Back in 2006, Nintendo brought high-octane racing to Wii with Excite Trucks. Now the publisher's back with a follow-up called Excitebots. Instead of steering gas guzzling SUVs, you command robots in the shapes of animals like bats, beetles, turtles and ladybugs. Sounds strange, but after getting our hands on it, this is anything but a kid friendly racer.
Excitebots is all about going fast by any means necessary, whether you catch big air off a cliff or turbo boost through the finish line. To play, you simply tilt the Wii remote left and right to steer while pressing 2 for gas and 1 to brake. You can also activate turbo by tapping B or up/down (from a horizontal perspective) on the d-pad.
In a strange twist, crossing the finish line may actually cost you the race. Although you should always aim to come in first, it's the player with the most stars that'll be the winner. You collect stars as you play, and the goal is to snag more of them than the competition.
Like Excite Trucks, Excitebots moves super fast and you'll need to keep your eyes glued to the detailed tracks, lest your robot smack into a tree. The simple control scheme allows almost anyone to immediately learn the game's intricacies, and thus far, it's a blast. We're especially excited about online multiplayer, where up to six people can compete against each other. If you don't have a broadband connection, you can always play with up to five people locally or split screen with a friend.
In addition, Excitebots has numerous mini games you can activate while racing. This includes soccer (hit the ball into the goal), bowling (drive through pins), darts (hit the target with your chosen bot), sandwiches (drive through ingredients to make a sandwich) and clowns (chuck a pie into a clown's face). You can also run through blocks to alter terrain and access power-ups that give you a temporary speed boost or chomp on other racers.
With numerous tracks, online play and plenty of speed, Excitebots should be one of the Wii's best racers. Look for more info in the near future.
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