Cube

A brief recap of my 2023 --- ---

King of Pro Baseball JP release: 20th December 1996 NA release: N/A PAL release: N/A Developer: Genki Publisher: Imagineer N64 Magazine Score: 68% Original Name: Chōkūkan Naitā Puro Yakyū Kingu Hey batter batter…or something. Baseball is a sport I know very little about, although the basic rules seem pretty simple to figure out, and quite similar to a sport I’ve played in school called Rounders. Hit the ball, run around the bases. If the ball ends up at a base before you do, you’re out. The N64’s first baseball game (of many) also happens to be a Japanese-only game. The basic controls are simple to figure out, but difficult to master. The batter controls a cursor on the screen and swings to hit the ball. Your aim has to be extremely precise, though, and it’s extremely difficult. I only managed to hit it a few times. Pitching is very simple, though: move the stick to control a invisible cursor, if you’re too far off course, the pitcher will shake his head. Fielding I found to be quite slow, while the CPU was spot-on (they caught everything I hit). Once you figure out selecting players, it isn’t too bad, but I still had the issue with the CPU being absolutely perfect. King of Pro Baseball doesn’t have a lot of modes, but it does have an immense amount of options, which weren’t something I could really play around with due to having to use Google Translate and then not understanding Baseball terminology. I did get the impression that this was a decent baseball game and the basic pitching/batting were intuitive. Remake or Remaster? I don’t know enough about sports games to know what is worth doing with this. Official ways to get the game. There is currently no official way to get King of Pro Baseball.

Mario Kart 64 JP release: 13th December 1996 NA release: 10th February 1997 PAL release: 24th June 1997 Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo N64 Magazine Score: 91% Part of me was dreading replaying this. I have a lot of fond childhood memories of Mario Kart 64, but is it something that still holds up today? I did find a texture mod that makes the game look incredibly crisp (they re-created the original models the sprites were based on and took cleaner images of them), yet still retains its look, but it’s all about the gameplay. Mario Kart has changed so much since then. After actually playing Mario Kart 64 again, the amount of changes to Mario Kart over the years actually keeps Mario Kart 64 still hugely enjoyable – the newer games aren’t simply better, they’re all quite different. The simplicity of Mario Kart 64 really helps it stand out from the others, and the handing still feels great. My biggest criticism of Mario Kart 64 is the lack of singleplayer modes, just GP races and time trial, you can’t even pick single races, but most Mario Karts have similar issues. There is a mirror mode to unlock (which has the true version of Toad’s Turnpike) by completing all GPs on the highest difficulty, but that’s about it. Mario Kart 64’s true wonder is in the multiplayer mode, which is still a lot of fun. The weapons make it hectic, but also allow people to catch up. You can spend hours and hours just playing races and I really like that you just pick a race and play, you’re not forced to do a tournament or anything like that. Battle mode was also amazing in this game, and has not been properly replicated since (with newer games favouring points-based rather than elimination). When a player has been eliminated, they turn into a bomb and can try and screw over a player of their choosing. This wouldn’t work in a more serious setting, but for Mario Kart, it’s perfect. Mario Kart 64 is still an immense joy to play, and is still worth going back to due to how different other Mario Kart games are. It really does deserve a re-release similar to the version I ended up playing: widescreen and with nicer textures, but without changing too much. Remake or Remaster? A remaster with new sprites similar to the texture pack would be great for Mario Kart 64. Official Ways to get the game There is no way to buy a new copy of Mario Kart 64, the only official way to play is to rent it via the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pak. Re-releases 2003: iQue 2007: Wii Virtual Console 2016: Wii U Virtual Console 2021: Nintendo Switch Online (subscription only)

There's a ton more that were part of the same service, so hopefully they can also be found - a few of them even sound interesting. (I also recently played another Happy Meal Sonic game)

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire NA release: 3rd December 1996 PAL release: 1st March 1997 JP release: 14th June 1997 Developer: LucasArts Publisher: Nintendo N64 Magazine Score: 78% Shadows of the Empire was a big “Expanded Universe” multimedia event with this story getting a novel, soundtrack (for the novel), comic book, toys and, of course, a video game. Shadows of the Empire was released on the N64 on PC. I was originally going to use the PC version for this, as the game is identical, but it has video cutscenes with voice acting, but controller support is poor (and the HUD goes tiny). With the help of remapping buttons, I was able to create a good setup that feels modern using the strafe setup. I played this as a kid and I do remember enjoying it. The game starts off during the Battle of Hoth from The Empire Strikes back, with you controlling a snowspeeder. This section is great, with the snowspeeder feeling great to control and toppling AT-ATs with the tow cable is great. Unfortunately, the level isn’t very long and it’s the best part of the game (you may notice the large amount of lives – that’s more for the poor platforming in later stages). If the entire game was like this, it would be a great game, but most of the game is on-foot. You play as Dash Randar, who in this game is essentially a Han Solo clone (the novel expands the character’s personality a lot). You’re armed with a blaster that recharges, and you can get special ammo for it (best saved for bosses). The game heavily relies on autoaim, which is especially necessary as you can’t really aim up or down in any reasonable way (the aim button lets you, but it’s far too sensitive). Trying to setup so you can flee Hoth, you start by watching the Millenium Falcon leave (shouldn’t Vader be standing nearby?) then blast your way through the stormtroopers attacking the rebel base. The shooting isn’t very satisfying and the movement is wonky. After blowing up an AT-ST, you make your way off Hoth and blast TIE fighters in an asteroid field in a dreadful turret section with awful controls. The game at least gives you plenty of time to react as the bombs from the TIE bombers are really slow, and you have infinite missiles – they just reload between batches of 5. Hunting for Boba Fett, Dash heads to a junkyard planet to get information from IG-88. I absolutely hate this level as a kid due to the controls but I didn’t find it too bad – I think the ability to strafe helps a lot with lining up jumps, and I never figured that out the first time round. It’s still a very ugly planet, though – Shadows of the Empire was definitely ahead of its time for its use of greys and browns. At the end of the level you take out IG-88, who gives you information on where Boba Fett is. This is where the platforming really does take a nosedive. Dash’s jump is incredibly floaty and not difficult to control, and the narrow paths of this level are built for you to fall off constantly. You get a jetpack half way through which helps a bit, but is not as fun as a jetpack should be due to being slow and only possible to use for short bursts. You fight Boba Fett and the Slave 1 at the end. I ran out of ammo, but found a spot where Slave 1 couldn’t hit me, so was able to hit it a few hundred times to destroy it. Some text explains that after this, Boba Fett escapes and an assassin tries to kill Luke, so it’s up to you to help protect him. As Luke chills out at Obi-Wan’s home on Tatooine, Dash hears of a swoop gang heading to kill Luke. Speeding through this level is great, but it’s much better to go slowly to take out enemies. You find out information that an Imperial ship contains the necessary information. As Luke waits outside in his X-Wing, Dash assaults the imperial ship on his own (this game makes Luke seem weak). Most of this level is messing with door switches in a large cargo hold. There’s some secrets to find, but you need to work your way, then fighting a big droid near the end. The jetpack you found earlier would have been handy, but Dash left it on his ship. On a side note, I do really like the Outrider. In order to infiltrate a base, we need to go through a sewer. Dash has absolutely no issue diving though massive amounts of excrement as you have to find a few different items to progress. The boss fight at the end is a horrible experience, with respawning tentacles and the poor jetpack controls underwater. Going through the base your job is to find a reactor to place charges to blow up a space elevator. Luke is also infiltrating this base to save Leia, but that’s just background information and you never get to see them during gameplay. This is another dull level. After another bad ship turret section, we get to actually fly the Outrider, and it’s great. You don’t get to focus on shooting other ships, though: your mission is to shoot four turrets then fly into the base and blow up the reactor, Death Star 2-style. The game ends with Dash seemingly not making it (but then reveals his fate in the final cutscene). Shadow of the Empire is not as fun as I remember. The genre has evolved a lot, and the controls are just strange and floaty. The full story is probably good, but this isn’t a good adaptation as important points are relegated to scrolling text. Remake or Remaster? This game definitely needs a remake, perhaps with a few more levels added as well, with better integration of the story – perhaps even working alongside Luke. Official ways to get the game. The PC version of the game is available via GOG and Steam

Cruis’n USA NA release: 3rd December 1996 PAL release: 30th January 1998 NA release: NA Developer: Williams Publisher: Nintendo N64 Magazine Score: 24% The first road-based racing game on the N64. I remember this being panned in magazines, but surely not much can go wrong with something as simple as a racing game, especially one that Nintendo themselves published? Unfortunately, there is a lot to go wrong. Almost the entire game feels exactly the same: driving along the same four lane roads, dodging the same few cars and turning over the slight bends – hoping that your card doesn’t decide to swerve too much. The handling is dreadful and everything just feels floaty, even collisions. The only variations are the different backgrounds (which you can see loading in), and this is not enough to stop the game from becoming stale before you’re halfway through it – which is an impressive feat when the game is less than 30 minutes long. There was one level that stood out: a redwood forest level. Most of this is two lanes, with the roadside visuals up close and some large trees to drive under. In most racing games, it wouldn’t be a good level, but in Cruis’n USA, it’s the best by a long way. If you really want to, you can complete the game on harder difficulties in different cars to unlock faster versions, but the first playthrough is so dull that there’s no reason to do so. I can see this being fine in the atmosphere of an arcade, spending a few quid on it, but for a home console release, this is just bare bones. The Cruis’n series had a few games on N64 and there’s even a new game on the Switch, so hopefully this series improves as it goes on. Remake or Remaster? While I think the game is horrible, a collection of the arcade games (plus the Wii game) would be nice for the sake of preservation. Official ways to get the game. There is currently no official way to get Cruis’n USA. Re-releases: 2008: Wii Virtual Console (I have given some games, a Mario star with R for Recommended and a logo of a certain N64 game with a W for what I consider to be the worst examples of N64 games)

It's mainly based on the feeling the game gives due to the modes available. The practice and challenge modes are more single-player focused. Also, I really was not expecting so many fighting games on the N64, as other platforms have a bigger reputation for them - although as I play the N64 ones, I kind of see why. The Glory of St Andrews JP release: 29th November 1996 PAL release: N/A NA release: NA Developer: Seta Publisher: Seta N64 Magazine Score: 58% Original Name: Eiko no Saint Andrews The Glory of St. Andrews [Eiko no Saint Andrews] is a Japanese exclusive golf game set on “The Old Course” at St. Andrews. This isn’t the first Japanese exclusive game set on that golf course – the SNES had one as well (although by a different developer and publisher). As it’s only based on one course, it does mean we just get 18 holes. Unfortunately, this means there isn’t much visual variety. The holes don’t feel very different when playing a video game and once you’ve played each one, it’s just doing it the same with different options. You can customise your character (although the looks are from a few options with the same face and different hats). The swinging mechanic is interesting and uses the analogue stick well. you move it back to the power you want, then swing it forward to swing. In the bottom right, a red circle decreases in size before resetting and you want to time it to be as small as possible when you swing as this gives you more accuracy. When putting, it’s difficult to see the shape of the green. The game gives you a few things to try and help. It gives the green a grid pattern, and it also lets you stretch the map of the entire level upwards to see the shape in more detail. None of this seemed to help much. The Glory of St. Andrews is a fairly poor golf game with very limited options and only one course. Remake or Remaster? This is only interesting because of its obscurity. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get The Glory of St. Andrews.

Killer Instinct Gold NA release: 25th November 1996 PAL release: 4th July 1997 JP release: N/A Developer: Rare Publisher: Nintendo N64 Magazine Score: 62% As I mentioned in the Mortal Kombat Trilogy review, fighting games aren’t my kind of thing, so this will be opinions from someone who has no idea about balance or techniques. That said, Killer Instinct Gold feel much more like a home console game than the Mortal Kombat Trilogy, due to a few extra features. The game has a nice look about it, with detailed sprites (based on really well made 3D models, like Donkey Kong Country) mixed with 3D arenas. It definitely feels like an N64 game and the sprites somehow don’t look too out of place in the maps. I found the gameplay to be fun, even though I’m absolutely useless at it, this feels slightly friendlier to newcomers. One welcome feature is the practice mode, which lets you browse through all the special moves and select one to pin to the screen. The bottom of the screen shows all your inputs to help remind you which button “FK” is. There are also training modes to go through specific abilities, including a “focused training” mode which adds a timer. It’s something that will likely be good for people who have the capabilities of having skill with these games. Killer Instinct Gold still have a few oddities. There’s no mode in singleplayer where you can select a specific opponent, and map selection is done via cheat codes. Still, this seems to offer a lot more than Mortal Kombat Trilogy. Remake or Remaster? Its inclusion on Rare Replay is good enough – although it would be nice to have that package ported to more systems. Official ways to get the game. This is available via Rare Replay on Xbox One/Series. Re-releases 2015: Rare Replay

Wonder Project J2 JP release: 22nd November 1996 PAL release: N/A NA release: NA Developer: Givro Publisher: Enix N64 Magazine Score: 55% A Japanese-only point and click adventure for the N64, and sequel to a SNES game called Wonder Project J. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of this, but N64 magazine gave it a 55% and said that the main character was “Pinnochio-esqe”. Thankfully, there is a fan-made English translation patch available for this, so I don’t need to resort to other methods to try and read it. You play as…yourself, a being from another world that the main character, Josette, can’t see. You communicate to Josette though a robot called “bird” and can point at things as well as say “yes” or “no”. Josette herself is also a robot, trying to learn how things work in the world. When trying new things, she will try something (often eating something) and you will need to let her know if this is right or wrong. In order to solve puzzles, you will have to mess around with Josette’s teachings and moods. For example, in one objective, you need to teach her to be nasty to a cat so she gets scalded and learn that harming things is wrong. Movies can be uses to put her in a certain mood to help with certain activities. When out and about, Josette heads off on her own, giving you no direct input. It sounds boring, but it works really well, like trusting your kid to go out for the first time. Wonder Project J2 also has a few 3D sequences. You can pilot a submarine and aircraft, with controls getting better the longer you stick with them. Underwater, you have to search for treasures and catch a lot of fish, while in the air, you shoot down unmanned aircraft of the oppressive army controlling the island. These segments are nice to begin with, but fulfilling everything is a bit tiresome. Another 3D segment is a mine you can explore, trying to find some lost treasure, as well as mining for a special kind of stone – getting jobs and making money is a requirements to buy everything needed to teach Josette. Luckily, this part is quite short. Through the wonderful animation, you can see Josette change throughout the game. She struggles at walking to begin with, falling over a lot, but slowly gets better and learns to run, dance and much more. It’s subtle and works really well, and Josette herself is incredibly charming (although you can be mean and force her to be more serious if you really want to). There are 25 tasks to do, most are lovely little stories. One in particular is quite annoying: you have to improve Josette’s strength to fight a member of the army, but you can’t see Josette’s stats to fighting and losing is the only way to check if you’ve done enough. Everything else in the 2D style, however, is just incredibly charming You don’t need to complete all 25 achievements, but I did it anyway. A friend of Josette’s will get ill and helping her will trigger the events leading to the end of chapter 1. Chapter 2 is unfortunately not great. You get a long cutscene followed by a maze segment as Josette loses her memories. You walk around in circles answering questions about what you’ve on in the game. After another long cutscene, you get captures and need to escape in another 3D maze, this time with guards chasing you. There are handy markers on the ceiling that gives you clues to the right direction. After this is done…well, sit back because the last 45 minutes or so of the game has no player input. The story gets a bit odd towards the end, but still interesting. It definitely needs some playable moments, though. For not expecting much from Wonder Project J2, I ended up loving it, particularly chapter 1, which is the majority of the game. The translation is great (apart from a few uses of negatives in questions where I responded wrong) and has made the game playable for people that don’t understand Japanese. This is a very unique game and I’m very glad that I’ve played it. Remake or Remaster? Considering they have new sprite work for the iPhone version, a remake with an official translation would be lovely – especially if they can do a bit more with chapter 2. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get Wonder Project J2. Other versions Wonder Project J2 got a mobile port at some point, but other than some screenshots, I don’t know when. The game was also released on iPhone in 2010 with redrawn graphics, but I can’t find any details other than the initial announcement.

Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey NA release: 15th November 1996 PAL release: 1st March 1997 JP release: 28th February 1998 Developer: Atari Games Publisher: Midway/GT Interactive N64 Magazine Score: 75% Sports games are a type of game where you get as much out of them as you want, providing you enjoy the core gameplay. Seasons can be incredibly long, and lots of these games are similar (especially yearly updates), so for the most part, I will be playing a bunch of matches and checking out different rules and settings. My main knowledge of ice hockey is an EA game I played on the Mega Drive, but it’s a simple enough game to work out: get the puck into the opposing goal. I also picked the only team I recognized: the Mighty Ducks. Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey is very smooth, fast paced and a lot of fun. The controls are simple to use and there’s nothing to complicate things. I mainly played with Arcade settings, but more serious players can use Simulation settings which add things like fouls and injury time. You can also choose to have more realistic size ice rinks and up to 5 players. The characters look a bit blocky, but in a way that is quite adorable these days. The game looks nice and clean, with the puck easy to see. There are also some nice silly little touches like the goalkeeper turning into a wall to signify a great save – with the voiced commentary making a reference to it. You can play a single match, although oddly you can’t select your opponent without using a cheat code (the computer chooses at random). There is also a season mode which has a few options like half or full. Other than that, there aren’t a lot of nodes for the game. Still, the core matches are a lot of fun and I can imagine it being great in multiplayer. Remake or Remaster? I think a remaster or new game would be quite nice. Sports games these days are either serious or cartoony, so serious-but-a-bit silly would be a nice change. Official Ways to get the game There’s no official way to play Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey, and I don’t know enough about modern sports games to recommend an alternative.

Not yet, might try it again at some point, but the bosses really put me off.

Someone has ported Tomb Raider to the Sega 32X

Sega freed me from the curse when they made a deal with the devil to lock Dream Team away.

I'll be mainly focusing on my N64 games, but I will be playing a few odd ones. Finished Alan Wake II on the 1st then moved on to Sonic Superstars (which I'll post here rather than bumping the All Sonic games thread) Alan Wake II Release Date: 27th October 2023 Developer: Remedy Games Publisher: Epic Games Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series Version Played: Xbox Series S I enjoyed the first Alan Wake a lot. Even though the gameplay wasn’t anything special – it was a decent action game – there was something about the atmosphere that captured me. It told the story of a writer that ends up getting his horror story twisted by a “dark presence” and finding himself getting trapped in it. A sequel was eagerly awaited and then teased inside Quantum Break, although it still didn’t come until after Control – however, Control had more direct links and even an appearance from Alan Wake in one of its DLCs. Now, 13 years later, we finally get a sequel to Alan Wake and it’s even better than I could have imagined. The combat is much smoother (although still not something that could hold up a game on its own), but the story and atmosphere are where the game truly shines. This time, you play as two characters, with Alan Wake’s part taking place in the dark place as he tries to rewrite his stories to escape, and FBI agent Saga Anderson investigating some murders happening in the town of Bright Falls. On top of Saga’s surname ringing a bell for fans of the series, her partner is Alex Casey, who coincidentally (or perhaps not) shares a name with the fictional detective in Alan Wake’s earlier books. He was originally a reference to Max Payne, renamed due to rights, and this is even more solidified by casting the same voice actor as Max Payne (James McCaffrey) while creative lead Sam Lake provides the voice model, just like he did from Max Payne. There are also a few characters from Quantum Break that are in a way reused in Alan Wake II in different ways – but it isn’t just lazy reuse, as different revisions is a big theme of the game. I won’t get into too many details of the actual story. It does leave a lot of unanswered questions, but all the inconsistencies and oddities along the way all seem important and purposeful – one character from the first game is completely redefined, for example. On top of that, while the first game was horror-themed, this one is an actual horror game. The game uses every method to create a sense of unease. While the game does utilise jump scares, the jump scares themselves aren’t supposed to scare you, they’re just part of the atmosphere to create the feel of the game – the only jump scare that made me leap on its own wasn’t even a horror moment. Other parts of the cauldron are the lighting and shadows – with the shadows moving – and sound effects. In the first game, you knew to expect an enemy after each “talkie” bit, but in Alan Wake II you don’t always encounter one (and in some cases, can be actually avoided), yet it’s a much scarier as a result. The possibility of an encounter with something unknown is immensely more frightening than a fight with another generic enemy. But it’s not just the horror feeling that’s done using a mixture of different parts, the story itself is told in many different ways. The game mixes in live action parts (which, due to the graphics, blend in surprisingly well), such as a talk show and a 15 minute Finnish short film. Music also plays a large part, both within gameplay, with my favourite band Poets of the Fall reprising their role as Old Gods of Asgard – this time even portraying their live action versions, which was partly foreshadowed in American Nightmare – and some songs from other characters, with one particular moment causing me to create a separate save file just so I can go through that section whenever I want. The songs played at the end of chapters are also very important to the game and, if you pay attention to the lyrics, can reveal new details, as most were specifically created for the game. Alan Wake II is a phenomenal experience. It’s packed with details and is incredibly suspenseful the entire way though. I’m already eagerly awaiting the DLC, Control 2 and the next Alan Wake to find out more about this bizarre and wonderful universe. Alan Wake II is easily one of my favourite gaming experiences. (I had issues with screenshots at some points, due to sharing settings not being right, plus for a lot of it I was so immersed I forgot to take screenshots) --- Sonic Superstars Release Date: 17th October 2023 Developer: Arzest, Sonic Team Publisher: Sega Platforms: PC, PS5/5, Xbox One/Series, Switch Version Played: Xbox Series S Sonic Superstars is a new 2D Sonic game, but in a wonderful looking 3D visual style. The core gameplay is similar to the original Sonic games, with Sonic’s movement and physics replicated extremely well, making Sonic Superstars feel right at home to fans of the originals. While the game is designed for local co-op, the levels in the game don’t feel compromised in any way and work perfectly well when playing on your own. You can also swap characters between levels if you wish, and a few bonus acts focus on specific characters, being fully built around their traits. Level design is great in Superstars, having lots of alternative routes and featuring lots of gimmicks. There is no reliance on blind jumps, although some obstacles can be difficult to avoid. Most missed jumps and falls will send you down to slower routes. You will eventually reach bottomless pits, but they feel well deserved rather than cheap tricks. Chaos Emeralds have a bigger use in gameplay than in previous games, as each one (found by entering hidden rings and completing a decent special stage) will provide Sonic (or Tails, Knuckles or Amy – plus a new character you can unlock) with a new ability, which can be activated during a stage. These abilities are interesting and fun, but aren’t integrated into the game very well and I found myself completely forgetting about the system – but on the other side of things, it also means they don’t get in the way either (in a way that some people feel Wisps did). The biggest issue with Sonic Superstars is the bosses. In terms of design, they’re a nice mix of different and interesting bosses, however as the game was designed for co-op, you can only hit them once during an attack sequence – no getting any sneaky extra hits in. The bosses spend most of their time invincible as you wait far too long between potential attacks. To make matters worse, some bosses are extremely long with platforming sections in between each stage, with no checkpoints throughout the entire thing. The frustrating thing is that it wouldn’t take much to change the bosses into incredibly fun ones. Sonic Superstars is an extremely solid 2D Sonic game and feels like a great modern take on that style of gameplay (as opposed to Mania keeping things more in the past). It’s a shame that the bosses spoil the fun, as if those were improved, Superstars would be among the best Sonic games.

Mortal Kombat Trilogy NA release: 12th November 1996 PAL release: 14th March 1997 JP release: N/A Developer: Midway & Williams Interactive Publisher: Williams/GT Interactive N64 Magazine Score: 34% I have absolutely no skill when it comes to fighting games. I have a terrible memory for special moves and I never know when to block or attack, so I’m not going to be a good judge for games like this. Mortal Kombat Trilogy is essentially Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 with some characters and stages from Mortal Kombat 2 and 3 added, although the aggression bar that makes you slightly more powerful is new. I know a game isn’t for me when the character selection screen is too difficult. Quite a few characters are just reskins of other characters, and there are no character names whatsoever on the character select screen. I tried to choose Sub Zero, pretty much the only Mortal Kombat character I know, but ended up with someone called Rain. Oh, and there’s a timer in the background so it will select whoever you are on when it runs out. I did manage to pull off one special move, and there are lots of fancy effects as punches and kicks are made. According to N64 magazine, though, it just simply isn’t as nice looking as the PlayStation version of the game. The N64 version also lacks a bunch of characters. There are a few multiplayer modes where you can select multiple characters, but there’s not a lot to choose from. In singleplayer, you can fight through four difficulties, each having more fights to get through. Even setting things to “very easy”, I struggled to get the hang of this game. There’s no practice mode or move lists (that I could find in the confusing menu), other than using player 2 to stand there and do nothing. Based on the comments from N64 magazine, there’s not much reason for anyone to play this version of the game. I did cheat my way though one of the campaigns to see different levels. I got to play a space invader clone at the end, which I enjoyed more than the main game. Remake or Remaster? This doesn’t need any special treatment, just included in collections. Official ways to get the game. The PC version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy is available through GOG.

Wave Race 64 JP release: 27th September 1996 NA release: 4th November 1996 PAL release: 29th April 1997 Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo N64 Magazine Score: 90% It took a few months for the Nintendo 64 for a new game, and when it game it met with glowing reviews. I do remember playing this slightly as a kid, and distinctly remember having a lot of trouble with it due to being awful at it. However, it was only short goes as it was a friend’s copy of the game. Wave Race 64 is a jet ski racing game. Not only do you have to complete the circuits, but you have to pass buy buoys on the correct side. Miss one and you’ll lose some power, miss five and you’ll fail that race. Just a quick note about widescreen screenshots: some emulators can try to expand the view of games to work in widescreen, but a lot of games have issues with this. A few games have unofficial widescreen patches and some have action replay codes to make it run in widescreen. A very small amount of N64 games have widescreen support built in. For Wave Race, extending the view worked a charm, and the game looks great. It’s difficult to get across the look of Wave Race in screenshots – the ocean and how it moves is the main impressive part of the game. The ocean moves in a realistic way and it still stands out as water in games is still not easy to do today – to the point that it’s really games that are entirely focused on water that have proper wave simulation (games like Sea of Thieves). The water is also not just for looks – it affects the movement of your jet ski and you’ll have to work out how to race using them to your advantage. The levels in Wave Race also manage to feel distinctive, which is not an easy task for water based games. While I’ve just praised the waves a lot, one stand out level is Drake Lake – which doesn’t have waves. The level starts off foggy but clears up as you progress, with the lake having a silvery reflective surface. There’s something really beautiful about this level, even today. Another very memorable one is Southern Lake. In this level, the tide is going out. Each lap, the obstacles will be different due to the level of the water. A big pier blocks the way on the first lap, but you can zoom through its supports on later laps. Unfortunately, the game only has 8 courses (plus a bonus training course) There are three main difficulties in Wave Race, however the difficulty doesn’t just alter the enemy racers. Instead, the locations of the buoys are different, making navigating the levels much more difficult. You need to truly master the waves to succeed at the game and your reward is reverse mode, where you race across the tracks backwards, which makes the levels feel a lot different. Outside of the main championship mode, Wave Race offers time trial and a stunt mode. You can set your own high stores in the stunt mode as you have to make it to the next checkpoint while hitting rings and performing tricks. The other main move is a 2 player race. Wave Race 64 doesn’t contain a lot of stuff, but there’s so much detail in what it does do that it makes up for it. It’s a really fun game that rewards skill and offers a significant challenge. Wave Race got a sequel on the GameCube, but there’s nothing out now that’s quite the same. Remake or Remaster? Wave Race: Blue Storm has been accused of being too much like a remake, so a new game would be a better option. Official Ways to get the game There is no way to buy a new copy of Wave Race 64, the only official way to play is to rent it via the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pak. Re-releases 1997: Wave Race 64 Rumble Pak version (Japan only) 2007: Wii Virtual Console (this replaced the Kawasaki banners with Wii and DS logos) 2016: Wii U Version Console (this had the original graphics) 2022: Nintendo Switch Online (subscription only)

Strongest Habu Shogi JP release: 23rd June 1996 NA release: N/A PAL release: N/A Developer: Seta Publisher: Seta Original Name: Saikyō Habu Shōgi I knew when planning to experience all Nintendo 64 game that there would be some I would barely be able to play. In particular, Japanese-exclusive games. I don’t speak Japanese and, while some games have translation guides or even fully fledged fan translations you can patch into the game, there can still be some with difficulties. Strongest Habu Shogi is an adaptation of the board game and features Yoshiharu Habu, the best Shogi player at the time. Shogi is a Japanese variant of chess, heavily modified and more complex. Some major differences are how captured pieces can be brought back onto the board, and pieces can be promoted to become stronger, with different movement rules. One tool which is surprisingly handy for menus is Google lens, just point it at your TV and is will make rough translations. It’s not always perfect, but good enough for getting to the right modes and settings. The biggest difficulty I had with Strongest Habu Shogi was identifying the pieces. They’re all the same shape with the name written in Japanese. Even using a picture of what each piece means and does, I found it very difficult to identify them, due to different fonts. To make matters worse, Strongest Habu Shogi doesn’t have any aids to show potential moves you can make, so I found it very difficult to play this version. I did try to practice using an online version of Shogi (with English pieces), but I was still utterly awful at that. For people who understand Japanese and Shogi, this game did offer quite a lot of features. You can play against computers or another player, play a version where you only get 10 seconds per turn, play “reverse shogi” or play though the main campaign where you have to beat 18 other opponents of increasing difficulty. The AI is specifically tailored so that the same moves you make will result in the same responses, so there is a guide available that just lists moves that will make you win, although that’s not really beating the game. It also has a bunch of teaching tools. One explains the rules (in Japanese) and there’s also a puzzle mode where you have to win matches based on the setup of a few pieces. There’s also a mode that lets you watch famous Shogi matches play out. In Japan, Strongest Habu Shogi did not sell very well. It was one of three launch titles on the N64, but only 1% of N64 owners picked it up then. There are more shogi games on the N64 and the game is featured in Nintendo’s own Clubhouse Games series, with the Switch version featuring English letters to identify pieces as well as guides to show possible moves. Remake or Remaster? It’s a Shogi game, and there are other options out there that fulfil the same thing. Official Ways to get the game There’s official way to get the game, but for Shogi, Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (Switch) does a good job.

I'm a heathen they pronounces "nez" and "snez".

Pilotwings 64 JP release: 23rd June 1996 NA release: 29th September 1996 PAL release: 1st March 1997 Developer: Nintendo, Paradigm Publisher: Nintendo N64 Magazine Score: 89% Part of what made me want to play through all the Nintendo 64 games was growing up with Future Publishing’s N64 magazine. I only had a small number of games myself, but read about so many more. Pilotwings is one I remember getting mentioned a lot in the magazine throughout the years, and it always sounded fascinating. The image of a cannon and Mount Rushmore (with Mario’s face) was one I distinctly remember seeing a lot. Pilotwings is an arcade-style flight sim game, although still requires a lot of skill to perfect, especially landings. There are three main vehicles, each of which have a series of challenges to complete, which then unlock additional modes. The glider is first up and is definitely the weakest of the three main types. I can appreciate how it must have felt brand new, using a standard controller to control a game like this instead of a flight stick, not to mention the 3D worlds, which have lots of nice little details. The challenges start out simple, and get more complex and difficult. There’s a nice variety such as quickly going through a string of rings, finding more widespread rings and finding certain objects to take photos of. You’re scored based on your speed and accuracy, and it all hangs on your landing, which is difficult but does feel like you’re in control. The Rocket Belt (aka a jet pack) is immensely fun to fly. You have a strong thrust and a weaker thrust and will need to get across the map quickly, burst balloons, fly through a cave and land on platforms. Trying to avoid hitting the ground is difficult, even though the game tries to help by having a bar show up when you’re close to the ground. I think the weakest aspect of Pilotwings was the camera, which was a challenge in early 3D games. This one is a bit strange as it pans the camera away from you rather than around your character, and reverts back when you stop pressing the c-button. Despite this, the jet pack is just extremely enjoyable. The gyrocopyer is the third main one, and is equipped with rockets to blast targets with. This is much faster than the previous vehicles, so tend to use the whole islands, which are all really nicely designed with lots of little things to look at. I especially love “Little States”, a mini mainland USA with lots of details representing a few important locations. It would be lovely to see updated versions of these islands. With the gyrocopter, you’ll have some ring challenges that feel like intense races and you get to battle a giant mech as it terrorises a city. The gyrocopter is a lot of fun, and is probably the easiest to land, although being accurate for a best score is still difficult. As you complete the challenges, you’ll unlock bonus games. The first of which is a complete blast: human cannonball. You get three attempts at each target, with your best score out of the three being counted. This means that you have a few attempts to adjust your aim and power to account for the wind speed. While it stars off simple, like the rest of Pilotwings, it gets really difficult, with some targets you can only see on the radar as they’re behind a mountain or below the cannon. It doesn’t stop the mode being enjoyable, though. The second extra mode is skydiving. It starts with a rather wonky formation challenge above the clouds, but feels amazing when you get past and get full control of skydiving on the island. I wasn’t very good at the actual scoring, but the skydiving itself is really fun. The last one I couldn’t get the hang of. They’re a kind of bouncing boot, but the controls just feel strange and I kept bouncing in directions I didn’t want to go and just fell over a lot. My favourite mode of the game is locked behind getting a silver medal on all of these challenges, although you can temporarily try it out by finding hidden stars in the jetpack mode. The Birdman mode is a free flight mode. You don’t have to worry about fuel and staying in the air is easy. There’s no challenges to complete, it’s all about enjoying the sights. It’s just nice and relaxing. The main mistake is how many people playing the game may never actually get to try it due to the game’s difficulty and needing so much to unlock it (I have to admit, I ended up using cheats). Pilotwings 64 is a very interesting game and I really think it deserves another go. It did get a game on 3DS, but that just used Wuhu Island from Wii Sports Resort, which already had a plane more. I’d love a sequel that brought us the islands from this game in more detail, some new ones, plus all these modes and some new stuff. I’d also love just being able to choose free flight for any of the vehicles – having the challenges dotted across the maps would also be a great touch. A new Pilotwings could be a ton of fun. Remake or Remaster? A remake that’s also a sequel would be perfect for Pilotwings. Have the islands and activities from this with lots of new stuff. Official Ways to get the game There is no way to buy a new copy of Pilotwings 64, the only official way to play is to rent it via the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pak. Re-releases 2022: Nintendo Switch Online (subscription only)

That is a good point - probably one benefit of fans doing it is how customisable it can be. Official products like to be one set way. Didn't they use the patched version (added rubble, fixed the glitches) for 3D All Stars? Glitches like that really shouldn't be fixed. It's not harming anyone's experience.

I'm happy to move it. I wasn't 100% sure which board to put it in as it's specifically a Nintendo retro console.

After doing a few franchise playthroughs (Sonic, Star Trek and James Bond), I decided to pick something that would be a bit more varied by focusing on a console. I picked the N64 as I remember loving it, and I read about so many games in N64 Magazine that I never got to play. The number of games (419, including some prototypes) also makes it a reasonable endevour. For playing the games, I'll be using different ways to play. I'll mainly be emulating (using different emulators, as some work better in particular ones), plus using some ports/remasters. The ports/remasters are on a case-by-case basis and the game as a whole needs to have the same vibes as the N64 version, as sometimes the N64 versions had different level designs (and features) to other versions that remasters are based on. That said, some of those do kindly include the N64 mode as well. Some ports will be fan made and I will be allowing some graphical and QoL enhancements (mainly widescreen, textures that keep the right vibe and camera control). There was one game where I felt I went a bit too far on the graphical department, but a bit too late for that (it wasn't a big N64-specific one anyway). In the case of sports games, I'll be mainly getting a feel for them by playing a few matches rather than going insane while playing an entire season of each one. I also won't be shy in using cheats, mainly extra lives (they were pointless in most games of this era and losing them just wasted time as you walk back to where you were) and for games of genres I completely suck at - such as 1-on-1 fighters (I had no idea the N64 had so many). Some games only came out in Japan. I don't read or speak Japanese and I'm dreadful at understanding Japanese. For some games, there are fan-made translations that I will be using, for others, I'm relying on Google Lens (which, while some results are a big mangles, has been fairly successful and I get the gist of what things mean) . My reasoning for all of this is that this is for fun, not a serious challenge. For ordering the games, I've gone by the first release in any region, it seemed like the most logical way to do things. I've also inserted a few prototypes of games into the mix for checking out unfinished (or in a few cases, completely finished but unreleased) games. I'm already a fair amount of time into playing the games, up to number 150 on my list (an obscure game called Ocarina of Time). Out of the three Japanese launch titles, It would be rude to not start with: Super Mario 64 JP release: 23rd June 1996 NA release: 29th September 1996 PAL release: 1st March 1997 Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo N64 Magazine Score: 96% Starting off with a bang, one of the Nintendo 64’s launch titles just happens to be a revolutionary game that’s one of the best games on the system. It didn’t just show the world how platform games could work in 3D, but it set the standard for movement in 3D as well. Despite its legendary status, Nintendo have never given us the port that this game deserves. Super Mario 64 doesn’t need a full remake, just a little bit of sprucing, widescreen and an updated camera. Luckily, fans of the game have done this themselves by fully recreating the game’s engine on PC, with lots of options to set it up the way you want. There are some much more graphically impressive options than what I chose, but I wanted it to look similar to the original game, with just crisper textures and some of the 2D objects replaced with 3D ones. The movement of Mario still feels amazing all these years later. His move set is brilliant with all of his moves (minus the special hats) available from the get-go, it’s just a case of learning it and figuring out the best way to move. Most people will start off doing taller jumps by doing the backflip, but then transition to the quick turn jump to get up to the tall platforms. Even now, it’s an absolute joy to control. The camera from the original game is the main part of the game that now feels clunky. It was pretty amazing when the game came out, but it’s one aspect of games that has improved over time. Luckily, the version I played lets you turn on a more modern analogue camera, which (along with widescreen) is really all Super Mario 64 needs to feel modern. The levels are small, but it’s a style that really suits the game. They’re packed full of secrets, with six stars to find in each one (plus an extra star for collecting 100 coins). Once you collect a star, you’re thrown out of the level, which does mean you have to re-do parts of levels multiple times, but there are sometimes changes to the level depending on which star you collect. There is a mod that lets you remain in levels, but I feel like this alters the game too much, and is itself fiddly as you need to work out when you need to manually leave the level. Each level has a very distinct feel to it and I enjoyed every level in the game, except for two of the water levels. While some have generic themes (lava, water and ice), the levels are still built in unique ways, and even matching themes (like the two snow levels) don’t feel like a reuse due to the level design. Other than a couple of stars that include the wing, metal and invisible caps, you can also complete levels before moving on, or just do a couple of stars and try somewhere else. You only need 70 out of 120 stars to complete the game (far fewer if you choose to do glitches), but it’s enjoyable collecting them all. To unlock different sections of the castle (and access more levels), you need to complete Bowser’s levels. There are three in total (the last one being to save Peach) and these are much more linear platform challenges, which creates a nice change of pace. At the end of these you have to face off against Bowser, grabbing his tail and spinning him to throw him into bombs, and I’m still absolutely dreadful at aiming my throws. The final section of the game has some outstanding levels. Wet-Dry World is the third water level of the game, but this one stands out much more due to the mechanic of raising and lowering the water levels. There are different ways to move upwards depending on the water level, and you’ll need to make use of these to collect all the stars. Tiny-Huge Island has you using pipes to swap between a giant Mario and a mini Mario. You get to see cute tiny goombas or have to fight ones that are much larger than Mario. It’s not Mario’s size that actually changes, but the level itself. It’s an absolutely adorable level full of joy. Tick Tock Clock is actually a lot smaller than I remember, but is focused on well timed jumps. The unique aspect of this level is that the level entrance is itself a clockface, and where the minute hand points alters the speed of the objects in the level, or even stops them completely. I have quite strong memories of trying to figure out what was happening when this happened as a kid. The final main level, Rainbow Ride, is more linear than most levels, with different segments connected via magic carpets. You’ll need to jump off the carpets to avoid obstacles, but if you take too long, the carpets will vanish. This level requires you to have learnt how to master Mario’s moveset. Super Mario 64 is still an absolute joy to play, especially so with an updated camera. I think a full remake would alter the game too much, as the level design and movement is integral to its identity. It just needs a bit of sprucing up, and I really hope we get an official version that does this at some point. This was an amazing start for the Nintendo 64. Not only was this game integral to the development of 3D games as a whole, but the gameplay and levels still hold up today. Games keep trying to be bigger and better, but smaller and varies levels are also a great approach. Remake or Remaster? As the fan-made PC version shows, Super Mario 64 still holds up really well and just needs some basic improvements. A remastered Super Mario 64 would be perfect. Official Ways to get the game There is no way to buy a new copy of Super Mario 64, the only official way to play is to rent it via the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pak. Re-releases 1997: Super Mario 64 Rumple Pak Version (Japan Only) 2003: iQue (China Only) 2006: Wii Virtual Console 2015: Wii U Virtual Console 2020: Super Mario 3D All Stars (Switch, temporary release) 2021: Nintendo Switch Online (subscription only) Other versions 2004: Super Mario 64 DS. This version featured altered levels, more stars and extra playable characters. The extra content was well received, but forcing previous stars to certain characters was frustrating. The controls also don’t work very well on the DS. The touch screen minigames were a brand-new addition and were well liked.

Tears of the Kingdom is the only 2023 game I've played this year, so I've use Christmas money for a few more. After multiple factors, I settled on these two: I've also ordered a Steam Deck so me and my girlfriend can get back into both gaming at the same time.

Global leaderboards I hate, but I do enjoy leaderboard type things for random stats and stuff they only compare with your friends. Although even then, I prefer it without rankings - just the game telling you when you're close or have beaten your friend. Although I did find it funny when I did something in Forza Horizon 5 and it made a happy noise and a message saying that I am better than 0% of people. One of my favourite versions are in Burnout Parade. When you're online, it has a little leaderboard for various things you can do. However, these are just stuff that happens in that particular online session, so it encourages some firefly competition

A massive amount of use for my Switch this year