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Reviews (4)
May 10, 2009
Wonderful collection
1 of 1 found this helpful Whether you like this game or not will depend mostly upon whether the included Sega Genesis games are favorites of yours. That said, there are a large number of games available, so even if you don't like all of them, there will probably be at least a couple that you will enjoy. The Sonic, Phantasy Star, and Shinobi series are excellent games. Phantasy Star 4 in particular is an excellent game, and when you consider that it used to cost about $100 when it was originally released, it becomes apparent that having it on this collection makes the whole package a great value. The only disappointment associated with the collection is the absence of the Streets of Rage series, which, had it been included, would have made the collection just about perfect. As is, I highly recommend this collection, even if some of the games included are almost not worth playing.
Sep 10, 2008
My Favorite Racing Game for Wii after Mario Kart
1 of 1 found this helpful WHAT I LIKED:
Excite Truck is a well put-together game. All of the elements in it serve a purpose and make the game more enjoyable. Some of the more unique elements of the title, elements not seen in other games of the Excite series, are the deformable landscapes, the unique racing structure, and the conditions for success.
Around each track that you will race through, there are (!) icons that you can drive through. Whenever you touch one, the landscape in front of you will change shape, typically resulting in trick opportunities. Generally, this means a hill will appear in front of you, which you can launch off of.
The unique racing structure is also a plus. Unlike in most racing games, you aren't forced to race each of the tracks in a circuit one after the other in order to get an overall grade, which would usually determine whether or not you can move on to the next circuit. Instead, you can race through each track one at a time, which reduces much of the frustration one might experience if he has trouble on one specific track. You'll no longer have to redo the other tracks again and again if you only have trouble with the one. Of course, you still need to get an certain overall grade for the circuit based on the individual tracks' high scores, which must all be at least a B, in order to progress to the next set of tracks.
The conditions for success on any particular track are given by the STAR requirements. A STAR requirement tells you the number of STARS you need in order to get an S ranking, which is the highest ranking possible and what you should be shooting for. Not meeting or exceeding the STAR requirement will earn you a rank anywhere from D (the lowest) to A (the second highest). To obtain STARS during a race, you must perform tricks, which can be as simple as getting lots of airtime or driving close to trees without hitting them. The most complicated trick is the air spin, which requires proper timing if one intends to string several spins together. For each trick successfully completed, you receive a certain number of STARS, depending on how well you performed the trick. Lastly, at the end of the race, bonus STARS are added to your total, the number changing depending on how you placed. In this way, racing becomes much more than simply coming in first, which I believe makes the game that much more fun.
WHAT I DISLIKED:
Although the game is a lot of fun and definitely worth buying, the game could be a little more rounded. While there are a decent selection of trucks to choose from which do handle differently from one another, more variety in the track selection would have been nice. There are probably about 20 or so tracks, but only really 4 or 5 different environments. Thankfully, similar looking tracks vary in difficulty. I just wish they looked different.
Though there are 3 additional modes of play for single-player, each mode only has three tracks to play on. As a result, these extra modes feel very tacked-on. It's sad, because they really showed potential.
Multiplayer modes are limited to 2-Player VS races, and that's it. Why 2 players couldn't have played together in the extra modes, or why there isn't 4 player support, only the developer knows. Frankly, it's a missed opportunity.
You should also know that if you intend to complete the game through "Super Excite" mode, it can be quite difficult. I haven't completed it myself, which I blame Canada for (it's a track in the Gold circuit).
OVERALL SCORE: B+
Nov 01, 2017
It'll get your VR feet wet
As long as you already have the phone you need to use this, the Gear VR with controller is a fun thing to mess around with. It will certainly not compete with something like the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift in terms of game graphics or complexity, but it excels at allowing you to view 360 and/or 3D video content. I even enjoy using it just to watch non-3D stuff, like Netflix shows, because the screen looks enormous when you're watching it from inside the headset. It's no replacement for a big screen TV, but if all you have is your phone, it's way better than staring at the phone screen by itself. When it comes to simply watching stuff, this is actually the best option compared to the other VR headsets as the screen on a Galaxy S7/S8 is higher resolution. Also, I can't stress enough how nice it is not to have to have wires going from the headset to a computer. Yes, it means that you only get games that are capable of running on a phone, but I don't play games on it that much anyway.
That said, there are some good games on the Gear VR. Not a huge amount, but a good handful. Some of them are pretty short experiences, and not graphically impressive. And you won't be interacting with things by reaching out and grabbing them because the Gear VR controller doesn't allow for that kind of interaction, but many of the games are still fun anyway. Also, there is a lot that is free or not to expensive. The Oculus Store has sales pretty frequently as well.
All in all, I like the Gear VR. It's more of a toy than anything else, but I do enjoy messing around with it.