If Excite Truck had an online mode it could easily become the Mario Kart DS for the Wii. But it doesn't. That doesn't mean the game isn't any good, it just means that it has limited life, in my book.

The controls are interesting. You hold the controller sideways, with the D-pad to the left, and turn the remote side to side as if steering a car. While in the air you can also use the controller to change the pitch of your airborne vehicle to make for longer or shorter jumps and softer landings. The one and two buttons are the gas and brake and the pushing anywhere on the D-Pad gives you turbo.

The game is fairly straight forward. You tear around sloppy courses turboing to just shy of exploding your engine. The game awards points for doing tricks, long jumps, smashing other cars, driving between trees and other things. At the end of the race you also get points for your placing. The total is used to determine your rank. To unlock the next cup you need to get a B or better in every race in a cup.

There are also little power-ups and such littered through-out the course, but instead of them boosting your truck, they typically warp the terrain, which is pretty neat.

The game's play is fun, albeit a bit sloppy. There were times I felt I really wasn't able to get a sharp enough turn or flatten out enough for a landing and it was slightly frustrating, but overall the game isn't about precision as much as it is about wide, sloppy drifts, powering up hill and trying not to hit trees.

The only multiplayer supported in the game is a split-screen two-player mode that has nearly all of the bells and whistles of the single player.

Oddly, the game has its own achievements which can be unlocked through play, but it's hard to tell at this point if that is something that shows up anywhere besides in your copy of the game. The game also lets you play music off an SD card.

I'd say Excite Truck is likely worth a try, though it seems a bit light in substance, especially in the multiplayer arena. Brian Crecente

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