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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.
I can’t agree with you more on Advance Wars and F-Zero. I distinctly remember Days of Ruin ending on a cliff hanger, and it’s been far too long since the last Advance Wars entry. I also can’t help but feel that F-Zero is perfectly suited for the 3DS, which is currently in dire need of good racing games.
I’d also add Star Fox to this list. Not only has it been a very long time since the last Star Fox game (excluding the 3DS remake), but there has yet to be a game in the series that matches the quality of the Nintendo 64 entry. They didn’t just remake Star Fox 64 for no reason…right? :o
I was within inches of sticking Star Fox in. It’s ironic you mentioned the 3DS remake, because it was the main reason I excluded it; I guess it gave me too much hope when I played it that something would be coming eventually. I actually grappled back and forth over it a lot. I put Excitebike on here despite it getting a 3D remake, too, but I kept it on because it felt like such a minimal tweak. IDK =/
Haha well it was a really good list, so I really have nothing to complain about :)
I’d love to see a return to the Custom Robo series sometime. I only ever played the GameCube game that came out in America, but it was still interesting. It was really a good concept that suffered from some subpar execution. Think about Custom Robo on Wii U: Hundreds (if not thousands) of robot parts could be made available. You could duke it out in online HD robo battles! And the customization could mean millions of different robots!
Great list Robert. Couldn’t agree more with your choices.
Hard to believe it’s been almost 10 years since we’ve had a new entry in the F-Zero franchise.
You touched on a franchise near and dear to my heart: Excitebike. Everything about the original brings on a wave of nostalgia. The original is still fun, but I couldn’t agree more with your ideas about updating World Rally for the Wii U.
I love that you included Waverace. I would love me some HD wave physics.
Makes me wish they’d also update 1080, in the original style, not the trick based Gamecube sequel. The gamecube game was one of those rare Nintendo games that actually copied what every one else was doing at the time (making racing games all about tricks! Thank you very little Tony Hawk.) In my opinion, this made 1080 Avalanche inferior to the N64 original.
Lastly, how about Forgotten Nintendo “Services” that need sequels (or updating.) I’m talking about the virtual console. It is a disgrace. Only 21(?) Nintendo 64 games on the North American Wii version, and ZERO N64 games on the Wii U eShop?! The virtual console just doesn’t live up to its potential. To me, the virtual console is defined by what games it doesn’t have, not what it does have.
The reason I’m mentioning the virtual console here? Because your list made me wish I could play Excitebike 64 again. In my opinion, this was an underrated, and probably underplayed game which was also released (much like the wiiware title) at the wrong time… a little late in the N64’s lifecycle after years of almost constant racing game releases.
Again, great list!