How Excitebots: Trick Racing exceeds its predecessor in every way: A Review

Nowhere other than Excitebots: Trick Racing will you find yourself throwing pies into the faces of clowns, knocking down bowling pins, throwing darts, saving butterflies, or hitting home runs...all during already fast-paced, frenetic races. This is the game's defining feature, but does it work? Read on to find out!

Excitebots controls much like its predecessor, Excite Truck, does. The player, of course, holds the Wii remote sideways, pressing the 2 button to step on the gas, using the 1 button to brake, and physically twisting the Wii remote to steer. The game also adds Wii wheel functionality, though I highly recommend sticking with the Wii remote by itself. All in all, this control scheme works. A few advance functions come into play, which I will discuss throughout the review.

As I already mentioned, gameplay in Excitebots: Trick Racing revolves around zany, action-packed racing. Each vehicle in the game has an arm that extends from its back. This arm will be your key to earning stars in a myriad of ways. The game will throw these things at you with little to no warning. It seems harsh, but let me assure you that this works, and it works well. It gives the game a satisfying feeling of spontaneity.

In addition to all of the above, Excitebots has some very pretty graphics. I have to say, I like the graphics in Excite Truck more, but that's probably just preference. Conversely, Excitebots does best Excite Truck in variety: you'll find yourself visiting many more locations this time around, including Tasmania, Egypt, Kilimanjaro, and more.

Where sound is concerned, Excitebots doesn't disappoint. The music is nearly as zany as the gameplay and is just, well...cool, in general. You won't hear any complaints from me in this area!

Little improvements here and there are what really set Excitebots apart from Excite Truck. First of all, the currency in both games, stars, play a much greater role in Excitebots. Stars can be used to purchase new vehicles, color schemes, and trophies, adding motivation that Excite Truck lacked. Also, Excitebot: Trick Racing adds online play to the mix, giving it another leg up over Excite Truck. I would have really liked to see a local multiplayer that supported more than just two players in Excitebots, but alas, I was disappointed.

Conclusion
Excitebots: Trick Racing manages to set itself in a different league of racing games with fast-paced, frantic gameplay and solid controls. It takes the excellent formula of Excite Truck and makes it better in basically every way. The music is quite excellent. If I have to complain about something regarding Excitebots, it is the fact that, like Excite Truck, it doesn't support more than two players for local play. Otherwise, this is a fantastic racing game that I find easy to recommend to any Wii player!