I think this update might make DiU's excite level go thorugh the roof.
IGN has a preview of the game.This game . . . Just sounds incredible.
Here's some info.
- "it blows the original away."
- "To say that this game is unconventional is an understatement. In our first two hours behind the wheel with Excitebots
we've had office members stop and stare, and we've had comments about it being a 3D reincarnation of Uniracers, Wario Ware mixed with racing, an F-Zero style game, and others."
- "The real obvious truth, however,
is that the game simply does whatever it wants, as long as it ensures more fun in the process. You'll still get the star-based racing from the first Excite Truck, you'll get crazy air, terrain morphing buttons, a boost meter that needs to be kept in constant check, air spins, jump boosts, and plenty of locales to blaze through at ridiculous speeds.
Add on top of that, however, is the some of the most insane stunt and micro-game elements I've ever seen in a racer." - "Briefly in the first trailer you could see bots running on the ground, rather than driving. This is also a new power-up, collected by grabbing a wrench on the race track. For anyone that snags this amazing item, it could mean a serious edge on the competition, as your bot seamlessly transforms into a biped and starts running. Tilt control is still in effect, but slamming down left and right while trying to turn at the same time (basically a more exaggerated tilt) will cause the bot to sprint, busting into flames and tearing through the competition as it trots over trees and speeds ahead. The game takes it one step further though, adding another layer of awesome on top of the already in-place awesome for now double-awesome goodness..."
- "... Hitting ramps will send your sprinting bot into the air, morphing it yet again into a glider mode that would make any triple-changing Transformer from the 80's blush bright red. You take to the air, go into glide mode, and then have controls comparable to wing cap Mario, tilting backwards to gain height, and forward to dive-bomb and speed up.
Oh, and the flight controls rock. This could be its own game. Collect butterflies while in the air, and then land on a gigantic sunflower to gain even more bonus stars. Seriously, we couldn't make this stuff up."
- "Whatever Monster Games is smoking, it's paying off big time, because this game is good fun."
- bots have weight, grip, boost power, and boost longevity stats
- available from the start: frog, beetle, ladybug, bat, turtle, and grasshopper
- win races, get stars, unlock new bots
- four stock colors, seven unlockable ones, and one special design
- bots available for purchase at beginning of game: mouse, mantis, and hummingbird
- rubber-band bars act as a trampoline for more tricks
- question mark boxes morph terrain/open shortcuts/start micro-challenges
- only the person that opens the box gets the challenge
- bottle rocket can be used to boost
- hammer smashes the ground and causes shockwaves
- tambourine plays “Shave and a haircut” tune, but you have to tap A for the “two bits” part. Do so and earn stars
- collect wrench to transform into bipedal bot
- slam down left/right alternately to sprint
- hit ramps while running to transform into a glider bot
- tilt up for loft, tilt down for speed
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collect butterflies while gliding, land on a sunflower to get even more stars-
online mode: Poker Race mode - three specific tracks, each player given a hand of 5 cards while racing, select cards to swap-out with d-pad, run into cards to pick them up, press A to call your hand and cash it in, poker rules apply, and higher hand gets you more stars
- two specific control styles alongside Wii Wheel support
- SD music support from first game not in this build, not ruled out yet
- Egypt, Scotland, Mexico, China, Kilimanjaro, Finland and more