Excitebike 64 Joins Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack

You can replay a classic racing title from 2000 as Excitebike 64 joins Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. The membership service includes a growing library of Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and oddly for console games around in the 80’s and 90’s, Sega Mega Drive titles.

The sequel to 1984 NES title was developed by Left Field Productions, who also worked on NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup, MTX Mototrax, Nitrobike and their final title Mayhem before the company closed in 2011. Three later titles in the series were developed by Monster Games for the Wii, with the last one being Excitebike: World Rally.

Excitebike 64 was well received back in 2000, as you choose from a selection of six riders sporting licensed clothing to tack on a 20-track season mode, local and online multiplayer, and a range of mini games including stunts, hill climbs, a desert track which is fractally-generated to be endless as you try to put out 10 campfires by driving over them, and a soccer game years before Rocket League made the concept popular.

There are also tricks to master, a track editor, and a cheat menu, along with emulated versions of the original Excitebike.

It was really well received, but sales were potentially hit by it being one of the final titles to be released for the N64 in Europe, taking a year to arrive after the U.S and Japanese releases. And it was previously re-released for the Wii U via the Virtual Console back in 2016.

And whoever has made the trailer for the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack release obviously enjoyed recreating the early 2000s gaming era…

It joins F-Zero X and Mario Kart 64 as the racing titles currently included in the N64 selection via the Expansion Pack membership.

If you’d prefer the physical experience of playing the original on an N64, you can find secondhand consoles from a variety of places, including eBay. Individual copies of Excitebike 64 are also commonly for sale in various conditions. Or check out all our coverage of modern and classic racing games for the Nintendo Switch, here.