Excitebike 64

I bought the game without any reviews or expectations and found a very fun game to play. I put things off just to go and play to open up the next round or difficulty, etc. The four player capability is great when you have friends over and want to race, however, first player is the best experience. Some bugs I've found are the unseen barriers that knock you sideways and the unrealistic physics. Normally gravity accelerates an object down, but not with excitebike. The cycle seems to glide at a constant velocity. You can be grinding against a wall around a turn at 50 mph and not fall off. But, when you bump into a pole at 2 mph, for some reason you go flying off at 10 mph. If you can take advantage of the gliding effect, time your turns right, and avoid the other racers the inaccurate physics aren't a problem. I'm not trying to scare you away from the game; its great fun. If you remember the fun of creating tracks on the original excitebike and them racing them, its twice the fun in 3D. Theres so many things to do in the game unlike most racing games for the N64. The soccer thing is fun, excite 3D is awesome. Some of the tracks are hard and it gets frustrating, but thats what makes it addictive. You have to beat the next round so you can move on and open up new features, its great. I highly reccomend this game.

First of all, I would recommend this game to any N64 owner who has been fiending for a good racing game.

This game includes 20 indoor and outdoor levels, 5 or 6 racers, a track editor/creator, a stunt level, and 6 bonus games. Not all of the tracks or bonuses are available from the get go. You start off with 5 tracks and 2 bonus games, and must unlock the rest by playing through the season mode. This is no easy task, since you must learn every single curve and jump of each track, in addition to the skilled computer opponents, in order to place first. This game is highly replayable.

No additional memory pack is needed, since it saves everything you've unlocked to the cartridge; but you only get to save 1 track from the track editor to the cartridge. However, you can save quite a few to a memory pack.

But is this game perfect? No. Maybe I was expecting too much out of this game because of rave reviews, or the near-perfect Wave Race (which is one of the first games to come out for the N64). The control is adequate but slightly stiff, almost sluggish. The track design is very good, but a few tracks have very annoying flaws. Right before the finish line in the Congo level, there is a hut next to the left wall where it is very easy to get stuck right before you finish the race. You can be in first place but over shoot the jump before that spot, get stuck, have to go in reverse, and come in dead last. VERY annoying. One jaded feature is knocking over, or being knocked over by hitting the rear wheel of a bike. Basically, if a character hits the rear wheel with their front wheel, the person hitting the rear wheel will fall over. You can skid in front of the computer and knock him over, but what most commonly happens is that you will be behind the computer and accidentally knock into his rear wheel and fall over. They did not perfect this feature before the game shipped. You can hit the side of the computer no where near their wheel and still fall over. This is so damn annoying that you'll want to throw your controller through your TV. Sometimes the computer will land on top of you head, not knocking you over, then land on top of your wheel, knocking you over. It doesn't really make sense. Some people might not mind the control or the knocking over thing, but I've been spoiled by Microsoft's Motocross Madness for the PC.

Other than that, the game is great. The graphics are great for the N64 especially with the ram expansion pack. The controls, besides being a bit sluggish, are very well though out. The turbo boost, the stunts, the slide turn, the tight turn, and all the combinations of each maneuver give a solid feeling to the game. The physics of the game are pretty realistic; this is NOT a hardcore arcade racer. The tracks, aside from a few of them having a few flaws, are very good. The track editor alone can add hours of game play. The track editor is easy to use and intuitive. The game is hard. Expect to be very frustrated with the game at times, but it's worth it. You'll want to come back to play just to beat a season to unlock the next. Definately a solid 5 star for a N64 game.

When I first got the game i thought that is was terrible. I could barely use the bikes. But I kept playing it because I heard such good things about it. And believe me, once you get used to it you will LOVE it. Graphically it it pretty good. It is nothing revolutionary but it is nice looking. Sound wise it is the best sounding N64 bike racer yet. The control is good. The game is very responsive. At first you might have a little trouble turning but once you go through the "Tutoriol Mode" everything will be solved. There are over 25 courses with over 10 riders and plenty of extra modes including the original Excitebike for NES. That is just one of the great modes in the game.I gave this game a full 5 stars because all the aspects of the game like the sound, graphics, control, and gameplay are all fine. With that alone I woul give it 4 stars, but thanks to the "create a track," and all the great courses and extra playmodes it made this game a MUST BUY. If you are skeptical about this game then rent it but I don't believe that will do you much good considering it takes a while to get used to the game.