Excitebike
| Excitebike | |
|---|---|
 North American boxart | |
| Developer(s) | Nintendo |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Designer(s) | Shigeru Miyamoto |
| Platform(s) | NES/Famicom, Game Boy Advance, Virtual Console |
| Release | NES Famicom Disk System Virtual Console |
| Genre(s) | Racing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
Excitebike (エキサイトバイク, Ekisaitobaiku) is a motocross racing video game franchise made by Nintendo. It first debuted as a game for the Famicom in Japan in 1984 for a price of 5000 yen. It is the first game of the Excite series, succeeded by its sequel Excitebike 64 and the spirtual succesor Excite Truck.
Gameplay
Whether the player chooses to race solo or against computer-assisted riders, he/she races against a certain time limit. The goal is to qualify for Excitebike (the championship) race by coming in at third place or above in the challenge race (preliminary race). The time to beat is located on the stadium walls (for first place) and in the lower left corner (for third place). In any race, the best time is 8 seconds ahead of third place. When the player places first, then they get a message: "It's a new record!"
The player controls the position of the red motorcycle with the Y-axis of the directional pad, and controls acceleration with the A and B buttons Using B causes improved acceleration, but causes the motorcycle's temperature to increase as shown on a bar at the bottom of the screen. If the temperature exceeds safe limits (the bar becomes full), the player will be immobilized for several seconds while the bike cools down. If the bike goes over an arrow, it is automatically cooled down.
While the bike is in the air, the pitch of the motorcycle can be modified with the X-axis of the directional pad, left raises the front, while right lowers the front. The up and down arrows on turn the handbar left and right, respectively when the bike is on the ground.
The player, at the start of the game, can choose whichever track he/she wants to race in, from 1-5.
Track times
By placing third or better in any challenge race, the player advances to the Excitebike race of the same track number. For example, if the player placed third or better in track 4 of the challenge race, he/she goes to the track 4 of the Excitebike race. These are the best times on the tracks in the challenge races:
- Track 1: 1:16:00
- Track 2: 1:16:00
- Track 3: 1:16:00
- Track 4: 1:12:00
- Track 5: 1:06:00
By placing third or better in any Excitebike race, the player advances to the next Excitebike race. For example, if the player placed third or better in track 4 of the Excitebike race, he/she goes to track 5 of the Excitebike race. The Excitebike races are little tougher than the challenge races, and that's why the best times in an Excitebike race are longer than in the challenge race (except in tracks 3 & 5). These are the best times on the tracks in the Excitebike races:
- Track 1: 1:24:00
- Track 2: 1:22:00
- Track 3: 1:10:00
- Track 4: 1:20:00
- Track 5: 1:06:00
If the player places third or better in Track 5 of the Excitebike race, then the player can race it over and over again. The number of times the track has been raced is indicated in the lower right hand corner with "T=(number of times raced)," right below the player's time.
Track 5 has been viewed as the toughest of all the races, especially when it comes to trying to place first, particularly in the Excitebike race, since the best time is the same as in the challenge race.
_screenshot.png)
Modes
ExciteBike has three modes of gameplay. In Selection A, the player races solo. In Selection B, CPU players join the player. They act as another obstacle; hitting one from the back will cause the player to fall off the bike, while any CPU riders hitting the player's rear wheel will cause them to fall off.
In Design Mode, the player has the ability to build his or her own racing tracks. The player can choose hills and obstacles of various sizes and place them. The player can also choose where to finish the lap, and how many laps there are (up to nine). After it is finished, the player can race the track in either Selection A or Selection B.
The game allowed saving the custom-designed track to cassette tape, requiring the Famicom Data Recorder peripheral (basically the Famicom equivalent of the C-64's Datassette). Since this peripheral was only available in Japan (intended for use with Nintendo's Family Basic), track saving was effectively unavailable to American and European players (the game's English manual states that "Save and Load menu selections are not operable in this game; they have been programmed in for potential product developments."). Unlike Wrecking Crew, Excitebike was never re-released for the Famicom Disk System in its original form. Courses created using the Virtual Console release can actually be saved to the Wii's internal memory.
Ports and enhanced remakes
The original Excitebike has appeared on a number of gaming platforms since its debut in 1984.
- A version of the game was released for the Japan-only NEC PC-8801 by Hudson Soft in 1985.
- An enhanced version was released in 1987 for Nintendo's Vs. Unisystem and in Japan for the Famicom Disk System. The FDS version contains different music and a versus mode for two players. Its rewritable disk format allows the player to save created tracks.
- A special Japan-only edition of the game, entitled BS Excitebike Bun Bun Mario Battle Stadium, for the Super Famicom's Satellaview online service features Mario characters and themes. Playable characters included Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Toad.
- Players can unlock the title on the Nintendo 64 sequel game Excitebike 64.
- Players can unlock the title (one of several bonus NES games included) on the GameCube game Animal Crossing.
- In 2003, it was released as a five E-card set game, entitled Excitebike-e, for the now-discontinued e-Reader, a device for the Game Boy Advance used for scanning special "e-Cards" to play games, obtain information, or unlock special content.
- In 2004, it was released as part of the Game Boy Advance Classic NES Series. This version is the first non-Japan version to allow the player to save their tracks, although this port only has one savable track.
- In 2003, a microgame in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! based on Excitebike appeared, featuring Wario driving a motorbike dodging a number of obstacles including some of the original Excitebike racers. Similarly in 2005, it appeared as one of 9-Volt's playable microgames, in WarioWare: Twisted!. Both games are for the Game Boy Advance.
- The game was added to the European Virtual Console on February 16 2007, the same day its spiritual successor, Excite Truck, was released there. The game was added to the North American Virtual Console on March 19 2007[1].
Cameos and homages
- In the game Super Smash Bros. Melee, the Excitebike is an obtainable trophy.
- Excitebike was parodied in a microgame in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$, and returned as both a microgame and a full game in WarioWare: Twisted!.
- Level 16 of Tetris DS's standard mode is themed after Excitebike.
- The original was a minigame on Excitebike 64.
- "Lazy" characters in Animal Crossing: Wild World say they will use an "excitenet" before the bug-off.
- There is a song entitled Excitebike by the band Lightning Bolt.
- In The Urbz for the GBA and DS, the bike minigame is very similar to Excitebike.
- In the game Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Excitebike can be summoned to assist the summoner. The bikers appear as two-dimensional pixellated sprites, as homage to their original appearances.