Excitebike

Before the majority of people even knew what Motocross racing was, there was Excitebike for the Nintendo Entertainment System. By today's standards the game may not seem like such a big deal, but for 1984, it was incredibly creative.

Part of Nintendo's programmable series, Excitebike allowed the player to create their own track to race on. Everybody always seemed to just throw in the biggest ramps all over the track so you could get great air time. But the best thing was that the player controlled everything. The laps, finishing time, obstacles, etc...

The regular mode of Ecitebike was just as great. You controlled your jumps off the ramps with the d-pad. If you wanted to just get some serious elevation you'd hold back the left button for dear life and then see the bike go off screen.