Excitebike (NES)

Excitebike

Platform:	NES
Year:	1984
Developer:	Nintendo R&D1
Buy:	Amazon

Excitebike is a side-scrolling racing game that lets the player rev up their dirt bike engines and fly over the hills and through the mud pits. The game is pretty fun at first with a gradual learning curve. However, after only a few plays, most gamers will have beaten every track, even when you include the computer-controlled bikers that get in your way to make the tracks harder. And with only five tracks to ride on, the game can lose its replay value in only a couple hours.

Luckily, the game developers also made a designer mode where you can create your own tracks. You get to place your own jumps to challenge your friends to beat your best times. Unfortunately, the save and load commands don't work on non-Japanese releases of the game, and Excitebike was released before battery save games existed, so the only way to keep your track around is to never turn off your NES.

Another failure of Excitebike is the lack of two-player mode. Although you can race against computer opponents, they don't actually race the track. They simply appear on the screen at random times, and only exist to get in your way; never affecting the race's standings. Racing fake AI bikers is nowhere near as exciting playing simultaneously with your friends. The sequel, Vs. Excitebike (FDS), did allow simultaneous multiplayer, as well as the ability to save multiple tracks, but unfortunately, it was never released in the USA.

Screenshots

The title screen.

Choosing the track I want to race on.

At the start of the race.

Racing against the computer opponents.

One of the larger jumps in the game.

Creating my own track in design mode.

Music

The game was released very early in the life of the NES and on a very small ROM, so Akito Nakatsuka couldn't do much other than compose a few short, but catchy, jingles. Anyone who has played the game will immediately remember them.

When the game was released for the Disk System, the game was given a completely new soundtrack by Soyo Oka. Though Akito was her supervisor for the game, and the game uses his sound driver, he did not write any music for the game.

Recording

#	Title	Composer	Arranger	Length	Download
01	Title BGM 1	Akito Nakatsuka	Akito Nakatsuka	0:08	Download
02	Title BGM 2	Akito Nakatsuka	Akito Nakatsuka	0:08	Download
03	Title BGM 3	Akito Nakatsuka	Akito Nakatsuka	0:08	Download
04	Start BGM	Akito Nakatsuka	Akito Nakatsuka	0:07	Download
05	Victory Stand BGM	Akito Nakatsuka	Akito Nakatsuka	0:07	Download

Credits

Ripper: Izumi
Recorder: TheAlmightyGuru
Game Credits:
- Not Credited Composer: Akito Nakatsuka
- Not Credited Audio Programmer: Yukio Kaneoka

(Sources: Credits from Excitebike: World Rally (WII), High Score from Vs. srcade Port. The game lacks credits)

Although the NES game lacks credits, Excitebike: World Rally (WII) credits the music of the NES soundtrack to Akito Nakatsuka. Also, the Vs. arcade port probably credits Nakatsuka in the default high score list as "A.N" in slot #7. Yukio Kaneoka, may also be credited in the high scores as "Y.K" in slot #2, though his role is unconfirmed.