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Excitebike (1984)

Nintendo

Arcade · Family Computer · Nintendo Entertainment System · Wii · Wii U

3.29 from 1181 ratings

2256 members have it in their collection · 18 playing now · 177 backlogged · 74 wish listed

How long? Main story 1h · 100% 1h (from 4 logged playthroughs)

Excitebike is a motocross racing video game franchise made by Nintendo. It first debuted as a game for the Famicom in Japan in 1984 and as a launch title for the NES in 1985. It is the first game of the Excite series.
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Details

Developers
Nintendo
Publishers
Nintendo
Genres
Arcade, Racing, Sport
Themes
Action, Non-fiction
Franchises
Excite
Series
Excitebike

Release dates

  • Nov 28, 1984 (Full Release) (Japan) Family Computer
  • Oct 18, 1985 (Full Release) (North_America) Nintendo Entertainment System
  • Sep 01, 1986 (Full Release) (Europe) Nintendo Entertainment System
  • 1987 (Full Release) (North_America) Arcade
  • Feb 16, 2007 (Full Release) (Australia) Wii
  • Feb 16, 2007 (Full Release) (Europe) Wii
  • Mar 13, 2007 (Full Release) (Japan) Wii
  • Mar 19, 2007 (Full Release) (North_America) Wii
  • Apr 26, 2013 (Full Release) (North_America) Wii U
  • Apr 27, 2013 (Full Release) (Japan) Wii U
  • Apr 27, 2013 (Full Release) (Europe) Wii U
  • Apr 27, 2013 (Full Release) (Australia) Wii U

Also available on

Related

Bundled in

Remakes

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Featured in lists

NSO Classics Collection - NES by Roach · 84 games · 2
NES by KiingShady · 39 games · 0

Rating distribution

5 stars
132
4 stars
306
3 stars
545
2 stars
167
1 star
30
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Community All Reviews Statuses

scoopings

Status scoopings Dec 1, 2022

Wow, I truly am getting into the era of gaming that I know and love so well--the NES era. Famicom/NES really paved the way for the revival of the videogame industry. Not that I dislike the C64/Speccy era, but this is where my nostalgia begins... annnnd, I don't think it's just bias: the quality of the games are higher. The …

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Wow, I truly am getting into the era of gaming that I know and love so well--the NES era. Famicom/NES really paved the way for the revival of the videogame industry. Not that I dislike the C64/Speccy era, but this is where my nostalgia begins... annnnd, I don't think it's just bias: the quality of the games are higher. The controls in this are very tight, with an impressive amount of complexity to control the bike. It's an absolute blast managing to keep a wheelie for as long as possible. The controls are tight and responsive. Plus, there's the ability to Design your own level and play it (which plenty of Speccy and C64 games had, sure). (Oh, I guess only Japan had the required equipment to save and load your levels). I dunno, it just feels higher quality and like Nov/Dec 1984 is the start of the gaming I've been anxiously waiting for. I guess I'm a measly consoler gamer!

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AlfredoSalza

Status AlfredoSalza May 17, 2022

I played all 5 tracks, both versions (qualifier and "Excitebike") and got first place on all of them. Honestly, the first 4 circuits are tolerable, maybe even fun... when I got to track 5 I honestly don't know what the developers were thinking, but I had to use savestates on each of the big ramps and also see the speedrun …

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I played all 5 tracks, both versions (qualifier and "Excitebike") and got first place on all of them. Honestly, the first 4 circuits are tolerable, maybe even fun... when I got to track 5 I honestly don't know what the developers were thinking, but I had to use savestates on each of the big ramps and also see the speedrun of the game in order to learn the advanced tricks, all of that so I could barely beat the 1st time in the second version of track 5.

It reminded me a lot of Enduro Racer, in that even after completing it, I still feel like I don't have any idea about how the ramps and the jumping really work. In short, I do not recommend this game.

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Reset_Tears

Status Reset_Tears Aug 8, 2020

This one's all right. Very simple, but still takes some practice to get the hang of. You control a little motorcycle, and to get good times you'll need to avoid obstacles, use your turbo boost wisely, build up speed to go off ramps quickly, and land at the correct angle to ensure a clean landing off jumps (otherwise you'll crash …

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This one's all right. Very simple, but still takes some practice to get the hang of. You control a little motorcycle, and to get good times you'll need to avoid obstacles, use your turbo boost wisely, build up speed to go off ramps quickly, and land at the correct angle to ensure a clean landing off jumps (otherwise you'll crash and waste several seconds getting back onto your bike). While the core gameplay is fine, there are some downsides. This is an early NES release (a launch title in fact), so the game's presentation isn't great -- blockier graphics for sure, and just the bare minimum in the sound (and especially music) department. I feel the game leans heavily in favor of the computers when it comes to bike crashes, which is annoying. And yeah, no multiplayer always sucks for racing games.

If you can, I recommend playing Vs Excitebike so you can actually play against a friend (it's available on the Switch, as part of NES Online). That is a bit more fun IMO. It's also entertaining (at least for a little while) to create your own tracks, and see how well your friend can get through them. Always great to see a level editor in old games, and though options are obviously rather limited in this one it's still an amusing diversion.

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juicetown

Status juicetown Apr 19, 2020

Definitely one of the best early driving games I've played. Very good mechanics for a very retro game

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ProBoda

Status ProBoda Jan 2, 2018

I remember renting this game from Family Video back in the day. I always enjoyed making custom tracks. I never owned it but it was a solid rental once and a while.

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