The controls are simple, but there is something strangely real about it. The weight of the bike, the heat building in the engine, the jolt of a landing felt through your hands. It was, in every sense, exciting.
What drew me in even more was the ability to build your own course — a "Design Mode." In 1984, a game where you could become not just the player but the creator. With your own courses to design, the play never had to end. That, I think, is why this game stayed with us for so long.
I later learned that the smooth scrolling technology built for Excitebike was carried directly into the following year's Super Mario Bros. A small motorcycle game was quietly holding Mario up.
Then there is another surprise: an outside company joined the team — SRD, a firm that had started out making business software. Their first collaboration with Shigeru Miyamoto was this very game, and that partnership went on to shape Mario, Zelda, and beyond. Game history moves on unexpected meetings.
When I run an operation check on one of these cartridges, I think of those invisible threads. People who turned the joy of making into the joy of playing. I want to send that joy forward, into someone else's hands.
About this game
Excitebike is a 1984 Famicom motocross racing game that introduced a track editor — Design Mode — allowing players to build custom courses from over 20 track piece types including jumps, obstacles, and turns. In Japan, the Famicom Data Recorder could save custom tracks to cassette tape; the NES version retains the menu options but the peripheral was never released outside Japan, making the save function non-operational in the West. One of 18 launch titles for the North American NES in 1985, Excitebike was priced ¥5,500 in Japan — ¥1,000 higher than typical Famicom games — due to the larger cartridge required for Design Mode.
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.
The Story Behind
Excitebike launched in Japan in November 1984 — just over a year after the Famicom's own launch — and was one of the earliest games to include a level editor in a console game. The track Design Mode predates the mainstream level-editor movement by years and anticipated a design philosophy — letting players make their own content — that would eventually define modern gaming. The game was priced ¥1,000 above the Famicom standard due to its larger cartridge, suggesting Nintendo saw Design Mode as a meaningful value-add worth the premium.
Tricks & Tales
The NES version of Excitebike includes the Design Mode menus and track editor in full — but the save/load options are non-functional because the Famicom Data Recorder peripheral that allowed saving to cassette tape was never released outside Japan. Western players can build tracks but cannot save them between sessions. 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.
Available in our shop
Hand-cleaned and tested units shipped worldwide from Toyohashi, Japan. HP direct purchase exclusive: we include a printed shop owner's note card with every order.
Direct purchase supports this museum directly. eBay Top Rated Seller · 1,750+ reviews · 100% positive feedback.
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