Outdated: Watch video series instead just keeping this here to document my efforts trying to understand and explain Excitebike 64 - Forums - ExciteBike 64 Video Tutorials - Speedrun

Everything here is based on my understanding as it's evolving and subject to change. I am still learning myself and just trying to explain best I can to hopefully lower barriers to entry on these skips. If you get frustrated and are confused why it isn't working just know most of these skips are fairly precise and there's a reason they weren't discovered for so long outside of popularity. These instructions assume you are double checking positions in the videos myself and others have released of the skips.

Mechanic Terminology

Reset: When you land out of bounds the game tracks where you landed and puts you back on the track in the same segment

Bounce: During Airtime you can press left/right to affect your trajectory and holding it all the way to one side will cause you to land crooked making you jump slightly off where you land; if you do this while landing off the track the game doesn't put you back on the track immediately instead transferring momentum into a Bounce letting you travel farther before being Reset

Wheelie Landing: When landing there is a small window where you can initiate a wheelie upon landing maybe 1-3 frames

Brake/Drift Instant Reset: Landing out of bounds and pressing brake makes the game instantly put you back on the track; Pressing drift in the air and turning either has a similar effect as long as you don't crash. Drifting too far and/or not adjusting for momentum will often cause a crash just ignore this until you absolutely need to use it

Reset Cancel: If you land off the track and your wheels aren't level/you have significant momentum there is a small window of time before the game Resets you back on the track. During this time if you load the last track segment and then pass the finish line the game will let you pass into the next lap cancelling the Reset.

Lap Reset Warp(heavy speculation): If you load the last track segment, cross the finish line, and then land in a track segment other that the first segment the game will put you into the next lap and Reset your position to the last track segment skipping a lap and a bunch of time. This seems to work conceptually to explain all the current large skips even if it's likely a misunderstanding of what's going on.

These core mechanics are what I use to skip; each skip has nuances in terms of how they combine these mechanics with some having multiple options that work.

Tokyo: When leaving the ramp aim to the right of the finish line and hold down left all the way(in the notch and you can adjust angle a bit with practice). This sets up a couple options for the skip that are similar in speed

1. Wheelie Lap Skip

Upon landing you need to hit the boost holding that bottom left stick position without releasing, this part is hard to nail the timing on. If done right a Wheelie Landing and a very small Bounce combined will allow you to travel toward the lap flag without loading the rest of the track. The game tracks your position based on where you first touch down so your goal is to to wheelie all the way into the wall near the finish line; the right place to hit is just to the right of the finish line marking. If you go too far right it will Reset you back in without skipping the lap and if you go too far left it will set the lap marker and place you in the next lap failing the skip(finishing the previous lap).

The idea is that you have to be Reset onto the track where you left it without loading the last bit of track before the finish. The game doesn't track the wheelie distance before Resetting the player. Generally, a softer landing makes it easier to start the wheelie.

2. Bounce Lap Skip

It's possible yet more difficult to skip a lap without a wheelie just using a Bounce to land first in the section where you normally land and then bounce to a place just before the finish line. This is done by holding straight left after the peak of your jump to land crooked and Bounce to the left; there isn't a lot of tolerance on where to land this it has to be in the same spot as the previous but not close to the wall.

Using brake or drifting slightly before landing will cause an Instant Reset that can be used for more precision landing the Bounce. The place you land out of a Bounce is not considered by the Reset mechanic; this is I believe slightly faster on this course and necessary on other courses to rely on for skips.

Houston:

This course has easy access to the finish line off the right of the last jump. There are 2 known ways to skip the last corner both considerably faster on the last lap; on the first 2 laps a well optimized ramp turn out of the jump is faster.

I'm going to mention my strategy here first as I find it both easier and quite potentially faster.

1. Instant Drift Reset Make sure to build up a lot of speed and hold down stick position for a long time aiming to the right of the finish line. Before landing Drift and adjust slightly left to about parallel to the finish; this is done to perform an Instant Reset onto the track. If you drift too far or don't adjust landing well enough you crash and lose a lot of time. If you don't drift enough your momentum will likely push you out of the small area that's ideal to be Reset from. Depending on where you reset out of bounds you will be closer/farther to the finish line after being Reset; this positioning can be precise and save/lose a lot of time depending on where you are reset. You can alternatively/additionally use a Brake Instant Reset here if it helps you to stay/get into the right position

2. Reset Cancel The second harder strategy featured in MyOhMyPancakes' runs involves landing on the track past the finish line, braking and making a sharp turn into the finish. This is a very frame-tight trick, inconsistent, and demanding in terms of input; I don't have much proficiency with this one I know it involves a tight series of inputs only got it to work a couple times.

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Long Island:

Phoenix:

Madrid:

Seattle: