Excitebike 64 arrived on the Nintendo 64 in 2000 as the second game in the Excite series, a sequel to the 1984 NES original and the first entry to go 3D. Left Field Productions developed it, Nintendo published it, and it shipped with six riders, each with pre-set handling attributes, and a wall of real dirt bike gear brands across the bikes and riders.
It is still the best motocross game Nintendo has ever put its name on.
Six Riders, Six Sets of Hands
The roster is the first thing you feel. Each of the six riders carries pre-set handling attributes, so the choice is not cosmetic — it changes how the bike answers the stick. You steer with the control stick or the D-pad, accelerate, brake, slide and fire turbo boost.
That is the smartest decision in the game. Excitebike 64 does not make you learn one bike and then reskin it five times.
Hold Down for More Air
The original Excitebike taught a generation that holding down gave you more air. Excitebike 64 keeps that rule and builds a whole game on top of it. Hold down off a ramp and you launch higher. Hold up and the front wheel aims forward, which is how you land on a slope without eating dirt.
In the air you can tilt the bike sideways to set the angle you hit the next turn, and you can sideswipe opponents who get too close. That last one matters more than it sounds. Excitebike 64 is a racing game that is happy to be a contact sport.
In Excitebike 64, you’ll find all the high-flying action, heart-stopping stunts and bone-jarring crashes of the extreme sport of motocross.
The stunts are the pitch, and the pitch holds up. The game treats a clean launch the way the marketing copy promised, and it never apologizes for the noise.
Shortcuts Buried in the Course
Most levels hide shortcuts, and they are not free. Some ask you to slow down and change direction, which costs you the speed you just spent a lap building. Others want a turbo boost so you can clear a chasm, hop hill to hill, or sail over other vehicles and buildings.
That is the design talking. Excitebike 64 follows the original game’s appetite for extreme jumps and loose physics, but it makes the shortcuts a wager rather than a gift. You spend boost to buy a line, and if you misjudge the landing you have spent it for nothing.
Bell, Alpinestars and the Brand Wall
The gear branding is extensive and unmissable. Bell Helmets, Alpinestars and No Fear appear throughout the game, and the bikes read like a paddock at a real national. It dates the game in the best way — this is what motocross looked like in 2000.
One brand did not survive the reissues. When Excitebike 64 came to Wii U through the Virtual Console in 2016, and again on the Nintendo Classics service on August 30, 2023, every Fox Racing logo was removed. The racing is intact. The wall of sponsors is not.
Split Screen and the Living Room
Excitebike 64 supports single player and multiplayer, including split screen, and the third-person perspective keeps the bike in view. Split screen is where the sideswiping earns its place. Racing a friend who knows the shortcuts is a different game from racing the computer.
The camera stays behind the bike. Excitebike 64 asks you to read landings at speed, and a clever camera would only get in the way.
What Excite Truck Inherited
Nintendo did not return to dirt bikes after this. The third game in the series, Excite Truck, arrived in 2006 for the Wii and took the series onto four wheels. Excitebike 64 remains the high point of the line, and the reason is not nostalgia.
It is the handling model. Six riders with six different feels, a jump system with real consequences, shortcuts that charge you for the privilege — that is a complete design, and it landed on the first 3D game in the series.
A Racing Game That Understands Airtime
Excitebike 64 earns its Metacritic critic score of 8.8/10, an 88/100. The marketing summary promises 20 stadium tracks and outdoor courses, and the outdoor courses add variety. The stunt language is loud, but the game underneath it is disciplined.
The weaknesses are real but small. The brand wall is a time capsule, and the Fox Racing removal on later releases leaves a visible scar on a game that wanted to look real. The single-player structure leans on the same events more than it should.
None of that touches the core. Excitebike 64 is a racing game that understands airtime is a resource, not a flourish, and it hands you six different ways to spend it.
8.8/10, the Metacritic critic score.
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