In normal circumstances, I would not waste your time or my own with a Review of a non-Mario NES game, but
since the e-Reader is out in stores with Excitebike as a playable game again, I decided to review this game.
I'm basing this on the NES version, though the e-Reader version is nearly identical. You can also play this game somewhere in Excitebike 64.
This Review is based on a zero to four-star scale, with zero being very poor and four being excellent. Blah blah blah.
Graphics: **1/2
I know how everyone here on this site
criticizes any non-Cube game's graphics to death, but remember that
the category is based on the system
the game was on. For the NES, the graphics looked pretty nice, with
huge jumps and other track things.
However, I'm not a big fan of the screen turning all blue when you fall
off your bike. Still, you've got to say that for its time, the graphics
were good. I don't want to hear any more complaining of poor NES graphics,
because the games were made for good gameplay back then, not good graphics
(unlike the Cube).
Sound: 1/2
You may think again that I'm criticizing the sound just due to it being NES-quality sound, but remember that Super Mario Bros. 3 has one of the best soundtracks in any game, all-time. There is hardly any music, if any at all. Maybe the title music counts. Wow. Besides that, nothing else, really. Also, the sound effects weren't too great, either, although not horrible.
Difficulty: *
The game wasn't too hard, I thought. With quick reflexes you could easily change lanes, and even with slow reflexes you could pull a win off easily. I don't remember any real "winning", either, more like beating your best time, or finishing the track in time.
Controls: **1/2
The controls were pretty easy in this
game, though not always. There are a few tricks to learn, like slowing
down in midair or speeding up. They
aren't really hard to learn, just semi-difficult. The problem is with the
custom mode, where it's easy to get confused with what button to push.
It's easy to learn, just hard to
remember, that's all.
1-Player Mode: **
You're trying to beat a clock. How fun is that? Really, though, there are computers to mess you up. It's fun, in a way, but it can't beat the other mode in this game...
Custom Mode: ****
Come on, who doesn't like interactive,
creative modes in games? Tony Hawk, Lego Racers, and other games may not
have been as good of games if not for their custom modes, and the same
goes here. You can make your own track, then race on it. Make big jumps
and small jumps, mud holes and speed boosts, whatever you want. This is
absolutely great, and there weren't that many other NES games with interactive
features like this. Here's a question: with 128-bit systems, why can't
we create tracks like we could back then? Wouldn't you love to create your
own Mario Kart track, or at least battle arena? We only have 16 times the
original
memory and space. It's possible, whether
the companies admit it or not, as there is a lot of unused space on
game discs. Sure, it may take longer
to load, but it would be a lot better as a game. Anyway, this is a great
mode, even if I did get off the subject.
Replayability: no stars
For those of you who don't know this,
my "Length" and "Replayability" sections are combined into one. You
may say that they're different things,
but I play games for at most an hour a day, and usually not the same one.
If a game is long, it means I'm going to play it again and again, on different
days. Playing it again is replayability, so I consider both of these sections
one. They're too similar for me to separate, and probably useless to make
separate, because I'll probably give the same score twice.
Now, as for the replayability of this game, it's not that great. Sure, you can create different tracks, but even they get boring after a short time. You won't be playing this game for over a half hour before getting bored to death with it.
Fun Factor!: **1/2
This game is pretty fun, for a little while. You can have some exciting jumps and runs. It can get frustrating, and it's not very long of a game, but while it lasts, you'll have fun.
OVERALL: *
Unfortunately, this game is way too short, despite some of the fun you'll have with it. What's the use of buying a game for 30 minutes of fun? This is where fun factor means nothing when it comes to actually buying the game. If you're thinking about buying an e-Reader, this game is not the reason to waste all your money on it. However, if you do pick up an e-Reader, this game may just be worth the $5 charged for it alone. Maybe. It's too bad you can't rent NES games, because this is a perfect game to rent and not buy. I guess $5 is near the price of a rent, but it's still really not worth it, on an extremely short game.
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