Excitebike art update#
Excitebike art full#

My one complaint about multiplayer is the fact that there is no local play–sure, the original didn’t have it either, but if you’re going to include online, then it seems natural to have split-screen for those of us who maybe just want to rub our friend’s noses in our superiority face-to-face rather than through a headset or silently, like many online games.īlast Factor: Your first thought may have been, “$10? Really?” but Monster Games packed this WiiWare sequel full of value that easily trumps what the original offers. Once you’ve mastered taking on the AI, try taking someone on online and see how well you fare–you may be surprised at just how good people are at Excitebike. The most significant addition is online play though. Little things like that go a long way towards enhancing the experience and making this the superior product.

Excitebike art update#

Another update Monster Games snuck in was the ability to alter courses by hitting items, creating jumps and hills where nothing was a moment before simply by driving into them.

The art style is more impressive, as the courses actually resemble the areas they are based in now, like in Excitebots, rather than simply being listed by letters for differentiation. Graphically, the game is 3D now, but it’s a fairly simple 3D. No longer do you have to rely on your own imagination in order to have more fun than what came in the virtual box, which is appreciated. The track editor from the original game returns, but there’s a twist now, as you can trade levels with your friends.

Their performances are all the same, but if you’re not digging the original colors or just want a change of pace, they are your reward for a race well run. You can bounce off of their heads as you come down from a jump in order to cool off your engine, and you can also take them out of commission by switching lanes directly in front of them at the exact right moment–be careful though, as crashing will ruin your times, though you can get back up from that and from your engine overheating more quickly than before thanks to shaking of the Wii Remote, just like in Excitebots or Excitetruck.Ĭompleting all of the courses with a grade of S in a particular cup (B is passing, A is obviously better, and S is the best) earns you a few different colored bikes.

The other racers on the course are there mostly to get in your way, as you aren’t actually racing them. Both work, and work well, but I eventually went back to the D-pad to avoid accidentally shifting in mid-air. That’s the classic style though, as you can use the updated version that lets you tilt the Wii Remote in order to align yourself. You also use the D-pad to align your bike for landings so as not to interrupt your speed. World Rally also brings you back to the days when all you needed to have fun with any game was two buttons–2 is accelerate, 1 is your limited turbo supply, and the D-pad is used to switch lanes and perform a wheelie. In order to earn the best grades possible on those levels, you’re going to need to hit every jump the right way, hit all of the markers to cool off your boosters, and avoid crashing at all costs–it’s a lot harder to do than it sounds. You may think you rock at Excitebike after you drive through the first few courses, but once you get to the Gold and Platinum cups, the game will let you know what it thinks of you. There are 16 courses where you switch lanes, hit boosters and jump over hills, and they are progressively harder. You spend your time popping wheelies, using your turbo boost, hitting jumps, avoiding pits, jumping hurdles, flying ahead of other racers–World Rally feels like the original in that sense, but tighter and more responsive. You drive on your bike, racing against your own time in order to earn a better grade.