Nintendo's original motocross racer that introduced creating your own tracks. Still devastatingly precise and enjoyable. One of the great NES launch titles, irreversibly classic.
Your verdict
Category
Sports1 player3+
Description
Motocross racing game in which the player jumps and accelerates on varied dirt circuits. Published by Nintendo, released in Japan in 1984. Motorcyclist in side-scrolling view with jumps and acceleration on dirt circuits and a circuit editor mode to create custom tracks. NES port of Nintendo's Excitebike arcade classic.
Excitebike review
3/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Polished"
3/5
Music
★★★★★
"Memorable"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Managing acceleration to avoid overheating, working the bumps and landing at just the right angle: this motorbike game turns a simple race into a quest for the perfect time. The track editor, brilliant for its day, multiplies replay value by letting you build your own traps. Snappy, clever and timeless, an arcade pillar that has lost none of its bite.
The Japanese Famicom cart of the Nintendo launch title, the game's original strain. On the Japanese market Excitebike circulates in small Famicom format at an accessible price, a status as an early classic rather than a rarity. Interest comes from its role as a technical showcase at the launch of Nintendo's home console, and from the still-iconic Track Edit mode, revived by the Mario Kart 8 DLC.
Is Excitebike still worth playing in 2026?
Excitebike is Nintendo's original motorcycle racer that launched the idea of a track editor in the mainstream. Still ferociously precise and intact in pleasure for the attentive player, the EAD title focuses on engine heat management, jump usage and racing line mastery. The handling stays luminous, the pacing perfect for very short score-attack bursts. A NES launch great, irrevocably classic and still pleasant to revisit.
