Excitebike 64

Excitebike 64
Developer(s) Left Field Productions
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Composer(s) Matt Furniss
Chris Lamb
Series Excite
Platform(s) Nintendo 64, iQue Player Virtual Console
Release Nintendo 64
  • NA: April 30, 2000
  • JP: June 23, 2000
  • EU: June 8, 2001
iQue Player
Genre(s) Racing
Mode(s) Single-player, Multiplayer

Excitebike 64 (エキサイトバイク 64, Ekisaitobaiku Rokujūyon) is a video game published by Nintendo and developed by Left Field Productions. It was initially released in North America on April 30, 2000, for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released on the North American Wii U Virtual Console on November 17, 2016. It is the second installment in the Excite series, and is the first 3D game in the series. It is the sequel to the acclaimed Nintendo Entertainment System game Excitebike. It was later succeeded by the Wii game Excite Truck.

Many real-life dirt bike gear brands are extensively featured throughout the game, such as Bell Helmets, Alpinestars and No Fear.

Gameplay

Top: Canyon Chasm track with stunt, Excite 3D, Editor original Excitebike
Bottom: Soccer, Desert Track, Track Editor

Players can choose from one of six riders, each with his own pre-set handling attributes. Players control the bike by using either the control stick or D-pad. They can use the gamepad to accelerate, brake, slide and use turbo boost. As in the original, holding down gives the player more air on jumps, while holding up aims the front wheel forward to enable landing on slopes. The player can also tilt the bike to the side while in the air, to adjust the angle at which they hit the turns, and can sideswipe their opponents.[1] Besides the tracks main course many of the levels have hidden shortcuts, that require the player to slow down and change direction, or use a speed boost for jumping over chasms, from hill to hill, over other vehicles and buildings, choosing to follow the original game in its "extreme" jumps and physics.

Features

The main game features a 20-track season mode. Completing races unlocks more tracks and features. There is a tutorial that teaches players how to play through the 17 different tracks. There are a variety of exhibitions and time trial modes that lets players do more activities other than the main game. A major feature is the track editor, where players can create their own fully functional track and save it into the game. The announcer, Limua, shouts out the tricks and crashes throughout the race. Also featured is the original Exitebike and a 3D remake of it with the same obstacles called Excite 3D. There are also several other mini games such as a Stunt Course, Hill Climb, a Soccer game with agiant human sized soccer ball, and an "infinite, randomly generated" Desert Track where the player needs to put out ten campfires by driving over them, which Nintendo Power called "one of the coolest concepts ever".[2] As bonus features to the game, cheat modes were introduced, requiring the player to press buttons in a certain order to unlock a hidden "Cheats Menu". From there they could enter passwords that unlocked additional features, such as Invisible riders, Big heads, Debug mode, Midnight mode and even unlocking a picture of the programmers in the game's credits.[3]

Development

While in development some of the main features they concentrated on were the game's sense of speed, the jumps and the ability to perform tricks, similar to the original game, as well as taking inspiration from the earlier released Wave Race 64.[4] To recreate the riders movements and tricks the developers used a technique called 'inverse kinematics' to create a life like feel.[4] While other parts of the tracks were littered with bumps, log bridges and streams to run through. Using the N64's Rumble Pak allowed the player to feel these game experiences, as well as such things as making a hard landing.[4] Besides the standard tracks, several mini games were also added as unlockable content. The Desert Track was fractally generated for an endless desert, but despite the random building of its dunes, it also keeps the current configuration in the game's memory, allowing the player to return to the same spot that they once left.[4] The game was revealed by Nintendo to the public at the pre-E3 conference on May 12, 1999.[5] The game was shown playable the next day.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings89.07%[6]
Metacritic88/100[7]
Review scores
PublicationScore
EGM9/10[6]
GamePro[8]
GameSpot8.8/10[9]
IGN9.7/10[10]
N64 Magazine90%[1]
Nintendo Power8.9/10[11]
ONM93%[12]
Electric Playground9/10[6]

Critical reception was generally positive. N64 Magazine mentions the low quality of other similar games released around the same time and gave it a 90% stating, "After the lackluster efforts of Jeremy McGrath and Supercross 2000, we now have an intelligent racer." IGN commended the game for its "fantastic 3D engine, delightfully realistic physics, intuitive control, brilliantly detailed graphics, ingenious subtleties and tons of options."[10] Game Fan stated "In addition to the superb animation, the game sounds awesome... Its dirt bikes actually sound like the real thing--none of that high-pitched tin squeal you'll find in other sub-par racers." TotalGames.net stated, "The tracks are stunning and the physics engine manages to feel realistic, but also work perfectly as a game." CheckOut stated that Excitebike 64 is "A near flawless game that never tries to get too fancy for its own good. It's simple and simply awesome." Electric Playground stated, "Added bonuses like the inclusion of the original side-scrolling turbo-cooling itty-bitty-bit masterpiece plus a tremendous hybrid of classic and new with 3D-ified straight and narrow, linear and delineated track design adds great gobs of icing to the cake."

While the game received high praise, certain publications voiced complaints. Gaming Maxx commented that there was "a small drawback if you're coming to this game for the music". Game Critics stated that "The game isn't perfect — I would have liked even more tracks to race on as well as a few more racers."[13] GameSpot stated that "Some will cry about the frame rate, and some will wish the game featured real riders."[9] GameShark stated that, "The control isn't the easiest to get the hang of, there were times I thought about snapping that little analog stick right off the controller!"

Another problem the game encountered was that it was one of the last games released for the N64 in Europe, having been released there over a year later than the Japan and U.S. releases. The delay was due to Nintendo's struggle to keep up with the demand for the games Pokémon Stadium and Perfect Dark.[14] This led some to feel that it was released too late in the system's life and if it "Had appeared earlier... it would have been a bigger hit."[15]

Nonetheless, the game ultimately went on to sell approximately two million copies, according to information provided by former employees of Left Field Studios.[16]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Maddrell, Alan (July 2001). "Excitebike 64, review". N64 Magazine. 56: 58–59.
  2. ↑ Nintendo Power, Volume 132, page 23. Nintendo of America Inc.
  3. ↑ "Excitebike 64, N64 Cheats". CheatCodes.com. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Nintendo Power, Volume 121, page 84-85, Nintendo of America Inc.
  5. ↑ "Excitebike 64 Tears Up E3". IGN. May 12, 1999. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 "Excitebike 64 for Nintendo 64". GameRankings. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Excitebike 64 for Nintendo 64". Metacritic. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Excitebike 64 Review". GamePro. Archived from the original on December 1, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  9. 1 2 Provo, Frank (May 19, 2000). "Excitebike 64 Review". GameSpot. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  10. 1 2 Casamassina, Matt (May 1, 2000). "Excitebike 64 - Nintendo 64". IGN. Archived from the original on March 16, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  11. ↑ Nintendo Power, Volume 132, page 123. Nintendo of America Inc.
  12. ↑ "Total Test: Exitebike 64, review". Nintendo Official Magazine. 96: 96. September 2000.
  13. ↑ Weir, Dale (June 30, 2000). "Excitebike 64 – Review". GameCritics. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Fast News: Mario Party and Exite Bike delayed until September". Nintendo Official Magazine. 94: 91. July 2000.
  15. ↑ Fox, Mat (October 20, 2006). The Video Games Guide. Pan Macmillan Ltd. p. 136. ISBN 0-7522-2625-8.
  16. ↑ "Excitebike 64 devs on the game's development – origins, Miyamoto feedback, more". NintendoEverything. November 28, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
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