Excitebike 64

"Excitebike 64 came out of NOWHERE"

The ONLY reason I gave this game a 9 is because there is always room for improvement. But believe you me, this is the best racing/arcade game EVER.

*Note: In my opinion no game deserves a 10. A 9 in my book means it's the best on the market, and if you don't own it, you better get it within the next 24 hours. An 8 means it's good enough that everyone should at LEAST rent it. 7 is lacking, and so on and so forth.

Graphics: 9/10
It's not so much the clarity, but the way everything fits together. Left Field Productions created EXCELLENT enviroments for each and every track. There isn't any fog, and the background pictures in the outdoor tracks are jaw dropping. Everything moves accordingly, from the way objects come closer and closer to the scenic back-drops. And the riders' physics on the bikes are amazing. They put a foot down when they need balance, they rev the bike with their hand, they change their body english in the air accordingly, it's just perfect. Watch the replay of a race every now and then as well. It's just awesome seeing a side view of your rider in the middle of a jump with the entire Grand Canyon in the back ground. The only downside is when the riders crash. Sometimes half of their body gets hidden in the ground from clipping. But it doesn't happen very often.

Sound: 7/10
The menu music is lacking, and that's pretty much all the music you'll hear. The announcers are great, but they don't say many things other than lead changes, wipeouts, who's in what position. The bikes sound exactly like they should. These are the best sounding dirt bikes in any game, period.

Control: 10/10
This is the best feeling game ever. The only game that comes close to Excitebike 64 in this category is 1080. The true physics are right on the money. It feels like your in the race when your going over a series of jumps, as you land each one perfectly extending your lead even more. Words can't explain how perfect the control of these bikes are. You have to try it yourself.

Gameplay: 9/10
This game is EXTREMELY deep. There are 20, yes 20 tracks. To unlock them all you must play through the season mode. In season mode there are 4 rounds each containing 5 tracks. The rounds are Bronze, Silver, Gold, and after you beat the 4th one(I'll let you find that one), 2 more rounds are unlocked(again, I'll wait and let you find out what they are). Then there are 3 difficulty levels: Novice, Amature, and Pro. You start out with only Novice. Each time you beat a round you unlock a new difficulty, then 5 more tracks. Then you have to beat each round again with the next difficulty, etc. etc. The control really helps the replay value of this game. It keeps you coming back for it's amazing feel. Then on top of the control, the enviroments are pure eye candy. There is a Time Trial mode. There's a very detailed create-a-track option, but I haven't found myself using it much since the 20 tracks are more than enough to keep you playing for months. The game can be played with up to 4 human players racing eachother with computer players(if you like). The stunts in this game are more abundant than any game I've seen to date. It has everything from a Superman to a Fender Grab. There is a stunt track with numerous ramps, nothing special there. There's a 2 player mode called Soccer that must be unlocked to be played. It's not the best feature of the game, but I'm glad it's there. I was really upset though when I discovered Soccer was only 2 player. 4 player would have been the icing on the cake. There is a Special Track menu with special courses you have to unlock through Season Mode. There's also Excite 3D, taking the original Excitebike and making it 3D. There's only one track for this feature, but it's really cool seeing an Excitebike track in 3D. And my FAVORITE thing about this game, is they put the ENTIRE ORIGINAL NES Excitebike inside it. Not just one track, but all 5! PLUS the create-a-track option! Now you can actually SAVE your NES tracks!

Overall: 9/10
In a world of Sequels, Prequels and Clones, there tend to be too many ''watered down'' games. Games that are thrown together because of a haunting deadline, or a game who's soul purpose is to make X amount of money. Sure everyone's goal is going to be to make money, but when a company takes their time and focuses on the actual video game rather than stupid sales gimicks or cliche features, games like Goldeneye and Donkey Kong 64 are created. These are the games that go the ''extra mile.'' Another game that will go the extra mile will be Perfect Dark. There have already been atleast 2 delays by Rare so they can fix the smallest problems. Rare could have said ''Screw It'' and released the game, hoping all the hype would make up for the crap framerate. Instead they were patient and a great game will will come of it. Left Field Productions has done the same thing. Only without the extra hype and aggonizing delays. They started the game in '98, and released Excitebike 64 May 2, 2000. This game is the epitome of video gaming.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/22/00, Updated 05/22/00