The Nunchuk is not used in this game.
1-2 players are supported in vertical splitscreen.
Excite Truck Controls
The controls are rather obvious: you tilt the Wii Remote as if it were a steering wheel to turn your vehicle. It was very well-done, and you can tell they spent a lot of effort making it work just right. Accelerate with 2, and brake/reverse with 1.
You press any direction on the Directional Pad (D-Pad) in order to boost. If you press one of them right after you take off, then you perform a Turbo Jump, which utilizes that boost while in the air. Similarly, if your truck is in line correctly with the ground, you can boost right when you land to get a "Nice Landing" and rocket off.
To perform an Air Spin, you need to hold down 1 and a directional button while in the air, and then twist the controller. This is rather difficult for me, but I'm sure some people think otherwise.
Game Types
Excite Race is named so because it is.. an exciting race. You race. Woo. Your goal is to get stars by crashing into other cars, surviving a trip through a forest, flying through the air, or collecting rings. All of the above is a safe option.
Challenge is also aptly named, as it offers a bit of a challenge. For example, the Crush Challenge requires a player to crash into the other trucks in a given amount of time. The Ring Challenge requires a player to go through the rings and get a specified number of points. It really is challenging.
Game in a nutshell
The game is a typical racer, though with less tracks and playable trucks than could be desired. It utilizes the Wii Remote to its fullest extent for this genre, and does it with beauty and charm. The controls will take some getting used to -- as you will notice with all Wii games -- but this one is definitely a keeper.
Excite Truck Graphics
This game has graphics which are "more than enough" for what the game offers; blurs are heavily incorporated in racing to provide a feeling of speed, and add to the overall feeling of the game very nicely. The graphics themselves are still rather nice, with massive draw distances. But don't expect anything like Red Steel coming from this.
My Recommendation
If you don't mind a short game, this is for you. The only issue is the lack of content; but there is not lack of fun. Low replay value, and it gets repetitive after a while.. but I doubt that racing fans will have many problems with that. However, racing fan or otherwise, I recommend all to pick this game up. It's worth it, in my personal opinion.
My Rating
I'd personally give this game a 7.5/10. It's a good rating, honestly. It would certainly score higher if it had more content.. that truly is basically the only downside to the game.
