Oodles of potential and good execution, but a lack of game modes makes this a bargain bin only purchase!
The first option on the main menu is "World Circuit". This is the main single player mode in the game. You embark on a series of 20 races around the world (against 5 other racers) and whoever has the highest point total at the end of the season wins the championship! What I really like about racing in this mode is that you don't have to lock in to one single monster truck to race with for the whole season. You can pick a different monster truck for every race from among those that are available to you! I thought this was pretty cool as I like to try all the different vehicles in a game and see which one I like best. This mode is where you will find all of the unlockable content in the game. As you win races you will unlock additional monster trucks, races for multiplayer mode, and both decal & colour packs that can be used to change looks of all the various monster trucks in the game.
The next option on the main menu is "Quick Race". This is pretty simple really. You pick a monster truck, you pick a race track, and then all the details of the race (such as number of laps, number of opponents, etc.) and away you go for a one off race. This type of quick race mode is typical of all types of racing games and to be honest I never really use it! If I'm going to do some racing I prefer to race a season or a circuit, you know?
The third option is "Multiplayer" and from here you have two options within the option. First you can have a regular race. This is just like the "Quick Race" mode. You each pick your monster trucks, you pick the race track, and then you decide the details of the race (laps, opponents, etc.) and off you go on a one off race. The other, more intriguing multiplayer option is the mini-games. There are three multiplayer mini-games available. The first one is called "Combat". In this mini-game you are put in to a big arena with your opponent(s) and there are lots of flaming barrels scattered throughout the arena that you can ram in to your opponent and cause them damage. Whoever has done the most damage when the timer expires is the winner. The second mini-game is "Football". And by football they mean soccer. You are put on a soccer field with your opponent(s) along with a an over-sized soccer ball. You use your truck to push the soccer ball in to your opponents' goal and whoever has the most goals when the timer expires wins. The last mini-game is "Vehicle Ball". In this game you are again put in an arena with your opponent however, you can only stay on your side of the arena. When the game first starts there will be four giant balls on each side of the arena. Each player must push those 4 balls over to the other person's side of the arena as well as push back any balls your opponent may send over to your side from his or her side of the arena. Whoever has the least amount of balls on their side when the timer expires is the winner. As you can probably guess, these mini-games are pretty fun. However, there is a slight problem. From two to four human players ONLY can compete against each other in this multiplayer option. You can't play these games one player! There is no way to take in only one human controlled player versus computer controlled opponents! I found this to be quite ridiculous. I am an only child, my own child is only 2 and a half years old, and my wife has no use for video games! So for a person like me there isn't anybody we can play the mini-games with. This is one of the glaring mistakes I was talking about at the start of this review. I really found this to be quite an obvious, easily preventable error they made in this game.
The next option is "Records". As you complete races in this game, whether it be in World Circuit, Quick Race, or Multiplayer modes, if you have a profile saved in the game you will be able to receive credit for breaking track records in the game. On each course in the game there are 5 different records you can potentially break. The categories are: best lap, total track time (over 3 laps), most stunts in a race, longest jump, and total points in a race. To view these records you choose this option.
Next is "Garage". The garage is where you go to view all of the monster trucks available in the game. There are 14 monster trucks total in the game, and I believe you start with 8 and have to unlock the last 6. Anyways, when you go to the garage you can view all of the monster trucks and make changes to them if you so wish. You can change their colour schemes and apply various decals to give them all their own unique look. As long as you save your profile after changing any of the vehicle's looks, the monster trucks in question will show up with the last changes you made until you feel like changing them again. This is another feature I really liked about this game. Also, when you race you earn points. These points can eventually be used to buy upgrades for the monster trucks in several different categories such as speed, handling, turbo, destructive power, etc. The garage is where you go to purchase these upgrades.
The sixth option is, well . . . "Options"! This is where you go to adjust the sound settings in the game or view the game controls layout.
Next we have "Player Profile". This is where you go to first set up your profile in the game that you can save all your progress to. You will have to go here when the game first fires up to load your profile, and then you will have to go back there before you shut down to save all your progress. There is no autosave feature in this game. It's not a big deal but you've definitely got to get used to it!
The last option is "Credits". To view the people who brought this game to us, go here.
As for the racing itself, it is pretty simple The controls are really basic, there is no Wii nunchuk involved. You flip the Wii remote on it's side and to steer the truck you just tilt the remote like you would a steering wheel. I highly recommend a Wii steering wheel attachment for games like this, they really do make a difference! And it's way more comfortable too. To accelerate your truck you press the 2 button, and to brake/reverse you press the 1 button. When you build up your turbo meter move the Wii remote forward towards the TV and it will engage your nitro boost.
As you are racing there are some things to be aware of. First are pickups. There are two blue shaded pickups that are very important. The first one looks like a rocket and it is an automatic turbo. If you pick it up you will shoot ahead at breakneck speed for a limited period of time. The other pickup looks like a battery and it helps build your turbo meter. Your turbo function can get you out of a jam at times so make sure to pick up as many of these as you can and make sure to save some turbo for the last lap of the race! There is one red shaded pickup you can get and it is the shield. On some tracks you will come across flamethrowers spewing fire across the track and when you get lit up it really slows you down. When you grab the shield pickup though it protects you against the fire. Also keep your eyes open for flaming barrels when you are racing. When you ram these barrels you will shoot them forward and if there is an opponent in front of you it will light them on fire and slow them right down. These can be very useful when you are not in the lead! When you are in the lead though make sure to use them because even though you won't hit anybody with the barrel, it's one less barrel for them to shoot at you. The last thing you need to be aware of during a race are the jumps. When you go over a jump you can do stunts. There are four different types of stunts you can do, each in two different directions. To pull off the stunts you have to move the Wii remote in a certain pattern as you exit the jump ramp, but I'm not going to tell you how! Three of the stunts are really easy to figure out, but the fourth one is a bit tricky. As you jump off ramps, perform stunts, use your turbo, etc. you will be awarded points accordingly. These are the points I mentioned earlier in this review that you can use to purchase upgrades for the monster trucks.
As for the game as a whole, I mentioned that there were a couple of really big deficiencies at the start of this review. The first one I discussed in the Multiplayer section but can you guess what the second one is? How about a total lack of alternative single player game modes!?! Really all there is to this game for a single player is the "World Circuit" mode as the "Quick Race" mode is pretty much useless. If they'd thought up another one or two substantial game modes to add in that would have made this game infinitely better. Now I know why I got this game on sale for $20 . . . including a steering wheel! What I think they should have done was add in a Monster Jam mode. You know the monster truck racing you see on TV where there are 2 trucks racing around an arena going over jumps and crunching cars? Why the rush didn't they put a mode like that in!? They could have made it similar to the world circuit in that you play a season and race at different events around North America. A simple addition like that would have made this so much better. But who am I to talk? I don't design them, I just play them!
Enough of the negative comments, I'd like to end this review on a positive note! The great things about this game are many despite what I just finished saying. First, there are a good number of both monster trucks and race tracks in the game. There are 14 total monster trucks and 10 total race tracks. Each race track can be run normal or in reverse, so in essence you actually have 20 different races to choose from (sort of). The graphics I found really well done, and the fact that you can use any monster truck you want for any race during any game mode, was fantastic. Plus the ability to perform upgrades and make design scheme changes at the drop of a hat was also really cool. Most of all I like the response of the game controls. Like I said earlier the controls in this game are pretty simple, but they execute flawlessly. When you tilt that steering wheel the monster trucks respond just the way you think they should. The controls were really well done.
So that's it! Ultimately this game really had a ton of potential that wasn't realized because it almost seemed like they wanted to get it out in a hurry or something. If they'd taken a little extra time and just added in a bit more stuff this had the possibility of being one hell of a game. Definitely buy it if you can find it cheap like I did, it would be a great multiplayer game, but don't spend too much. Ultimately if the mini-games in multiplayer mode were able to be used as a single player I would have given this game an 8, and if they had put in one or two more substantial single player game modes I would have given this game at least a 9.