So we were gawping in awe as brand new Wii titles streamed across the Nintendo E3 video presentation, but never in all our anticipation could we have foreseen the resurrection of this old time classic franchise.

It has had an odd reign of appearance, beginning on the NES with ExciteBike first and then, much as it has now, emerging from the forgotten with ExciteBike64 on the N64. Truth be told though, we couldn't be happier that Nintendo have chosen to re-incarnate the excitement once more for the arrival of the Wii.

The Excite franchise is about extreme racing; that of gravity defying leaps, dirt tracks, hills, and of course, some mean machinery. The first thing you'll notice is that we are retiring those bikes back to their sheds and pulling horsepower hungry trucks out of their garages instead. Despite this seemingly game changing difference, the game will manage to feel related to its predecessors with its physics and style of play thoroughly maintained. This is because even though we now have four wheels instead of two, the principles remain deep inside the games mechanics.

Developed by Monster Games, Excite Truck isn't actually under the same hands as its predecessor. You may find it comforting to know however that these guys are well endowed with the racing genre with many a successful NASCAR racing game under their belt in the US. It's a relief to know then that they have kept this game as it should be; pure and simply arcade styled. Its premise is simple, burn rubber over off-road terrains, leap over the bumps and hills, show off with some hang time insanity and aim to land as best suited to the track that's ascending below. What the Wii offers to the mix also is an even simplified expression of the play; press 2 to accelerate, 1 to brake and the D-Pad to turbo, and that's it; it's your hands you'll be relying on to steer. Holding the Wiimote rotated horizontally to its side like a NES controller, turning it will act as your steering wheel to your truck; tilt left and you'll steer left. The control method allows for 4 degrees of movement like this, including, when you're airborne, the ability to tilt the Wiimote forward or backward to centre your trucks orientation to help a guided landing.

The simplicity of it will no doubt make for an unnerving experience at first. Our instincts in the past have led us to motion steering with our controllers, pretending we were in our cars and looking ridiculous to anybody else watching. That instinct is now primary control. The shift will initially see devastatingly bad driving from the majority despite its natural feel, much to the sampling of say your less gaming able siblings who you forced to play traditional racers with you in the past. They'll be the ones laughing now as your confusion to tilt and control your truck without the D-pad makes for embarrassing outcomes. The conflict and transition is to be expected however, its only natural that our forced instincts of previous racing games makes us react to want to control with the D-pad or an analogue stick. Stick with it though, you'll soon trounce the mundane steering of which you're accustomed to and be a steering master, ready to make a mockery out of your siblings again as motionally steering becomes a fluid reality!

The key to winning in Excite games is handling those leaps and knowing when to use your turbo. Although an arcade essence breathes within, tactical steering and terrain mastery is of importance if you want to do really well, especially as gaining a turbo relies on how well you can re-land your beast. Terrains are bumpy, un-even and anything but road like, so, when if you land with your back wheels first for instance, you have to expect the suspension to be rocked and hence a noticeable drop in speed. Land the truck perfectly with all four wheels touching ground in unison, or in a way that utilises the slope and angle of the terrain to aid in the trucks control however, and you'll notice no such effects, only the reward of turbo boosts.

Using turbo boosts will make a huge difference; the difference in that the game is damn fast when using them! It's so fast it wouldn't surprise me if you tilted your head back and contorted your face as if it were actually feeling the G's. The scenery will zip by in glimpses of seconds and the blur effect applied to an almost fish-eye lens view when boosting will add to an insane sense of speed. If that wasn't enough to keep you on edge, the most innovative addition to the franchise, next to its control method of course, is the real time, dynamic terrain changing pick ups. Drive through little question marks and the ground you're racing on will shoot up, deform and mangle its shape right in front of your eyes. It will create hills and leaps over chasms you will have to deal with at very short notice. What's more, you may not be the one to cause it; all terrain effects affect every racer. Those tactical brains amongst you may already be sensing the potential to throw your opponents off guard with some abrupt changes which will definitely incorporate a strategic appeal to the game. What's also impressive about this is that every race will be slightly different depending on the generation of the changes.

[pagebreak]

The trucks themselves, though miraculously resistant to damage (be grateful, if they weren't you'd be seeing a lot of flying metal) will feel as truck-like as we can imagine, with a realistic weighted feel and physics to enact a realism to the trucks swerve and collisions with the environment. I'm sure we can expect varying steering and acceleration traits to the types of trucks available in the actual game too. Tracks seen so far include a Mexico themed race with mountains and sun scorched paths with withering trees and shrubberies. There's also a race set in Fiji meandering around a glistening ocean which, yes, you will be taking a few dives into, and we've seen sceneries including snow laden environments present also. Tracks are fairly long and pretty expansive and though you can't stray too far off course, multiple self made routes through trees and the like make for a good sense of freedom; if you can dodge them at break neck speed that is!

Graphically, we all know the Wii cannot stand up to the level of detail we've seen in games like Project Gothem Racing on the 360, there's just no way. However, the game does look nice, and, most impressively, it manages to delight with scenery being clearly visible to the far distances of the horizon ahead. Those warping speed effects deserve some merit as well, adding immensely to the exhilaration factor.

As for difficulty, you will crash… you'll crash splendidly. If you crash to the state of no progression, a gauge bar will appear which prompts you to frantically tap the accelerate button to re-set your truck back on track. However, reports of the played demo from E3 notify us that, despite some incredibly poor driving, it was manageable to always be a short distance behind the pack, sometimes referred to as rubber banding. Whether this catch up was a demo aided inclusion to help the enjoyable factor at the show is unknown. The opponent trucks certainly didn't suck, they never let up for a second and coming in first certainly wasn't easy, but it seems you were always in the running. Racing well will earn you grades at the end of a race and it's probable that this will be a method of unlocking extras when the game is released. It's also added incentive to race tracks again to get the top grade in every race.

Multiplayer is of course included. When you're racing against the computer you face 5 opponents as your adversaries so 4 players is immediately expected. Expect a frantic experience and one that will keep you coming back to the game. We only hope that a WiFi option is included with it too. Keep those fingers crossed.

Were quite excited to see the re-emerged Excite franchise as ExciteBike64 was an amazingly fun game. With a few twists, a few extra wheels and the innovation of the Wii, we can rest assured that Excite Truck will satisfy our racing urges come the Wii's launch. Stick with us as we find out more of the games options and details in the coming months and who knows, you might love it so much you'll start wearing a trucker cap and consider getting a 'Mum' heart tattoo on your driving side arm. Let's hope you don't though.