Excite Truck on the surface may just appear to be a simple racing game, but that couldn't be further from the truth. It's a bit like Motorstorm, but also nothing like it; it's also a bit like Burnout, yet again it's nothing like it; it's like ExciteBike, and yet again is...well, you get the picture. You see, the object of the game isn't winning any races, it's getting stars (points), and to get those you need to do stunts. You get stars for drifting, not finishing last, doing air spins, smashing other trucks, crashing, going through mid-air rings, driving close to trees and getting big air. And by big air, I mean really big air.

You'll spend a lot of time in the air in this game, thanks to the (purposely) unrealistic physics, while in the air you can turn slightly, do air spins (tricky at first, but once you learn the proper method, it's easy points...and you'll need those easy points)and level your pitch. Land on all 4 wheels, then you get a speed boost. Boosts are another thing that is wonderfully done over the top. You have a boost button, and unlimited boost – You'll have to keep an eye on your temperature though, too much boosting will overheat your engine, leaving you unable to boost for a while – Driving through shallow water will instantly cool you down, though. If you boost as soon as you leave the ground, and you'll get an improved boost. When you crash you get a slow-motion cutscene of your truck crashing, and you bash the 2 button to put yourself on the track, along with getting, you guessed it, a boost.

Controls are simple, tilt the Remote to steer, 2 to accelerate, 1 is for breaking, and to enable air spins (Press 1, boost and flick the remote sideways), and the D-pad is to boost. If you end up going the wrong way, or get stuck, press A to reset yourself to the centre of the track. It may take a while to get used to it, but it's fantastic once you do.

The game itself is quite different to the usual racer, it's points-related, not first to the finish line (as I said before), but you also don't "compete" against computer players. Instead, each course has a set number of stars for each grade, and you try and get those points. Winning can help, you get 50 stars for winning, lower amounts for lower positions, but none for 6th (last) place. However, you can still "win" by coming last in the "race", it opens up a layer of strategy. Unfortunately, this makes the CPU racers seem to merely be obstacles on the track, rather than competitors (their performance doesn't affect the score you need to achieve). Playing in the (limited, 2-player-only) multiplayer mode shows how great it would be if it had a Mario Kart-like "Grand Prix" where you and the CPU racers were both racing and trying to out-stunt each other to win – the way Excite Truck does it makes it feel a bit more "lonely" than other racing games.

You also have a time limit to compete against, while it's not difficult to complete the level in the required time, it stops people from going very slow and easily getting all the points they need that way. The time limit ruins the already limited multiplayer a bit, though – especially in very competitive matches where you constantly smash into each other – as the mach will end with both players "disqualified". The 30-second time limit (plus a star each second given to 1st place) that second place has to put up with when 1st place wins adds to the tactics in multiplayer, though. The multiplayer had huge potential, but it disappointed. It's still fun, though.

There are only 20 tracks, but only 6 levels, loosely based on real locations (Mexico, Fiji, Finland, Scotland, Canada and China) plus a bonus one. The tracks take different routes through the levels, and each track has some different paths. The great thing about the tracks is driving off the track doesn't affect your speed, and a well-placed "Yellow Arrow Wall" stops you from driving too far from the track – it's a lot of fun to spend most of the race at the side of the tracks, avoiding trees, and it's great for getting stars. There are 4 main cups, which range in difficulty from bronze to platinum, on top of this are two unlockable difficulties (Super and Mirror), and plenty of unlockable trucks and paint schemes (paint schemes are unlocked by getting 3 S-ranks or playing 10 races in a truck). The game is insanely fast too, and a lot of fun. There's a challenge mode on top of all of this, too.

The graphics aren't spectacular, but they get the job done, it still manages to surprise you – getting air to see the whole level around you is stunning – and there are some nice details – Coconuts fall from trees in Fiji when you crash into them, you can still see you wheels and bits bouncing round when you get put back on the track – but nothing that couldn't be done last generation. The sounds are OK, but you'll want to turn your Remote's speaker off – the sounds from that are terrible. The music it pretty bad, too, but I'll let it off as it can play mp3 files from an SD card.

Overall, Excite Truck is a very fun game, and can be made to last long. Multiplayer is a bit lacking, but nevertheless still fun. It really deserves a more "complete" feeling sequel, which is the main problem with the game – it doesn't feel like it's been finished. It's worthy of a purchase, but try not to expect too much.