Excitebike 64 - Another Game Completely Out of Left Field
2Coming up on the heels of Top Gear Hyperbike, an easy second place in the dirt bike/motocross/supercross/whatever these are called genre, Excitebike 64 easily makes its case for both the strongest of the four games on the system, as well as worthy of the first/second-party label. Left Field Productions once again delivers when called upon for the N64 Sports label and brings a classic NES title up to 3D standards with good controls, weighty physics, varied track design (outdoors, anyway), and plenty of fun extra content to add variety to a type of game that usually lacks it.
As I've mentioned while playing Supercross 2000, Jeremy McGrath's Supercross 2000, and even Top Gear Hyperbike (with Hyperbike still being a notch above the other two for its own standard of control and creativity), these are not my preferred genre of racer, mostly due to a sense of monotony in both visual and audio design that I'm not accustomed to outside of video games. Excitebike 64 might still fail to catch my interest in the arena/supercross type tracks that lack a lot of visual stimulation, but really makes up for it in outdoor track design, something that Hyperbike also does much better with than the two Supercross titles. You can see this in some of the single races I did towards the end of the recording, such as Congo Course and even the Hill Climb minigame.
Which of course brings me to the thing about Excitebike 64 that really shows the effort put in, as well as what gives it its best sense of replayability. Left Field essentially puts every bit of content that EA or Acclaim put into their games and so much more, with indoor racing, outdoor racing, stunt competitions, and a track editor -- all necessary inclusions by these standards, yes. But the original NES game? Yes please. The hill climb minigame, which looks absolutely gorgeous and particularly surprised me with how invested I became trying to best it? Yes please. Soccer (even though it wasn't unlocked for me before recording)? Yes please. And a randomly generated infinite open ended course that you can replay endlessly both in competition or even just to ride as much as you please? Wow, that's... that's really impressive and ahead of your time. Good on you, Left Field. Rather inspired.
Excitebike 64 may fall by the wayside in the hierarchy of first party N64 titles, but should be commended for filling another spot in a vital area of the market for Nintendo at the time -- technically sound and easy to pick up sports, racing, and simulation titles. Similar to Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside and 1080 Snowboarding, Excitebike 64 may not be a go-to favorite of the system that I'll find myself coming back to repeatedly, but a well-crafted first-party title that does what it says on the tin and even a little bit beyond that, easily pointed to as the prime example for its genre on the system. -- Watch live at https://www.twitch.tv/howtoloseatvideogames19