Monster 4x4 World Circuit Review (gamezone)

- gamezone -

It won't be long before racing games are differentiated primarily by their control status. On Xbox 360 the genre continues down the path of the analog stick. But on Wii and PS3, so much more is possible.

One of the games daring to provide that "more" is Monster 4X4: World Circuit. Built for the current generation, the game doesn't look that impressive, and may not be noticed by the average gamer passing through the Wii aisle of their favorite retailer. But if you're into racing games, if you love the Wii's motion controls, if you want something else to play besides Excite Truck, and if you want a game that'll give you a rental's worth of entertainment, Monster 4X4 will fulfill your needs.

In Good Control

Picking up the Wii remote for a drive with this game is like grabbing hold of a racing wheel attached to an arcade cabinet: you won't be a pro on the first lap, but the experience is instantly intuitive. There isn't a learning or adjustment period. No fumbling with passing opponents, nor any time wasted trying to figure out the best way to take a corner. The movement, and the amount of speed and pressure needed to be successful is crystal clear. A year from now this will be expected – anything less will be a total mess. But for a Wii launch ("window") title that's been brought over from other, less advanced consoles, this game is impressive.

Only a couple of game modes are available: quick race and world circuit. The quick race is your average arcade / exhibition mode. You can start off with it, but you won't be able to access every single course until you've conquered the full circuit.

Monster 4X4 has a total of 10 individual tracks. You'll experience each course twice before the game is finished – once in normal form, and again in reversed formation. Win first place and you're all set. It's not that difficult of a task to accomplish – courses are typically short, opponents are easy to pass, and there are plenty of opportunities to increase your speed (should you fall behind and need a little help).

Trucks are upgraded through a simple point system. Points are earned by winning and performing stunts, and often end up in the thousands. Those are your base points, and they don't mean anything until they've been converted. The game makes the conversion automatically. Once several thousand are in your inventory, you'll be rewarded with one experience point. Assign EXP to different parts of your vehicle: speed, air, handling, etc.

Power-ups are scarce, but when you do find them they'll be fired off automatically. This wouldn't have been my first choice (I prefer the tried-and-true store-until-you-need-it method). But it does offer up an interesting challenge. When you're in first place and you hit a bomb power-up, the weapon is obviously going to waste. However, it's still worth hitting the power-up because they do not replenish themselves. Therefore every power-up you snag is one less your opponent can grab and use in your direction.

Also, just because an opponent is in the lead doesn't mean you'll have an easy time attacking. Since power-ups are shot on their own, the only way to influence their destination is by the angle that you hit the power-up from. Hit it from a corner and it'll be shot left or right – hit it dead-on for a straighter firing.

Speed boosts are also obtainable and come in two forms: automatic and turbo replacement. The latter fills up your turbo meter. Unleash its juice by quickly pushing the Wii remote toward the screen. It sounds lame – I love Tony Hawk and think Sonic has a lot potential on Wii, but I don't like the idea of shaking my controller to activate a turbo boost (Tony Hawk does have a button alternative, thankfully). The style Monster 4X4 uses didn't seem like it would be much better, but it works surprisingly well.

Perform flips and spins by quickly tilting the remote left, right, or down. Tilting it up or back does not yield any different results. But the other three actions result in the truck flipping in the expected direction. Your speed and precision when performing these stunts will determine how quickly the truck moves, and how many stars are acquired. A three-star rating gets you a nice point and turbo boost bonus. Anything less is just okay. Some weird landing effects can occur – you could wind up on your two back tires, which jerks the vehicle in a funny way, yet may still lead to a speed-boosting power-up. This part seemed more random than the other aspects of the stunt system.

Review Scoring Details for Monster 4X4: World Circuit

Gameplay: 7.0
Satisfying (motion-controlled) steering mechanics combined with short and fun courses and an interesting (though minimally examined) trick system. You push the remote toward the screen to ignite your turbo boosts, and twist the remote after launching off a ramp to perform one of three spin moves.

Graphics: 4.0
Not as grainy or washed out as Excite Truck, but still a far cry from producing Wii- or GameCube-quality graphics.

Sound: 3.0
There must be a library for generic racing game sounds. Every year, 90% of the racers sound exactly the same.

Difficulty: Easy
Like taking candy from a monster’s baby … who doesn’t have any teeth or claws to fight back.

Concept: 7.0
Same old racing game, now with superior steering.

Multiplayer: 7.0
One of the few four-player racers for the console, Monster 4X4 is a fun game to test out all your new Wii remotes.

Overall: 7.0
Quick and straightforward arcade-style fun. Monster 4X4 isn’t long or deep enough to be a must-own, but racing fans will derive a day or two’s worth of pleasure. The courses are short and usually sweet, and the controls are intuitive without being overly sensitive, paving the way for Wii newbies who might not be used to the console’s motion controls.