_Alkaline_
Member
http://wii.ign.com/articles/844/844021p1.html
As we mentioned, Nitrobike has a ton in common with Nintendo's own first-party racer Excite Truck, which of course is a throwback to the classic Excite series from N64 and NES. Players compete with up to ten other bikers, ripping around tracks in hopes of hitting huge jumps, cashing in trick combos for added boost, and taking first place. Just like its initial inspiration, Nitrobike is heavy on the arcade control, and very light on any sort of sim racing, definitely appealing to the type of gamer that drops quarters for a few minutes of an adrenaline rush. Tilt control is of course embraced, so players will hold the Wii-mote in classic NES position and tilt to steer, use the 1 button as a brake, 2 as gas, d-pad for boost, and a combination of directions and the 1 button mid-air for tricking. Every time you trick, your boost bar increases just a little bit, allowing you to push the limits of your bike further and further throughout the race. Bail, however, and your bar starts to decrease again notch by notch.
With as much in common with Excite Truck as Nitrobike has, players will undoubtedly come to ask themselves why exactly they should drop cash on Ubisoft's offering when Nintendo's design has been on shelves for well over a year now. The truth is, Nitrobike won't be for everyone, but we're convinced it'll find its following just the same. A head-to-head comparison isn't exactly fair, since we'd have to favor in the direction of Excite Truck, as the experience is extremely polished. With that being said, Nitrobike brings more variety to the table from what we've seen so far, so if you don't mind a little less polish all around, you're going to get more depth in return.
The track design in Nitrobike is also more traditional than its Nintendo-made rival, so while Excite Truck had players blasting over canyons and jumping lakes with a single boost, Nitrobike focuses on closed tracks with more technical turns, with the occasional exploding bus or random burst of flames thrown in for good measure. Things can get a bit crowded with ten racers all stetting up at the line to begin a race, and because of it you get some frame issues along the way, but for the most part the experience is pretty fluid and fast. We'll need to spend more time with it before making any final judgments, but there's a definite change in feel when you combine boosting power with a more enclosed track, and it makes for some pretty challenging course design. As you progress through career mode the courses begin to open up a bit more (tier three has you leaping over bridges and racking up hang time of over five seconds per jump), but the general feel remains to be enclosed and linear, as opposed to some of Excite Truck's more open environments.
Another aspect that is definitely upped from Nintendo's launch racer is the overall depth of the career mode, specifically when looking at the amount of challenges and levels. Nitrobike's career mode is made up of nine tiers, totaling over 65 events when all is said and done. Most of the time you'll be racing against a pack of nine other riders, but every once in a while specific events (such as the elimination races) will drop the amount of rivals for a different feel. During these events, stakes are higher, often dumping out the person in last place or having riders race for the chance to earn new bikes or characters to use as the career goes on. Trick Attack events also make their way into the career mode at around tier three, having players nail specific tricks in the fastest possible time to medal in the challenge. Nail gold in every tier's package of events (as well as completing the game 100% throughout) and you'll be rewarded for your efforts once again.
And then there're the online options. Since we're playing off a pre-release build right now we won't have a chance to get into online competitions until much closer to release, but with Wii's online game list leaving much to be desired, the addition of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection support could give Nitrobike a serious push in the hardcore community. Thus far we've raced locally, and also opened up the bowling mini-game, and both have been pretty entertaining. Once we get online, we'll be back with more to share in the multiplayer department.
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