Zallag recently announced its upcoming WiiWare title, Racers' Islands: Crazy Racers, to support play by up to eight competitors at a time with a focus on colourful characters and weapons. Each racer favours a specific tool of destruction, which from their descriptions we gather means that specific tools are only accessible to individual drivers.
It was developed by Artefacts Studio, who also brought us Moto Racer DS, a game that we gave a 7/10. Zallag announced no official release date or price tag for the title, but we'll keep you up to date on all future developments, and the publisher hints at the end of its press release that they plan to release video footage of the game soon. You can see six newly published screenshots and read said press release and cast of characters below:
Drive 'n Shoot!
We are unveiling today the 6 characters of a racing game specifically designed for the WiiWare: Racers' Islands: Crazy Racers. The game will let us embody one of these heroes, each with his/her own vehicle and favourite weapon.
Indeed, the originality of the gameplay relies on the fact that it doesn't focus exclusively on driving cars. You will also have to target and shoot with the character's weapons if you want to mount the podium!
A brand new gameplay perfectly adapted to the accessibility of the Wii. Aim and shoot with your Wii Remote, drive with your Nunchuk. It's up to you to climb a genuine learning curve! It might sound hard to handle both at the same time, but don't panic! You can share the load with friends: one has the wheel while the other pulls the trigger.
In addition to these first in-game screenshots, here is an introduction to the 6 main characters of the game:
Taki Yamada Motto: "Born to be wild". Weapon: energy beam. Born in Hiroshima, Taki is the son of a policeman who devoted his life tracking down Yakuzas. Safety precautions had him move to the United States where he started his career as a TV Show actor.
Samuel Hammer Striker Motto: "I'm a freakin' Road Runner". Weapon: oil cannon. Originally from Brooklyn, Samuel is now Sheriff in Clovis, New Mexico. He is a real crack driver, the best from the whole division. He chases thieves and road offenders relentlessly. His worst enemy is Tony Carmonte.
Tony Carmonte Motto: "Vamos a bailar". Weapon: cactus launcher (with the pot!). Tony is an elite gang driver, expert in fast cars theft. Initiated into this world by his uncle Macho Carmonte, he even went as far as creating his own car resale subsidiary on both sides of the American-Mexican border.
Sir Percy Winston Twilight Motto: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a dam'". Weapon: jelly cannon. Sir Percy comes from Coventry and is a genius in engineering. Every year he takes up the challenge of the Monte Carlo Rally; he makes the most of this event by testing prototype engines he developed himself. Tireless womanizer and big fan of the movie "Gone with the wind", he speaks up his motto phlegmatically.
Ludivine de la Ferté-Tallories Motto: "This is make it or break it time!" Weapon: Camembert cheese capitulated by Didier, her doggy. This French granny has seen 70 springs and she still rocks! She's the widow of a colonel who was a fan of big-engine vehicles. Ludivine has become the Taxi Queen of the "French Riviera" thanks to the collection of her late husband. She would even experiment Sir Percy's inventions as a test pilot!
Navratilovna Karenina Motto: "Say 'Hello' to my little friend". Weapon: snowball-shooting penguin. Recruited at the age of 7 by the FSB (former KGB), Navra (that's her nickname) discovered she had unsuspected driving skills that would turn herself into a star in the Russian secret services. She's brilliant on technical issues; that's why her mission consists in penetrating the secret of Sir Percy's latest prototype, "Twilight Babe". She worships "The Imperial March" from Empire Strikes Back, but her motto is from the movie Scarface.
The next announcement will show you the game in action through video!
The gameplay described reminds me of Cel Damage. I'm not that crazy about games where you lose completely when you're a half-inch away from the finish line because of an item though. On that note, I won't be buying anymore Mario Kart games until Nintendo cuts the blue shell crap ... but that's another subject entirely.
I hope two things for this title which will lead me to buying it: The video reveals the graphics to be a little better than they look in the screenies (maybe they are early development screenies, after all), and secondly it supports online play. I'm sorry, but a racing game - especially for Wiiware - is only fun for so long single-player or even local multiplayer.
Tony Carmonte must mean "Vamos a bailar." (We go to dance.), because I don't think bailiar is a Spanish word. It makes sense considering "dam" is also misspelled. In addition to that, various capitalization errors and some questionable grammar and term usage makes me think it was written by someone not native to the English language but has since become fluent in it.
The original ability to fire the weapons by IR aiming makes it worth considering, but I question its ability to otherwise stand up to Mario Kart and Sega All-Star Racing.
@BulbasaurusRex I think "bailiar" is a type-o, my apologies, although they purposely abbreviated damn as dam'. The capitalization errors and other relevant things are in the press release. I had to transcribe it from a PDF so that's why I believe that "bailiar" is a type-o.
Missed this when first announced, but just saw this linked from the Gods Vs. Humans article. Looks pretty good. WiiWare is oddly still waiting for a good racer.
Comments 11
Oh boy! A Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing rip off!
LOL Eiffel Tower and Statute of Liberty look so out of place
@Terra: Yeah, it looks VERY blocky.
The gameplay described reminds me of Cel Damage. I'm not that crazy about games where you lose completely when you're a half-inch away from the finish line because of an item though. On that note, I won't be buying anymore Mario Kart games until Nintendo cuts the blue shell crap ... but that's another subject entirely.
Doesn't look all that appealing, but it has potential.
I hope two things for this title which will lead me to buying it: The video reveals the graphics to be a little better than they look in the screenies (maybe they are early development screenies, after all), and secondly it supports online play. I'm sorry, but a racing game - especially for Wiiware - is only fun for so long single-player or even local multiplayer.
Tony Carmonte must mean "Vamos a bailar." (We go to dance.), because I don't think bailiar is a Spanish word. It makes sense considering "dam" is also misspelled. In addition to that, various capitalization errors and some questionable grammar and term usage makes me think it was written by someone not native to the English language but has since become fluent in it.
The original ability to fire the weapons by IR aiming makes it worth considering, but I question its ability to otherwise stand up to Mario Kart and Sega All-Star Racing.
@Bulbasaurus Rex I think "bailiar" is a type-o, my apologies, although they purposely abbreviated damn as dam'. The capitalization errors and other relevant things are in the press release. I had to transcribe it from a PDF so that's why I believe that "bailiar" is a type-o.
Type-o corrected, thank you for saying something Bulbasaurus.
Hmmm, may still download it despite its "poor" looks.
Missed this when first announced, but just saw this linked from the Gods Vs. Humans article. Looks pretty good. WiiWare is oddly still waiting for a good racer.
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