You know I was moaning about a spiritual successor to the fabulous San Francisco Rush 2049... Well this game is pretty darn close to claiming that mantle.
I've sunk all of ten minutes into it so far, just enough to clear the first tutorial and have my first race, barely enough play time to form an opinion and yet I feel I know this game already.
Every time I turn it on the Wii experience makes me beam from ear to ear. In short the Wii remote makes the conventional unconventional and the unconventional intuitive. It's no different with Excite Truck, which by any standard would be a pretty run of the mill off road racer, but with the remote, it's transformed into a totally absorbing experience. The tilt control to steer is so beautifully subtle that just the slightest hand motion is registered. What this means is you are steering the vehicle all of the time. Just brilliant.
So why the comparisons with San Francisco Rush 2049? Well get the truck airborn, which happens pretty much all the time and it begins to glide (a bit). By pitching the remote forwards and backwards you control the glide slope of the vehicle (you can even stall), dramatically altering the trucks trajectory through the air. Aerial tilting motions have a turning effect, which is more of a yaw than a roll, but fun none the less.
How involved this gets will require much more play time, but the basics are sound. I can't wait to see where this game runs with the mechanics, but I'm looking forward to faster and lighter vehicles and bigger air 
I've played the entire first set of stages.
Because it relies on Star Points over finishing positions, it forces you to drive aggressively, so any race is a full on experience.
The first lump of 4 races, began to get slightly gnarley halfway through, as bolting to the front of the pack and finishing first didn't get you the track completed. I was however playing with extreme fatigue and jet lag.
There are some superficial stunts for Stars too. Getting S rank on all tracks will be a mega task I bet. And that's only on Excite series, I believe there is Super Excite and knowing NoA there will be an entirely hidden level of difficulty too I bet.
There is a nice drift mechanic going on too, dumping the truck into a drift and holding it is quite nice. And the flying through the air and keeping at all together whilst trying to land to get a boost, its good stuff.
Like I say, each and every race is full on.. if you seat back and lazyly approach the race I don't think you'll get the Stars needed.
You can't be lazy though, the controller won't let you you have to concentrate even in a straight line. It's a far cry from the analogue stick with its return spring. You can't let go.
I can testify brother. I tried drinking a cup of tea whilst Zelda-ing.... IMPOSSIBLE. Wii is DEAD!!!
Seriously, you might just... just... be able to one hand Excite Truck, but you'd need some kind of body frame articulation device to drink tea and play a game with the Nunchuk aswell as the Wii Remote.
Your point about not having a centering spring is a good point. Losing the centre is something that happens in a freakout moment, however, your brain has a good idea of what horizontal is naturally, so finding it again is quite natural.
So unless you are playing on a ship on the ocean in high seas... you should be fine.
The Wii is definitely blunt friendly.
Excite Truck feels like RC Pro Am to me, with the crazy inertia/drift controls that it has.
Me and my housemate just spent 2hrs 37mins (thanks Message Board) getting S ranks on all the races on the first 3 series (bronze, silver, gold) with platinum to do and "Super Excite" to unlock.
As you'd expect, getting S rank really does involve understanding the tracks, what to do and when... Some shortcuts are easily seen, some only after spinning off into the yonder by accident, much like Sanfran Rush, then linking all the shortcuts and bonoids together in one uberlap becomes the focus of the play... much like Sanfran Rush.
What is interesting is the different trucks do actually have quite different handling chracteristics so choosing the right one is probably something to think about...
So it has that nice mix of carnage and control.
It's great isn't it.
Having tested this thoroughly on the nine year old from next door, one of the best things about Excite Truck is it's inclusiveness. You can pick the remote up and wave it around like a total loon and still do ok or you can be more controlled and work the courses. The game even rewards you for crashing, which is aces.
It's just pure fun.
"It's easier because I move my body anyway"
Yep Wii passes another test. This time test subject was a woman in her forties who has had practically no exposure to games.
A couple of scary minutes on excite truck showed that people just respond to the remote.
Went down well at work I think people were suitably impressed...
Completed S Ranks on all Excite tracks. Opened up Super Excite... where it appears the AI starts working... interestingly the whole HUD becomes Red instead of Green, so I guess to spot reviews that have got this far, just look for a Red HUD in the screenshots, assuming they're not use stock screens.
With added actual opponents to deal with, it should turn the game up a notch or two.
Sounds sexy. I need to get my teeth stuck into this bad boy, but Monkeyball is just sooooooo goooood.
Red HUD annnnnnd another truck load of trucking trucks!
Interestingly, one seems to get hooked on the first game tried with the Wii. I've been tearing my shoulder apart playing Wii Sports Tennis and Bowling of an evening, then "relaxing" with Excite Truck, as it doesn't involve punching holes through furniture or people.
S Ranked Bronze and three of Silver with the help of my housemate, on Super Excite mode... the difficulty is spot on, we've be sucked into not moving onto the next track until it's been S Ranked (sranked), about 5 or 6 attempts at the most some fall straight away, but that might be pure zonage.
Finding the perfect truck to suit play style is quite essential, one that gets just enough drift, air and handles well enough to rack up the Tree Runs and also gets the upper hand in Truck vs Truck action.
Some of the new trucks being unlocked are quite potent on the speed and air department... I guess an uber truck is hiding away in the sillouettes... no Nintendo easter eggs yet, I wonder if some are waiting, excite truck NES style would be novel.
Still not tried Challenge mode... looked at the options though! Also I really need to compile an SD of rockin' tunes, the default ones are shocking... really shockin'
Challenge mode :0 is evil. Pure evil. Scraped an S Rank on the first gate challenge, the second one... thats gonna take some doing. It forces you to use the slidyest, bounciest vehicle, whilst trying to get through progressively smaller and smaller gates, in a restrictive time limit. Certainly a test of control and technique. An certainly a different pace to the Main Game. Haven't tried the other Challenges, I was too freaked out by the first one.
This is so racist -
I didnt even consider that Excite Truck is not a launch title in Japan - I'm gagging to play this game! Only when I looked at the Nintendo lineup on their website just now did I see the January release date
- got Zelda coming with the machine and definetly still going for Bleach and Gundam though.
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"www.cillitbangremix.com" -
USA JPN NTSC Freedom is still on the cards... very vaguely, we should know this weekend for sure.
fingers crossed.
I fancy some Wii Play. Tanks looks awesomitude.
The different launch line ups are weird, aren't they?
I get the feeling Nintendo are expirimenting to see what sells best at launch, or after.
Definetly man -
It's no biggie but I was clucking to play this game from the impressions on here. Maybe we can have a look ourselves; if Nintendo are still doing things the same way we can expect a jumper bank on the motherboard - compare your US machine with my JPN model to find the points and we're laughing (although I still dont wanna install a switch if it means altering the casing).
Maybe it's about doing something with a PIC chip + eject button as per the Panasonic Q.
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"www.cillitbangremix.com" -
Saur, I'm pretty confident that there are enough hidden panels and flaps on the machine that if you had to drill a hole you could do so without altering the aesthetics of the machine (when the flaps are closed). The obvious point is the SD card slot on the front of the machine which is suitably recessed and gives access onto the main board as far as I can tell.
I didnt even think about that - yeah that can work, as long as I dont have anything sticking out of the machine I'm fine with it.
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"www.cillitbangremix.com" -
I'd be up for trying to help figure this out
software issues and blitzing internal memory, if its a similar gig to the Cube.. that'd be my concern.
Depends whether game saves are stored with a specific character set, like the Cube cards. Hopefully, for internal Wii stuff, thats sorted.
But yeah, even if there is a region switch, it might fry the firmware when it boots.
Another thought on that - the firmware update is labelled 2.0U.
You'd probably need a way of blasting 2.0J on there, and with all the online purchasing crap, it's probably all encrypted against a private key unique to each Wii. Well, perhaps user data is, and firmware images aren't...
I'm absolutely dying to play this game and everything's just caving in around me at the moment... the council tax people have just bummed my wage for £280 unexpectedly (nice timing lads, cheers), snake made me ruin my speakers, Wii went tits during the VC update and has been sent back, and my Import Madness order for the actual game and accessories is stuck in no-mans-land.
Looks like I'm playing 1080 + Waverace (64) with no SFX and music pumping out of my portable stereo for the foreseable future, which isn't that bad.
So unless you are playing on a ship on the ocean in high seas... you should be fine.
Oo argh! Shiver meh timbers, matey!
Had another thought... region might be set by firmware release only.
If thats the case, you could setup some gnarley transparent web proxy to munge a request for a different region firmware instead.
You would still run the risk of bricking the machine if it choked on user data though...
Wii went tits during the VC update and has been sent back,
I missed this.... it did what?
That's gotta be in the realms of lottery wins statistically.
Paper's started spooning up, but that was a WiFi channel thing, which was solvable.
Yeah - are you sure it was the flash problem and not the WiFi problem?
If you change the channel to 1 or 11 from 6 on your wireless router, if it's the WiFi problem then it should start working again...
Depends whether game saves are stored with a specific character set, like the Cube cards. Hopefully, for internal Wii stuff, thats sorted.
But yeah, even if there is a region switch, it might fry the firmware when it boots.
This is the part that bothers me - !
"Does it save to different locations depending on region and will the firmware b0rk or be OK/switch over?" - it might not be fun finding out XD
I certainly can't answer those questions. I know It's gonna take some balls to be switching regions with all this firmware business. I'm playing it safe and buying a black console for my Japanese fix when they're out.
I lack the necessary ballons to risk bricking mine. I guess the rumoured interoperability between US and Japanese hardware was a load of bunk then?
An hour and a half of Excite Truck and managed to get only 2 S Ranks on Gold and were officially stumped by one track to get S. Like I keep burbling about, you have to choose your truck wisely, to suit the track and your play style... guff Turbo can really penalise my play thats for sure.
The current way to inrease difficulty, at least for 2 out of the 3 tracks in Gold on Super Excite is to just have 2 laps... so you have to seriously cram in the stars to get the S ranks, from aggressively pursuing other Trucks, to getting decent air and a good amount of Drift when you can... whilst keeping momentum up and avoiding trees enough to get 1st place... oh and getting a decent set of tunes together on an SD otherwise you WILL GO INSANE.
I usually mentally nominate a tree per track that I have to hit no matter that feasibility there of. I was hitting the same damn tree every attempt for like 3 or 4 races. Impressively inept.
Is it totally off road at the higher levels. The reward for tree runs is immense, so I'm guessing that sticking to the track is a big no no?
Same tracks, you just have to use them more efficiently. Drifting and Rings and hitting opponents is all happening about where the track is.
Tree runs are very risk reward... usually there are two "regulation" tree runs per track, sometimes easy to find, sometimes not.
Brushing trees gets you an audio cue, you need two and above in a row to start a tree run and its bloody frightening to acheive.
Living on the edge.
Spent a fair bit of time on Excite Truck on Sunday. I've not quite polished off the last few S ranks on the platinum cup in Exite mode, but I'm definately getting better.
. Can't wait to try Super Excite mode...
The gameplay is finely tuned to a point where you have to link up turbo jumps and boost landings (landing it all four wheels simultaneous like) to really start rinsing the stars out of the tracks. Drifting whilst in a boost is great fun and you soon learn to link that into your runs to maximum advantage.
The one thing I haven't gotten the hang of yet is the trick system (basically flat spins mid air). I pretty much never use it, but I better start as it's a good way to pick up a few extra stars.
Tried challenge mode too and there's some nice minigames in there which help to inject some variety.
All in all I'm well impressed with this game and it really shows off the remote in a traditional gaming context. I read somewhere that it felt better than a steering wheel and I think I have to agree
In this particular case the Wii Remote is perfect, what with the plane like air motion you need... And I wouldn't say no to OutRun2 with this input method.
As you said previously, the lack of auto centering is crucial to the difference in feeling and engagement... the only way that can replicate is with a FF wheel, they always fight you to the centre, as a real car might.
In my cupboard I have two wheels... not really used that frquently due to monster cabling requirements, the Wii Remote just about fills the gap sans cables and hassle. No analogue acceleration though, which would become an issue on more pedally games. As Saur suggests, tethering a set of pedals would be child's play. That's what makes the extensible Wii Remote concept so potentially engaging, I hope folk take advantage of it.
Excite Truck needs a bit more play from me... I might cap some vids tonight to demo the Super Excite mode and some other bit's 'n' bobs.
Cool
I managed an S rank on one ring challenge and the two smash challenges (normal difficulty). Those gate challenges though are something else and the second ring challenge is substantially harder than the first. Have you unlocked the harder difficulty setting of the challenge mode yet?
I couldn't S Rank the second gate challenge so I didn't attempt the other options out of respect... I had an incling that the other options were conceptually easier too... ringing and smashing! Gating though, sheesh! the terrain is so off camber in places you wildly ping off into the yonder, especially with elBounco the Truckio.
The gate challenges demonstrate the nuanced control very well indeed, and how much of an extra git they might've made the single player had they decided to.
Well the first ring challenge put up a reasonable fight before I nailed it. You basically have to get your run-ups right and be accurate in the air to succeed, which is quite tricky as the game moves at a considerable rate of knots.
The second ring challenge is more difficult due to the ring placement requiring more control or the vehicle at launch time.
Both of the smash challenges were S ranked on my first attempt, which is a shame as I was expecting them to be as difficult as the other challenges. They're still quite fun though as you're essentially given an infinite powerup to smash your way through the environment and hunt down the other trucks. }:)
'ere we go...
35megs of Excite Truck Super Excite... not my finest hour, but some nice Truck Smashage.
http://www.opensenses.com/media/excitetruck/excite01.avi
note: red hud elements
apologies for the audio and the general slackness of the compression, I've completely forgotten how to do it...
Word up y'all, hooked this bad boy into my surround sound setup... the music is killer.
S ranked everything in Excite, Super Excite and Normal Challenge mode, just Mirror mode and I think Super Challenges to go.
Wierdly, as I was completing the Super Excite and Challenge parts I was having a intense conversation about a person's soul and perceptions of heaven. This seemed to actually improve my play, as I had to doubly concentrate to get around the courses.
The Mirroryness of the tracks doesn't seem to be jarring me as much as it does in yer traditional Daytona envronment, I suppose the laissez faire nature of the courses means that your brain is triggered by whats happening then, rather than what you need to happen.
Also, I've perfected use of the Air Spins, once you've got into the first one, continuing a spin just involves twisting the Wii Remote in the right direction once, at the right time... and you only need to do three in total to get 5 Stars Super Air Spin 1080.
I've yet to Air Spin, Ring Bonus and Air Time in one go, but for show boating possibilities I will have to practice.
Nice one for teh vidoe ^^
Even though I love this game to bits I'm kind of glad it's staggered for the Japanese release, I CANT stop playing Zelda! The other games I have I've barely touched, I cant wait to get on this when it's released (with MY OWN bangin' choonage!)
300bpm ftw
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"I laughed in her face and stole some pick&mix!" -
Excite Truck Diary :
Dear Diary, I totally completezored the Single player racing bit of Excite Truck, unlocked a tubular vehicle. I enjoyed the single player bit sooo much I wish there was an uber uber mode to unlock...
However what you have left me is Challenge mode which is uber uber uber uber tricky, thats 4 ubers diary, four! I managed to get through the normal mode with only 3 murders on my conscience...
Now Super mode is just genocidally magnificent, I have an entire street on innocents to put to sleep with the manic intensness that you've set against me.
Curiously you don't ask me to use the wrist strap with this game... but had I not found my chi I would've impaled the Wii Remote into every object in the room, when I got 138 stars on a course that needed 145...
Homocidially yours,
Jib to the X
I cant wait to get on this! ^^ - not long to go now!
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"I laughed in her face and stole some pick&mix!" -
As you said previously, the lack of auto centering is crucial to the difference in feeling and engagement... the only way that can replicate is with a FF wheel, they always fight you to the centre, as a real car might.
Do you meant this other way around? Real car like to go straight yes? I let go of wheel when coming out of corner and it goes straight when I use gas like FF-wheel does, it offer resistance when turning.
Yeah, that's what I think he means. A real car steering wheel and FF wheel will naturally try to centre itself. The Wii remote obviously doesn't do this, and that's what makes driving Wii style so engaging, because you simply can't 'let go'. There's hardly any deadzone on the control, so you're continuously making micro adjustments to the attitude of the controller. It really is hard to convey how it feels to someone who hasn't played it before. Just be assured it's bloody good fun
I think I will leave work at five today, go home and try to finish Excite mode. I need to catch up with you lot and show Jib how to do the Super Challenges
The first car I drove, and Austin Maestro had the loosest steering ever, about a 20 to 30 degree dead zone... that was awesome, didn't write it off either, it just lastest until I left it in the Parent's driveway (the car was theres) for a few years.
Remember those wooden toys with marbles in them... this analogy is going to be rubbish... imagine a horizontal one, with a marble in it, tilting it left or right turns the car, getting it back on centre... no this isn't working...
PLAYING == BELIEVING
Thats better.
The Super Challenges are beasts to get S ranks, the subtly of the control and the adverse cambre it throws at you means I basically stop breathing, and actually got that heavey beating heart thing, where the world slows down and you can see a humming bird's wings at the window.
The Gate challenge are the only ones that appear to offer any real meat at the moment... not tried the other ones on super yet. I am interested to look at what "Monster Games" have made previously, Nascar sims I believe.
S Ranked one of the Gate challenges last night... S ranked all of the smacking trucks about, which wasn't difficult... haven't got far on the ring challenges as they're a bit of a beast too, but my whole game fell apart when I got that S rank. Can't believe I'm being all completest about this game, that hasn't happened in a long long while, maybe not since Wave Race on the N64, I can't remember.
Are you playing the hard challenges?
I've got one S to get on the normal challenges (2nd of the gate challenges). Unlocked Super Excite mode on Monday evening, which was cool. Playing on the Silver cup at present with a couple of S ranks under my belt already.
I know what you mean about this game bringing out the completist. I'm even tempted to unlock all of the bonus paint schemes for each truck. Can't see me maxing out the trophies though.
yes, the super challenges or whatever they are called. The Ring challenges are properly difficult now, which is nice. The Truck slamming one was done first time on each mode, fortunately, as that was a bit guff bags conceptually.
The trophies are silly though, I swear thats just some ironic gesture of wierdness... maybe I am giving them too much credit?
Forgot about the paint jobs, you get them after ten races with each truck... do you have to win? I can't remember. By the end of mirror mode I'd started getting into cheeky super tree runs with just trees hanging around the track.
I forgot to mention, I got a 1440 Super Air Spin, \m/ wooo yeah awesome gnarly... got me 6 stars, a very good source of calcium, totally perfected the required movement too. I'm sure I could get more with a Truck with better Air, the one I was using only has 3 bar air.
Holly shit that's some good spinnin. The best I can muster at the moment is a 720. Need to play this game more.
The extra special paint jobs are awarded for getting 3 'S' ranks with a truck. On the truck select screen on the right hand side it tells you what you need to get the next unlock (either number of runs or S ranks or both/neither).
I think I will put some effort into the challenges and join you on hard mode for some notes comparison fun.
Someone has YouTube'd a terrible video of doing a 2520 Super Air Spin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-_ghcin-uI&eurl=
Can't see through the smudge, the number of stars rewarded.