Rev up your engine, and get ready to roll! You’re behind the wheel of Nintendo Wii’s Excite Truck, and guess what’s up? This time, it’s not about a princess. It’s not about conquering some baddie. It’s not even about coming in first place to win the race. It’s about two words: Excite. Truck. You’re roaring down the road, doing tricks and spectacular leaps, and whether you’re alone or with a pal, you’re doing what you need to win. It might not sound like much on paper, but this ranks among the best Wii games available for 2006/2007!
All right, let’s take a deep breath and look at what Excite Truck offers. For starters, it’s basically a racecourse game, the inevitable follow-up to the popular Excitebike, but this time with all terrain vehicles. There is no character to pick. It’s you and your truck—other options become available such as 4×4s, buggies, and SUVs—and you can choose any color of the rainbow for your new beast to come in. This game uses the standard Wii controller, but you hold it sideways.
There are four playing options: Excite Race, if you’re playing alone; Challenge, which features some mini-games; Versus, for two-player racing; and Tutorials, which is where beginners learn to drive, go turbo, jump, short-jump, do air spins, and more. You also need to get the hang of “drifting,” which is kind of a power-skid turbo thing, and you will be loving that turbo! Players should do the tutorial so they get the hang of holding the controller sideways as it does take a little getting used to. To play this game well you really need to understand the effects of tilts, from side to side and back and forth, and elbow action.
After the tutorials, you pick a Cup to challenge for and then a Country to race in, which determine the courses you’ll travel during the game. They range from fantastically easy to really difficult, and they include some terrific terrain such as the Atoll Hop, Scotland’s sylvan glen, Fiji’s beaches, Finland’s snowy mountains, all the way to the Great Wall of China! Each course offers its own challenges, whether it’s lava pouring toward you or huge boulders you have to crash through. Like all of the best Wii games, the scenery is quite beautiful in lots of places, although you’ll be going so fast you won’t really get to appreciate it.
What you will appreciate is the soaring in your soul when you master tricks like double and triple turns in mid-air or stretching out your hang time during a leap. This game isn’t about winning a cup—although you can. This is about getting the stars you need to win even if you come in last. Your goal is to unlock more and more options if you’re playing solo, or beat you’re buddy if you’re playing together. For example, you’re running behind your buddy, but you put your style and daring into action and crash through rocks and trees—that gets you more stars. If you’re going for speed, and you overheat, you splash into water to cool it down and then turbo back up. You won’t win this by being shy and polite! POW icons cause the scenery to morph into mountains for great jumps or drop down into the water, which you just might need for more of that turbo. Other icons give you bursts of speed that let you crash through forests.
The game offers some cool rock sounds for background music, but you can also download an MP3 player to an SD card if you have one for your own tunes. In the grand tradition of arcade-style racing games, this stands among the best Wii games ever. Nintendo recommends it for ages seven and older, and while kids love it, grandfathers will have a great time competing, too.
Not since the Atari has a game system so caught the attention of the world as the Nintendo Wii – and while past systems have had varying levels of interactivity, the Wii takes this to a completely new level with the introduction of the Wii remote. The Wii remote is the main controller for the Nintendo Wii game system. The controller moves from the button mashing technique of the standard gaming platform to a system that actually allows you to control the game with every move of the controller. This is made possible by the accelerometer and optical sensor technology. Now instead of using your thumbs to move the character across the screen you actually move the controller! Where else can you play awesome games and get a workout at the same time?
The World According To Rabbids One of the first in the ever growing list of best Wii games to appear on the market would have to be Rayman Raving Rabbids. Released in late 2006 this latest installment in the Rayman series however is also a departure from the run of the mill, run and jump levels with mini games throughout. Rabbids is built around a fun and often hilarious storyline. The introduction begins with Rayman minding his own business having a lovely picnic with the Globoxes. Enter the mindless staring Rabbids that have long lived underground. Unbeknownst to our fearless hero they have been plotting to take over the world for years. Rayman is then abducted and finally lands in prison where he must compete in a series of games to entertain the Rabbids – with each game taking him one step closer to his freedom. This frenetic jumble of increasingly insane activities quickly makes you understand why Rayman Raving Rabbids was and still is one of the best Wii games.
Rabbids Must Die! Fun seems to be the word of the day in Rayman Raving Rabbids. Throughout the silly levels, you will have many opportunities to experience all this crazy world has to offer as you work to free Rayman from his confines. The mini games are both wickedly fun and out and out laughable, with Rayman able to torture the Rabbids in increasingly inventive ways, with the Wii remote being fully utilized as you progress. In one game you have a “whack-a-mole” scenario and you much use the Wii remote to bash the Rabbids – in another you shake the Wii remote and nunchuck to get Rayman to run, delivering a bomb to a “poor” unsuspecting Rabbid before it explodes. Other games involve Rayman abusing out-of-tune Rabbid choir singers, or taking aim in first-person shooter-style fair that involves shooting toilet plungers at Rabbid faces. It is a laugh-a-minute playing through the minis games and one that will get players of all ages and interest levels keen to outdo themselves and each other.
Instant Crazy Fun! Just Add YOU! With a sick and twisted sense of fun at the core of this game, with examples peppered throughout, there’s no end to the hilarity of watching Rayman take his vengeance on this cute and crazy critters. See how Rayman must go to work in the diseased mouth of one Rabbid, or lasso a cow and hurl it in the great blue yonder for seemingly no reason. The games might not make much sense but that’s what makes this game so unbelievably enjoyable even after repeated plays. Even the most hardened of gameplayer will find it hard not to sit back and enjoy the zany momentum this game has to offer. Others will already be drawn in by the colorful settings and promise of rib-tickling action. I mean, what other game has it’s hero scrambling to close out-house doors as the occupants try to relieve themselves, all to the disgusting tune of grunts and groans? Nothing is spared or sacred in this finely crafted best Wii game for 2006, that continues to reward even now.
Every past release of The Legend of Zelda game series has always stood out as a must play fantasy adventure game that all ages can enjoy. Now with the 13th installment in the franchise, The Legend of Zelda – Twilight Princess, Nintendo take things one step further by making this not only the first Zelda game for the Wii but also (thankfully) one of the best Wii games ever made. Ten years after the last Zelda outing, Oceania, and taking four years to development by one of the best gaming teams in the biz, Twilight Princess stands out above so many games of its ilk as more beautifully designed, exciting and epic than anything you have ever seen before, and will likely see again for a good long while.
Graphics From the box art down to the gameplay itself, Zelda takes a serious and darker turn instead of the cartoony and colorful approach of previous entries. The end result, thanks to the graphics enhancements of the Wii, gives Twilight Princess huge merits for having some of the best technically designed graphics on the Wii system to date. This isn’t only noticeable in many of the great cut scenes but you’ll also enjoy the good graphics that Twilight Princess has to offer when you start exploring the land of Hyrule and many of the detailed environments throughout. For one thing the water effects are amazing, and the frame rate plays it smooth at 30 frames.
Sound Zelda fans who love all the classic tunes will enjoy the musical pieces that Twilight Princess offers. What really stands out is the epic score that build on the atmosphere of what is currently taking place in the game, making this a much more cinematic affair than previous Zelda releases. Also sharp and clear are the games many sound effects, especially during the fighting scenes that inspire you to keep hacking away at your enemies, creating a full-bodied surround sound experience second to none at this time.
Gameplay Twilight Princess is the perfect example on how games should really be made for the Wii Remote. GameCube players of Zelda will be encouraged to play Twilight Princess on the Wii as it creates a whole new gaming experience, making it almost seem like a completely new game! Gamers who played the previous Zelda titles will be pleased to have the same combat system from Wind Waker and other older Zelda games. Now with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, you can run around a lot more freely and swing your sword by doing a gesture instead of pressing a button, adding to the realistic interactive effect the game has overall. While this may seem like too much effort, the winning part of it is that gestures can be minimal or long depending on preference without disrupting the whole gameplay experience. Anyone can pick this game up and start hacking and slashing for hours without getting tired.
Those who love to play with Link’s projectile weapons will be addicted in accurately aiming for shots just by pointing the remote to your target. This beats out the old analog aiming by a huge margin and you’ll never go back to those controls again once you try it.
Twilight Princess is an incredible world to explore with tons of side quests as expected with a Zelda release. You’ll spend hours in familiarizing yourself with all of the beautifully rendered lush areas that Twilight Princess offers.
Overall The Legend of Zelda – Twilight Princess clearly stands out as one of the best Wii games ever. It has a captivating storyline that exceeds any other Zelda game. It is a lot more real than its predecessors and the darker, more serious setting serves as a refreshing change, a first for the series. The Wii functionality seals the deal and won’t let you put down the controller once you’ve got your hands on it. Anyone looking for a breathtaking adventure of epic proportions with hours of gameplay and truly eye-catching design should try this game right away.
