Excitebike

Excitebike was a launch title for the Famicom in 1984 and it is still one of the purest racing games on the system. You ride a motocross track against a timer, and the only control that matters is leaning: tipping the bike back lifts the front wheel, tipping forward drops it.

The mechanic is subtle. Leaning back extends your jumps but overheats the engine faster; landing nose-first on a downslope keeps your speed while landing flat kills it. The game also shipped with a track editor, one of the first in a console game - you could build a course on screen and, with the Famicom Data Recorder cassette peripheral, save it. Selection A races against the clock while Selection B races against other riders, whose AI is genuinely aggressive.

• ▸Lean-based physics: wheel angle controls jumps, landings and speed
• ▸Engine overheat meter - pushing the turbo too long forces a stop
• ▸In-game track editor (saveable with the Famicom Data Recorder)
• ▸Selection B races against CPU riders with their own AI