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9) Excitebike
Last Title: Excitebike: World Rally (WiiWare, 2009)
Excitebike is technically a racing game, but it’s also all about stunts and arcade action. Set from a 2D perspective (usually), it’s a race against the clock as players try to guide their dirt bike across the finish line with the best time. While there are opponents to race against, the primary draw of Excitebike is avoiding hazards and maximizing the speed of the bike. Players approach steep inclines that send their bike skyward, and using the d-pad or control stick they must tilt the bike left or right to land as smoothly as possible and maintain forward momentum. The turbo feature of each bike also presents a second element for the player to monitor and strategize with, as it will overheat the engine if used for too long. While there was a 3D remake of the NES Excitebike for the Nintendo 3DS released in 2011, the last true installment of the series came in 2009 on WiiWare. Excitebike: World Rally featured a greater sense of speed, transforming race tracks, and online multiplayer. It was a very natural evolution of the gameplay from the original game, but sadly it’s been a while since fans have seen anything new from the Excitebike franchise.
Some games show up at the wrong time with the right idea, and Excitebike: World Rally is one of them. The WiiWare title introduced online multiplayer and the ability to create and share race tracks, but with Wii’s limited emphasis on online, many players never utilized these features to their full extent. The time is now to take all the gameplay innovations from World Rally and polish them up for a new sequel. Wii U would be the perfect platform for this, as the system’s power would pack a new Excitebike with excellent graphics and the joy of playing on the GamePad. The ability to customize the player’s bike with new colors in World Rally was also greatly appreciated, and an even further level of personalization would be welcomed. Excitebike is a different type of racing game that perfectly embodies Nintendo’s ability to take the most mundane genres and turn them into something wholly their own.
