Excitebots: Trick Racing
Encyclopedia
Excitebots: Trick Racing is a racing
video game published by Nintendo
for the Wii
video game console
. It was developed by Monster Games
, is the fourth game in the Excitebike series and is the sequel to Excite Truck
. Excitebots was unveiled in a release list from Nintendo of America on February 26, 2009. It was released on April 20, 2009 in North America. Excitebots features animal-themed robot vehicles. The game can be bought packaged with or without the Wii Wheel. Nintendo Australia
's Managing Director, Rose Lappin has said that Excitebots will not be seeing an Australian release "due to lack of interest." The game was never released outside North America, however Japanese Club Nintendo members are able to exchange points for a copy starting from over 2 years of the original release date under the name "Excite Mou-Machine".
Excitebots features short minigames during racing, such as pie throwing, bowling and soccer. The game keeps track of in-game achievements and scores.
Excitebots is controlled with the Wii remote
horizontally or optionally with the Wii Wheel. Most of the games are played on courses large in size with many opportunities to take meandering paths. The 25 different courses offered are modeled after real locations on Earth. Because of the size of each course, most races are two laps long and offer opportunities to gain massive altitude, perform various maneuvers, and obtain various items.
Each race is scored on a grading system from "S" to "D", with "D" being the lowest score. In order to obtain a higher score, players must perform various tricks, stunts, complete minigames, and finish the race before the other bots. Each of these tricks yield stars, which are used to determine how well the player did during the race. The more stars the player has when crossing the finish line, the better score they will receive. Examples of some of the methods to obtain stars are: gaining extreme altitude from jumping off inclined terrain, smashing into other bots during high speed, morphing the terrain ahead and sending leading bots skyward, ramming into bowling pins, getting various offensive items and using them strategically i.e. bombs, hammers, and swinging on bars including a mandatory "red bar" in each course.
via the Nintendo WiFi Connection as well as local, split-screen 2-player racing. Online gameplay modes include six-player "Excite" races as well as "Poker" races which can be played anonymously or with friends using Nintendo's Friend Code system. During online play, players are able to place bet
s on themselves with in-game tokens which can be exchanged for unlockable items. Unlike its predecessor, Excitebots does not support the ability to play custom music from an SD card.
You can also play up to five other people online with the Nintendo WFC. Options exist after each race to save replays and ghosts and send them to other Wii consoles including their own and attach awards to the ghost challenges.
.
The tracks themselves also have unique features. For example, in Kilimanjaro, there are dinosaur fossils that come to life, Guatemala
, the Moai
statue heads can breathe fire at times, and in Tasmania, several rock monsters will morph tracks or attack players. Other locations featured include: Fiji
, Canada
, China
, Egypt
, Finland
, Scotland
, and Mexico
. The only environment that is not based on a real location is "Crystal Nebula", a fictional planet made entirely out of various crystals and is regarded as the hardest track.
proclaimed the game as pure fun, and awarded it a score of 8.4 out of 10. Nintendo World Report
had similar things to say about the game, calling it a "fantastic game". Nintendo Power
also awarded the game a score of 8/10, slightly lower than the score they previously gave Excitetruck. However, NP considered the game an improvement over Excitetruck, and the score was lower because other racing games made since Excitetruck, such as Mario Kart Wii
, had to be taken into account.
StageSelect.com awarded Excitebots a 7 out of 10 and said that 'twitchy controls don't harm the fun.'
Racing game
A racing video game is a genre of video games, either in the first-person or third-person perspective, in which the player partakes in a racing competition with any type of land, air, or sea vehicles. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings...
video game published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
. It was developed by Monster Games
Monster Games
Monster Games, Inc. is an independent video game development studio in Northfield, Minnesota, USA that specializes in racing games. The company was founded in 1996.-Games developed:*1998 - Viper Racing *2000 - NASCAR Heat...
, is the fourth game in the Excitebike series and is the sequel to Excite Truck
Excite Truck
is a video game published by Nintendo and developed by Monster Games for the Wii video game system. It features malleable environments and tilt-based controls. The game was one of the Wii launch titles in North America. It is a spiritual successor to the Excitebike series...
. Excitebots was unveiled in a release list from Nintendo of America on February 26, 2009. It was released on April 20, 2009 in North America. Excitebots features animal-themed robot vehicles. The game can be bought packaged with or without the Wii Wheel. Nintendo Australia
Nintendo Australia
Nintendo Australia Pty. Ltd. established in 1994, located in Victoria is Australia's local head office, sales, licensing and distribution centre for products and other Intellectual Properties created by Nintendo Co., Ltd of Kyoto, Japan and is owned by Nintendo Co., Ltd in Japan. Prior distribution...
's Managing Director, Rose Lappin has said that Excitebots will not be seeing an Australian release "due to lack of interest." The game was never released outside North America, however Japanese Club Nintendo members are able to exchange points for a copy starting from over 2 years of the original release date under the name "Excite Mou-Machine".
Excitebots features short minigames during racing, such as pie throwing, bowling and soccer. The game keeps track of in-game achievements and scores.
Gameplay
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
horizontally or optionally with the Wii Wheel. Most of the games are played on courses large in size with many opportunities to take meandering paths. The 25 different courses offered are modeled after real locations on Earth. Because of the size of each course, most races are two laps long and offer opportunities to gain massive altitude, perform various maneuvers, and obtain various items.
Each race is scored on a grading system from "S" to "D", with "D" being the lowest score. In order to obtain a higher score, players must perform various tricks, stunts, complete minigames, and finish the race before the other bots. Each of these tricks yield stars, which are used to determine how well the player did during the race. The more stars the player has when crossing the finish line, the better score they will receive. Examples of some of the methods to obtain stars are: gaining extreme altitude from jumping off inclined terrain, smashing into other bots during high speed, morphing the terrain ahead and sending leading bots skyward, ramming into bowling pins, getting various offensive items and using them strategically i.e. bombs, hammers, and swinging on bars including a mandatory "red bar" in each course.
Multiplayer
Excitebots features six-player online multiplayerOnline game
An online game is a game played over some form of computer network. This almost always means the Internet or equivalent technology, but games have always used whatever technology was current: modems before the Internet, and hard wired terminals before modems...
via the Nintendo WiFi Connection as well as local, split-screen 2-player racing. Online gameplay modes include six-player "Excite" races as well as "Poker" races which can be played anonymously or with friends using Nintendo's Friend Code system. During online play, players are able to place bet
Bet
Bet or BET may refer to:* A wager in gambling* Basic Economics Test * Bet , the second letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Syriac* Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherm. See BET_theory...
s on themselves with in-game tokens which can be exchanged for unlockable items. Unlike its predecessor, Excitebots does not support the ability to play custom music from an SD card.
Play modes
Excitebots features many game modes that can be played:- Excite Race: The game's main mode of gameplay. In this mode, players race on the many tracks available for racing and attempt to get the highest score possible.
- Super Excite: A more difficult version of "Excite Race" which have a higher star requirement to pass each track. The CPU bots are more difficult and more intelligent during races. Super Excite also features a hidden course not featured in Excite Race.
- Mirror Excite: Tracks this time are mirrored and the CPU robots are even tougher than before. This mode is unlocked after gaining a perfect score on Super Excite.
- Poker Race: Players collect poker cards placed on the track which are set up at certain points, and try to make the best hand before exchanging the cards for another hand all the while racing with the other bots.
- Minigames: Excitebots has 10 minigames in which players will compete several challenges, such as dart throwing, bowling, or gliding while trying to gain as much stars to achieve a higher score. This mode can be played as local multiplayer as well.
You can also play up to five other people online with the Nintendo WFC. Options exist after each race to save replays and ghosts and send them to other Wii consoles including their own and attach awards to the ghost challenges.
Environments
Excitebots features a variety of robust racing environments, including some redesigned tracks from Excite TruckExcite Truck
is a video game published by Nintendo and developed by Monster Games for the Wii video game system. It features malleable environments and tilt-based controls. The game was one of the Wii launch titles in North America. It is a spiritual successor to the Excitebike series...
.
The tracks themselves also have unique features. For example, in Kilimanjaro, there are dinosaur fossils that come to life, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, the Moai
Moai
Moai , or mo‘ai, are monolithic human figures carved from rock on the Chilean Polynesian island of Easter Island between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called ahu around the...
statue heads can breathe fire at times, and in Tasmania, several rock monsters will morph tracks or attack players. Other locations featured include: Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. The only environment that is not based on a real location is "Crystal Nebula", a fictional planet made entirely out of various crystals and is regarded as the hardest track.
Reception
Excitebots has received favorable reviews from a variety of publications. IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
proclaimed the game as pure fun, and awarded it a score of 8.4 out of 10. Nintendo World Report
Nintendo World Report
Nintendo World Report is a Nintendo-specific video game website that covers Nintendo's current consoles, the Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi, and Wii.-History:...
had similar things to say about the game, calling it a "fantastic game". Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
also awarded the game a score of 8/10, slightly lower than the score they previously gave Excitetruck. However, NP considered the game an improvement over Excitetruck, and the score was lower because other racing games made since Excitetruck, such as Mario Kart Wii
Mario Kart Wii
is a racing video game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. It is the sixth installment in the Mario Kart series and the second Mario Kart title to use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The game was released worldwide...
, had to be taken into account.
StageSelect.com awarded Excitebots a 7 out of 10 and said that 'twitchy controls don't harm the fun.'