Muddy hell – Excitebike 64 heads to Wii U

With few Wii U games due this December, we had a feeling the console would see a new N64 VC release before the year is out.

Step forward Excitebike 64, due Thursday for a modest £8.99. We recall picking this one up upon release (back in the space year 2000) and being a tad disappointed. While mostly well-received by critics, it didn’t have the same magic and mastery of other N64 racers like 1080 Snowboarding and Wave Race. This is probably why Nintendo didn’t ask Left Field Productions for a follow-up. Their next motorbike game – MTX Mototrax – was a budget PS2 release. Nitrobike meanwhile was picked up by Ubisoft.

Having said all this, we struggle to think of a better motorbike racer – it was a bloody good game, just one that lacked that Nintendo magic. Let’s hope it doesn’t suffer from bodged controls like the recent Wii U F-Zero X re-release.

ecitebike

That’s it for new Wii U stuff this week. Things are rather quiet on 3DS too, which is perhaps to be expected after last week’s quartet of big-name games.

On New 3DS there’s RCMADIAX’s GALAXY BLASTER (£1.39) which appears to be a generic space shooter in the Space Invaders mould. Then there’s the four-strong mini-game collection Crollors Game Pack (£1.39), which does in fact feature a game called Space Shooter. Color Switch, Dotch It and Zig Zag Ball are the remaining three.

The 3DS also gets some free 7th Dragon III Code: VFD and Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse DLC, plus some inexpensive add-ons. These are mostly avatar items.

FreezeMe2

Going back to all things RCMADIAX, most – if not all – of their Wii U back catalogue is reduced this week. Our caps button can rest easy – there are too many games to mention. Prices start at 92p, rising to £2.74. Tetraminos (£3.59), Brick Breaker (£3.59) and Pinball Breakout (£4.00) are also reduced. Arguably the highlight though is the Super Mario 64 influenced platformer FreezeME, down to £6.29 until 29th December.

As for 3DS discounts, most come courtesy of CIRCLE Entertainment. These include Petit Novel Series – Harvest December (£7.89), Parascientific Escape Cruise in the Distant Seas (£3.19) and Conveni Dream (£3.59). Metroidvania AeternoBlade meanwhile drops to (£2.70). It was one of the more expensive eShop games at launch and went on to receive a PS4 release. Reviews weren’t great though, with low production values mostly to blame. But at £2.70, it might be worth a second look.

Leave a Comment