Game Info
GAME NAME: Excitebike 3D
DEVELOPER(S): Arika
PUBLISHER(S): Nintendo
PLATFORM(S): 3DSware
GENRE(S): Racing
RELEASE DATE(S): June 6th, 2011
Most Gamers at some point in their lives have probably had a chance to play the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) classic Excitebike. In Nintendo’s first 3D-classic remake they have recruited Arika to help them put a fresh coat of paint and added 3D visuals to Excitebike. Is this enough to bring players back for one more race to the finish line or does it overheat and fall short?
At its core, the 3D classic version of Excitebike is exactly the same as its NES counterpart. Gamers can either race against the clock or against three computer controlled opponents. The ability to tilt forward and backwards is left intact, which enables players to do wheelies or land their bike at the proper angle to maintain their speed. For acceleration, there is a gas button and a turbo button, but be careful, if you hold down the turbo button for an extended period of time your bike will overheat, causing you to lose precious seconds from your time. The third mode available is the track editor mode. This mode lets you build and save custom levels.
The graphics do look cleaner. The colors do not have the same dreary look of the NES, they are a lot brighter, which is a nice change. The classic soundtrack is still in tacked sounding great playing through the Nintendo 3DS speakers. Nintendo and Akira did not add any new features beyond graphics to this remake. The inclusion of a StreetPass mode where you can share custom tracks and top times would have been awesome. They missed an opportunity here to show off some cool attributes of the system in my opinion.
All in all, it’s nice to see Nintendo give early adaptors something for free (until July 6th, 2011) for their loyalty. It is a great way to get users onto the shop channel and it gives them something that they are familiar with but also shows off the new line of 3D classics. I’m excited by the possibility of other games that can be remade like this but I’m also hoping that they receive more than just a paint job. The price point is going to be $5.99 after the month for free and I’m just not sure it is worth the price unless you are a huge Excitebike fan.
