Quarterlies 2006
TomChick - Features - Comments - 12/26/06
Most Surprising Game of 2006
Excite Truck
 A great driving game on the Wii? Folly. Driving games need cutting edge graphics and precision controls. Besides, Nintendo has to be scraping the bottom of the barrel if they’re relying on a callback to Excitebike. Excitebike? Seriously?
From my Yahoo review: Every system has to have a driving/racing game when it launches. It's one of the Ironclad Rules of System Launching. So Nintendo is dutifully offering Excite Truck for the Wii. On the surface, it seems like an obligatory nod to the old Excitebike for the NES. Ho hum.
In a way, Excite Truck is just another sloppy off-road bouncy racing game without nearly as much gameplay or freedom as the excellent Smuggler’s Runs. But you’ll quickly discover a great sense of speed, enough latitude to keep the courses from feeling restrictive, and a really tight physics system. It also proves that the Wii-mote works great for tilt-steering.
But the surprising part is how Excite Truck is at once realistic and absurd. You’re flying more often than not, but you still have to be careful. There’s a thin margin of control that makes this a much more responsive game than the equally absurd Burnouts. Wrecks are precise and easy to see coming, and there’s a meticulous damage model when you all but wrap your truck around a tree or knock off a wheel or two. But then you’re right back into the thick of the race with a bonus boost. There’s rubber banding AI, but the point isn’t really to come in first place. Frankly, this isn’t a racing game so much as a banging-around, flying, whooping-it-up, look-at-me-go! game. And it looks great, to boot. I guess last-gen graphics aren’t done yet.
If this is how Nintendo scrapes the bottom of the barrel, by handing over their franchises to developers like Monster who create thrilling surprises like Excite Truck, then I’m looking forward to seeing what else they can dredge up.
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