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Rating: Average I don't think I've ever been as shocked as I was when I realized that Excitebike 64 is nothing more than an average game. Given the absolutely spotless reputation of motocross games of being beacons of hope in a market full of cookie-cutter games, I expected more out of Excitebike 64. How can you possibly go wrong with the classic motocross gameplay formula? I don't think I could ever pick the better game between Jeremy McGrath Supercross 2000 and Championship Motocross Featuring Ricky Carmichael. I love both of them so much that I can't possibly pick one over the other. In addition to the fact that Excitebike 64 fails to live up to the incredibly high standards set by motocross games, it also fails to live up to the high standards set by Nintendo 64 racing games. I never thought the day would came when I would play a Nintendo 64 racing game that I didn't fall in love with immediately, but alas, that day is here. Who needs more than two RPGs on a system with dozens of racing games, especially when they're all non-stop fun? Not one of the N64's racing game is a generic, mediocre piece of crap put out by companies like Midway and Titus who have nothing better to do with their game development time than make average racing games. Oh no, not the N64. Every single racing game on the N64 puts Gran Turismo to shame- except Excitebike 64, that is. All right, enough with the sarcasm. I really did have high hopes for Excitebike 64 thanks entirely to its classic predecessor, Excitebike for the NES. I can't remember how many nights I spent sitting in my basement designing courses with Excitebike's track editor and then racing on them. No really, I can't remember. Most of my childhood is an indistinguishable blur. But I do remember that the original Excitebike was a great game, and that made me look forward to Excitebike 64 even though it didn't look particularly promising in any previews over the past couple years. Based on the previews, it looked like it was going to be just another generic racing game with nothing major to separate it from the crowd. After playing the game extensively, I'm disappointed to report that it's exactly that. The character models look good, but everything else looks average (get used to seeing a lot of brown). It's disappointing to see so much fog in the outdoor courses given that the game isn't particularly detailed or fast. There's not much sense of speed in the game at all. As for the sound, it's ruined by the annoying, un-necessary, and repetitive announcer. The physics engine is both unrealistic and inconsistent. Sometimes you'll fly through hills with ease, and other times (when you're going the same speed and all the conditions are the same), you'll struggle through those very same hills like Diamond Dallas Page struggling to get through a promo without talking about himself for more than ten minutes at a time. The turbo button is way too erratic in that it causes you to spin out of control and crash your bike more often than it actually helps you. The crashes themselves are animated fairly well, and they would be even better if they were more realistic. It would also be nice if you could do repeated instant replays of particular crashes (and in slow motion) rather than just replays of entire races. One of the only things that's ever any fun in the game is some of the big jumps, and even they wear thin after a while. The track editor isn't much more advanced than it was on the NES, but it's still great fun just to mess around with it. One of the biggest problems with Excitebike 64 is that it has been dumbed-down so that absolutely anyone can play it. That's great for casual gamers who might not be able to grasp the game if it were more complicated, but it's bad for hardcore gamers who are looking for a deep game experience. In particular, the control has been drastically over-simplified. All you have to do is hold down the drift button and the direction you want to turn, and you'll do it flawlessly almost every single time. The Artificial Intelligence of the racers has also been dumbed-down. The computer racers speed up or slow down to ensure close races. Most racing games do this to some extent, but it's over-done to the point of absurdity in Excitebike 64. You could race flawlessly and still not be too far ahead of the pack, or you could get in 15 crashes during the course of a race and still catch up easily. This method of AI doesn't make sense because it punishes good players and rewards bad ones. Excitebike 64 is still worth renting for the track editor alone, but the rest of the game is disappointing because of its dumbed-down gameplay and its lack of a decent physics engine or sense of speed. Send your thoughts on this review to ivan@mastergamer.com
© 2001 ivan@mastergamer.com