– 1 button to break
– 2 for gas
– Hold down control pad for continuous boost
– Pressing control pad too long can cause bot to overheat and slowdown
– Tilt Wiimote in quick seesaw motions to make bot go faster when it’s running on two legs
– Can play with the Wii Wheel
– There is a difference in how the bots handle compared to the trucks from Excite Truck
“We wanted to find a way for a wider audience to enjoy mind-boggling action without having to worry about the difficulty of controlling the bots. When we worked on Excite Truck, we thought that steering the trucks was very easy and that everyone would be able eto play the game with ease. But some of our fans thought that it was difficult to control the trucks, or that it took some time to get used to. Based on this feedback, we were able to create something that allowed everyone to experience ths ame thrill but with even greater control. Overall, controlling the vehicle is much more intuitive and easier to handle, and the tilting and steering of the Wii Remote translates seamlessly to the movements of the vehicle. We also think that the Turbo is more straightforward than in Excite Truck. When we go back and play Excite Truck these days, we are surprised with how challenging it is.” – Hiro Yamada, Supervisor at Nintendo and Richard Garcia, Team Lead and President of Monster Games – Excite Race is the game’s main mode
– Has a bunch of Challenge modes – more than in Excite Truck
– Has split-screen two player racing, online support with up to six players
– More Wi-Fi features that are still under wraps
– Unlock new tracks and bots in Excite Race
– Need to complete School Cup (tutorials) first
– Complete five tracks in each cup (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) to go on to the next
– Can race tracks in any order
– Tracks considered cleared only if you earn a B rank or higher
– Has new tracks and old tracks from Excite Trucks
– Locales include Kilimanjero, Egypt, Canada, China
– “Fans may recognize a track and think, ‘Oh, it’s that track.’ But, of course, each track has new tricks and surprises and you’ll be able to enjoy them in a completely new way in Excitebots. Also, all the tracks are more colorful and retro-hip than in Excite Truck.” – Hiro Yamada, Supervisor at Nintendo and Richard Garcia, Team Lead and President of Monster Games
– Special bars are a new addition
– “There are red bars and yellow bars. Once you reach a yellow bar, your bot grips onto it and instantly spins around at lightning speed, and you need to find the exact time to push your Remote forward so that your bot is released. The sooner you can push and release your bot off the yellow bar, the faster the release acceleration and the more points you earn. But if you push at the wrong time, your bot will tumble off the bar. The yellow bar requires instant concentration while at the same time adding even more speed to the race.”- Hiro Yamada, Supervisor at Nintendo and Richard Garcia, Team Lead and President of Monster Games
– “When your bot reaches a red bar, your bot automatically grabs it and starts to rotate around the bar at a very slow speed. Syncing your Wii Remote movement with your bot on the red bar is critical to increasing the speed of rotation. Spinning around the red bar 10 times releases your bot. [Just before a red bar] you’ll be racing at full speed, but once you reach it you’ll have to hold back your anticipation to carefully control your Remote, something which ultimately creates an intense change of pace in the gameplay.” – Hiro Yamada, Supervisor at Nintendo and Richard Garcia, Team Lead and President of Monster Games
– New attack items
– Chomper Mouth – set of fake teeth chatters away, launches onto closest opponent
– Soccer goal kicks, darts, football field goals, pie throwing are some of the mini-games
– Doing mini-games correctly can give you extra points
– Completing a mini-game can trigger a surprise such as opening up a hidden route
– Has a variety of unlockables
– “There will be numerous icons that can be unlocked one-by-one and then used for your profile, so that your friends and competitors can see the icon of your choosing during tournaments via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The most exciting is probably statues since you can collect a statue for each vehicle. By purchasing these unlockable statues, you’ll be able to admire your favorite bot from all angles. These new bots, icons, and statues can be purchased by stars that you earn throughout the game.” – Hiro Yamada, Supervisor at Nintendo and Richard Garcia, Team Lead and President of Monster Games
– The bots don’t overheat as much as the trucks did
– Has more of a techno soundtrack
– “The action will make you want to laugh and call out comments like, ‘Are you kidding me?!’ and ‘That’s just way too ridiculous.'” – Hiro Yamada, Supervisor at Nintendo and Richard Garcia, Team Lead and President of Monster Games
