Excite Truck: Difference between revisions
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The maximum number of stars awarded for a single stunt (or chain stunt, such as the Jump Combo) is 5 stars. After 5 stars a new stunt will begin (for example, after an exceptionally long drift, a 5-star drift bonus will be awarded and a second drift bonus will |
The maximum number of stars awarded for a single stunt (or chain stunt, such as the Jump Combo) is 5 stars. After 5 stars a new stunt will begin (for example, after an exceptionally long drift, a 5-star drift bonus will be awarded and a second drift bonus will begin immediately). |
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Revision as of 23:39, 21 November 2006
| Excite Truck | |
|---|---|
| File:Excite truck boxart.jpg | |
| Developer(s) | Monster Games |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Platform(s) | Wii |
| Release |  November 19, 2006 January 2007 February 2007 |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
Excite Truck is a video game published by Nintendo and developed by Monster Games for the Wii video game system. It features deformable environments and tilt based controls. The game is one of the launch titles for the Wii. [1]
It is the third game in the Excitebike series (following Excitebike and Excitebike 64). It is the first game in the series where you can control trucks.
Gameplay
Excite Truck does not use the Nunchuk attachment; it is controlled entirely with the Wii Remote. To control the game, players must hold the Wii Remote in their hands horizontally, similar to the way one would hold an NES controller. Steering is done by actually tilting the Wii Remote from side to side like a steering wheel. Acceleration and braking is done by pushing the 1 and 2 buttons, and to land major jumps, the player has to tilt the Wii Remote so that all four wheels will land parallel. The directional pad will be used for turbo boosts.
When first starting the game, after you enter your name and start the file to be stored in the flash drive, you must go through a series of tests or practice runs (similiar to Gran Turismo) before the game lets you play the full game. After finishing the training levels, you are free to play the single player game or you can go ahead and play the multiplayer game. You first start with three trucks, the Boulder, the Firefly, and the Wolf. You will continually unlock more trucks to use in the single player mode or in the multiplayer mode.
Features
Excite Truck is the first Wii game to let you upload your own music to the game and to be played in the background of the game while you are playing.[2] Due to not using the nunchuck attachment, the game is compatible with Ubisoft's "Wii Wheel" accesory.The game also supports split screen two player multiplayer. In addition, players can insert an SD card with MP3s to create their own custom soundtracks.
References to past Excite titles
Although promoted as a new franchise by Nintendo, the game is a sequel to NES title Excitebike and the N64 title Excitebike 64. The developers passed down and updated many features that made the original bike games popular. For one example, the giant cliffs and jumps from the NES title return here, as the courses feature many hills and cliffs that make you jump unrealistically high altitudes with your truck. In fact, the main item of the game lets you deform the land to make the levels even more "extreme" than they were originally designed.
A gameplay element also carried from both the NES and N64 titles is overheating. When you use too much boost, your engine will overheat, temporary reducing the top speed of your truck. To make the overheating stop faster, you must stop the truck and wait for the heat to cool down, adding a sense of strategy into the game. Driving your truck into water will instantly cool the engine all the way down, and infinite boost can be used while in water. Water can be either part of the course or it can be reached using a land-deformation powerup.
Controls
Excite Truck utilizes the Wii Remote held sideways, with the 1 and 2 buttons held to the right. This largely mimics the original NES controller, which has the potential to confuse and frustrate new players who are used to using the directional pad for navigation.
Control/Directional Pad: Used to fire the turbo boost to greatly increase your truck's speed.
+: Used to pause the game.
1: Used to brake and move in reverse.
2: Used to accelerate
In addition, the positional sensors in the Wii Remote are used for navigation.
One holds the Wii Remote with its "face" facing upwards. By tilting the Wii Remote counterclockwise and clockwise (from the perspective of holding the Wii Remote out in front of you), your truck can steer to the left and right, respectively.
When airborne, tilting the Wii Remote forward and backward will angle the pitch of your truck in midair.
Scoring
Crossing the finish line first is not the goal of Excite Truck, but rather another avenue for gaining "stars". Stars are scored for a variety of stunts, and for your placement at the end of the race.
In single player "Excite" mode, all tracks have a required number of stars for the track to be considered "passed". You are not required to finish in first place (you can finish in last place and still win) so long as you gain the requisite number of stars during the race. Races are timed to prevent players from reversing back across high-star areas and completing the same stunts over and over again.
Stunts
Excite Truck features several types of stunts which score 1 to 5 stars for their duration, audacity, or other criteria:
Air: The scored stars increase by the duration of time your truck spends in the air in the single jump. A star is added for roughly each 3 seconds the truck remains in the air.
Drift: As in Drift Racing, when steering hard around a turn and sliding your vehicle in a much looser turn then the vehicle would have if the tires had full traction. Stars scored for drift increase with longer drifts.
Tree Run: Stars are gained for driving through closely-situated trees.
Air Spin: Stars are gained for spinning your truck in mid-air.
Truck Throw: Stars are gained for "throwing" opponent trucks. This is accomplished by driving over terrain-altering powerups when your opponents are a short distance ahead of you, and the changing landscape sends their trucks hurtling into the air.
Jump Combo: Landing a jump and initiating additional jumps in very short succession increases stars in a jump combo. The time on the ground between jumps can not exceed roughly two seconds.
Truck Smash: Stars are scored for collisions with other trucks, with their intensity and effects on the other truck determining how many stars are awarded.
Nice Crash: Stars are sometimes awarded for particularly fast or ridiculous crashes.
Rings: Some race tracks have rings floating in the air, not unlike Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64. They are typically in groups of 5 and a star is awarded for each ring that is navigated through in a single jump.
The maximum number of stars awarded for a single stunt (or chain stunt, such as the Jump Combo) is 5 stars. After 5 stars a new stunt will begin (for example, after an exceptionally long drift, a 5-star drift bonus will be awarded and a second drift bonus will begin immediately).
Additionally, there are two actions in the game that do not score stars but provide a racing advantage:
Nice Landing: By tilting the Wii Remote, the player can make their truck land on all 4 wheels after a long jump. If all 4 whells touch down at roughly the same time, a turbo boost will increase the truck's speed for several seconds.
Turbo Jump: By pressing a turbo button just after a truck becomes airborne, a turbo jump triggers which causes a turbo boost in mid air to increase jump speed and range.
Winning Races
In single player mode, you receive bonus stars following the race depending on how you placed. These stars are applied to your score before determining if you are have completed the track's minimum score.
1st Place: 50 bonus stars
2nd Place: 25 bonus stars
3rd Place: 15 bonus stars
4th Place: 10 bonus stars
5th Place: 5 bonus stars
6th Place: No stars awarded
In multiplayer races, the player who crosses the finish line first receives a bonus of 15 stars. Additionally, once the first player has crossed the line, a 30 second countdown is triggered for the second player. For each second that the second player has not completed the race, an extra star is awarded the first finisher. If the timer expires, the second player is disqualified with no score.
Play Modes
Excite Truck features several gameplay modes, most of them for a single player.
Excite Race: The basic "campaign" in which the player competes in several "cup" races. After completing each race in a cup (a race is completed by racing it and scoring the required number of stars), a new cup will be opened, and new tracks can be raced. The new tracks are accessible immediately in Excite Race and Versus modes.
Challenge: Special challenge modes against multiple computer trucks. There are Gate, Ring, and Crush challenge modes.
Versus: The multiplyer aspect of the game which allows 2 players to race one another (without any computer trucks)
Tutorial: 4 tutorial sections (Basic I and II, and Stunts I and II) provide short, interactive tutorials on playing the game. They range from basic acceleration to advanced jumps and stunts.
Release
The game was first playable during E3 2006, and an updated build was also playable during the 2006 Nintendo Fusion Tour, with four different courses playable. Prior to its release along the Wii launch, the game was one of the first titles to be playable on the first Wii Kiosks, along with Wii Sports and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Awards & Critical thoughts
- E3 2006 Game Critics Awards: Best Racing Game [3]
Review scores and thoughts:
- IGN.com: 8.0/10
- Gamespot: 6.8/10
- X-Play: 4 out of 5
Both liked the intensity of the races and the simple fun they offered, but found the multiplayer component of the game severely lacking in depth. X-Play liked the game because it was something different and it gave a good sense of speed.
Screenshots
References
- ^ "Nintendo's Incomparable Wii Console Launches Nov. 19; MSRP $249.99". Nintendo. 2006-09-15. Retrieved 2006-09-15.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Excite Truck Custom Soundtrack Confirmed". IGN. 2006-11-10. Retrieved 2006-11-10.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "2006 Winners". Game Critics Awards. 2006-06-06. Retrieved 2006-06-06.
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See also
External links
- Excite Truck Reviews at Metacritic.com
- Game page at Wii.Nintendo.com