Excitebike 64

The game received positive reviews from critics and was later re-released for Wii U via the Virtual Console in 2016 and on the Nintendo Classics service on August 30, 2023 but with the removal of every Fox Racing brand logo. A third game in the series, Excite Truck, was released in 2006 for the Wii.

• Title — Excitebike 64 • Developer — Left Field Productions • Publisher — Nintendo • Producer — James Maxwell • Programmer — Sam Baker Mike Lamb Ben Stragnell • Artist — Jon Evans Allan Hayburn Richie Romero George Simmons • Composer — Matt Furniss Chris Lamb • Series — Excite • Platforms — Nintendo 64, iQue Player • Released — Nintendo 64 iQue Player • Genre — Racing • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer

• Illustration — Top: Canyon Chasm track with stunt, Excite 3D, Editor original Excitebike Bottom: Soccer, Desert Track, Track Editor Players can choose from one of six riders, each with their own pre-set handling attributes. Players control the bike by using either the control stick or D-pad. They can use the gamepad to accelerate, brake, slide and use turbo boost. As in the original, holding down gives the player more air on jumps, while holding up aims the front wheel forward to enable landing on slopes. The player can also tilt the bike to the side while in the air, to adjust the angle at which they hit the turns, and can sideswipe their opponents. Besides the tracks main course many of the levels have hidden shortcuts, that require the player to slow down and change direction, or use a speed boost for jumping over chasms, from hill to hill, over other vehicles and buildings, choosing to follow the original game in its "extreme" jumps and physics.

The main game features a 20-track season mode. Completing races unlocks more tracks and features. There is a tutorial that teaches players how to play through the 17 different tracks. There are a variety of exhibitions and time trial modes that lets players do more activities other than the main game. A major feature is the track editor, where players can create their own fully functional track and save it into the game. The announcer, Limua, shouts out the tricks and crashes throughout the race. Also featured is an emulated version of the original Excitebike and a 3D remake of it with the same obstacles called Excite 3D. There are also several other mini games such as a Stunt Course, Hill Climb, a Soccer game with a giant human sized soccer ball, and an "infinite, randomly generated" Desert Track where the player needs to put out ten campfires by driving over them, which Nintendo Power called "one of the coolest concepts ever". As bonus features to the game, cheat modes were introduced, requiring the player to press buttons in a certain order to unlock a hidden "Cheats Menu". From there they could enter passwords that unlocked additional features, such as Invisible riders, Big heads, Debug mode, Midnight mode and even unlocking a picture of the programmers in the game's credits.

While in development some of the main features they concentrated on were the game's sense of speed, the jumps and the ability to perform tricks, similar to the original game, as well as taking inspiration from the earlier released Wave Race 64. To recreate the riders' movements and tricks the developers used a technique called 'inverse kinematics' to create a life like feel. While other parts of the tracks were littered with bumps, log bridges and streams to run through. Using the N64's Rumble Pak allowed the player to feel these game experiences, as well as such things as making a hard landing. Besides the standard tracks, several mini games were also added as unlockable content. The Desert Track was fractally generated for an endless desert, but despite the random building of its dunes, it also keeps the current configuration in the game's memory, allowing the player to return to the same spot that they once left. The game was revealed by Nintendo to the public at the pre-E3 conference on May 12, 1999. The game was shown playable the next day. Excitebike 64 had a marketing budget of $4 million.