials. Hit a question mark box, and a goal will burst out of the ground, with a soccer ball bouncing in from out of nowhere. Collide with it, and it'll shoot off like a pool ball, scoring five stars if you can get it in the net. With bowling, you simply drive through and collide as best as possible, getting pin action and scoring a star for each pin that falls down. Others include a random dart that you throw at a hovering board with the A button, or pie that you chuck at a clown's face in a similar fashion.

 

Hitting ramps will send your sprinting bot into the air, morphing it yet again into a glider mode that would make any triple-changing Transformer from the 80's blush bright red. You take to the air, go into glide mode, and then have controls comparable to wing cap Mario, tilting backwards to gain height, and forward to dive-bomb and speed up. Oh, and the flight controls rock. This could be its own game. Collect butterflies while in the air, and then land on a gigantic sunflower to gain even more bonus stars. Seriously, we couldn't make this stuff up. Whatever Monster Games is smoking, it's paying off big time, because this game is good fun.

 

Nintendo has asked that we keep a lid on a few things within the game (mostly unlockables you'll be spending your stars on), but online is confirmed, and it's six players. We also had a chance to try out the odd – but again, awesome – Poker Race mode, which combines classic five card draw with in-level cards and a "hand" for each player. In these three specific tracks, players have a hand of five cards, and the ability to highlight those cards one at a time with left and right d-pad taps. When colliding with other cards in the world, your on-screen hand is updated, swapping out the new card for the highlighted one. Basic poker rules apply, with the A button used to "cash in" a hand and score points, getting a new stack of random cards immediately after. It's still a conventional race in the sense that you want to be in first to have your pick of the available cards on the track, but more importantly the different hands yield huge amounts of stars, and the racer with the most stars at the end of the track takes the gold. It's a lot to take in, since you'll be racing and trying to think strategically as well, but the game keeps your hand (as well as on-screen prompts for upcoming lines of cards) on-screen to streamline the experience. It's a fun mode, and hopefully – we'd assume – it's online as well.

 

Overall the game is similar in visual and audio design as Excite Truck was, with an amazing sense of speed and some decent visuals given the speed and depth of field shown off when leaping into the air. The game also supports two specific control styles for tilt Wii-mote driving, as well as twist-based Wii wheel controls. Once thing we didn't see in there, unfortunately, is the ability to make your own custom soundtracks via the SD card. It stinks that this awesome inclusion of the previous game was taken out, but given how much attention the Wii has been getting in the hacking community, we'd expect a lot more precautions from Nintendo on locking out SD card usage. Too bad too, as that was a great offering with Excite Truck.

 

We've been tearing through Excitebots all day today, and have already unlocked various races from Egypt, Scotland, Mexico, China, Kilimanjaro, and Finland.

Edited March 21, 2009 by Dante

[S.C.G]

That hands-on has piqued my interest in the game to new levels, thanks for that Dante.

[D_prOdigy]

If getting people to actually wake up and see that this is basically Excite Truck 2 requires both IGN and Nintendo Power to use phrases like "It blows the original out of the water" and "It blows the original away", then fine.

 

There really is no defence now for people who loved Excite Truck but are dismissing this. They are most unfortunate.