Excitebike Nintendo

The goal of Excitebike is to qualify for the championship race (the Excitebike). The time to qualify depends on what track the player is on, but is always displayed in the bottom left corner of the screen. That time is for third place, but the first place time is always displayed on the stadium of the stage. Regardless of which track the player is racing on, the first place time is always eight seconds less than the third place time. The D-Pad controls movement (as well as balance when the player is in mid-air) and the A and B buttons control acceleration. The B button provides a better boost than the A button, but raises the temperature bar. If that bar reaches full (or critical) level, then the player stops until it cools down.

At the beginning of the game, the player has the option to select any track (one through five). Upon qualifying for the championship race, and then placing third place or higher in the championship race, the player moves onto the next track. So, if the player selects track three and fully completes it, then they move onto track four.

Modes

There are three modes of gameplay available in Excitebike. In Selection A, the player races alone. In Selection B, the player races with computer controlled opponents. These opponents are essentially extra obstacles; if the player crashes into them (or if the computer controlled opponent hits the player), it will cause the player to fall off the bike.

In the third mode, Design Mode, the player can create a track. The player can select hills and obstacles varying in size and place them in the track. In addition, the player can choose where each lap is finished and how many total laps there are. Upon completing a track, the player can race in it in either Selection A or Selection B. Due to the NES's lack of internal memory, the tracks cannot be saved.