It’s another ‘black box classic’. Could this be a game to stand the test of time? Will you come back to it again and again? And most important of all, does it earn the Malstrom Award, the MOST PRESTIGOUS award in all of gaming? Let’s find out!
There are three modes to this game. Selection A, B, and Design (where you can design courses but cannot save them). Selection A is that you are on the course by yourself. Selection B you are with the other racers.
A button goes while B button overheats your bike.
This game is dependent on track memorization. Keep playing and timing your jumps well, you will head ahead in the pack.
This game is surprisingly sophisticated for a 1984 title. It is easy to see why it was so popular back in the day. The game revolves around its wonky physics when many games didn’t use physics back then. This game was pre-Super Mario Brothers after all.
Overrated
I do think this game is very much overrated. 3d did one thing well: racing games. Why anyone would play Excitebike today and not a modern incarnation of racing is beyond me. Hell, even Road Rash on the Genesis completely wipes the deck with Excitebike. Excitebike’s charm is in its primitive 1985 nature.
But the charm isn’t lasting. You’ll play Excitebike for a little while, maybe smile some, but quickly put it away and not return. There’s no reason to return when there are better alternatives to racing on bikes in the past thirty years.
“But Malstrom, 2d gaming!” I think that’s a reach. Excitebike is a very sophisticated game, but similar sophistication is in modern titles today. This is why Excitebike loses its appeal, I believe, when compared to every game out there today and not just on the NES platform.
Many black box NES games are overrated, and this is one.
Excitebike is a fantastic game for 1985. It is NOT a fantastic game for 2021 or beyond. Great NES game, but not a great game in the library of all games made.
Score: 7
Loose Price During Review:
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