Game: Excitebots: Trick Racing
Platform: Wii
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Monster Games
ESRB: E
Genre: Racer
Players: 1-4
What's Hot: With all the stunts and obstacles, it plays like Mario Kart on speed. This is a good thing.
What's Not: The graphics are grungy; playing this game around non-gaming adults will make you look very strange.
Review by: Danielle Riendeau
Excitebots is a game that almost came out of nowhere – the fourth in the increasingly bizarre “Excite” series that began all the way back on the NES, it’s a crazy, stunt-based racing game starring a host of robotic animals. On paper – and in early screens, it looked like a particularly lame kid’s game, but it somehow turned out to be one of the Wii’s best racing options.
The game plays a bit like Mario Kart – with the insanity turned up past 11. You pick an animal-bot, choose your race series and get on the track. During your run, you are graded on each stunt you attempt – you get points (stars) for doing everything from simple drifting to completing “turbo jumps” and landing gracefully from 1080’s.
The game is all about wacky obstacles, crazy tricks and on-track minigames (like ramming into bowling pins trying to score a strike), so much so that the actual racing almost takes a backseat at times. In fact, if you earn enough stars by means of getting crazy air and slamming into enough scenery, you can easily beat tracks even if you come in last place. However, since first and second are worth a tasty star bonus, it behooves you to blast through fast and try the crazy stuff, all of which becomes second nature after and hour or so of play. The difficulty ramps up nicely, keeping the challenge level steady and fun. You are tasked with earning at least a “B” on each race to progress to the next cup, allowing players who just want to beat the game to move on with basic mastery and giving completionists seeking “S” ratings a meaty experience to sink into.
There is also a very solid collection of minigames – including soccer, darts, rail challenge, etc. that are all actually useful for single players. Like the Crazy Taxi games, all of these bite-sized challenges build up your skills for events that happen in the main game - so if you’re having issues with your pie throwing, you can work on it here. There’s also a very robust poker race (where you drive around the tracks picking up cards and winning points for good hands) that is ridiculously addictive, and the six-player online racing is seamless and silky smooth.
You’ll blast through the scenery so fast that you’ll hardly notice the blah graphics (and N64-era texturing), though the music is pleasant enough. More importantly, the controls are excellent – whether you’re using the Wii Wheel or not, things are responsive and all the shaking you’ll do is well integrated and two-handed (keeping that carpal tunnel at bay).
In so many ways, this feels like a return to the simple, all-ages fun that the older Mario Kart games offered. It’s totally satisfying, challenging (though never frustrating) and completely ridiculous in the best way.
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