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Celebrating the Nintendo 64: Short reviews of all N64 games I own (145+ games)

Rush has a 7th track?

Mother of god, mind blown


Edit:
Are they fucking serious?

Secret Alcatraz Track

First, win the circuit trophy normally or by entering this code:
8DP5KG5L4G59P
G92WVCQY0DRDQ
With the trophy won, enter ''One Race'' mode and do the following:
1)At the ''Select Car'' screen, hold Left C, press Z, release both, tap Left on the D-Pad, then press B three times to return to the main menu.

2)Choose ''Setup'', and at the setup screen, hold Up C, press Z release both, tap Up on the D-Pad, then press B to return to the main menu.

3)Choose ''One Race'', and at the ''Select Track'' screen, hold Left C, press Z, release both, and tap Right on the D-Pad, then press A to advance to the ''Car Select'' screen.

4)At the ''Select Car'' screen, hold Down C, press Z, release both, tap Down on the D-Pad, then press the L button, then press the R button. You will hear a signal to confirm the code. Now press B to go back to the ''Select Track'' screen, and you will find that the secret Track 7 is now unlocked.
 

Deraldin

Unconfirmed Member
Buck Bumble - Buck Bumble is a 3d flight combat game where you control a heavily armed bee. You fly around, killing enemies and doing missions. The graphics are okay at best, nothing special, and the gameplay's no competition for Factor 5's Star Wars games. It's a good game I guess, though not great. This game has lots of fog. Way too much of it really, given the only average graphics. The N64 can do a lot better than this. Even so, for anyone who likes flight combat games, Buck Bumble is probably worth a look -- there aren't too many games like this on the N64, and even if it could be a better, the game is okay and definitely will provide plenty of challenge. Indeed, this game isn't easy. It's also got multiplayer, something Factor 5 didn't attempt. Four players, controller pak to save (3 pages).

How do you bring up Buck Bumble and not mention the theme song? That theme and the hours I spent playing the soccer multiplayer mode are the two biggest things I remember about the game.

I've got about a dozen N64 games now and I think only 4 of them were actually purchased during the lifetime of the console. Nice to see Hybrid Heaven getting some notice though. I loved that game.
 

xir

Likely to be eaten by a grue
Opinionfacts:
I played San Francisco Rush as a platformer.

Rocket Robot on Wheels is the 2nd best 3d platformer after Mario 64.
 
When I read the thread title I knew there was gonna be a post along the lines of:

"OH I didn't even know there were 145 games AT ALL on the N64 lol!" its guaranteed with an impressive super OP like this haha.

I have 226 N64 games myself lol, and no I'm not gonna review them. :p Most of them are PAL/NTSC. Only have 5 or 6 JPN games.

Obviously living in a PAL country the bulk of them started as that but towards the end of the generation I got access to a credit card and importing NTSC games from America then oh boy all bets were off lol. At least even back then I had decided to only want boxed copies, it would be even more of a pain to replace them all now.

There was even a Aus/NZ exclusive copy of Beetle Adventure Racing released here with different cars called HSV Adventure Racing which I thought was pretty cool..... the region exclusive part not the car part, the original was the only one I played to be honest.

Loved the N64 as a system during its lifetime and then turned it into a love of collecting after. My 64DD is one of my most prized possessions! But its the fond gaming memories of the time that really get me giddy when I think about the system. Its the last system where my whole immediate family was still all under one roof, combine that with school friends and you get truly wonderful single player AND glorious multiplayer memories. <3
 
The platforming in Conker's Bad Fur Day is incredibly simplistic, even by collectathon standards.

You say this as if Banjo games platforming isn't complex, when in reality its some of the most complex there is.

And yeah Conker isn't a platformer, but more so a mixed bag of awesome.
 
Rush has a 7th track?

Mother of god, mind blown


Edit:
Are they fucking serious?

Yes, hidden by what has to be one of the more complex codes ever.

As I say though, it IS just a stripped-down version of Alcatraz, a track that of course features in Rush 2, so it's not exclusive to the game, but it is a cool bonus, and it was pretty awesome that they managed to squeeze it in. :)

As for why the code is so complex, they wanted to make as sure as possible that no one would guess the code -- Alcatraz was supposed to be exclusive to the also brand new Rush The Rock: Alcatraz Edition arcade game, they didn't want people being able to play it at home from day one...


Another example of N64 games with cool hidden extras protected by codes are Rogue Squadron and Battle for Naboo. RS has the Naboo Fighter in it, only accessible via a somewhat complex code, and BfN has that hidden developer commentary mode I mention, that also is only unlockable via a cheatcode I believe.

How do you bring up Buck Bumble and not mention the theme song? That theme and the hours I spent playing the soccer multiplayer mode are the two biggest things I remember about the game.

I've got about a dozen N64 games now and I think only 4 of them were actually purchased during the lifetime of the console. Nice to see Hybrid Heaven getting some notice though. I loved that game.
I forgot about it, I didn't go back and play most of the games before writing up the reviews... that's one of the reasons why I say that it's a work in progress of sorts. That is nice work for an N64 game though, yeah. And it's certainly a better song than the poor DK Rap... I may like DK64, but yeah, that song... not so much. :)

Opinionfacts:
I played San Francisco Rush as a platformer.

Rocket Robot on Wheels is the 2nd best 3d platformer after Mario 64.
Rayman 2 is my second place 3d platformer (I got the game for PC instead of N64, and have gotten the Dreamcast version more recently, but still not the N64 version), but I'd consider Rocket for third, perhaps... it is a very good game.
 

dimb

Bjergsen is the greatest midlane in the world
Sports games in general only sometimes interest me, but I have been considering getting Milo's Astro Lanes. It looks at least somewhat different, at least...
It's quite arcadey, but it's hard to deny that it is about bowling at its core. The progression is fairly interesting and its kitschy aesthetic are endearing. It can be quite slow at times, but the lanes can get pretty over the top in terms of their structure and the powerups mostly keep things interesting.
 

Regulus Tera

Romanes Eunt Domus
You say this as if Banjo games platforming isn't complex, when in reality its some of the most complex there is.

And yeah Conker isn't a platformer, but more so a mixed bag of awesome.
The implication I wanted to make is that collectathon platformers are less about momentum and more about exploration. CBFD has neither of those in huge spades, as it's more of a potpourri of different genres glued together by the comedy vignettes.
 

RawPower

Banned
Dear god, I miss the HELL out of the Goemon series. The Japanese flavor the N64 games had was irresistible. I hope more games come out in the West.
 
You don't own Daikatana?!?! Or the Rampage games??? You're slipping, ABF.
Those are the only US-released N64 games I can think of off the top of my head that aren't in your list.
 
I remember lucking out on Top Gear Rally. Early console life purchase, had no idea what it was just a random racer, thought it probably sucks but meh I want another racing game....... wow this is actually really good! :D

Now I read there was a PC port ages after called Boss Rally, man my PC only owning friend at the time would have loved that, he would always play Top Gear Rally on my N64.

Actually when I think about it, my N64 life was probably full of those 'luck' games. Especially early on. Mystical Ninja would be another, oh how bout this one ok lets get it................ OMG SO GOOD.
 

methodman

Banned
Wow, great thread man. So many memories. I also had a ton of N64 games, and like someone else mentioned in the thread earlier, Beetle Adventure Racing was fucking awesome.

I remember Christmas morning opening my present and it was a gold zelda OOT package. ah man, sooooo hype.

my mom had bought it for me on launch day but kept it till christmas <3
 

Minion101

Banned
I was at a friends house who had an emulator for 64 on his nice computer. Was really shocked how good they look at 1080p.
 

Lijik

Member
Starshot: Space Circus Fever - This is an N64 and PC only 3d platformer. The game is generally disliked, with mediocre to poor reviews, but while I would agree that the game clearly has some design and budget problems, Starshot is also a pretty original, unique game. You simply don't see things like Starshot anymore, unfortunately. Anyone who likes interesting, unique 5th gen 3d platformers like Rocket or Glover should definitely give Starshot a try. The game's definitely on the short side, but it's interesting enough while it lasts to make it worth a play. In Starshot, you play as a member of a futuristic space circus who has to, of course, save the day. You'll be given a series of missions, across several different planets (with each planet serving as a stage), as you attempt to save the circus and stop the people trying to put you out of business. You don't just run and jump in this game, missions are more varied than that. The graphics and sound here are average, but decent; they're good enough, but won't really impress either. At least the art design's somewhat interesting. Level designs in Starshot are pretty good. They're large and spread out, with plenty of floating platforms, tricky jumps, and areas to explore. Levels are big (for the time) and not entirely linear, so on occasion it can be a little hard figuring out where to go next, but it's not too bad; just explore around, and you'll figure it out. I think that Starshot's flaws, like the short length, minor bugs (a few times I had to restart levels because of bugs. Kind of annoying.), occasionally annoying platforming, and sometimes confusing objectives caused many people to write this game off, but I found myself liking this quite a bit. It's flawed, sure, but it's interesting and unique, and I like the character, gameplay, and level designs. Starshot's a better game than its mediocre reviews or forgotten reputation would suggest. One player, on-cart saving.

Agreed. Not the best platformer of all time, but its got a whole lot of charm and is pretty fun.
I'd also would like to point out to those interested in this game, that the PC version is far less buggy than the N64 cart (which in addition to bugs is known to crash on occasion). I dont want to say there are no bugs, but I dont recall anything that impeded my playthough of it on the PC.
The sound and music are also more impressive on the PC


EDIT- noticed in your Tonic Trouble review you said the game was about a robot trying to fix his ship. Having replayed it earlier today, I can safely say its about an alien janitor trying to collect parts for a catapult so he can fight an evil viking warlord =P
 
You don't own Daikatana?!?! Or the Rampage games??? You're slipping, ABF.
Those are the only US-released N64 games I can think of off the top of my head that aren't in your list.
There are actually a good 160-odd US-released N64 games I don't own. Lots and lots of sports games make up the bulk of that, but there are some other things I don't have; I have a lot of N64 racing games for example, but not all of them. The N64 game I want most, of those I don't have, is Stunt Race 64... it's a rental-only futuristic racing game. I love futuristic racing games of course, and this one's from Boss Games too, in their last N64 title.

But there are some major N64 games that I don't have, such as lots of the sports games, most of the other wrestling games (those were pretty popular, at the time...), Goldeneye (though as I said I have played it), any of the Mortal Kombat games, KI Gold, etc.

It's quite arcadey, but it's hard to deny that it is about bowling at its core. The progression is fairly interesting and its kitschy aesthetic are endearing. It can be quite slow at times, but the lanes can get pretty over the top in terms of their structure and the powerups mostly keep things interesting.
Looks like it might be fun enough to be worth a purchase, for not too much.

When I read the thread title I knew there was gonna be a post along the lines of:

"OH I didn't even know there were 145 games AT ALL on the N64 lol!" its guaranteed with an impressive super OP like this haha.

I have 226 N64 games myself lol, and no I'm not gonna review them. :p Most of them are PAL/NTSC. Only have 5 or 6 JPN games.

Obviously living in a PAL country the bulk of them started as that but towards the end of the generation I got access to a credit card and importing NTSC games from America then oh boy all bets were off lol. At least even back then I had decided to only want boxed copies, it would be even more of a pain to replace them all now.

There was even a Aus/NZ exclusive copy of Beetle Adventure Racing released here with different cars called HSV Adventure Racing which I thought was pretty cool..... the region exclusive part not the car part, the original was the only one I played to be honest.

Loved the N64 as a system during its lifetime and then turned it into a love of collecting after. My 64DD is one of my most prized possessions! But its the fond gaming memories of the time that really get me giddy when I think about the system. Its the last system where my whole immediate family was still all under one roof, combine that with school friends and you get truly wonderful single player AND glorious multiplayer memories. <3
Impressive... and with import shipping fees too, that must have cost a good bit.

I have to congratulate you on the effort you put into this thread. Never owned N64 as i went with PS instead. (A gift )

But i will read it anyway.
I actually started a Playstation list with reviews a year and a half ago (this one I started about a year ago, abandoned for quite some time, and then returned to last month, updated, and completed), but it'd need a lot of work, both to updated it with everything I've gotten in the least year and a half, and to play more of them... but the N64's my favorite, not the Playstation, so it'd be a somewhat different list. I mean, the Playstation has a lot of good games, certainly, but I like the N64 more.

Boomarked for future reading.

No Mario Golf?
I don't think I own any golf games for any consoles, unless you count minigolf (because that I do enjoy), and even there I only have a couple... I've never actually played a Mario Golf game, but I find golf games so uninteresting most of the time that I've never cared to try...

... Actually, I do have one TG16 golf game. I only have it because it came with a batch of games I was buying for some other stuff, though, I've only played it for seconds.

Dear god, I miss the HELL out of the Goemon series. The Japanese flavor the N64 games had was irresistible. I hope more games come out in the West.
Yeah, Konami's abandonment of the series has been pretty painful. Not releasing most of the Goemon games outside of Japan was bad enough, but then they killed the series entirely... so sad. :( I know we did get those two amazing N64 games, and they are apparently some of the best of the franchise, but still, I'd like to play the PS1 and GBC games sometime, as well as the PS2 and DS games... but I'd like even more to see Konami bring the franchise back, and actually release it here this time!

Because yeah, Goemon's Great Adventure is an amazing game, and certainly one of the 5th generation's best 2.5d platformers.
 
Wait, you didnt get Superman 64? WTF?!

That game has more fog then any in your list, it's a classic.

Hah... that's one I've tried to convince myself to buy various times over the years, just so I can say my opinion on the game (I've never played it), but I haven't quite yet... I know, I should sometime, so that I can see if I hate it as much as everyone else does. I have no idea which way I'd go on the game, sometimes I do dislike unpopular games, other times I like them (like, say, Carmageddon 64).
 
It just amazes me reading over your list how I know like, EVERY game on it lol.

I imagine if you posted a similar list for PSX I just wouldn't have the same feelings (good or bad) for as many of them. I did have a Saturn and PSX as well but the N64 was without a doubt my MAIN system.

Whether it was just personal experience playing my collection or just reading magazines or later the Internet at the time, it seems I followed N64 releases a lot more hardcore than the others.
 
Agreed. Not the best platformer of all time, but its got a whole lot of charm and is pretty fun.
I'd also would like to point out to those interested in this game, that the PC version is far less buggy than the N64 cart (which in addition to bugs is known to crash on occasion). I dont want to say there are no bugs, but I dont recall anything that impeded my playthough of it on the PC.
The sound and music are also more impressive on the PC
I remember playing the demo of the PC version back when it came out, and thinking it was decent fun despite getting reviews just as bad as the N64 version got, but I've never played the full PC version... I might want to look for it, though, if it really is better. I mean, the game's fun on N64 thanks to its unique, often fun, design, but it'd be nice without some of those bugs, particularly the ones that can make it impossible to finish a level...

EDIT- noticed in your Tonic Trouble review you said the game was about a robot trying to fix his ship. Having replayed it earlier today, I can safely say its about an alien janitor trying to collect parts for a catapult so he can fight an evil viking warlord =P

Oops. I'll need to fix that, my memory failed me. :p You do go down to Earth to collect parts, though... but I forgot that he was an alien and not a robot, and what the parts were for. :)

Nice OP but you should add 2-3 pics to each game.
That's take quite a while to do, though... I like writing the text for these things, but finding pictures is a pain. And with so many games, that'd take a long time. It'd make the posts MUCH longer, too... I can understand why people would want to see some screenshots, though. It is something I've considered (at least, adding screenshots for some games, if not all), but I haven't done it so far, obviously.

Cannot believe DK64 is better than both Banjos.

Banjo-Tooie is 3D platformer perfection.
My goal here is to say my opinions about the games, not always to agree with the consensus. And yeah, DK64 really is my favorite of Rare's 3d platformers. All four of them are pretty good games, but DK64's the best, in my opinion.

Also Winback!
Yeah, there's one I'll need to get sometime.

It just amazes me reading over your list how I know like, EVERY game on it lol.

I imagine if you posted a similar list for PSX I just wouldn't have the same feelings (good or bad) for as many of them. I did have a Saturn and PSX as well but the N64 was without a doubt my MAIN system.

Whether it was just personal experience playing my collection or just reading magazines or later the Internet at the time, it seems I followed N64 releases a lot more hardcore than the others.
If you know everything on that list, then yeah, you were following the N64 fairly hardcore... I know that no N64 games are considered super rare, but I do have two of the rental-only titles, which are rarer than most other games for the system, at least. (Clayfighter Sculptor's Cut and Indy are the two I have)

Of course with the sheer volume of releases on the Playstation, it's much harder to have that kind of knowledge of the library -- the system has thousands of releases worldwide -- but still, the N64 certainly has enough that most people don't know most of them.

Of course, for most Westerners, the most unknown N64 games are the Japan-only titles. The Playstation and Saturn have much better known Japanese libraries than the N64 does, overall... of course I don't have any of those imports yet, but there definitely are some I'd like to own, and not just Sin & Punishment and Bangaioh.

How are you celebrating the N64 without owning Goldeneye?
Because Perfect Dark is a better game.
 

Kevtones

Member
I really, really love this thread and I'm mad that I missed it until now, a day later. The N64 was my first owned console and I rented/played the shit out of so many games.

Thank you.
 
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 was such a random out of no where late (to say the least) release lol. Did they get a deal on left-over carts from Nintendo or something?

I bought it just out of historical sense so I guess they had that going for them.
 

Angry Fork

Member
Nintendo hire this man for something. Dat dedication.

N64 is my favorite system of all time if only for nostalgia reasons. I had SNES, PS1 etc. but N64 was my childhood console. I wished so bad I could get some of that feeling back with Wii but it didn't happen =(
 
The greatest console ever made and you sir have great taste (i'll just pretend that you didn't say the rush series was better than beetle adventure racing :p).
 

Kevtones

Member
Further, you're filling in so many little curiosity gaps with this thread.


I'm somehow REALLY curious of Big Mountain now.
 

Erekiddo

Member
No Harvest Moon 64? You missed the best of the series.. but you had Jet Force Gemini on there, so I'll stick around.

Next week on 1up.com - "Nintendo 64 Retrospective Throwback - We do mini reviews on 150 games!"
 

Kevtones

Member
Lode Runner 64 is one of the more overlooked GREAT games on the system. Lots of content, still functional; it's worth a Virtual Console update (I'd buy the rights!)
 
Just to share a memory:

I bought an imported launch Japanese N64 (£400), Super Mario 64 (£115), Pilotwings 64 (£120) and Waverace 64 (£125), only to realise that my TV wouldn't accept the NTSC signal properly and everything was black&white! No problem though, if I sent it away to a specialist, a simple conversion chip-thing could sort it out. However, Mario, Waverace and Pilotwings were so above and beyond anything that I'd ever experienced before, that there was no way in hell I would give up the 64 for an entire week, the waiting would have been unbearable. So there I was, out of pocket by the sum £760, playing Mario on a 14" TV, in black&white for an entire month (before sending it away)... and I couldn't have been happier.

Conrad Link said:
It just amazes me reading over your list how I know like, EVERY game on it lol.
Indeed, I can picture all of them.

Oh and Excitebike 64 <3
 

N4Us

Member
Thread of the year.

It was kinda hard to find games you didn't mention but uh, Magical Tetris with Mickey. It was Tetris with Mickey.
 
Further, you're filling in so many little curiosity gaps with this thread.


I'm somehow REALLY curious of Big Mountain now.

Big Mountain 2000's definitely a hidden gem, I would say, yeah. Sure, it's from a mediocre developer (their other N64 racing games are MRC, GT64, and Rally Challenge 2000? Yeah...), the graphics are average at best, and it got mediocre reviews, but I think it's a pretty good game. The game's got a great sense of speed, first. The graphics may only be average, but you really zoom along fast. There are a fair number of different characters to play as too, including some amusing ones you can unlock like a bear. And while skis and snowboards are fairly similar, if you like it enough, you can replay it with the other type, to experience it again with the other look.

As I say in the review, I also I love that it's a racing game first -- stunts are only a minimal element of this, and while I like stuff like the SSX series, I've always had a lot more fun in race mode in SSX games than in the stunt modes. Big Mountain has four racers in each race, too, more than you'll find in some other 5th gen snowboarding games. And while it does have only four courses, that's one more than the other three games from the developer have, and the three different races on each track really are quite different; sure, the freestyle, slalom, and giant slalom races on each mountain are on the same course, but the very different gate layouts on the two gate races make it feel quite different. And of course you have three other people on the course in all races (I'm looking at you, Steep Slope Sliders on the Saturn, why are there no other people to race against, ever, in the whole game?). As for the audio, it's pretty average stuff, but I do like the announcer; he's nice and optimistic.

IGN's review compared it to Coolboarders, but honestly, I don't know why. I admit that I only have Coolboarders 2, and Rippin' Riders for Dreamcast (which is by that same developer and was called Coolboarders in Japan), but I pretty much hate Rippin Riders (seriously, one of the worst snowboarding games I own...), and Coolboarders 2 is only a little bit better, I think, though I admit I haven't played it as much... still, I don't see the connection. It's its own thing. The Japanese title of Snow Speeder really is a good name for this game -- it's fast! See this video.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgYQ2tnZqok (Oh, in the description the person says they don't know what stamina does. Well, you lose stamina by falling down, and when it runs out, you'll fall down much more easily from then on in the race, unless you snowplow a lot. So try to keep it up by not falling.) ... Yeah, do any other 5th gen snowboarding games match that speed?
 

deleted

Member
Great Op(s)! This thread reminds me to buy a N64 again - with Bomberman 64.
Its sad that Hudson never tried the 3D Platformer formula again and never will again. I had fun with game as a kid, even if I never managed to play through the whole game. The art-style was good and the customizable multiplayer characters where even better.
I have no idea why its not on the VC though. It is different enough from the other Bomberman games there to sell.
 
Cool topic, read a few of them.


Some weird stuff though,

Kirby 64 - why do you care if there's no infinite hovering? Playing Kirby like that would be ultra boring. But I agree this game is not that good.

Mischief Makers - I don't like this game much (played it a couple years ago and gave up halfway), but to say it has no variety is objectively wrong. Like every level plays different to the last.


And Yoshi Story sucks. Why? The only way the game makes sense is if you're going for the melons. But many are tied to incredibly difficult mini-games (you have to restart the level if you fail) or hidden in really obscure places. Add to that the incredibly slippery and imprecise controls (why no d-pad support?) and the game can turns into frustration-land quickly. I played it trying to get as much melons as possible, but rarely did I manage to get all. Would have gone mad if I kept replaying until I achieved ithat.

As for sidescrollers, yes, Goemon is the best by far and an excellent game. Sadly it doesn't have much competition. Kirby 64 is just ok, Mischief Makers I couldn't like, and Yoshi Story is the worst Nintendo-developed game I've ever played. Back then I didn't care much, since I was more into 3D games; nowadays I much prefer 2D games. Which is actually why the N64 is my favorite console, it has to do with the period I played it since objectively it's lacking in many respects.
 
N64 had so much potential for its time. It still has some unique masterpieces like Wave Race, Mischief Makers that were just incredible when came out.
The saddest thing is how restricted was Japanese support compared to PS and Saturn.
 
I adored Mischief Makers. I still think the game deserves a sequel. I'm surprised you didn't get Quest 64, but maybe I shouldn't be too surprised. Star Fox 64 is probably one of the best games ever made, that game is perfection.
 
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