EXCITEBIKE 64
REVIEW

Read most reviews on the big gaming sites around the Net, and they'll tell you that Excitebike 64 is one of the best games on the Nintendo 64. If this is the case, then dump your system NOW! There are far too many flaws and irritating aspects to warrant a classic status, but it does try very, very hard to be liked. Think of classics games on the Nintendo 64, or indeed of all time, and they'll no doubt include Nintendo's own titles. Mario, Zelda, Wave Race, Metroid and Yoshi's Island are the first which spring to my mind. One fact about these and many classics, is that they are nearly always by Japanese designers. Excitebike 64 is unfortunately American in design. Okay, it's not as bad as stuff churned out by Acclaim, Midway, THQ and EA, but you can feel that lack of Japanese ingenuity. Whereas Wave Race 64 and co. were a joy to play, Excitebike 64 can drive you around the bend, and have you swearing never to play it ever again! Why? Let me explain.

The controls, although giving you a massive amount of scope for turning, are way too slidey. Imagine racing on permanent ice, and you'll get the idea. One other problem we've found here, is that sometimes, your bike will refuse to turn at all, even with the stick fully pressed. This then results in a crash, sending your pathetic mannequin-looking rider over the handle-bars. Then, depending on how the computer is feeling, you could be back on the track instantly, or sat waiting for a few seconds as your opponents race into the distance. Because of this control problem, you always feel on edge, and ready to throw the joypad out the window at the first sign of error. Then there are the incredibly stupid computer controlled bikes. If you touch their rear wheels, then you'll fall off. 'Just avoid them then' you say? You would do if the controls weren't so slippery, and you weren't jumping so much. You'll find that you're knocked off of your bike at the start of nearly every race, as all the riders try to squeeze around the first bend. You can perform a nice variety of stunts when jumping, but, you may as well not bother trying. Why risk falling off when landing, if the stunt gains you nothing whatsoever? There's no speed boost or bonus points, just the risk of falling off. You may as well race normally, and guarantee a safe landing.

The graphics are bland and nothing to get excited about. Everything looks a little blocky, with textures being repeated almost all the way around the track. All the riders bounce about the saddles nicely, but, as mentioned earlier, look terrible when they fall off. Thankfully, there's no fogging or pop-up, but there's very little detail anyway, so draw-in would have been another nail in this already very secure coffin! There is an option to put the game in hi-res mode if you have the Expansion Pak, but it's pointless. Everything is put in a letterbox screen, so you may as well use the normal full-screen resolution as you have to squint to see some corners in both modes! An absolute waste of space!

There are 4 leagues to play through, with 5 tracks in each. 3 out of these 5 tracks are always indoor motorcross efforts, and as such are nearly always identical, except for a few trackside objects. The other 2 are normally set outdoors, in places like a jungle or mountain, but are too long and very repetitive. The mountain track in the Silver Class is downright stupid, with the most ridiculous jump near the end, ever! It's almost impossible to make it over without crashing, and usually means you lose the race because of it. Even the most expert players will find it a problem.

Sound is very average. The bike's engines sound nice enough, but the announcer's voice is awful. His phrases are made up from words pieced together, so his sentences sound disjointed. Turn him down, or off completely at the earliest opportunity! Music is very forgettable too.

Well, what is there to recommend about Excitebike 64? The game desperately wants to be liked. It's got loads of extras in it, but they aren't used to their best potential. The old NES version of Excitebike is in there, with an isometric version of it using the new game engine, too. There's a nice Desert race mode where you have to speed across randomly generated landscapes to find campfires. Unfortunately, the Desert mode can only be played in 1 player, but feels like a multiplayer game. There's a Soccer Mode, with 2 to 4 players bashing a football around a field in an attempt to score goals, but, as the bikes are so thin, the ball ends up flying off at awkward angles when hit. The Stunt Mode is very good, but has only one arena, and gets dull pretty soon. You basically have 2 minutes to perform as many stunts as possible, each earning you points. The player with the most points wins. Another oversight here, is that you cannot change the time limit on the Stunt Mode, and if you are holding the accelerate button as the timer finishes, it skips straight out and back to the options screen, thus stopping you from seeing who won. Very sloppy programming! Finally, the Hill Climb mode sees players racing to the top of a hill. Not bad, but still not properly used to it's full potential. A nice fact is that you can play through the entire game in 1 to 4 player modes, but to be perfectly honest, I'd be surprised if you could find 3 other players who'd want to play it that much without walking out in frustration. The game engine manages to keep up a good frame rate in multiplayer, only suffering slightly in 4 player. All these modes, except the Desert and Stunt Modes have to be unlocked by playing through the main game. This is an incredibly stupid idea, as multiplayer modes should already be available, with only little extras becoming available for completion of the game. Goldeneye proved this, as the 1 player mode didn't come close to the incredibly fun multiplayer modes.

Now the final comment. I would say that Excitebike 64 is definitely not worth buying. It has far too many flaws to make it enjoyable, and could have been so much better. If you want to believe the other site's reviews, then please at least try before you buy! 3 friends and I bought the game on the strength of some positive Internet reviews, but we have never been so disappointed with a Nintendo 64 game as much as this one. In fact, I am the only one of us who has kept it! Will Perfect Dark do the same?

Screenshots (click to enlarge)

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