ExciteBots: Trick Racing (Wii) Review

I’m going to be very honest here – I wasn’t expecting much from ExciteBots when I first received it for review. I didn’t overly enjoy ExciteTruck either since I never really got into it. So, as you could expect, I was skeptical as to how a game made by the same developer in a similar vein was announced and released within such a short time frame. Needless to say, ExciteBots is a brilliant game with some unique twists to the racing genre that really sets it apart. You probably won’t ever experience anything like it, and reading this review will probably still leave you a little clueless as to how it plays, as it really is something that you need to experience for yourself.

To put it fairly simply, ExciteBots is a slightly modified version of ExciteTruck. Players still use their Wii Wheels to steer their characters and stunts can still be performed with certain gestures on the Wii Remote. That’s where the similarities end, however, as ExciteBots introduces several new gameplay mechanics into the fray which, well, make it quite a unique racer. The biggest change is that stars can now be earnt in matches by performing mini-games akin to WarioWare’s micro games, which we’ll go into more detail later. Secondly, the game also features not trucks like the previous title, but several different animals. Some animals that come off the top of my head include, but are not limited to ladybirds, grasshoppers, bats, turtles, frogs and even a dolphin/fish hybrid creature.

The first thing players will notice when they boot up ExciteBots is the amazing use of colour in the game, which creates an absolutely stunning set of locales. The “vehicles” that you’ll be driving are well detailed, the environments are nicely created to reflect the areas they are based on, and the presentation is geared adequately in a manner to express one thing: a sense of speed. And while players will be speeding past most of the environments, and your screen is filled with a flurry of phantasmagorical colours, the perfect combination of environment and vehicles will really become apparent. While the graphics are by no means ground breaking for the Wii, they do offer a very nice improvement over ExciteTruck (and as I said before, a colourful one, too).

So, how does this quirky mix of WarioWare style micro-games and ExciteTruck’s classic racing gameplay work? Players have two choices with ExciteBots, either with a Wii Remote or with a Wii Wheel. Acceleration is performed with 1, and steering is naturally performed with the movement of the Wii Remote or Wii Wheel. The A button is reserved to use items and the B buttone is reserved for Turbo, which Excite Truck players will no doubt recognise. There are several cups in Excite Race mode, in which players have to complete certain courses within a cup in order to progress to the next cup. Each race is a standard race, where stars must be earned in order to pass the race. Stars can be earned by performing stunts as in ExciteTruck, but the Bot Tricks is where ExciteBots really shines and differentiates itself from the other players in the racing game field.

Throughout the game you will notice several bars, on which vehicles can latch onto and spin with a certain motion of the Wii Remote, doing this perfectly (or not so perfectly) will affect the amount of points you will gain from the action as well as the distance your vehicle will cover upon letting go of the bar. In addition to this, while actually racing, players can participate in mini-games which are abstract to say the least. One involves your racer jumping on it’s hind legs and running in a temporary boost (with Wii Remote waggle increasing speed), another involves throwing darts at a dartboard at high speed, while another focuses on kicking a soccer ball into a transparent goal net. The stunts in Excitebots work really well and help mix up the game, but the mini-games really help make the game much more interesting. Similarly, the star system employed to determine a winner means that players do not have to worry as much about coming first, as long as they perform as many stunts as they can, though coming first obviously yields a much better result.

In addition to the main racing game, ExciteBots also offers a very interesting alternative – Poker Races. Yes, I was quite perplexed when I first read it on the game’s menu, but continuing on I realised what I’d just gotten myself into. Essentially, not only do you race, but at the same time, you play poker. Racing past other players, ramming them out of the way to collect the better hand has never been so fun and, well, never so odd. Nevertheless, unfortunately, since I’m not much of a poker player I could not utilise this game mode as much as I would have liked to, but it is a very nice addition.

Perhaps one of the biggest disappointments with ExciteBots is the lack of features carrying on from ExciteTruck. ExciteTruck was one of the first Nintendo Wii games that allowed for custom soundtracks to be played from an inserted SD card. Unfortunately, that is no longer possible. It’s quite baffling as to why they’d remove such a useful feature from the game, especially since the music in the game itself is quite mediocre. In fact, the music does no favours for ExciteBots, I don’t think I’ve ever heard something so unmemorable.

Online play is included in the overall package, and in the whole experience, I was only able to get one major game with the full amount of players. It ran quite smoothly and I imagine that it’d be quite entertaining to hear what the opponents were saying while they were racing us online, missed a dartboard, tripped over themselves or just generally stuffed up. It’s another unfortunate decision that WiiSpeak is not utilised during online play but it’s not overly game breaking. The games (or I should say game) when running at full capacity ran fairly smoothly with minimal lag, which was nice to see. In addition, players can join races just to spectate, if competitive online play isn’t your thing.

All in all, ExciteBots is a pretty fun game that is an interesting twist on the racing genre. It is a high-speed, high-stakes (especially with Poker Racing), and just generally fun game that will be enjoyable for all those who have a couple of mates around who want to have the same fun that you probably had playing games like Mario Kart 64. For those playing alone, while this game is definitely enjoyable, you might not be experiencing the full potential that the game has to offer, and the online mode, while great, might not quite reach the same standards as local multiplayer.

Graphics 7.0

Environments are well detailed with some rough edges. Most driver vehicles are nicely modelled and the general artistic direction is filled with a nice range of colours.

Gameplay 8.0

Amazingly fast-paced gameplay with some really interesting mini-games thrown in to mix things up. Multiplayer and online functionality also provides hours of fun.

Sound 5.0

Mediocre soundtrack coupled with a disappointing lack of SD card support like predecessors really sells ExciteBots short.

Tilt 8.0

Different ranking system for different courses leaves a lot of replayability. Online functionality and multiplayer options ensure that (hopefully) the game will always have a ready opponent to play against, whether in the room or on the other side of the

Value 9.0

ExciteBots is an extremeley enjoyable game especially if you can look past most of its flaws.