EXCITEBIKE CARTRIDGE UPDATE

Extras like a superb physics engine, unequaled graphics, deliciously deep control, a tempting four-player mode, dead-on audio and enough courses and bonuses to keep gamers racing happy for a long time to come.

The California based software house has not only perfectly recaptured the spirit of the classic for this jaw-dropping N64 adaptation, but upraised a fantastic 3D engine around it, and doused everything with buckets of wonderful new extras too.

EXCITEBIKE CARTRIDGE UPDATE

Now Nintendo has contracted developer Left Field Studios (Kobe Bryant's NBA Courtside) to create the 64-bit update to the Excitebike franchise. It looked great for the time, felt great for the time, and was a whole lot of fun. The 2D side-scrolling racer, while simplistic in design, was one of the very best games the system had to offer thanks to clever and addictive gameplay mechanics that did their best to mimic reality despite the limits of the technology. If you've been playing videogames as long as I have, you should have no problem remembering back to the days of the Nintendo Entertainment System and, more specifically, to a little classic called Excitebike. It even includes the original ExciteBike in case you missed it on the NES. These bonus levels are each very unique and sometimes very challenging as well. To me this was actually the best feature of the game. The more you play through the game, the more extras you can unlock.

I haven't yet managed yet to beat the game as it does get very hard near the end, but I will keep on trying. The graphics are terrible by today's standards, but look pretty good for an N64 era game. Each of the levels is designed to be challenging and yet still fun to race on. The outdoor levels actually do venture into a little fantasy, but still it is overall grounded.

The game has standard arena courses and some out door ones as well. This game has much more in common with the original then the Excite games on the Wii, meaning that it is hard and more focused on realistic jumps rather then the craziness that is ExciteTruck and ExciteBots. After I found out about the recent remake of the original Excitebike for WiiWare, I decided to seek out this N64 entry in the series.

Excitebike cartridge