Description:
Driving on obstacle-strewn courses, crushing improbably large objects under your tires, and speeding up huge ramps in order to blast off into the air are just a few of the stunts you can perform in Tonka Monster Trucks. Along the way, players with a bent for vehicular destruction can not only smash everything in their path, but also earn tokens that will help them build even more powerful vehicles. Tonka Joe is the host as you enter the world of monster trucks, explaining your play options and offering advice to new drivers. Square jawed, deep voiced, and brawny, he enthusiastically guides players through the complexities of getting a driver's license, customizing a vehicle, and learning to operate it--at maximum velocity, naturally. Those players wishing to skip the preliminaries can get right behind the wheel, stunting, racing, and zooming around on freestyle courses. Every course comes with a hoard of screaming fans who evaluate driver performance on a scale from one to five. Keep the crowd cheering, and you're sure to score big. Though its software is a little prone to crashing and other glitches, Tonka Monster Trucks is otherwise a reasonably appealing game. It has three levels of difficulty, and offers over 15 driving courses to big-truck aficionados. As with adult driving games, it takes some practice and finesse to operate the Tonka trucks, a factor that will reward patient players. The tutorials are thorough and well designed, and the courses themselves are inventive, loaded with items no real-life monster-truck operator could ever hope to crush, smash, or otherwise flatten. A satisfyingly noisy soundtrack and the ability to leave muddy tire tracks all over the racecourse more than complete the gaming fun. --Alyx Dellamonica
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