As featured in Retrogaming Times Monthly issue #57, February 2009.

Excitebike, probably one of the most classic of classic NES games.  By all accounts if you owned an NES during its earlier days of mass popularity, a copy of Excitebike was more than likely in your game library.  Sure, it was no Super Mario Bros. but the colorful and well designed motorbike race won over a legion of fans.  Of course the big question brewing in the mind of our readers right now is, "what does Excitebike have to do with arcade gaming?"  Although there was an arcade version of Excitebike that was different than the NES release, it technically was released after the Famicom version, making it a remake.  However in the USA the wide release of both games was much closer to one another so I'm going to bend my own rules just a little.  If anything this article should act more as an introduction to the arcade version of Excitebike and the differences to those unfamiliar with them.  This makes sense since it seems that a good amount of people I've talked with over the years had no idea an arcade version existed.

Excitebike had two arcade releases actually, both in 1984.  The Nintendo PlayChoice arcade system essentially ran the same games that one would eventually find on the NES hardware at home.  It was, in effect, a kiosk in an arcade that you paid to play.  Actually that's exactly what it was, as credits translated into time - the more you'd pay, the longer you'd play.  A comparison between that version and the NES release would be identical since they're basically the exact same game.  As well as the PlayChoice cabinets, Nintendo also produced a different series of arcade uprights that ran under the Nintendo Vs. System standard.  In addition to most notably having a very different version of Super Mario Bros. (Vs. Super Mario Bros.), the Vs. System hand a handful of enhanced NES titles that were designed for the arcade hardware.  One such remake, the one relative to this article, was Vs. Excitebike.  Vs. Excitebike played as more of an expanded remake of NES / Famicom Excitebike, with some new graphics and game play modes.  However before getting into what made Vs. Excitebike different, let's take a look at what made it the same.

Both games share the same basic graphics and design.  The player controls a bronze / orange colored motorcycle and rider and races against blue and purple rival motorcycles and riders.  One button controls standard throttle while another revs the motorbike into turbo mode.  Turbo gives the player a boost of speed but it also causes the temperature gauge to increase.  Once the temperature gauge fills, the motorbike will overheat and you will pull off the course until the engine has had time to cool down.  Throttling the turbo on for jumps and then back off when in the air is a critical skill required to progress into the later stages of the game.  Moving the joystick up or down moves the motorcycle and rider either up or down on the track.  Pressing the joystick left causes the motorcycle to tip back onto the rear wheel, popping a wheelie.  The wheelie is useful for negotiating small obstacles but staying on the rear wheel too long will cause your rider to wipe out.  Pressing the joystick right while in the air will cause the motorbike to tip forward.  The trick is to use a combination of tilting the motorcycle back and forth when riding over jumps.  The optimal path is to have the motorcycle follow a gentle arc from one jump to the next.  This prevents crashing and allows you to maintain speed when traveling over the challenging terrain.  These controls are exactly the same on the NES, with the control pad used rather than a joystick.  Rival riders can be knocked over by running your rear wheel into their front wheel, however this goes the same for your motorbike.  In the event of an accident with another rider, a mistimed descent from a jump, or an overexerted wheelie the rider will become separated from his bike.  Pressing the acceleration button rapidly will cause the rider to run back to their bike rather than walk.  A preset time must be beaten to advance to the next track, if the player doesn't complete the stage within that time then they are not allowed to advance to the next stage.

Where Vs. Excitebike first breaks ways with the NES version is in the different game modes.  NES Excitebike has an A and B mode selectable from the title screen.  "Selection A" is a solo race while "Selection B" is a race with rivals.  In both the arcade and NES versions the rivals simply act as additional obstacles on the track and there is no actual race for position against them.  The next difference is a bigger one and has to do with how progression between races is handled.  On the NES the player can choose a starting track from 1 to 5.  The first race is known as a "Challenge Race" and will begin on the track chosen by the player.  After finishing under at least the third place course time, the game continues to the "Excitebike Race" which takes place on the same track that the "Challenge Race" was held on.  From that point forward any additional tracks reached will only be run once as an "Excitebike Race."  All races are two laps in length and are either solo or with rivals based upon the mode selection at the start of the game.

Vs. Excitebike begins by asking the player to choose from three points of difficulty, which translate into starting at track 1, 2, or 3.  Each track has a qualifying race, the "Challenge Race," that is run by the player alone and is only one lap in length.  If the player finishes under at least the fifth place course time, they qualify for the "Excitebike Race."  The Excitebike Race takes place on the exact same course the Challenge Race did, except it is now populated by rival riders, and the race is two laps long.  Once again, the player must beat at least the fifth place time to proceed to the next race.  The next race will begin with a solo single lap Challenge Race qualifying round, then lead to an Excitebike Race with rivals, and continue on in the same manner until the player fails to qualify or finish within the fifth place time.  An enhanced stage introduction screen shows the progression between each race as well as the top five record times and the initials of those who hold them.  The post race screen is much more detailed than what is shown on the NES, with large graphics showing the top five riders.  Also at the game over screen the player is shown to the side of the winner's podium kicking a can.  Yet what most people that have played Vs. Excitebike remember most are the bonus stages.  These small diversions really make the game stand out.  After Excitebike Race 3 and 6 a bonus stage begins.  The bonus stages involve riding your motorbike up ramps and clearing piles of parked trucks with huge jumps.  Bonuses are awarded for the amount of trucks cleared.  There is no penalty for running out of time in the bonus stage other than the stage ending before the goal is reached.

Sound effects and music between the two games are almost identical if not exact.  Most of the changes have to do with how each race is presented and of course the bonus stages.  The changes in how qualifying work give the game a lot more variety instead of just being a series of races, which in my opinion makes Vs. Excitebike a better game than the NES release.  There was also yet another remake released on the Famicom Disk System titled Vs. Excitebike but it too is different from both arcade Vs. Excitebike and NES / Famicom Excitebike.  Excitebike on the NES and Vs. Excitebike in the arcade provide the same basic core gameplay, which I suppose makes them equal in terms of entertainment.  Being proficient at Vs. Excitebike will make you a better Excitebike player and vice versa.  Either way it goes back to the basic idea of the game, a fast paced high octane dirtbike race.  Years later, Excitebike still plays a solid game that everyone should have a copy of.
 

"InsaneDavid" also runs a slowly growing gaming site at http://www.classicplastic.net/dvgi

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