Flashback Friday: Excitebike

One of the big releases this week was Trials Fusion. There is a growing fan base surrounding the Trials games and many users are creating amazing things with the included track editors. So with the video game world clamoring over motorcycles, I figured I would talk about the ORIGINAL motorcycle game: Excitebike for the NES.

The Forever Wheelie

Chances are, this was one of the first games many of us ever played. Excitebike was officially released in Japan on November 30th, 1984 and in North America on October 18th, 1985 as a launch title for the NES. I didn't play this until later since I would have been a little over 2 months old and my motor(cycle) skills were still developing. (I totally could have got it though, it's me we're talking about here).

We all remember how the game worked: finish the race in a certain time to move on to the next race. There were 5 tracks in the game which you could race solo or against the computer racers.

And of course, there was this:

So good! It was very satisfying when you won a race, set a new record, and got to hear this song all at once.

Of course there was the "Design" option as well where you could take pre-set pieces and form them together to make your own track for you and the AI racers to kick up dirt on. In the NES version, there were "save" and "load" options, but those features didn't actually work. You could only save your tracks in the Japanese version of the game using the Famicom Data Recorder peripheral. So if you can get your hands on the Famicom Disk System, a copy of Excitebike for the FDS, and the Data Recorder, you'll have the superior version.

We've all been there, Red.

Japan also had a version called Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle Stadium. The concept of the game was the same, except the AI drivers were replaced by Mario, Luigi, Peach, Wario, and several Koopa Kids. So, in a weird way, this marks the first Mario Kart. Mind blown?

It's worth noting that a direct sequel didn't come along until 2000 with the release of Excitebike 64 for the N64 (naturally). That is a whole 15 years of a successful game not getting a sequel. That would NEVER happen today. Well maybe it does..., OK, fine, a couple times, Probably needed more time.

Probably won't end well.

Excitebike and the Motorcycle Men have become icons and have appeared in many other titles. You can unlock the NES game in Excitebike 64 and it is one of the many NES titles you can unlock in the Gamecube version of Animal Crossing. The Motorcycle Men appear as a special attack pick-up in Super Smash Bros Brawl for the Wii. People have even made various sculptures of the riders.

Excitebike is a classic. Still fun to this day. Instantly recognizable by the music, the sounds, and the look of the riders. One of the first games to let us use our imagination and make our own tracks. I have no problem going back to this game, since I already have such fond memories of playing the hell out of it throughout my life. Also, go buy Trials Fusion.