Ubisoft's first racing game for Nintendo's new console is a port of a critical dud released earlier this year for the Xbox. Kind of begs the question: "why bother?"

Mind you, the Wii version fares a bit better than its Xbox counterpart thanks to its clever employment of the Wii-mote (the Wii's motion-sensitive controller), which is attached to a plastic steering wheel which ships with the game, letting players physically steer their way through the game.

Alas, the game itself still feels much the same as the Xbox version which, as mentioned, was nothing special and neither is this. It's essentially a cart racer featuring a small selection of vehicles and courses, some special power up abilities, short cuts, and traps.

The single-player mode revisits each racecourse multiple times, with modest differences such as a change in race direction. Yup, race it backward and call it "variety."

Compounding matters, the single-player experience doesn't last very long, leaving players hungry for more action (assuming there are any) left to explore Monster 4x4's multi-player menu, which consists of a few race modes, mini-games and absolutely nothing online.

While Monster 4x4 is no great feat of game design, the wireless steering wheel feels great and acts as a prelude of what you might expect from future games with more than just a singular innovation and a whole lotta rehash; think snap-on fishing rods, shotguns, bows, guitars, handlebars, or chainsaws, then pray they come with a decent game in which to use them.

Also see:

• Excite Truck vs. Monster 4x4: World Circuit Comparison