Intro
Excitebots: Trick Racing was unexpectedly announced on 26 February 2009, together with three other Nintendo Wii games under a release list. The game was released on 12 June 2009 to Japan and on 20 April 2009 to North America, under the genre of Racing, with an ESRB rating of E for Everyone. It was developed by Monster Games and published by Nintendo under the Excitebike series. Excitebots: Trick Racing is the fourth instalment to the Excitebike series and is the sequel to Excite Truck. The game features animal-themed vehicles and can be bought packaged with or without the Wii Wheel. Besides that, there are also short minigames during races in which there are pie throwing, bowling and soccer games. Players in-game achievements and scores are also tracked. In terms of gameplay, Excitebots: Trick Racing has modes which include six-player races as well as alternative games like poker which can be played anonymously or with friends using Nintendo’s Friend Code system. Not only that, players are also able to place bets on themselves with in-game tokens of which can be exchanged for unlockable items such as new paint schemes, statues and other various items. The playmodes included in Excitebots: Trick Racing are Excite Race, Super Excite, Mirror Excite, Poker Race, Minigames and Super Minigames, which is an unlockable “Hard Mode” for the Minigames.
Review
As compared to its predecessor, one can only think about them in terms of children’s toys. Excitebots: Trick Racing provides the active imagination element that Excite Truck lacked as transforming robot cars is deemed creative and complex on a whole different level. Not only that, Excitebots: Trick Racing also features an improved version of Excite Truck’s solid racing controls and sense of speed, with a sprinkle of dizzying array of wacky items, tricky stunts, and goofball challenges that make for hectic and hilarious races. Unfortunately, the action can sometimes feel a bit helter-skelter while the controls aren’t exactly pin-point accurate. In Excitebots: Trick Racing, animal bots are the stars of the show, with each robo-creature having a few different attributes that indicate, for example, how long its turbo lasts or how well it grips around turns. The bots are fairly balanced, which is particularly welcomed in online races in which players are able to see a wide array of bots lined up at the starting line. However, about half of the bots must be unlocked with the stars that you earn while racing. Each both can be decked out in 11 different colours as well as an expensive special outfit. Not only that, the bots are also amusingly animated.
“Excitebots Trick Racing is a great racing experience that I sincerely hope gets more attention and recognition than Excite Trucks ever did. Monster Games’ previous effort was fantastic, but this unofficial sequel is better in just about every regard. Not only does it play better — the controls are tighter and the challenges awesome and surreal — but it’s got more options. Collectibles. A very robust and engaging online mode complete with a great betting system. You can even send instant replays and with tracked-on bets to friends. The trick system is enjoyable. And all the big air and breakneck speed of Excite Trucks is back, plus some. My biggest gripes relate to level variety. There are 20-something tracks but most of them fall under five regions or so and start to blend together. The lack of WiiSpeak support online is a disappointment. Same goes for SD Card-based music playback. And I definitely do believe that single-player-only gamers are given the short end of the stick where unlockables are concerned because they are going to have to spend much more time with the title than those who make and win bets online.” (IGN, 2009)
