They didn't just give you the track. They gave you the pen to draw your own.
In 1984, Excitebike did something almost no console game did: it shipped with a Design Mode — a track editor that let you build your own courses out of jumps, ramps, and obstacles. Years before 'user-generated content' was even a phrase, a small motorcycle game had quietly decided the player should also be a maker — and once you had built a track, the playing never had to end. That instinct — to hand people the tools and trust them to create — is one of the oldest and most generous ideas in games. You were never only meant to consume it. You were invited to add to it.
— inspired by Shigeru Miyamoto
The controls could not be simpler. The engine takes on heat, and the landing comes up through your hands. Exciting was the right word for it.
What held me longest was Design Mode. I built my own courses on it. Once you can do that, the game has no end in it, and that is why it stayed in the house. These cartridges still cross my bench, and Design Mode is the part I go to.
About this game
Excitebike went on sale in Japan on November 30, 1984, and Nintendo did not build it alone. A company called SRD worked on it. SRD had started out writing business software, and this was its first job beside Shigeru Miyamoto. It stayed near Nintendo afterwards, through Mario and through Zelda.
The cartridge cost 5,500 yen, a thousand above the usual Famicom price. The extra money bought room. Design Mode needed a larger cartridge, and Nintendo decided in 1984 that a track editor was worth charging for.
Key Features
Five pre-designed motocross tracks in single-player mode. Design Mode: custom track editor with over 20 track piece types. Two-player alternating mode. Turbo boost mechanic with heat management (overheat and fall). Japan-only: Famicom Data Recorder support for saving custom tracks to cassette tape.
Gallery
The Story Behind
In November 1984 the Famicom was a little over a year old, and keeping anything at home meant cassette tape. The Famicom Data Recorder wrote your finished courses onto a tape, the same way the home computers of that year stored their programs. Nintendo never sold the Data Recorder outside Japan. The NES version still shows save and load on the Design Mode menu, and they do nothing at all. A player in Japan could keep a course for years. A player outside Japan built the same course and lost it when he turned the power off.
Tricks & Tales
The smooth scrolling written for these bikes went into Super Mario Bros. the following year. A motorcycle game was holding Mario up. Excitebike was later ported to arcade (VS. Excitebike), Super Famicom (Famicom Mini series), and various Virtual Console platforms.
Collector's Guide
Region & Compatibility
Japan (Famicom): Data Recorder peripheral allows saving custom tracks to cassette tape — fully functional save system. NA (NES): Save/load menu options present but non-functional — Data Recorder was Japan-only. Gameplay is otherwise identical across regions.
Maintenance Tips
The gold-plated edge connectors on Famicom and NES cartridges pick up skin oils and oxidation over decades — a gentle wipe with a cotton swab dampened in 90% or higher isopropyl alcohol, stroking along the length of the pins rather than across them, is the accepted standard. Let the alcohol fully evaporate before reinserting. The old habit of blowing into a cartridge is folklore: the moisture in breath causes slow corrosion of the contacts over time, and any improvement you felt came from the act of re-seating the cart, not from the breath itself. Nintendo eventually updated its own troubleshooting guidance to say explicitly: do not blow into your Game Paks.
Going deeper
Explore the machine this game ran on, and what to check before you buy or care for one:
What to Watch Out For
Before buying, these are the points worth knowing — from someone who handles original Japanese Excitebike copies regularly.
Will this Japanese Famicom cartridge work on a North American Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)?
No, not without an adapter. The Famicom uses a 60-pin edge connector while the NES uses a 72-pin connector with a physically different form factor — the two are incompatible at the cartridge slot level. Third-party adapters exist that bridge the pin difference and allow Famicom cartridges to run in a NES. On a Japanese Famicom, NES cartridges face the same incompatibility in reverse. To play Japanese Famicom software, you need a Japanese Famicom, a Famicom-compatible clone console, or a NES fitted with an appropriate adapter.
How should I clean a Famicom cartridge to ensure reliable play?
Apply 90% or higher isopropyl alcohol to a cotton swab and gently wipe the gold-plated PCB edge contacts on the base of the cartridge. Never blow into the cartridge — breath moisture accelerates contact corrosion over time. If cleaning is needed inside, Famicom cartridges use 3.8mm security game bit screws (not standard Phillips); a security bit screwdriver is required to open the shell without damage. Note that most Famicom boot failures originate in the 60-pin console slot rather than the cartridge itself — cleaning the console slot contacts separately with a contact cleaning tool is often the more effective fix.
Before You Buy
Things worth knowing before you buy Excitebike
A short checklist for buying a used Famicom cartridge wisely — useful with any seller, anywhere.
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Choose a seller who tests it before shipping
A copy that has actually been powered on and checked is a known quantity. An untested one is a gamble you only settle after it arrives.
Look for a seller who states it was function-tested and says what they confirmed. A serious seller can tell you exactly what was checked.
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Make sure it fits your console
This is a Japanese Famicom cartridge with a 60-pin connector; a North American NES uses a 72-pin slot, so it will not fit directly.
Play it on a matching Japanese console or a region-free system, and confirm the listing states the region.
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If this title saves your progress, check the battery
Cartridges that save use a small coin-cell battery that fades over decades — a dead one wipes your save without warning.
Ask the seller whether the save function was tested. Replacing the battery is possible, but doing so erases any existing save.
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Check that the contacts are clean
Dirty edge contacts are the most common cause of startup and sound trouble in cartridges of this age.
Choose a seller who cleans the contacts before shipping. A note that it was tested and cleaned means the basics were handled.
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Confirm it is genuine, not a reproduction
Sought-after titles are targets for reproduction boards with replacement labels.
Ask for a photo of the circuit board and look for factory markings. Favour a shop with a licensed second-hand dealer permit (古物商) — by law its stock has a traceable origin, your simplest guard against fakes.
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Read the seller's reviews and return policy
A 100% positive record across thousands of sales is close to a guarantee — packing, communication and problem-solving all work for everyone. A return policy protects you if something is off.
Read the feedback and confirm a clear return window before you buy.
The last step before buying anywhere is knowing what it's worth.
See what we have in stock →Unexpected Discoveries
Games you weren't looking for — but might be glad you found.
Rooms this game lives in
Wander deeper — explore the themed rooms where Excitebike sits alongside its kin.
Memories from around the world
This is a young museum, and this page is still waiting for its first voices. The memories people send reach Taisei personally, and the ones that move him find a home here over time — always with the writer's blessing. Yours could be the very first for this game.
Share your memory ↑From the Museum's Screening Room
Excitebike — Max Explains