Rank Up! - Excite series

The Rank Up! train chugs along, and this time we are checking out the blistering fast Excite series. Rank Up! is no stranger to the SPC faithful, but for those unaware, this segment is where I rank several items in a series from least favorite to most favorite. It's as simple of a concept as you can get! Still don't understand? Why not read on? You're sure to get the gist of it. But first, what games will I be ranking up this go around? Note: The arcade version of Excitebike is not listed as machines are hard to find.

Excitebike (NES)
Excitebike 64 (N64)
Excite Truck (Wii)
Excitebots: Trick Racing (Wii)
Excitebike: World Rally (WiiWare)

Originally released in 1985, Excitebike roared and revved its way onto the Nintendo Entertainment System with motocross-styled gameplay, side-scrolling intensity, and plenty of crashes and spills for the masochist to adore. It would be over a decade for a sequel to happen, and it would bring the series into three dimensions with Excitebike 64. Two generations later, Nintendo would swap out the bikes for trucks in Excite Truck. Then, several years later, swap out trucks for bots. For a series that will get your pulse pounding, the Excite franchise is the ticket.

5) Excitebike (NES)

The originator, Excitebike on the Nintendo Entertainment System is a racer unlike many others. You can choose to play in two ways: 1) by your lonesome against the clock, or 2) against several CPU racers. Either way, there are only so many times you can do either of this tasks before boredom sets in. There is a track creator, but this suffers from two problems (two seems to be a popular number here): 1) the amount of pieces available is limited, and 2) you cannot save your creations on the NES version. (This changed with the 3D Classics iteration on the 3DS.) What you are left with is a title that may have been exciting back when it released in 1985, but it is now an ancient relic and a reminder of how far the series has really come.

4) Excitebike 64 (N64)

The nineties were rad and all, but the 00's brought us a new 3D Excitebike in Excitebike 64. Racing against five other opponents through one of twenty indoor or outdoor motocross racetracks, jockeying for position, and pulling off mad tricks were but some of the activities you could do in the game. Who didn't love a rousing game of soccer while riding aboard motorbikes, or climbing up an increasingly steep mountain as you aim to reach the top? Sure, crashing was easy to accomplish (especially for the timid), but that doesn't stop Excitebike 64 from being a stellar entry in the Excite legacy.

3) Excitebike: World Rally (WiiWare)

Taking the idea of the original NES Excitebike and giving the game an isometric view, Excitebike: World Rally (for this month only is available for North American Club Nintendo members for a small coin fee) gave players a letter grade depending on their time on each race, set across the world. Places like Canada, London, Japan, and Mexico were just some of the exotic locales players could virtually visit. By tilting the Wii remote, you tilted your motorbike to land correctly off of slopes to keep your speed high. How else will you get those record times? I greatly enjoyed my time with World Rally with the Wii points it cost me, so getting the game (up until April 30) with Club Nintendo coins should be a no-brainer! Download your copy of this game today!

2) Excite Truck (Wii)

Excite Truck launched with the Wii back in 2006. Seems so long ago, doesn't it? And while most of the spotlight shined down on a little known series called The Legend of Zelda, I had just as much pleasure playing through the insane racing experience known as Excite Truck. These trucks certainly packed a wallop as they were heavy suckers, able to slam into other opponents and send them flying. Introduced to this game was the concept of earning stars for your driving performance. Of course, winning netted you an abundant amount of stars, but doing tree runs (driving through narrow paths lined by dangerous tree hazards), doing incredible aerial acrobatics, and other sensational stunts earned you great accolades as well. The terrain deformation which changed the ground when you passed over a certain icon could send your adversaries soaring if they were unfortunate enough to be racing in front of you. Excite Truck keeps on truckin', and for that I award it with the number two spot.

1) Excitebots: Trick Racing (Wii)

Those of you who know me could smell this game coming from miles away as number one, couldn't you? I gush over this game at every opportunity I get, so why not gush over it now? Excitebots: Trick Racing is an absolutely manic experience. And I mean that in a positive way. It released to no fanfare, but I will forever be trumpeting its stellar gameplay and entertaining online. Where else can you win a race overall by kicking field goals, scoring soccer goals, flipping ten times around a vertical bar, collecting the ingredients to make the fabled Super Sandwich, gathering a handful of butterflies, and creating colossal crashes? I am drawing a blank, and you are probably too. Then there's gambling stars online in races. You can bet up to 5,000 per race, and if you win, you can earn up to five times your bet. You can even play a game of poker as you race. The zany nature of the game is unmatched in the arcade racing genre, and I can only hope Monster Games is working on the next installment despite the low sales (good idea letting no one know about the game, Nintendo).

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Okay now, be honest. Who saw number one coming? How would you personally order the Excite games? I almost forgot all about the WiiWare game. How embarrassing would that have been? Anyhow, please express your opinion on this edition of Rank Up! in the comments section!

SPC Quickies - Volume Eleven - 3D Classics Edition

It was back in September of last year when the SPC Quickies last made their appearance. Let's make up for lost time with Volume Eleven. Today I will be swiftly reviewing five 3D Classics games from the 3DS's eShop. It's been awhile since our last SPC Quickies segment, so here's how the scoring goes:

5 - Fantastic

4 - Great

3 - Fair

2 - Poor

1 - Awful

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3D Classics: Excitebike


This 3D Classics title was original free for 3DS owners up until July 6th of last year. Now that it costs money, is the game worth the $5.99 asking price? Well, no, it really doesn't. There are but two modes to try out: one has you racing by your lonesome against the clock while the other has you racing against CPU racers. Then there are only five pre-made tracks with the ability to create your own, but even here you are limited as there are less than a dozen pieces to utilize making for quick boredom. You can probably complete Excitebike in a sitting or two, and see everything the game has to offer. Do not buy.

[SuperPhillip Says: 2/5]


3D Classics: Kid Icarus


Available from pre-ordering Kid Icarus: Uprising at Amazon, Best Buy, or Gamestop or purchasing it outright from Gamestop, 3D Classics: Kid Icarus brings with it multiple levels of the angelic hero Pit taking on Medusa's nefarious forces. The backgrounds have been altered from their plain black backgrounds from the NES version with trippy colors and effects. The game looks better for it. Be warned, though, as Kid Icarus was always a difficult game, and even with the addition of shooting more arrows at a faster rate, the game can be massively challenging. It's a welcome challenge, however, and worthy of being in your 3DS collection of downloadable games.

[SuperPhillip Says: 4/5]


3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure


Originally one of the last titles released for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Kirby makes his 3DS debut as a downloadable title in 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure. The Star Rod has been stolen by the sinister King Dedede and broken up in seven pieces spread across seven worlds. It's up to the restless Kirby to save the day. This game was one of the first titles to allow Kirby to suck up foes and steal their powers, perfect for taking out enemies in a variety of ways. The parallax effects and stereoscopic 3D make for an impressive feast for the eyes. The game can be pretty hard at times, too, such as the battle with Kirby villain Kracko. That said, Kirby's Adventure is definitely worth a look and a buy.

[SuperPhillip Says: 4/5]


3D Classics: Xevious


If you like games where memorization of hazards and obstacles is key to survival, then perhaps you'll enjoy 3D Classics: Xevious. My first run-in with Xevious wasn't on the original platform the game released on. Instead, it was an unlockable game within Star Fox Assault (GCN). With the 3DS's glasses-free 3D, it is easier to judge distance between ground force shots trying to take you out. Xevious is a difficult game, but practice makes perfect, and gunning for high scores is always a fun treat. Unfortunately, there is no online leaderboard to speak of, so you will be sadly competing against your lonely self. Regardless, 3D Classics: Xevious is an interesting, if not average title for your 3DS.

[SuperPhillip Says: 3/5]


3D Classics: Urban Champion


The third 3D Classics release was a bad and boring brawler named Urban Champion. It wasn't a good game when it released way back on the NES, and it isn't a good game now. The 3D effect is more distracting than anything, offering little to no "wow" factor at all. The game is highly repetitive and unrewarding-- there is nothing to come back to once you've played through this mediocre title. Sure, if you have a friend with a copy of the game, you can play the game together, but why would you want to? Even at a discounted (for eShop's standards) price, it is not a game that I would recommend to anyone-- even my most hated enemy. Okay, maybe I'd give it a recommendation to them...

[SuperPhillip Says: 1/5]


We have concluded another installment of the SPC Quickies. Hopefully we'll see Volume Twelve come sooner rather than later! Stick around for more SPC coming this week!

Excitebike: World Rally (Wiiware) Review

We have a second Wiiware review in line for this week. This time around we're taking a somewhat in-depth look at Excitebike: World Rally from Monster Games, who also developed Excite Truck and Excitebots: Trick Racing (tremendously fun racer). Let's get on-board and see how she handles.

Get Excited Like It's 1984.

Bikes. Death machines for some, a ride to freedom for others. The Excitebike series originated in 1984 where it appeared in arcades and later on the Famicom game console. Since then, there was a lengthy delay between the first Excitebike and its spiritual successors, Excite Truck and Excitebots: Trick Racing. Both of which were fantastic games on their own. But now Nintendo has decided to go back to basics with the Excitebike series-- back to its revving roots with Excitebike: World Rally for Wiiware. Is this one ride you'll want to hop up on?

The riders take their marks.

The solo single-player mode in the revamped Excitebike is the World Tour. This has you playing four cups with four races each. These range from Mexico, Canada, and Fiji to London, New York, and Paris. The one thing Excite Truck and Excitebots veterans will notice is that many of the backgrounds are taken directly from those two games. By achieving S ranks in the various cups, you'll be rewarded new color skins for your bike. A whole assortment of the rainbow is available by the end of the game. You get S ranks by beating a certain time on each track. However, all you need to pass a certain course is a B rank. There are other racers on the track racing with you, but they're not your opponent. Sure, they can get in your way and make you crash, but your real opponent is the clock. As stated before, achieving a given time will allow you access to the next course or cup.

Each track is a linear affair as per usual with the Excitebike-style games. You're constantly going forward, competing laps as you leap off hills, ramps, and even other racers' heads as you dodge patches of dirt that will slow you down, stretches of grass, and concrete barriers that can either be avoided, hopped over via a wheelie, or crashed into. Your pick. Each race last two laps, and I found that shorter races were more difficult as you have to run them to near perfection in order to obtain those coveted S ranks.

This time around players are given the choice between classic and default (or motion) controls. Either way works well, but old-school gamers will most likely want to stick to classic. Regardless, with enough practice you'll be wheelie-ing off ramps to jump off them for increased distance, landing with your wheels parallel to the ground for increased speed, and moving through the four available lanes in order to dodge hazards, obstacles, and other drivers.

Air mail!

If single-player wears you out after awhile (and it most likely will since it's only sixteen races), you can hop online and race "With Anyone" or "With Friends". Either way, you'll be racing against human opponents with no really severe lag. Opponents will appear as transparent ghosts which for some reason or another will change from ghosts to opponents that you can crash into. No rhyme, no reason. It's just there. Anyway, the "With Anyone" and "With Friends" options give you different types of points that can be earned to purchase new skins for your bike. The biggest disappointment in this, however, is that there is no local split-screen multi-player. It's seems the proverbial ball was dropped. Apparently Monster Games is following the "next-gen" HD rule where online reigns supreme and local multi-player can lie in a gutter somewhere.

Additionally, there's a track creator option in World Rally. Unlike the first Excitebike, you can actually save your hours of work honing and fine-tuning each of your up-to-eight tracks. The building process is rather archaic as you must select a place to build and then cycle through a list of letters, each representing a track part. Couldn't there have been an easier way to make tracks? When you're finished, you can take your track on yourself or share them with friends. Not a bad feature, but the whole thing could be better.

Build, race, and share your custom tracks.

From an aesthetic standpoint, Excitebike: World Rally perfectly takes the 2-D style of the original Excitebike and puts into a suitable 3-D realm. The game is color, the models are nice to look at, and the backgrounds are quite impressive. Meanwhile, the soundtrack is mostly there with retro-sounding guitars and music. It's pleasant, it's not grating, but most of it is unmemorable.

Overall, for 1000 Wii points (ten dollars) Excitebike: World Rally is a very capable racer on Wiiware. Those looking to play with nearby friends will be in for a disappointment with the lack of local multi-player, something that seemed perfect and a shoo-in for this type of game. Regardless, online will fill part of the void, and the single-player World Tour mode will last you a few sittings at the very least. For racing excitement, Excitebike: World Rally is a definite winner.

[SuperPhillip Says: 7.75/10]