You’ll need to really learn all this if you expect to have any chance of beating the computer bikers in mode B. It’s a simple game, but these two nuances mean you’ll need to bring some real skill to the table, and use a lot of practice to feel out the best and fastest method to tackle a course. Next, once you learn that the B button drives your bike the fastest, but overheats the bike quickly, and the A button goes slower, but runs at a cooler temperature, you’ll learn how and when to juggle between the faster and slower gear to maintain a maximum overall speed. Once you get the hang of tilting your bike forward or backward in midair, you’ll find you can increase your speed by adjusting your bike to land on two wheels. You can certainly play the game by simply jamming the A button and letting your bike land as it will, but you won’t get much out of the game, and you won’t be breaking any speed records. However, the game’s strengths are in its little tricks and strategies. That’s really it, and doesn’t seem like much at first. The goal is to maneuver around the dangerous obstacles, like mud pits and speed bumps, and hop over the jumps and moguls as quickly as you can. Your bike is controlled with the D-pad, and you accelerate by using either the A or B button. The actual process of playing the game is deceptively simple. However, the game does store the fastest time for all the tracks, so it’s easy to swap the controller with a friend and try to top the other’s best run. Unlike the arcade, there is no two-player option – fair enough since the arcade version had two screens and two controllers. They offer a pretty strong challenge, and will try to interrupt your run as well as beat you to the finish line. The ‘B’ mode has you racing down the same tracks, but now against computer opponents. The ‘A’ mode has you racing on the games’ tracks by yourself, and can be considered a practice mode, or a pure beat-your-time challenge. Like many of the early arcade to NES ports, this one contains an A and B game. Surprisingly, the game is very close to its original arcade release. Capturing the basic concepts of the sport – riding atop a motorized bicycle, leaping high into the air off earthen ramps, and waiting in anticipation for the tremendous wipe-out crash that will certainly come eventually, the game has you testing your skill by maneuvering down an obstacle course and vying for the fastest time. Another fine example of how simplicity can win over flashy graphics and majillion dollar production budgets, Excitebike remains just as fun today as it did when it was released.Įxcitebike is a simple motorcross game. release, and the NES had some memorable launch titles (Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt, and Tennis to name a few) that continued to remain great games, instead of being lost in the flood of newer releases. And why not? It was a launch title for the U.S. Ask a classic gamer about Excitebike, and you’ll probably get a handful of fond memories.

Excitebike nes game