This is the first article in our new series on Wii games. We’re going to be looking at some Wii games that have been released for a while now that you may not own. These games are so much fun that it beats any shovelware out today. So given the choice, spend it on one of these.

I love Excite Bike. So much so, that I’ve had it on NES and N64. It’s one of my favorite simple games (and you’ll see a review of it this weekend from Sara). I enjoyed it so much that I would create my own levels and leave the NES on for days just playing my creation.

Excite Truck basically that game, but on a truck over land, sea, and ice and oh…on gaming ‘roids. It’s got the excitement part down with tight controls, fun music (and the ability to play your own music during stages), great graphics, and off the charts fun-ability. It’s that good.

With any “Excite” game, the main element is you can’t run your engine too hot. Doing so, will cause you to overheat in classic Excite Bike fashion. Only here, you’ll see black smoke coming out of you engine and you’ll slow down. You can cool down by making “turbo” jumps or using the elements (water and ice) to cool down as well.

The courses are varied enough (mountains, swaps, deserts, icebergs, mining towns, and jungles) to keep you engaged. But each ride is rarely the same. You’ll have the ability to hit “POW” markers, which is like getting the star in Mario Bros. You go invincible for a few seconds and get super speed and unlimited turbo. It’s really fun, especially the added sound effects of sirens blurring and visually blurring through the stages. Other power-ups cause you change the course itself via an earthquake, tornado, or some other action. It’s fun.

But it’s not just about getting power-ups and shifting the course. This is a truck racing game with an element of getting “star” points. You do so by making super air jumps, tricks and powerslides. But this is a truck racing game so you can smash into people and my favorite make tree-runs! With tree runs, you’re running totally off-raod into the forest and avoiding trees. The more you avoid, the more star points you get.

The controls are extremely tight. You’d be surprised what just simply tilting the Wiimote left and right (in the classic gaming position) will do. It’s executed perfectly as you really get the feeling of driving.

This is a first gen game. Consider shovelware games today don’t even have tight controls like this, and it’s even more impressive (or sad).

Truck selection is impressive as well as you’ll be able to unlock all sorts of paint jobs and different trucks.

The pluses though, don’t stop there. The last thing that really makes this game is the sound. Not only is the sound spot on for driving, it’s probably one of the better uses of the speaker on the Wiimote you’ll find. Seriously. When you over heat or crash into something, or do anything (good or bad), you’ll feel it and hear from the Wiimote. It’s not that great, but it adds another dimension to the gaming experience. One, that I’m sure Nintendo intended when they created a Wiimote with a speaker.

Add all that good stuff together and you have a game that was released at Wii launch that is still freakin’ awesome to play today.

That’s awesome for Excite Truck, but pretty freakin’ sad for developers of sub-part crappy shovelware. Take a lesson from Excite Truck and you’ll be able to create quality games that folks will enjoy.

(Editor’s Note: To those developers who say they’re making shovelware for a wide audience? Even my 3 year old won’t play that junk. He prefers Excite Truck)

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