Product Description

No description available for this title.
Item Type: Video Games
Item Rating: E
Street Date: 04/22/09
Wide Screen: no
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
Language: ENGLISH
Foreign Film: noSubtitles: no
Dubbed: no
Full Frame: no
Re-Release: no
Packaging: Sleeve

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1174 in Video Games
• Brand: Nintendo
• Model: 045496901523
• Published on: 2009-04
• Released on: 2009-04-20
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platform: Nintendo Wii
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .60" h x 5.43" w x 7.54" l, .36 pounds

Features

• The ability to exchange ghost data with friends online via WiiConnect24 and challenge them to outdo your most daring tricks.
• Insect and animal inspired off-road bot racers able to walk, fly and drive that via pick-up-and-play controls catch big-air and provide thrills at blinding speed like no other game in the Excitebike series.
• Having your vehicles drive, walk or fly around the track quickly is one thing, but it's more important to go around in style. Players earn stars for huge jumps, cool tricks and daring feats at high speed.
• A wide variety on mini-games, including soccer, poker, bowling, darts and clowns among others, that occur during races.
• Online multiplayer support for up to six player via a Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in both Excite Race and Poker Race modes, and 2-player multiplayer versus mode in local play.

Amazon.com Product Description

The fourth game in the Excitebike series, and the second on the Wii platform, ExciteBots: Trick Racing is an evolution in the racing genre. Featuring big-air thrills, pick-up-and-play controls, exciting multiplayer action and a dozen funky bot racers in the form of mechanical insects, amphibians, and mammals that transform throughout the race, it isn't like any other racing game you have played. Jump into the driver's seat and see the world in ExciteBots: Trick Racing. A wide variety of animal-based bots. View larger. Nonstop break neck action. View larger. Multiple modes all over the world. View larger. 2 player local support and 6 online. View larger. Gameplay In ExciteBots: Trick Racing players race around internationally located tracks in the form of their favorite insect, amphibian or mammal themed bot. Each bot has its own special abilities which will serve players well when they find themselves on the right terrain to take advantage of these. As with pretty much any racing game, a major goal is to complete the course at the highest speed possible, but players are also tasked with performing stunts and participating in mini-games. Players win bonus stars for crossing the finish line sooner, but stunts, style and these mini-games are as important as speed. For example: have you ever wished that you could play poker while racing? Think you can toss a dart or roll a bowling ball while leaving the competition in the dust? ExciteBots provides you with your chance. Stars can be traded for a variety of goodies, like new vehicles, tracks, icons and statues. Control Schemes The control scheme of ExciteBots is easy and fun. The game can be played with just a Wii Remote or via the combination of a Wii Remote and a Nintendo Wheel accessory/any third party wheel. The 2 Button on the Wii Remote controller is the gas. The + control pad gives drivers a speed boost. Players turn the Wii Wheel accessory left or right to steer, tilt the Wii Wheel in midair to glide or to adjust pitch for perfect landings, swing the Wii Wheel in circular motions around boost bars to build up speed and press the A Button to activate items or to cash in hands in Poker Mode. Key Features The game takes the big-air thrills and simple pick-up-and-play controls of ExciteTruck and ramps up the fun with a constant barrage of funky challenges and mini-games performed at blinding speed. Players shoot goals, throw pies and even play poker in the middle of rowdy races around off-road tracks. Having your vehicles drive, walk or fly around the track quickly is one thing, but it's more important to go around in style. Players earn stars for huge jumps, cool tricks and daring feats at high speed. Six players can race online* via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in both Excite Race and Poker Race modes. If friends can't join online, players can exchange ghost data via WiiConnect24 and challenge their friends to outdo their most daring tricks. 2-player multiplayer versus mode featuring split screen display is also available for local play. Special Moves Just as in ExciteTruck, drivers can hit blocks that morph the terrain before their eyes and create ramps from which players can launch mega-jumps. Players can aim for and swing around boost bars or open presents that unleash a variety of wild items, such as bottle rocket boosts or clacker mouths that chomp on other racers to slow them down. Mini-Games Now what about those mini-games. Do you know of any other game that features high-speed robotic racers combined with bowling, poker, clown faces and sandwich making? Didn't think so, but how do these game work? Soccer: Drive into the soccer ball and attempt to hit it into the goal. Bowling: Drive through the pins and attempt to get a strike. Darts: Line up your bot and let the dart fly. Try to hit bull's-eye in the distance. Clowns: Hit the clown in the face with a pie by throwing it at just the right angle and speed. Sandwiches: Drive through the ingredients in the proper order to make a delicious sandwich. *Note that broadband access is required for online play.

Customer Reviews

The WarioWare of racing games.
Excitebots is a unique creature. It is the spiritual successor to Excite Truck and looks very, very similar. But mixed in with the extreme arcade racing action are a host of mini-games and off the wall ideas that fly straight into you at 100+ mph. Most other games fail when attempting to pull off a wacky-racing game. Most of the ideas in this game are kind of terrible if you think about it very much. Somehow though, Excitebots manages to take some of the strange ideas and throws them into the game and it all just works. If anything, this game is what I'd expect if the people who designed WarioWare decided to make a racing game.

GAMEPLAY: Uhhh... crazy? Although this game is a racing game, simply racing around the race tracks simply won't cut it. You are expected to pull off tricks and stunts, go bowling, play soccer, throw pies at clowns, race dangerously close to trees, play darts, and play poker... all while racing in a frog. Or a beetle or a turtle. If that sounds strange, that's because it is. The "vehicles" are all animal themed robots, but their designs fairly forgettable and lack real personality. Little mini-challenges pop-up all over the place in the races. Best of all, the game has an insane sense of speed that is only rivaled by the likes of classic games such as Wipeout or F-Zero. My only serious complaint about the game is it suffers from "Invisible Wall Syndrome." The levels look huge and open and the tracks are quite wide, but invisible walls are annoying.

CONTROLS: Solid. The controls are surprisingly good considering it is entirely motion controlled. Definitely better than Excite Truck, and I honestly feel the controls are much more responsive than Mario Kart. I haven't played a lot of racing games on the Wii, but overall, this is one of the better racers as far as controls are concerned. The game supports the wheel accessory as well and a version of the game is sold with the peripheral packed in. I don't personally recommend the steering wheel because I think it's an overpriced piece of plastic, but that's just my opinion. Each to their own.

GRAPHICS: Good and Bad. When the game is going slow the game looks pretty plain. The textures are lo-res and some of them are downright ugly. Kick the speed up a notch and the motion blur kicks in. When the game is blazing past you without a hint of slowdown, it shines and you quickly forget the low-res textures.

MULTI-PLAYER: Very good but it could be better. Although the game has a 2-player split-screen mode, I'm not impressed. As a general rule though, I don't like split-screen in most games though unless I can get 4 players in on the action. The other side of the coin is that the online mode is great. I was able to hook up with a match in minutes and found myself playing with 5 other players. While playing online you can bet your stars, which are used to purchase various unlockables throughout the game. There are two online modes, Excite and Poker. I'm not a fan of Poker, but I think my reflexes are just a little to slow to be good at that one. My only two complaints about online multi-player are that the game uses the horrid Friend Code system and doesn't give you the opportunity to just add any of the people you meet online to your list of friends. The other complaint I have is a lack of voice chat, which is a glaring omission since I have the the WiiSpeak peripheral gathering dust.

SOUND: Oh please make it stop... I'm going to have nightmares about being trapped in an elevator. I can't believe someone recorded this music let alone actually paid someone to include it in the game. The music is annoying, lame, and extremely repetitive. Thankfully, a music volume option is available in the game. Sadly, the Excite Truck feature that allowed players to put their own play lists together on an SD card is no longer present. That terrible music just makes the absence of the SD music card that much more noticeable.

REPLAY-VALUE: High. The game has 20 levels, multiple mini-game modes, and a solid multi-player element. At launch the game was priced at two levels ($40 by itself and $50 with the wheel accessory), but I would have bought the game at the higher price even without the accessory. The fact that it is more affordable only makes this game more attractive.

All in all, I recommend this game to just about everyone. At the very least, give this game a rental. The arcade action is frantic and crazy. The sense of speed makes this just about the fastest game available on the Wii. Online multi-player is very good. Best of all, the game is just plain fun.

A sleeper hit!!!! Tear it up!
This is an addicting arcadey fast-paced racer.

One of the best Wii games of the year so far. And one of the better Wii games overall.

I really love taking jumps in this game or doing 360s in the air or kicking a field goal or making a sandwich or running on 2 legs or speeding through the trees. It is truly over the top arcadey action. And what a videogame should be.

It plays really smooth and they've done a great job of seamlessly incorporating all this whimsical over the top videogamey non-sense into the game. It works really well.

The online mode is seamless as well and smooth.

In addition there is head to head racing and a few others modes like Poker Racing where you try to make Poker hands as you race along the track.

Don't be fooled. This is a very solid game.

The lows are the graphics and personality of the game can be a bit generic. But it would be a shame if you ignored the game because of that.

Must buy!!!

Exciting Race?!
When it does come down to the Nintendo Wii, they definitely have raised the bar when it comes to innovation. That has been shown in their appeal of the way video games are played very strongly, even when it does come behind the wheel. With the success of racing giant Mario Kart Wii, as the biggest-selling video game last year, many wonder how Nintendo is going to keep that stride to the checkered flag. That sadly wasn't the case when Excite Truck was launched for the Wii back in 2006. The game was sadly overlooked by gamers, in favor of other gems like The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Wii Sports. Well, the Excite series is set to take a more extreme turn again on the Wii, and this time, it is a bit strange trying to stay extreme.

Excitebots: Trick Racing for the Nintendo Wii, feeds off of the appeal Excite Truck had, and brings it in to a whole new level of gaming. The gameplay is as similar to Excite Truck was, but with a few interesting twists. The biggest twist is as you race your way as one of many animal-inspired robotic cars, including the grasshopper, frog, mouse, and beatle. While it might seem weird, it is actually a surprise. The control is similar to what Excite Truck had to offer, by steering with the Wii-mote like it was a steering wheel, but also can be compatable with the Wii-wheel attachment that came with Mario Kart Wii as well.

The gameplay is similar to Excite Truck as well, as you make your way racing to the top by scoring stars by pulling off extreme stunts like mid-air jumps, pulling off 360 spins, crashing into other vehicles, pulling outrageous stunts, like ring jumps, and new twists like swinging on metal bars, and more weird, but surprising things like scoring a soccer goal while driving, to attempting to make a bowling strike, and even throwing pies at clown faces. That is important, because it isn't just about getting 1st Place, it is also about scoring more stars, to unlock newer vehicles and getting newer places to race like Egypt, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and China. I also do like the idea that now you can race against others online here too see if you are #1.

Sadly though, there actually are a few disadvantages with Excitebots: Trick Racing. The biggest disadvantage is that unlike Mario Kart Wii, where you can race as many as 12 different racers online, here you can only race against as many as 6 different racers through the Wi-Fi connections, which honestly doesn't pull off all the stops. The second disadvantage is that I was surprised to find out that you can't control the game with the Classic or Nintendo Gamecube controllers here, unlike Mario Kart Wii. Although staying similar to what Excite Truck had to offer when it came out in controls and gameplay, yet it still might leave gamers feeling like they wanted more.

All in all, despite a few faults, Excitebots: Trick Racing feels a bit weird in the race at first, but actually is a big surprise that is sure to please racing fans, who want strange and trippy-tricked out racing to a whole new level of fun. I think the game is challenging, but is sure to please Wii fans that might felt that the Nintendo Wii hasn't offered enough in awhile for the need of great games.

Graphics: B

Sound: B

Control: B 1/2-

Fun & Enjoyment: B- for solo players; B 1/2- for multiplayer

Overall: B-