Nostalgia, it’s a fickle thing.  Often times we remember the good old days through rose colored glasses, choosing to recall everything as bigger and better than things often times were.  Since we have yet to master the intricacies of time travel, we have no means to verify or disprove these dearly held memories and beliefs in most cases, except in the world of videogames.  It’s become a fairly common practice over the last several years for game companies to release compilations containing the games of yore, allowing those of us that have been around since the beginning to relive these games and experiences.  Unfortunately, as is all too often the case with the “good old days”, we are usually faced with the realization that maybe things weren’t quite as great as we choose to remember.  However, every once in a while a classic game is released that gives us hope, hope that our memories aren’t some how defective, hope that we really were having fun back in the day, and hope that our minds really weren’t simple enough to be captivated and enthralled by some indistinguishable blurb of polygons that was supposed to represent some futuristic warrior hero.  Games such as the original Mario’s, Zelda’s, and Metroid’s re-released on the GBA allow us to take some solace in our old school ways.  Excitebike is one of those rare games.

Some of my fondest memories of gaming in my youth involve Excitebike.  White knuckled competitions against my big brother when he’d come home on leave from the Marine Corps.  Two brothers locked in mortal combat trying to shave even a tenth of a second off of the other’s time, ritual combat that I’d later relive with my nephew, when I myself would journey home from the Corps, and I now relive with my son.  Nothing brings out the competitive nature in gamers like a good old round of Excitebike.

The gameplay is beautiful in its simplicity.  No need for all those new fangled buttons and triggers, no need to be adept at being a hand contortionist, no, all you need here is the D-pad and the A and B buttons.  Sounds simple enough right?  Well, yeah it is, but where the skill comes in is in manipulating the bikes trajectory as you hit the ramps and deftly using the boost without overheating your bike.  It truly is the picture of the old adage, “Easy to learn, hard to master.”  There are so many finite moves and maneuvers that come into play in such a simple looking game, that it seems possible to forever be able to shave just a little more time off of your run.  This is where the game derives its obscene addictiveness from, even when playing by yourself.  Huge chunks of time will be forever lost as you “One more time” yourself into the nursing home, a problem further exacerbated when you make the mistake of handing the GBA off to a fellow gamer.

In addition to the time trial style races, you also have the option to run the same courses against a gaggle of computer-controlled bikers.  Now, for the uninitiated, this may seem to be a cheap way of extending an otherwise short game, but veterans will quickly tell you that simple act of wiping out one of your adversaries is strangely satisfying.  I don’t know what it is about doing this, but clipping one of the computer-controlled bikes’ front wheel with your back wheel to see it tumble end over end is every bit as fun as anything the most advanced games of today can throw at you.

Now for arguably the best part of Excitebike as any veteran will tell you, the track editor.  Yes kiddies, that’s right, you can design your very own tracks on this dinosaur of a game and it is a blast giving Excitebike endless replay value.  Gotten tired of running over the same courses over and over?  Not likely, but okay.  Want a way to really torture your gaming buddy?  This is it, the game’s very robust track editor.  You can make them as torturous or easy as you want, it’s up to you and incredibly simple.  No need for an entire guide dedicated to the art of crafting your own levels, it is so easy here that anyone can do it.

Graphically speaking, well, let’s just say, it isn’t all bad.  Yes it’s bland, yes you can find more colors in the smallest box of Crayolas, but hey, at least the motorcycles look like motorcycles and you can tell there is a vaguely human entity piloting the bike.  Quite an accomplishment for an early NES era game if you ask me, because let me tell you, I played some pretty bare bones looking games back in the day.  The sound department is more of the same taking a minimalist approach, but like the graphics, it works.  With that said, there is one really high and one really low in the game’s sound.  First, the good.  I dare any veteran of the original to not turn absolutely giddy when you first hear the music from a winning run.  That goofy little ditty has been somehow engrained into our collective gaming DNA right alongside the Mario and Zelda tunes.  There’s just something about it.  Now for the bad.  Maybe it’s because I’ve been turned into a grumpy old fart by the march of time, by gaming standards anyhow, or maybe its because I’ve been spoiled by the aural experiences of today’s produced out the rear game soundtracks, but I don’t remember the sound of boosting your motorcycle being so absolutely grating.  I’m talking nails on a chalkboard bad; I mean it is truly cringe worthy.  You’ll find yourself waiting anxiously for the moment when you take your bike to the threshold of overheating and reluctantly steering your bike over the boost replenishers.  It doesn’t detract too much from the experience, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

In closing Excitebike represents all that is good and holy about our gaming roots and illustrates what is all too often wrong with today’s games; too many games with production values through the roof and abysmal gameplay.  Excitebike proves that you don’t need stellar, highly polished graphics, nor do you need sound effects that won’t make your ears bleed to have a good time.  Great gameplay will forever and always trump flashy graphics and soundtracks.  Now if you would all excuse me, I’ve got to go put a hurtin’ on the Mini-Bearer and obliterate his time on Track 5.

Gameplay: 9
Simplistic, but in a definite good way.  The game controls exactly as it should and is an absolute blast to play.  As I said earlier, you will forever be finding ways to shave more fractions of a second off of your time, constantly bringing you back for more.

Graphics: 5 
Obviously if I was basing this score completely in relation to the Splinter Cell’s and Riddick’s of today it would barely garner a score, but I’m not.  For a game older than most gamers, it looks just fine.  As I said earlier, the bikes look like bikes and the riders look riders, which is all we can really ask for.

Sound: 4
Same goes here as for the graphics.  There’s not a lot to be had or heard here, but most of what is here is adequate, if bare boned.  Had it not been for the painful sound of “boosting” your bike, the score would have matched the graphics.

Difficulty:  Medium
Most gamers will blow through the first few tracks with relative ease, but the last two will certainly test your skills as you try to garner a first place time.  It never becomes too frustrating, but there is no doubt, tracks 4 and 5 will require a near perfect effort.

Concept: 8 
Re-releasing older, truly classic games is A-OK in my book.  Surprisingly, they can still be pretty relevant in today’s gaming arena, plus for the younger gamers, it’s good to experience your roots.  I applaud Nintendo for seeing this and choosing to release only the best of the best rather than cashing in on every old piece of software in their library.

Multiplayer: N/A

While the game does not have a dedicated multiplayer mode, that shouldn’t stop any one from experiencing it.  A lot of Excitebike’s magic comes from trying to top someone else’s time, which the GBA is perfectly suited for.  There’s nothing too difficult about handing the GBA off to a friend.

Overall: 7.0
I’ve agonized over this score quite a bit, trying to balance the game’s true merits versus the nostalgia factor.  It’s not an easy thing to do when dealing with a beloved chapter of one’s youth, but the bottom line is whether or not it is still fun today.  And the answer is a resounding YES.  If the Mini Bearer can get into this game every bit as much as his dad did in his youth, a kid who has a wanderlust for the best looking games the current systems can muster, then that’s the only validation I need.  It’s not the prettiest, nor the best sounding game around, far from it, but the gameplay gives it a heart and soul a lot of technically superior games can only dream of, making Excitebike relevant all these years after its original release.