Excitebots: Trick Racing Review (Wii)

Dust Off Your Wii Wheels!

Since Excite Truck debuted as a Wii launch title, gamers were immediately able to fully immerse themselves in a motion controlled racing game. Implementing a points system based on combing your rank with your accumulated trick points, Excite Truck brought diversity to the standardized racing genre. Yet for as great as Excite Truck was, Excitebots: Trick Racing is that much better.

Excitebots replaces the truck transportation method and introduces robotic mobiles that resemble different creatures; frogs, birds, bats, and a squid just to name a few. To control your bot you can use the Wii remote, twisting it side to side, or the Wii Wheel, which feels as natural as you'd hope.

In the Excite Mode of the game, your goal is to earn a designated number of stars on each course to achieve an "S" rank, which is the highest rank. While you will receive stars based on what place you finish the race in, you really can rely solely on pulling off tricks to earn enough stars. You'll want these stars to progress and unlock more courses, but also because you'll use these stars to unlock more bots and different bot color choices. Excite Truck only offered a few ways to earn these stars, but that's all changed. Excitebots keeps a lot of what you loved, like jumping through rings, air spins, and drifting, but adds a hell of a lot more.
You need to hit the question mark boxes (Mario Kart anyone?) to activate different items or instant mini games. By hitting one, for instance, it may give you a pie and ask you to throw the pie into a clowns face, of course all this while driving. Another may give you a giant mallet used to pound the ground and wreck your opponents bots. Another might activate a bot-run mode where your bot stands up and can run over the other races, trample trees, and can fly over cliffs. Doing these things adds a lot of depth to the courses. There isn't a lot of time where you are just driving, as you are constantly pulling off one trick or another.

With all the fun the game brings to the table, there are really just two issues that I have. Excitebots took away SD card support for listening to your own music tracks during the game. This feature was a huge bonus for Excite Truck and losing it is truly unfortunate.

Another negative to the game is the addition of the red bar. When your bot approaches this red bar, you are forced to stop racing and spin your Wii Remote in a circle for about 8 to 10 seconds. What this does is put a hault to the fun in gameplay. Imagine a fast paced Nascar race, only to see the drivers take a lemonade break. The reason why this is so bothersome is because this new red bar is featured on every course, on every lap, and forcing it on you is pretty, pretty, pretty stupid. Moving on...

The levels seem to offer a pretty descent variety, while including a few retro stages that were featured in Excite Truck. Because the game is so wild and crazy however, it would have been nice to feature more diverse stages that really pushed the envelope. Maybe a stage on a volcano? What is great is that the courses are big and after hours of playing, you can find more and more secrets and shortcuts that help to mix it up.

Excitebots also features a Wi-Fi mode where you are able to compete head to head with up to 6 players. The mode works great and is extremely addictive. Also included are tons of different missions to complete as well as a Poker Mode. You simply compete in a race with 5 cards in your hand. While racing, you'll keep approaching 5 cards that you can basically pick and choose which cards you want to discard and which you want to keep. You'll swap out cards thoughout the laps of the race, trying to win as many points as you can. It's pretty fun, and definitely a new gaming experience.
The Game
Excitebots really does a lot right. Introducing new, fun ways to race, while keeping the formula of earning stars to improve your overall rank. Just a few gripes keep this game from perfection, but the game does achieve exactly what it sets out to. You can't play this game and not have a good time, it's simply impossible.
(8.5/ 10)

The Time
Each race only lasts around 3 minutes, so you can play as much or as little as you want. If you want to unlock every mode, every bot and every color, it may take you a few weeks. The game is so addictive though, so you won't mind playing course after course.
(8/10)

The Verdict
Play it! Excitebots: Trick Racing really offers gamers such an unique racing experience. The game will be fun for all ages and any level of gamer experience. You'll quickly develop a favorite bot, and once you do, I'm pretty sure you'll be fully addicted to this game.