GameXplain reviews single player and multiplayer separately

Potentially the last great game available on Wiiware

MotoHeroz, developed by RedLynx (the Trials HD guys), finally arrived on Wiiware which is an accomplishment in and of itself, as several other high profile Wiiware games have been moved onto greener pastures, such as XBLA due to size constraints or audience reach. MotoHeroz is a physics-based Monster Truck platforming racer that screams easy to play but difficult to master.

Though a 2D side-scroller, the polygonal graphics are reminiscent of last year’s Donkey Kong Country Returns. You only need a Wiimote to play the game, which keeps things simple, but deceptively deep. Now unlike almost every racing game ever, there is no turning at all, as only have to worry about going forward and back with the “1” and “2” buttons. Left and right on the d-pad tilt your ride while shaking flips you back up after a crash. Press “A” for the occasional item and “minus” for the often useful quick-restart, unless you are a gaming god or a man of patience.

Brains over brawn are required to win races, as opposed to putting the pedal to the medal. Hold down gas and you'll find yourself overshooting jumps, falling in lakes, or ending up on hills that are tough to accelerate on. Almost every race has a time limit set by a ghost opponent you have to beat. Sometimes there will be another physical vehicle, but those create a new challenge as you can't pass through them. After you've beat a level, you can move on to the next one or come back to earn a gold medal with a much faster required time. Each track doesn't have laps but only a start and end point. Occasionally, these tracks are set up in a way that requires zigzagging through the level.

Some levels were difficult and required many play throughs but only the last couple levels merited swearing at the TV like Super Meat Boy. Fortunately, RedLynx kept the frustration down by having an extremely quick restart time, even discarding the "3" and "2" on the countdown when restarting a race and omitting story mode chatter once you have skipped it while playing a level.

One of the biggest learning curves for me was figuring out the transition between driving forwards and backwards, particularly since reverse will make you go just as fast as forward. There are many instances where you drive up a half-loop and come out going left and upside-down in the air. Coming out of this loop, you have to tilt the car upright and start driving in reverse upon landing. It's a new experience for me and certainly adds a ton to the variety of track designs.

Speaking of which, there are over 100 levels in the game, and somehow they continue to be more inspired and unique as the game progresses. The quality of levels improves drastically in the latter two-thirds, and reminded me of Diddy Kong Racing where the best was saved for last. As I was playing through the single player mode, I really felt that the level designers had a lot fun in producing unique parts to each level, as opposed to being on some death march for a "100+ levels" stat. Though some stages become almost too tight in places to stay upright. but that's part of the challenge.

With the amount of variety in the track design with loops, elevators and physics, it's almost an afterthought for me to mention the story and items. There is a story told briefly with dialog boxes, but it's mostly there for light jokes that I'm sure many others would find to be groaners. Items are used sparingly in single player and could have easily been not included, though they do help change up the pace and keep it fresh by introducing mechanics crucial to completing the track,  such as a spring for jumping and sticky tires to drive up cliffs.

The sound effects in the game are charming, but the music, however, is the same throughout the game's worlds, but that's probably due to the 50MB limit. Also, I found that the game’s volume was quieter than the Wii menu and led to some volume adjustment.

MotoHeroz costs 1500 points ($15) and it’s well worth the price for a game that ends up more enjoyable than most disc game releases and with potentially as many hours of play time -- not to mention that's only taking the single player into account.  

Good but not great: Up to four players at once, but not online