Excitebike Arena
| Excitebike Arena | |||||||||||||||
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| Appears in | Mario Kart 8 (DLC Pack 1) (2014) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017) | ||||||||||||||
| Cup(s) | Egg Cup | ||||||||||||||
| Based on | Excitebike | ||||||||||||||
| Online play | No longer available (Wii U) Available (Switch) | ||||||||||||||
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Excitebike Arena is a racecourse included with The Legend of Zelda × Mario Kart 8 downloadable content in Mario Kart 8 as well as the base content of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the second course of the Egg Cup. The course is based on Excitebike. The music for this course is featured in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a track.
Course layout
The racecourse is simply a huge oval (much like Baby Park, but longer and larger in width) with many ramps and mud spots, much like race tracks in the original Excitebike. Signs featuring the Japanese & European box art for Excitebike can be seen throughout the course, as well as a large statue of an 8-bit biker sprite on one end of the track. This track is unique in the fact that the track changes every time a race starts. There are many different segments with jumps, ramps and mud spots that can change position and height; according to Mario Kart 8 director Kosuke Yabuki, there are over 200 different patterns of such elements.[1] A standard pattern is used in Time Trials to help keep consistency between time trial records.[2] In Mario Kart Tour, brown variants of the ramps in this course are found in RMX Choco Island 1 and RMX Choco Island 2 and their respective variants.
This is one of three new courses in Mario Kart 8 without anti-gravity sections, the other two being Animal Crossing and Super Bell Subway. It is also one of nine courses without any gliding, underwater, or anti-gravity sections, the others being GCN Yoshi Circuit, SNES Rainbow Road, SNES Mario Circuit 3, GBA Snow Land, Tour London Loop, GBA Riverside Park, DS Mario Circuit, and GBA Sunset Wilds. Out of those tracks, it is the only one that is a new course.
Profiles
Mario Kart 8
- Course trailer: Get ready for high-octane racing and high-flying hurdles![3]
Mario Kart 8 Original Soundtrack liner notes
"We worked the original NES Excitebike music in as a motif here. We used the old NES sound for the melody and accompanied it with a band. We were aiming to create a track that would be familiar while also having a fresh new feel."
Sponsors
- Bowser Oil (Promotional tents, trackside banners, signs, flags)
- Bullet Bill Speed Trial (Trackside banners, signs)
- Fuzzy Battery (Flags, promotional tents, signs, trackside banners)
- Galaxy Air (Commentator's towers, trackside banners, signs)
- Mario Automobile Association (Promotional tents)
- Mario Kart TV (Commentator's towers, promotional tents, screens, trucks)
- Mario Motors (Trackside banners, signs)
- Mario Super Motor Team (Trucks)
- Mushroom Piston (Trackside banners, signs)
- Roy Smooth Sounds (Signs)
- Toad Mushroom Powered (Trucks)
Gallery
The course icon
The course, as seen from the starting line
A view of the racers, mimicking that of the original Excitebike
Mario and Luigi jumping off a ramp
Tanooki Mario racing on the course
Cat Peach performing a trick
Princess Peach racing on the course
Peach about to drift around a corner on the course
Peach performing a jump with the Excitebike screen in the background
Rosalina at the starting line
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | エキサイトバイク[?] Ekisaitobaiku |
Excitebike | |
| Chinese (simplified) | 越野摩托[?] Yuèyě Mótuō |
Excitebike | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 越野摩托車[?] Yuèyě Mótuōchē |
Excitebike Motocross | |
| Dutch | Excitebike-Arena[?] | Excitebike Arena | |
| French | Arène d'Excitebike[?] | Excitebike Arena | |
| German | Excitebike-Stadion[?] | Excitebike Stadium | |
| Italian | Arena Excitebike[?] | Excitebike Arena | |
| Korean | 익사이트 바이크[?] Iksaiteu Baikeu |
Excite Bike | |
| Portuguese | Arena Excitebike[?] | Excitebike Arena | |
| Russian | Арена Excitebike[?] Arena Excitebike |
Excitebike Arena | |
| Spanish | Estadio Excitebike[?] | Excitebike Stadium |
Trivia
- The opening animation during the countdown to the race is the lowering of the bars, which allow the characters to drive, like the starting line from the Excitebike series. This is one of six courses to have an opening animation during the countdown (the others are Twisted Mansion, Electrodrome, Mount Wario, Bowser's Castle and Piranha Plant Cove).
- Out of these tracks, it is the only DLC course to have this feature.
- During its debut trailer, all of the characters except for Yoshi (who is given an ATV) are given bikes as a reference to the game the track was based on.
- This is the only track based on a video game outside of the Super Mario franchise not to be the last course of a cup.
- At the lower end of the course, along the turn leading to the finish line, there are two sets of doors with textures that have been mirrored by mistake, made obvious by the Mario Kart logos situated on top of them.
- The spectator stands have a capacity of approximately 16,000, based on the number of sprites there.
References
- ^ GameSpot Staff (November 18, 2014). Mario Kart 8 Director Talks DLC, Hyrule Circuit Secrets, and More -- Interview. GameSpot (American English). Retrieved July 8, 2024.
- ^ Mario Kart (October 28, 2014). ... the location of ramps and speed boosts change every time you race! (Except on Time Trials, of course!) .... Facebook (English). Retrieved July 29, 2022.
- ^ Nintendo of America (October 28, 2014). Wii U - Mario Kart 8 DLC: Excitebike Arena. YouTube (American English). Retrieved July 8, 2024.
