Excitebike

Launched for the Nintendo Entertainment System, best known simply as NES, Excitebike is one of the most popular games of the legendary home console of Nintendo. There are many ways to keep playing the game officially nowadays, even though the game was released back in 1984. If you like any classic or retro game, chances are that you have played this game, after all, it's been around for over 35 years, there have been basically no follow-up games of this title. But how did this game earn its place among the big names? Well, let's talk about this legendary title.

About the game

This game doesn’t have the world of The Legend Of Zelda, nor does it have the iconic characters of games like Super Mario BrosExcitebike is completely unique. Even though it has survived all these years, it didn’t improve or really innovate much in the gaming world, it’s not like we’re talking about Donkey Kong or something like that.

Excitebike is pretty much what you get to see in the first moments of the gameplay. It’s all about completing races and tracks within a time limit, being 1:24:00. It is a motorbike racing game, as simple as it seems is how simple the game truly is.

The legacy

All the other games we've mentioned before turned into franchises, and the characters became landmarks of the gaming industry. Excitebike was one of the launch titles of the Famicom, the original Japanese version of the NES. There's a lot to unpack here and while it may seem pretty hard to be surprised by a game like this at this point in time, we have to try and get in the mind of a gamer in the early 80s'. Many years later they released Excitebike 64 for the Nintendo 64, but things just had changed,

We now have all these crazy racing games with amazing visuals and fast movements that will keep us on the edge of our seats, but back then that wasn’t the case. Excitebike was exciting and new.

Review

Excitebike was one of the original sports games for home consoles, and that means a lot. Even though nowadays it would be considered a more arcade-like title, back then it was just a sports game. And as such, it had a great impact, the art and design were memorable. The music and sound effects are immediately recognizable.

The gameplay is pretty simple, just like the rest of the game of course. And there are three game modes you can select from the home screen. You can race alone, you can race against competitors, and you can create your own tracks to race on. That was something new and unique, titles like Super Mario Bros. or Duck Hunt were great, but none of them allowed you to create your own levels.

Pros:

• Simple gameplay
• Fun to play
• You can get creative
• Iconic

Cons:

• The audio, aside from the music, is terrible
• A multiplayer mode could help a lot

This racing game for one or more players released in 1984 was published by Nintendo Co., Ltd. and developed by Nintendo Co., Ltd.

The player may choose to race solo or against computer-assisted riders. In both modes the time is limited. The main goal is to qualify for the championship race by coming in at 3d place or above in the preliminary race. In any race 8 seconds is the best time ahead of 3d place. For the first place the time to beat is on the stadium walls, and for the third place it is in the lower corner. There are 5 tracks with a lot of long straights, large jumps and other obstacles.

There is also Design mode, where the player is able to build his/her own tracks, placing jumps and obstacles that can be of different shapes and sizes. The player can decide how many laps each one will have (up to nine). And after it is finished the player can compete and see how the track fairs in the race, choosing between the first two modes.