Gameplay

Whether the player chooses to race solo or against computer-assisted riders, he/she races against a certain time limit. The goal is to qualify for Excitebike (the championship) race by coming in at third place or above in the challenge race (preliminary race). The time to beat is located on the stadium walls (for first place) and in the lower left corner (for third place). In any race, the best time is 8 seconds ahead of third place. When the player places first, then they get a message: "It's a new record!"

The player controls the position of the red motorcycle with the Y-axis of the directional pad, and controls acceleration with the A and B buttons Using B causes improved acceleration, but causes the motorcycle's temperature to increase as shown on a bar at the bottom of the screen. If the temperature exceeds safe limits (the bar becomes full), the player will be immobilized for several seconds while the bike cools down. If the bike goes over an arrow, it is automatically cooled down.

While the bike is in the air, the pitch of the motorcycle can be modified with the X-axis of the directional pad, left raises the front, while right lowers the front. The up and down arrows on turn the handbar left and right, respectively when the bike is on the ground.

The player, at the start of the game, can choose whichever track he/she wants to race in, from 1-5.

Modes

Selection A

In Selection A, the player races solo.

[edit] Selection B

In Selection B, CPU players join the player. They act as another obstacle; hitting one from the back will cause the player to fall off the bike, while any CPU riders hitting the player's rear wheel will cause them to fall off.

[edit] Design Mode

In Design Mode, the player has the ability to build his or her own racing tracks. The player can choose hills and obstacles of various sizes and place them. The player can also choose where to finish the lap, and how many laps there are (up to nine). After it is finished, the player can race the track in either Selection A or Selection B.

The game allowed saving the custom-designed track to cassette tape, requiring the Famicom Data Recorder peripheral (basically the Famicom equivalent of the C-64's Datassette). Since this peripherial was only available in Japan (intended for use with Nintendo's Family Basic), track saving was effectively unavailable to American and European players (the game's English manual states that "Save and Load menu selections are not operable in this game; they have been programmed in for potential product developments."). Unlike Wrecking Crew, Excitebike was never rereleased for the Famicom Disk System in its original form.

Sequels

The game had two sequels, both one console generation between release, one for the N64 and one for Wii.

* Excitebike 64 for the N64
* Excite Truck for the Wii

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