Insomnia inducer!!

About 12 or 13 years ago, when I was 14 or 15 years old, I remember being completely addicted to the original NES Excitebike. There were many weekends spent sitting up until 3 or 4 in the morning creating tracks and trying to beat my friends high scores. Now I'm 27 years old and Excitebike 64 has once again stricken me with insomnia, I sat in front of the T.V. until 4 a.m. this morning, prying my attention from this killer update of the classic only when absolutely necessary - to refill my soda (gotta have the caffeine), or to change and feed my 8 month old daughter, Kaylee (Daduh luvs u baby girl...).

Excitebike 64, published by Nintendo, for the N64 is the best motocross game I've ever played. Included in the frantic racing action are 20 stadium and outdoor tracks, tons of over-the-top tricks to show off your skills, 6 different riders, all with unique and varied strengths and weaknesses, and a whole slew of secrets to unlock.

For those of you who look for authenticity in games, check out some of the real life Mx sponsors. Bell helmets, Thor, Scott USA, Shoei, and FMF, have all lended their licenses to the game.

The games control set-up feels comfortable and there is a much needed training session you can complete and practice on to hone your dirt-slinging skills.

The graphics have received a much needed overhaul from the old days, gone are the blocky, faded visuals. They have been replaced by intensely life-like animations and beautifully presented tracks and riders.

The game supports all the basic N64 equipment like the Expansion pak, rumble pak, etc. and up to 4 players can race at a time via a split screen.

The difficultly level is about right for this type of game. It's just hard enough to be extremely challenging, without becoming mindlessly frustrating.

This game has received an E (everyone) rating by the ESRB, and I recommend it to just that - EVERYONE!!