# Wii Suck @ Video Games - Episode 12 - Thrillville: Off The Rails **Source:** Poor Man's Pinball Podcast **Type:** podcast_episode **Published:** 2023-11-30 **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://poormanspinballpodcast.libsyn.com/wii-suck-video-games-episode-12-thrillville-off-the-rails --- ## Analysis This episode of 'We Suck at Video Games' reviews Thrillville: Off the Rails, a 2007 Wii amusement park simulator by Frontier/LucasArts. The hosts find the game tedious, with excessive tutorials, unintuitive mechanics, and little appeal outside its target demographic. They rate it poorly and express indifference rather than active dislike. The episode includes discussion of retro game procurement challenges and a brief mention of their other podcast, Pinball Junk Tour. ### Key Claims - [MEDIUM] Wii games are difficult to procure; Facebook Marketplace listings often fall through. — _Hosts discussing challenges buying used Wii games from private sellers_ - [HIGH] Thrillville: Off the Rails is an amusement park simulator with excessive tutorial and tedious mechanics. — _Both hosts describing their gameplay experience_ - [MEDIUM] The game lacks replayability and would not appeal to modern children compared to VR or contemporary games. — _Speculation about demographic appeal and modern gaming preferences_ - [HIGH] Thrillville: Off the Rails was released on October 9, 2007. — _Host reading release date from game information_ ### Notable Quotes > "either you're selling it or you want my eight to ten dollars or don't you apparently they don't that's why retro game stores can charge what they charge" > — **Mao**, ~2:30 > _Comment on retail market dynamics and scarcity of retro games_ > "I don't care about this game. I don't care if it is or isn't. I don't like it or hate it. I felt nothing for it one way or the other." > — **Craft Brew Sally**, ~25:00 > _Expresses the defining sentiment of the episode—indifference rather than dislike_ > "There's only one thrill in the bill. When I turned it off." > — **Mao**, ~26:30 > _Punchline summarizing the game's poor reception_ > "tedious is real life like some of this has to automate in the background because I don't care about using the Bathroom in the computer world" > — **Craft Brew Sally**, ~21:00 > _Critique of over-simulation in the game design_ > "Unfortunately, if you're outside the targeted demographic, the game will most likely make you feel old or at least bored or probably both." > — **Nintendo World Report (critic review)**, ~28:00 > _Professional review aligns with hosts' assessment_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Mao | person | Co-host of We Suck at Video Games podcast | | Craft Brew Sally | person | Co-host of We Suck at Video Games podcast | | Thrillville: Off the Rails | product | Wii amusement park simulator game developed by Frontier, published by LucasArts, released October 9, 2007 | | Frontier | company | Developer of Thrillville: Off the Rails | | LucasArts | company | Publisher of Thrillville: Off the Rails | | We Suck at Video Games | product | Podcast series where hosts review video games, currently on episode 12 | | Pinball Junk Tour | product | Another podcast hosted by Mao and Craft Brew Sally focused on pinball | | S to the tenth power | person | Long-time fan and friend from pinball community who submitted game feedback for Epic Mickey episode, also known as Swenson/Swanson or similar variation | | Nintendo Gamer | organization | Game review outlet that gave Thrillville: Off the Rails an 8.0/10 | | The Wire | organization | Game review outlet that gave Thrillville: Off the Rails a 4.2/10 | | Nintendo World Report | organization | Game review outlet that gave Thrillville: Off the Rails a 5.5/10 | | Bleach | product | Anime-based Wii game announced as next week's game for review, hosts have zero history with it | | Epic Mickey | product | Wii game reviewed in previous episode (episode 11), mentioned by S to the tenth power as having positive qualities | | Animal Crossing | product | Simulation game referenced as comparison for gameplay mechanics and tutorial structure | | The Sims | product | Simulation game referenced as comparison | | SimCity | product | Simulation game referenced as comparison from Super Nintendo era | ### Topics - **Primary:** Wii game library and reviews, Amusement park simulation games - **Secondary:** Retro video game collecting and procurement challenges, Game tutorial design and player onboarding, Modern vs. retro gaming appeal to children, Game rating systems and critical reviews, 2007 pop culture context - **Mentioned:** Pinball community crossover ### Sentiment **Negative** (-0.65) — Hosts express strong indifference and boredom with the game. While not harshly critical, both rate it low and explicitly state they felt nothing positive about it. The tone is dismissive rather than angry—treating it as forgettable rather than offensive. ### Signals - **[content_signal]** Episode of 'We Suck at Video Games' podcast discussing retro Wii titles; mentions companion podcast 'Pinball Junk Tour' focused on pinball. (confidence: high) — Hosts explicitly promote both podcasts at episode conclusion - **[community_signal]** Hosts acknowledge connection to pinball community; guest contributor 'S to the tenth power' identified as friend from pinball universe. (confidence: high) — Quote: 'That is, he's a friend of ours from the pinball universe because we do another show called the Pinball Junk Tour' - **[collector_signal]** Difficulty procuring used Wii games through secondary markets (Facebook Marketplace); sellers frequently cancel transactions. (confidence: medium) — Host discusses multiple failed attempts to buy Wii games from Facebook Marketplace sellers - **[gameplay_signal]** Excessive, mandatory tutorial creates barrier to entry; game mechanics are unintuitive and tedious. (confidence: high) — Hosts repeatedly mention 'tutorial is way too long' and inability to skip it - **[sentiment_shift]** Rather than expressing active hatred, hosts feel apathy and indifference toward the game—a stronger negative signal than simple criticism. (confidence: high) — Sally explicitly states rating game a 5 out of indifference: 'I don't care about this game... I felt nothing for it' --- ## Transcript � And we are back, this is of course We suck at video games big show 12. The 12 My name is Mao and with me as always Craft brew Sally. Yes, the talented and lovely craft brew Sally So I'm trying to think what we did this week The box of really they're really expensive. I paid a lot of money box showed up from from I Want to say Japan, but it's not Japan. I think it's China the play Asia showed up So I got all those switch games, which was awesome. I haven't opened any of them yet, which is sad I had a couple deals fall through for Wii games. It's very very difficult to procure Wii games. It's so weird. If you go on your Facebook marketplace, you're gonna see all these like like set like a What are they called groups of games? There's a name for it, but whatever. It'll be like a lot of games and it's like eight bucks for four games. You're like well I need some of those or all of those so I reach out and it falls through or they say yes The Or they say something like my husband doesn't want us meeting up on a Sunday I'm like, you know what folks either you're selling it or yay Do you want my eight to ten dollars or don't you apparently they don't that's why retro game stores can charge what they charge Because otherwise you won't get them. Yep I'm talking to everyone who's ever put something up on Facebook and then dicked around right if you're gonna put it up there sell it Yeah, no, no. No, I'm you know, we're kind of stuck at 310 or 320 I'm trying to buy games. I just can't I can't buy them and then what else we're waiting for the Super Mario wonder because again Someone screwed us over. No, we bought we had to buy it on from target Dot-com because we had like gift certificates and whatnot Nothing against them, but you ain't getting that on release day If you buy some of these online places, if you buy them online, if it's not store pickup, you're in some trouble. But you couldn't even buy it as a pickup. You don't have to up soon. Anyway, so as I hear everyone talk about this is such a great game. Oh my god It's a great game with the greatness of great. I'm sitting here crying and tomorrow I'll be crying into my beer, but today I'm just crying. So I'm waiting waiting for I'm going to go with Super Mario Wonder because I know it's going to be awesome because they always are. Anyway, what would you say we're reviewing this week for the listeners? We are reviewing Thrillville Off the Rails. Word. Thrillville Off the Rails. A sequel to the number one original family game of 2006. I don't think that's true. Anyway, let's see. I always try to read the back. Play in the best theme park ever dot dot dot yours exclamation park. New crash them. Cause a little mayhem if that's your thing. New use the Wii emote to build and ride over the top. Whoa, cold. Whoa, coasters and new socialize. We with friends and the parks and so on. Oh my god. Are you having a stroke? Yes, I had a stroke with that game. But first, let's set the mood. Now we're talking about thrillsville off the rails. Thrills. There's only one thrill. I always keep adding that S because I think there's gonna be more but there's not. There was one. The developer is Frontier and the publisher is LucasArts. Which you would think LucasArts, oh this is gonna be great. Wrongo. Anyway, so yes, we always like to set the mood. Now I wonder what kind of a day this was. It was Monday? It was a Tuesday. Thursday? Friday? No, no, no, no. Sunday? Hey. Huh. Listen. Yes? Tuesday. Oh yeah, it's a Wii release. Nevermind. Tuesday. I bet you they weren't just all released on Tuesday. It's just when they do like the... No, they say they are. Nevermind. So October 9th, 2007. What was the top song on October 9th, 2007? Are we ready? Yes. Crank, Crank That by Soulja Boy. I heard of Soulja boy before but I never seen his name written out It is soul like you know your soul ja j a soulja boy So when you read that was it in some kind of uh tattoo on someone's stomach in in like old English fonts all uppercase? That's what I pictured in my head. Okay good I've never heard that song. What was the top movie of that time? The Heartbreak Kid. See, I have the game plan. Weird. The game plan on my list was number two. Oh. For that day. We'll go with that. Okay. Doesn't matter. Do you have any fun facts? I did not. Yeah, so now we started, we moved away from that because- We have decided that Tuesdays had no fun facts. Yeah, so I'll just say some things, pop culture references from 2007 in general. So- Does it involve a beeper? Yes, no. The iPhone debuted. The iPhone? Yes, proving that people will pay very an exorbitant amount of money for a common thing just as a status symbol. So the iPhone, oh my god, and then Anna Nicole died. And here's the most 2007 thing you're ever going to hear me say in my life. Tommy Lee got into a scuffle with Kid Rock at the VMAs off screen. Let's let that sentence marinate, percolate a little bit, if you will. I was drinking a surge when I just said that sentence. Congratulations, you've just ripped a time. You've ripped a portal in time back to 2007. Oh my goodness. Turn your hat slightly backwards. Wow. Mm-hmm. Woof. Okay. So what's our history with this game? I had zero. Yeah, I had zero as well. You know, we tried to have this thing where we reached out to some friends and stuff and if they had any exposure, that immediately died. Yeah. I'm gonna say we have to uh we did have a request to join that list and I think this person will be a little bit more active. Yes. So uh... So what is his name for this show? Long time fan and friend uh swim swamy slippy slimy salmon Simmons swan swenson swanson samsonite said hey guys I think I miss an episode cuz I don't remember hearing you were going to play Epic Mickey that was last week's. Yeah. This is a game I played through with my kids. Really fun game. Silly, goofy goodness. Charming and heartfelt. I think I remember having to save your friends on each map? Oswald finally seems to get his moment in the sun. And he is cute with his girlfriend. I give the game five kids punched in the face out of five. And then he says I'd love to be on the list. Although there is a 3% chance I've played the games, but if I have, I'd love to write in. So thank you very much. Swim, swimmy, slip, S to the tenth power. S to the tenth power. That is, he's a friend of ours from the pinball universe because we do another show called the Pinball Junk Tour and you know, he's a very funny guy. I have a lot of fun with S to the tenth. And thanks very much. We look forward to hearing and reading more of your on-air content as we always do. We're tiptoeing around this game because this game sucks is what's going to happen here. Maybe we could talk about other stuff and just like and then come back and say what our rank rating for this was no that's not cool Maybe we could play talk about a different game that we think we remember. No, we haven't played I don't even remember this thing existing to know so as we played this game it became What would how would you describe what this game is like I think it is a kid punch in the face This is like a sim, it's a simulator, a sim game. Yeah. But it's like a, it's a, it's an amusement park creator. Yeah. It's, I don't know. The tutorial is way too long. Yeah. And you can't not do the tutorial on this one. Yeah. And we didn't go too deep into the game either though. That's the problem. I, as I was like looking at it, I was like, there's, there might be some fun stuff you can unlock, but then you have to like talk to people. And then they're like, oh, bro, you should make a thing and then you got to go do that thing. Otherwise, it's not going to be. I don't know how much you could play this guy. I'm sure there might be a community of people that are obsessed with this game. Right. And they have the the greatest amusement park sim in the world, you know, but this is also the time you got to think they had like What was that Well Sim City was big That was on the Super Nintendo or there a lot of platforms But like Sim City was The Sims of course Yeah Um so it like Animal Crossing Harvest Moon There's a list of like the top ones that have a big following. I have a ton of hours into Animal Crossing. I love Animal Crossing. Yeah. It's like a game that's just, you just do stuff and there's no point to it really, other than just your crafting your thing. So maybe like, do you think kids would get into this game? Like what's the, what's the demographic for this game? I think 2007 kids were probably into this game, but I don't think this game like would. How much replayability would you have? Right. I don't think there's very much at all. Like what's the fun of it? Like I don't think my nephew would pick this game up and enjoy it. Oh no, my goodness. Not anymore. I mean they play VR helmets and stuff now. Right. So that's, this is low tech beyond low tech. Right. I bet you if you plugged in an Atari 2600 in this game they'd be like, they'd probably go to the 2600. Look at this square duck thing. What is that? You're like, well, that's a dragon. That's a duck. Why am I carrying an arrow? Well, that's your sword. Why do I have a key in my belly? Then they'd walk around and they'd just leave. They'd be like, well, neither of these are things. I'm going to go put my VR helmet on and go to a real world. Yeah, I'm going to go play VR basketball. Or just go outside and play actual basketball. Whatever. Nope. Why don't I just go build my own theme park? Two thousand twenty three. There's no real basketball. Yes. You know, you've tried to watch some real kids basketball. You bet you wish you had a VR helmet on at that time, don't you? So, I mean the the animation was okay As far as like it wasn't sometimes John Youssi stuff and it's so broken and offensive and that wasn't the case of this the game actually Did look okay. It functioned correctly, I guess right like Yeah, like you know I mean like the controls were fine Used This is one of those games I just couldn't care. Right. Yeah. It was. Yeah. Tedious. Is that? Yes. That's the problem. You know, I don't know. I guess this kind of game isn't my jam. Yes. Yes. Not your jam. No, I don't. I don't think that was a 2007 term. Oh, you were trying to do that. No, I don't know when that was. All right, never mind. This is not making big. Jellies and jams, that was the 1800s? Yes. Yeah, probably. Okay. Wrong time. Back to that hoop and stick game. I keep talking, I keep referencing. Yeah, it's just I just did not enjoy it at all. And like that we were at a point where we couldn't do anything because we didn't have enough money. So they want you to like talk to all the people. And do crap like do janitorial stuff. Right. Right, but you couldn't like figure out where you were supposed to go to do this stuff. Yeah, and I will say that was one of the things I remember from I'm sure this straightened itself out like from the earlier sim games You're like well now you're like taking your avatar and you're like well I got to eat breakfast and I got to clean up after my burgers I gotta go to the gym I got this is this tedious is real life like some of this has to automate in the background because I don't care about using the Bathroom in the computer world I do that in the real world because I have to yeah You know, it's like, and that's, some of it is, there's too much like where it's almost micro, micro simming your sim world or whatever, however you want to say that. It's just stupid. You know. Right. Like, the beginning of Animal Crossing is a little like that, but it's that week that it takes you to, like where they're teaching you like, well this is how you have to do currency here, and this is how you have to perform tasks here. And, and after, like if this is your third or fourth Animal Crossing, you're like, let's get to it. Yeah. I got it. I'm in a tent. I'm trying to make bells so I can buy a house so I can rule this kingdom and that's it you know I mean but I mean I know some of these games you have to do that because some of these like this is the first time a lot of people are being introduced to it so they have to go through all that stuff right of course but it should also give you the option of I've done this before like it's also to be a little fun yeah cuz one of the things I even after even like if this is my fourth Animal Crossing my fifth animal because when I'm starting I excited Yes And it cool and fun And yeah even if you doing the dumb crap like going to talk to no can block the pepper It still cool It still exciting because this is this is a neat new world you creating Right. This wasn't a new world. I felt nothing for this game. It was just kind of like whatever, you know? Right. I don't even think we got to like be on a roller coaster. I mean, yeah, I rode that one ride, but it was, but it wasn't a roller coaster. Was it? No, I don't know. Okay. What was, so what's, what was your rating of this game? I'd have to go with like three, three-ish, four. And this is one I'm gonna do, I'm gonna go a five, which sounds like high, but let me explain my rating. Okay. I don't care about this game. I don't care if it is or isn't. I don't like it or hate it. I felt nothing for it one way or the other. I literally would just like playing it. I bet if you put some time into it, maybe it might be okay, but I'm not gonna put that time into it. Right. So this is just for me, who cares? This is a thing that exists. That's a five. Okay. I'm not sure if I'm gonna help you with the subtitles. I'll see you next time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I also couldn't find any logged user reviews to read, but don't worry folks. I always like to read some of the best and worst, so I'll just read the critic reviews. So these aren't users, they're just critics. NintendoGamer said, longevity is questionable and some will find it too bitty? I don't know what that means. But there are a few titles on Wii so full of childish glee. If this This is Frontier off the rails, we can't wait to see them track. Christmas 2007. That was a terrible review. That was an 8.0 out of 10 from Nintendo Gamer. Weird. Now if I scroll and scroll and scroll, The Wire gave it a 4.2 out of 10, a very average game with limited appeal. That's about the gist of... I'm going to do one more because they were both very short. Nintendo World Report gave it a 5.5. Unfortunately, if you're outside the targeted demographic, the game will most likely make you feel old or at least bored or probably both. So there you have it. I don't know. There's nothing... Again, I don't hate this game. I just don't like it. I don't care. So anything else before we wrap up and do the exciting part of the game? Part of the show, I mean. No. No? There was only one thrill in the bill. When I turned it off. I'm sorry about your luck, Thrillsville. Thrillville. I can't even get the name right. I know. It's sad. All right, now it's time for our favorite part. That's where we're going to decide next week's fate. Oh my God, whose turn is it? I have to check. Oh my God. I have to check my notes. Oh my God. We'll let you know after this break. Yes, we'll be right back with our game for next week. All right, it was my turn in the Hello Kitty We Chopstickss have spoken. Next week we are playing Bleach for the Wii. Bleach. It's not just for your clothing anymore. What? I got a confused look. Yeah, it's called Bleach. It's a name. I think it's gonna be one of those anime things. I could be wrong though. That will give you a hint as to what our history with the game Bleach is. It's a zero. Zero. Or less. I'm probably less because I've never heard of it. Well, you can use it on laundry if you want to make your whites whiter. Is it B-L-E-A-C-H? Sure is. Alright, that's going to do it for this week. Do you have anything else before we wrap it up and go upstairs to see what the heck bleach is? No. No, you don't. Okay. I don't. Well, thanks for listening everyone. We hope you've enjoyed this week's We Suck at Video Games. Make sure you're tuning into our other show. It's called the Pinball Junk Tour. You can find this one and that one wherever. Give it a little search on your favorite platform that you stream podcasts in. We should be there. Yeah, that's it. Okay. Well, thanks for listening. We'll be back next week with more bleach on our clothing and in our hearts. That's it, man. Game over, man. Game over. . _(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: fff70ed0-8706-44d4-ab16-2a3ac9ae326d*