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Last visited
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About Cube
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Rank
Administrator
- Birthday 04/11/88
Personal Information
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Location
North Wales
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Interests
Firefly, Games, Sci-Fi
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Occupation
IT Guy
Details
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Nintendo Systems Owned
Wii, DSi
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Other Systems Owned
Xbox 360, PC
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Favourite Game?
Banjo-Kazooie
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Favourite Video Game Character?
Banjo and Kazooie
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Gender
Male
Game Info
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3DS Friend Code
5198-2395-9664
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Nintendo Network ID
DJcube
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Wii Console Number
0460 9678 8120 6539
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PSN ID
Cube1701
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Xbox Live Username
Cube1701
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Steam ID
Cube1701
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@Dcubed a fresh team worked for GoldenEye, but I imagine Konami's method was just randomly assigning a new project when a team has finished a previous one. @Jonnas thanks for the info! SimCity 2000 JP release: 30th January 1998 NA release: N/A PAL release: N/A Developer: Maxis, Genki Publisher: Imagineer N64 Magazine Score: 83% I didn’t touch this one that much. For the most part, it’s a straight port of SimCity 2000 on PC, but completely in Japanese (even with Google Lens, it’s a nightmare to play). On top of that, the joystick moves a cursor and is really not suitable for this kind of game. I did try to get somewhere with it, but I couldn’t even attract a single person to my city. This version of SimCity 2000 does have some additional features I never got to, mainly in the form of minigames. You can bet on horse races, breed monsters (to defend your city from other monsters), defend your city in a Sci-fi shooter and take part in a dating sim. I am curious to see what they’re like, but the barrier is just too high – I’ll save my SimCity effort for the N64’s other, more custom, SimCity game. (Note: There was never a UK release of SimCity 2000) Remake or remaster? It would be curious to see the minigames in another version. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get the N64 version of SimCity 2000. The PC version can be bought from EA.
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@Hero of Time are you going to play the Octo Expansion? The DLC is much, much better than the standard campaign.
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NBA In The Zone ’98 JP release: 29th January 1998 NA release: 16th February 1998 PAL release: April 1998 Developer: Konami Publisher: Konami N64 Magazine Score: 71% With ISS64, Konami gave the N64 a solid start with Football games on the N64. Their take on Basketball is the first serious take on the sport on the N64, so you would hope for similar results. Unfortunately, NBA In the Zone 98 (or NBA Pro 98 in Europe) bounces off the basket rim and just misses the mark. Everything in NBA In The Zone feels slow and clunky, even swapping players seems unreliable. Helpful AI-controlled teammates are also an important part in sports games, and for a game like baseball it seems vital, but anyone you don’t control may as well not be there. From what little I know about Basketball, getting your players in a defensive position is a necessary part of the game, especially as you can’t tackle directly, but defending may as well not exist in this game. After FIFA 98, the players also seem extremely outdated, with stick arms and legs, looking more like abstract monstrosities than human. The courts and crowds also look rather flat, resulting in a game that’s just janky and ugly. Remake or remaster? Sports games have evolved over time. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get NBA In The Zone 97
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Robotron 64 NA release: 5th January 1998 PAL release: June 1998 JP release: N/A Developer: Player 1 Publisher: Crave (NA) GT (PAL) N64 Magazine Score: 75% With the advent of digital downloads, games like this have a great place now. But back in the N64 days, arcade-style games were sold on a cartridge the same price as much meatier games, making them difficult purchases. Robotron is an update to the original Robotron 2048, but the arcade mode of going though the 200 waves (or taking turns with another person) is really all there is. Robotron 64 is a really good update of the original arcade, now in a new perspective with a camera that mostly does a great job at showing the action. You can either use the analogue stick to move and c-buttons to shoot, or use two controllers to use two analogue sticks. The gameplay is solid and a lot of fun. Although with the camera moving and all the flashing effects, it can sometimes be difficult to see what is happening, with the projectiles of the brain enemies being particularly difficult to see, resulting in some unfair deaths. Robotron 64 is a lot of fun, but it really could have done with more modes and features. Remake or remaster? I’m quite surprised that there has been no XBLA style update for Robotron. It’s still a well respected name and an update could be great, potentially having new styles plus including options for the previous three: 2048, X and 64. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get Robotron 64
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New Japan Pro-Wrestling: Toukon Road: Brave Spirits JP release: 4th January 1998 NA release: N/A PAL release: N/A Developer: Yuke’s Publisher: Hudson N64 Magazine Score: 49% Another Japanese Wrestling game, Toukon Road: Brave Spirits doesn’t focus on real-life wrestlers, but instead creates its own brand new cast of wrestlers. Unfortunately, they haven’t really gone all out with creative or memorable designs, but rather tried to come up with “realistic” wrestlers. One thing that did impress me with Toukon Road was the animation, in particular how the ring bounces when wrestlers hit the floor along with the visible breathing. The gameplay itself isn’t bad and there are plenty of moves, but it also isn’t very gripping, either. Toukon Road is made to be fun in multiplayer and there are a fun options, but it doesn’t really do anything particularly unique in terms of how it plays. Remake or remaster? This game doesn’t need any special treatment. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get New Japan Pro-Wrestling: Toukon Road: Brave Spirits
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Out of all of these, the only one I'm familiar with is Greninja. Partly due to being included in Smash Bros Wii U/3DS and partly because Ash-Greninja my main damage dealing pokémon for however far I got though Pokémon Moon - even with it disobeying orders due to being a high level (you got him at the start if you played the demo or something like that), it still performed amazingly well (really, it was kind of cheating). In Sun/Moon, the Greninja you get in this way is supposed to be the actual Greninja that Ash has in the anime. The final evolution doesn't even look that bad. Braixen and Delphox both look like evolutions more so than any of the other two sets of starters. That said, both designs do seem like they're from a cartoon with anthropomorphic animals than Pokémon - I could easily see Braixen chatting to Fox McCloud, while Delphox looks more like a wise, motherly character. Also, you haven't even gotten to what is by far the worst case of a middle evolution to final evolution of a starter Pokémon. I used an Everstone for that one to make sure it never reached its final evolution.
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Augusta Masters ’98 JP release: 26th December 1997 NA release: N/A PAL release: N/A Developer: T&E Soft Publisher: T&E Soft N64 Magazine Score: 40% The second golf game on N64, and again it’s exclusive to Japan. This is a significant improvement over The Glory of St Andrews, but is still far from being a good golf game. Like St Andrews, this one also covers only one specific course. Augusta Masters doesn’t try anything new in terms of video game mechanics for golf, using the tried and tested bar system from Golf on the NES. There’s nothing wrong with it as it’s a good system, but the big flaw with Augusta is that it’s very, very difficult to correlate power to distance – it just never seems right. This is especially evident during putting, anything above 50% power is far too hard, and really anything over four tiny bars will cause the ball to spiral out of control. The balance for getting it right requires perfection, but you never know what level is needed. If you don’t land on the green very close to the hole, you’ll be adding 5 to your score. So with difficult gameplay, graphics that are detailed yet also extremely ugly and only one course, there isn’t much to this game. Remake or remaster? This game doesn’t need any special treatment. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get Augusta Masters '98
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Yoshi’s Story JP release: 21st December 1997 NA release: 10th March 1998 PAL release: 10th May 1998 Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo N64 Magazine Score: 86% Yoshi’s Story is an incredibly cute game that just oozes charm. On a quest to save their magical fruit tree from Baby Bowser, the Yoshi’s journey across a book across six worlds, eating a lot of fruit along the way. In each level, your goal isn’t to make it to the end, it’s to eat 30 fruit. Fruit is also health – apart from chillies, which the Yoshis hate (shame, they’re delicious). Getting the 30th one ends the level no matter where you are, so if you’re after finding the super hearts or just more points, you’ll want to hold off. The platforming is great (other than some blind jumps) and there are lots of little secrets to discover. The biggest issue with Yoshi’s Story is the game’s structure. In a similar style to Star Fox 64, you only play a portion of the levels – one from each of the six worlds. So reaching the Baby Bowser (who is ridiculously easy to defeat) does not take long at all if you’re munching up fruit whenever you see it. I feel like it does Yoshi’s Story a massive disservice, and many people will miss a lot of the game due to this. In order to unlock more levels, you need to search the levels for giant hearts – needing to find three each time if you want the fourth stage in each world. There’s also an additional challenge of only eating melons – there are exactly 30 in each level. This all adds to the replayability, but as much as I love the game, I just really hate its structure. Remake or remaster? A remake would be amazing. The different graphical styles (craft, wool, inflatables) would pop even more with added detail and they could provide different ways to play to change the structure of the game. Official ways to get the game. There is no way to buy a new copy of Yoshi’s Story, the only official way to play is to rent it via the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pak. Re-releases 2007: Wii Virtual Console 2016: Wii U Virtual Console 2021: Nintendo Switch Online (Subscription Only)
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FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 PAL release: 20th December 1997 NA release: 22nd December 1997 JP release: 12th April 1998 Developer: EA Canada Publisher: EA Sports (PAL/NA), EA Victor (JP) N64 Magazine Score: 83% This game brings back a lot of memories from my childhood. I had this game on PC and played it a lot – even doing some 90 minute matches. I was into football at the time (I stopped caring not long after). After seeing how dreadful FIFA 64 was, I was worried that this was going to tarnish my memories. Luckily, it seems that this time, the N64 got a solid port. Every single thing has been improved upon from the previous year. The players actually look human now (in N64 style, anyway), the gameplay is fast and fluid and there is actually team management and a HUD that lets you know player names and a massive amount of both international and league teams. The N64 version does have some setbacks – Song 2 by Blur is cut back, and the commentary is heavily reduced, but the core gameplay is spot on, and it’s just a ton of fun. This version of FIFA also included a 5-a-side indoor pitch, for an even more frantic and fast-paced game and a lot fewer interruptions due to the ball bouncing off the wall. This mode solidifies the core feature of this particular FIFA: fun. The gameplay is relatively simple, but it’s just enjoyable. This extends into some of the “unrealistic” things you can do in the game. One of the tackle buttons is just an outright foul that you’ll never get away with, and you can even use it on the goalkeeper for an instant red card – however, you can set the referee strictness to zero. You can also pass back to the keeper and run as much as you like. Even though I’m not a fan of football now, I still had a ton of fun playing this. It may not be as technical as ISS, but it’s just enjoyable. Remake or remaster? While the genre has evolved a lot – I think a “throwback” game based on this one would be interesting to see, focusing on the same simple gameplay and sense of fun. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get FIFA Road to World Cup 98
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Virtual Pro Wrestling 64 JP release: 19th December 1997 NA release: N/A PAL release: N/A Developer: Asmik Ace / AKI Publisher: Asmik Ace N64 Magazine Score: N/A This is mainly a Japanese version of WCW vs. nWo: World Tour. However, despite releasing in the same month as the original version, this has a lot more stuff in it. Most notably, it contains a lot more wrestlers, with 5 additional wrestling leagues included. The game itself plays the same, though. Another significant feature of this version is the wrestler edit. The features are quite basic – you can’t change anything about the wrestlers physical features, but there are 126 different costumes to choose from, each with two or three colours that you can change. These don’t make the game significantly better, but there are some interesting changes that differentiate it from the original version of the game. Remake or remaster? The genre itself has evolved. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get Virtual Pro Wrestling 64
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Irritating Eclectic Stick JP release: 19th December 1997 NA release: N/A PAL release: N/A Developer: Yuke’s Publisher: Hudson N64 Magazine Score: 65% Original name: Ucchan Nanchan no Hono no Challenge: Denryu Ira Ira Bo Do you know that kids toy where you move a stick around a metal wire and if you make contact with it it makes a buzzing sound? In Japan, they turned that into a game show, and that game show got multiple video games. Only one of them got a release outside of Japan, which is Irritating Stick on the PS1. The N64 game Ucchannanchan’s Flaming Challenger: Irritating Electric Stick (for the full translated name), however, remained in Japan. The game is incredibly simple: move a stick through a maze. There are some tight corners and moving obstacles, and you view the stick from the side so it’s just a dot (you can turn on an option to display the full stick as you tilt, but it gets in the way). The only control is moving the analogue stick. While it’s very simple, the game does what it sets out to do perfectly. The controls are 100% reliable, with the stick stopping the moment you let go of the stick, so there’s no delay or deceleration to worry about, it’s entirely down to your skill. So while the game is frustratingly difficult – the frustration is aimed at yourself, as it’s your skill causing you to fail. And I lack the skill to complete the game. Even if you removed the time limit, my precision is not good enough for this game. That’s not a fault with the game, though, just with me. Irritating Electric Stick doesn’t do much – and there are only six courses (they will take a very long time to master, though) – but it does what it advertises so well that it’s a surprisingly decent game. Remake or Remaster? A collection of Irritating Electric Stick on N64, Irritating Stick on PS1 and The Irritating Maze on Neo Geo, perhaps? They could even throw in some clips of the actual show. Official Ways to get the game There’s no official way to play Irritating Electric Stick
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AeroGauge JP release: 19th December 1997 NA release: 30th April 1998 PAL release: 1st May 1998 Developer: Locomotive Corporation Publisher: ASCII N64 Magazine Score: 10% A futuristic racing game, on the same lines of Wipeout, F-Zero and Extreme-G. N64 gave AeroGauge an abysmal score of 10% so I was expecting something especially dreadful from it, but I kind of enjoy it. There are some ways where it’s near enough broken and, like many N64 racers, is light on content, but this is close to being a good game. AeroGauge does have some extreme problems. The AI players are the biggest one due to how they’re essentially “perfect”, from all of them pulling off the boost start to just all doing the perfect route throughout the level. One slight mistake and you’ll spend the whole race in last place. The boost start itself is needlessly complicated (hold A+B before the race starts, let go of B when “go” is said) as well as the in-race boosts (hold Z+A, drift turn, then let go of Z+A and press A), both feeling like cheat codes more than part of the game. These issues fundamentally break playing against the computer. However, the racing itself is just a lot of fun. You don’t drive or hover, you fly through the levels. This separates it from the other sci-fi racing games, and the game managed to be quite exhilarating, even in the fairly pointless time trial qualifying rounds before each race. Oh, and one of the unlockable vehicles is a Nintendo 64 controller, which is a really neat touch – especially as the analogue stick moves as you tilt it. AeroGauge definitely has major issues, but there are some neat ideas here and it really needed a bit more development time. Remake or Remaster? I would like to see another attempt at this. Fix the AI issues to make them more like real people, sort out the various boosts and some more tracks. Official Ways to get the game There’s no official way to play AeroGauge
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Tamagotchi World JP release: 19th December 1997 NA release: N/A PAL release: N/A Developer: Hudson Publisher: Bandai Original Name: 64 de Hakken!! Tamagotchi: Minna de Tamagotchi World N64 Magazine Score: 79% Tamagotchi World (or Discovered at 64! Tamagotchi Everyone at Tamagotchi World for the full translation of the name) is a board game-based video game. Players take turns rolling dice, land on spaces which help or hinder progression and every now and then take part in solo or 4 player minigames. It sounds a lot like Mario Party, but before Mario Party – it’s even made by Hudson Soft. This isn’t just about moving around the board, you have to raise your Tamagotchi as well. After your move, you can input options based on the classic devices such as feed, play, heal and clean poop. You need to maintain your Tamagotchi’s status bars as well as gain points to level up – reaching the max wins you the game. Sometimes your Tamagotchi will refuse what to do, so you’ll need to discipline them. You also have limited credits, which are refilled once you get back to the starting point. It’s an interesting mechanic that gives you a lot more to think about other than rolling and moving. When players land on certain spots, a minigame will be triggered. There are only 10 minigames, but they wouldn’t feel out of place in Mario Party (one even has you spinning the analogue stick as fast as you can). This is an interesting precursor to Mario Party, and the Tamagotchi elements, while still entirely luck based, make it more than just a roll and move game. Remake or Remaster? I feel like this is an interesting little bit of video game history and should be preserved – a Tamagotchi game collection, perhaps? Official Ways to get the game There’s no official way to play Tamagotchi World
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I don't really know these Pokémon, but if I saw these designs out of context, I would have guessed that they were all early game Pokémon, not starters. Snivy alone I could see as a starter, but the evolutions just look odd.
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Nagano Winter Olympics ’98 JP release: 18th December 1997 NA release: 29th January 1998 PAL release: February 1998 Developer: Konami Publisher: Konami N64 Magazine Score: 32% The first Olympic title on the N64 – and, curiously, the last one on a Nintendo platform until Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. Olympic video games are usually collection of simple games based around Olympic Sports, often catering for multiplayer – and while Nagano does the first, it doesn’t really focus on multiplayer. There are 10 sports – some with a few variations and are slow and tedious at best, and outright uninteresting at worst. The Skiing and snowboarding slaloms are best, but they’re both slow with some slight turns as you go through gates. The halfpipe is probably the worst, which has you copying input commands before you jump and your snowboarder doing a trick. The AI is also insanely good at the game, so unless you manage to master the unclear and terrible controls, you’ll be happy if you make it to 15th place. The snowboard slalom is an odd exception, as I fell over a few dozen times and still won by a significant margin. The massive let down in the multiplayer side is the complete lack of any simultaneous events. You all have to take turns setting records. Speed Skating is against an opponent, but in multiplayer you all race against a CPU player. Only curling, which is a turn-based sport, has any kind of interaction between players. On top of that, from what I can tell, each player still needs their own controller. Nagano Winter Olympics is a shoddy sports minigame collection with poor controls and a terrible multiplayer mode. Remake or Remaster? Both older and newer Olympic titles have done a much better job than this. Official Ways to get the game There’s no official way to play Nagano Winter Olympics ’98