Yahoo! Games: Best of 2006 Awards

• Best Action-Adventure Game
• Best Online Multiplayer Game
• Best Parlor Game
• Best Racing Game
• Best Role-Playing Game
• Best Shooter Game
• Best Sports Game
• Best Strategy Game
• Best Original Game
• Best Video Game of Year

• Best Casual Game
• Most Innovative Casual Game

WINNER:

Excite Truck

It seems like a given that a Wii racing game would excel at using the new console's motion-sensitive remote, but one play of the competition will show you how difficult this achievement really is. In Excite Truck, holding the remote sideways and tilting it back and forth just feels natural. Unlike other Wii racers, the control is a benefit rather than a hindrance. It offers some of the craziest racing thrills of the year. You'll get crazy air, collide with competitors in spectacular fashion, and feel a sense of speed usually reserved for next-gen graphics. With an open mind and the game's open road, you can't help but feel like a winner.

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Editor Notes

Two of my favorite racing games of all time are Burnout and Excite Bike, and I don't think I'm alone here. They both offered something different to the genre -- which is basically a prerequisite for getting me to happily sit behind the wheel of a racer. Throw in arcade-style presentation akin to Midway's coin-op racers, and you begin to see how the formula is a shoo-in to win this year's award. --Justin Leeper

This was actually my favorite game for the Wii. With its dizzying sense of speed, smart physics, and crafty track layouts, it satisfied my racing jones better than any mere Burnout. Plus, whoa, hey, the Wii's graphics don't look so bad after all! --Tom Chick

Not a good year for race fans. Excite Truck was great, sure, but was always going to be the only runner in this contest. Roll on 2007. --Mike Smith

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