Cube

There are some 64DD stickers. But I think that's all that's been spotted for that.

South Park: Chef’s Luv Shack NA release: 12th October 1999 PAL release: 31st October 1999 JP release: N/A Developer: Acclaim Publisher: Acclaim N64 Magazine Score: 83% The second South Park game, this one is a quiz show with a handful of minigames. N64 Magazine loved it, yet it got panned elsewhere. One immediate problem with the game is that it allows you to play on your own, but has no CPU opponents. So you answer questions on your own, play minigames on your own, and win at the end because you’re the only person competing. The questions are, for the most part, general trivia, with a bunch of subjects based on things mentioned in South Park. The problem is that this was still very early on in South Park, so there wasn’t a lot to choose from. This means a whole category of questions on things like Worcestershire sauce, even though it was involved in one episode and never mentioned again. Even better, one of those questions was wrong, as it claimed that “England” wasn’t where Worcestershire sauce was invented. The minigames are a mixed bag. A couple are slightly fun, others are tedious. There’s one where you have to follow a bunch of directional presses that takes ages and is more a test of how long you purposefully mess up to end the game. And with only around 20, you’ll see repeats pretty quickly. It does a good job capturing the look of the show, but it’s not very funny – in the end, just a really basic quiz game. Poor Remake or remaster? Jackbox gets the silly quiz show format down much better. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get South Park: Chef’s Luv Shack

I guess that's one way to confirm that Dino Crisis is never getting a remaster or remake. Shame.

LEGO Racers NA release: 12th October 1999 PAL release: 1st December 1999 JP release: N/A Developer: High Voltage Publisher: LEGO Media N64 Magazine Score: 70% LEGO and racing is a combination that really works well together. The various LEGO themes (especially before they got into licensed stuff) provide a lot of different settings, and the customisable aspect helps give a bit of personality. In LEGO Racers, you can create your own driver, and also customise your car, starting with an available chassis and adding some bricks on top, unlocking more as you progress. The builder is a bit fiddly and limited, but does a good enough job. For the racing, the courses are nice and colourful (although could do with more LEGO elements), featuring 13 tracks overall, with three mirrored cups, and one final race against Rocket Racer. The driving itself is a bit twitchy, but gets the job done, with coloured bricks for weapons (different colours are for certain items, like Diddy Kong Racing). The biggest issue with LEGO Racers is that each race has a runaway leader, and if you use all the various items and race normally, you’re likely going to be in a distant second place. Really, the only way to succeed is with the white bricks. These attach to your items to power them up. But even with these, there’s only one that will actually help you: the green boost. When attached to three white bricks, you’ll get a wormhole boost that will warp you significantly ahead in the track. This is really the only way to win, so it’s generally best to ignore all the weapons and other racers, and just gather the white bricks and hope a green one has spawned. It’s really a bit of a shame, as the game changes into more of learning which route have the white bricks and warping ahead, and the game turns from ridiculously difficult to immensely easy. The idea behind how the weapons work is a nice one, and should add an element of tactics on when you use the weapons, but the wormhole boost being so vital just reduces the tactics to only one valid method. Fun Remake or remaster? I think it’s time for a new LEGO Racer. As long as they include some retro LEGO themes and stay away from the licensed stuff. There's enough "multiverse" stuff at the moment. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get LEGO Racers.

I don't like the lack of 2D animation. I'm not too fond of the 3D models. Puzzles aren't going to feel as nice due to not being on the DS, either.

I'm curious as to why they're skipping the Silicon Knights original.

BattleTanx: Global Assault NA release: 12th October 1999 PAL release: April 2000 JP release: N/A Developer: The 3DO Company Publisher: The 3DO Company N64 Magazine Score: 81% While the first Battletanx was only released in America, its sequel got a more global release. And by that, I mean it also came out in Europe. Just like the game itself which, despite the name, is only set in America, London, Paris, and Berlin. The first game has a surprisingly serious plot, while this just decides to throw in a villain with magical powers of mind control. For the most part, it’s more of the same fast-paced tank action, although this one seems much faster and much jerkier. All the tanks feel like hovercars, which is suitable for the hovertank you can control, but not the many other tanks you can be. There are a lot of different tank classes, but the weaker ones aren’t much use on their own – it really feels like a system that would work better with big teams fighting each other, and not just four players. The levels in this game feel more open, which would be nice, but the fog feels even worse as a result. In one mission, you have to destroy the Eiffel Tower, but you can barely see any of it. The levels are also more maze-like with a mixture of barriers you can and can’t destroy, and hidden tunnels you need to find and navigate, with the map not helping much. From the singleplayer side of things, I didn’t like this as much as the first. The first felt like you were slowly building up your army as you worked your way across the USA. This is random events where sometimes getting a few hundred metres is a big task, but then you can just pop from Washington, DC to London in a post-apocalyptic world with no issues. The multiplayer, though, is much expanded with more modes and features, so is where the main enjoyment is. Fun Remake or remaster? A remaster that combines both games and adds online would be a lot of fun. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get Battletanx: Global Assault

Jet Force Gemini NA release: 11th October 1999 PAL release: 29th October 1999 JP release: 1st December 1999 Developer: Rare Publisher: Rare N64 Magazine Score: 93% Jet Force Gemini was a game I loved as a kid, yet was never able to fully complete. I loved it when I played it again on Rare Replay a few years ago, and I still love it now. I played the Rare Replay version again due to better widescreen (the original was just letterboxed) and the control options – the “Modern controls” make Jet Force Gemini play great, especially when manual targeting (which I did for 95% of the game). Despite the passing of time, Jet Force Gemini still manages to feel fresh, there’s a mixture of classic video game tropes and more modern gameplay, combined with a sense of fun that makes Jet Force Gemini feel special. You play as three space heroes – a brother and sister called Juno and Vela, and their dog Lupus. A race of little bears have been captured by Mizar and his ant army, so it’s up to you to help the Tribal King Jeff (I don’t know why I love that his name is just Jeff) rescue his people. The game is bright and colourful, and has a “kids cartoon” aesthetic about it. Then you start shooting and limbs, heads, and guts start flying everywhere. There’s something oddly satisfying about this juxtaposition, as it’s just part of the game, it’s not for shock value or anything edgy, it’s just fun. This isn’t just applicable to the bug enemies, either, as you can end up blowing up the little bears if you’re not careful. Then collect their heads, which is counted in your inventory, for pretty much no reason (technically you can unlock cheats, but you’re much more likely to do that by collecting ant heads). You start the game as Juno, but can play as Vela and Lupus as you meet up with them. They all have their own set of levels as they work their way to Mizar’s Palace. It’s mostly a linear path for each one, although there are a few secrets to find, and you may notice a few sections you can’t reach. During Juno’s journey, you’ll also repair a flying robot called Floyd, who you can use for some on-rails shooting sections. A second player can also take control of him to help you shoot your way through the bugs (and possibly “accidentally” shoot the Tribals). If the game ended at Mizar’s Palace, it would still be a great game and a decent length, but that’s just part of it. As Mizar slips away, you need a new ship to reach him. Jeff turns up with some upgrades for everyone – some jetpacks for Juno and Vela, plus Lupus now drives around in a hover tank. He also reveals a spaceship that you need to use to reach Mizar’s new base. There’s one problem – the ship is missing most of its components, so you’ll need to hunt for ship parts. Using the various abilities of each character (Juno can walk on lava, Vela can swim, Lupus can hover without fuel) and the keys they’ve collected, you now have to explore previous worlds to find new areas and routes to new levels that contain these ship parts. For the most part, this is great, and there are lots of things to discover, including two different racing games – a 2D top-down one and a 3D one, both feel great – and new weapons to find. It’s also not just checking old places, as planets are made of multiple sub-levels, and the new routes lead to more. There’s a ton of stuff to find. However, there’s one ship part that causes the most trouble, one that King Jeff has, and he won’t give it to you until you’ve saved every Tribal in the game. Whenever you finish a sub-level, everything is reset each time you return, both the enemies and Tribals. The issue with rescuing the Tribals is that you need to save all of them in one run of the level. Leave the area without finding them all, or have any die, and you need to start again. This means you have to learn where they are and be careful. Not only are they in hidden areas, but sometimes they’re in the middle of fighting spots, next to explosive barrels. This is what halted my progress as a kid, but when I tried the game again when I got Rare Replay, I actually didn’t find it that bad, and didn’t take as long as I expected. Jet Force Gemini is an immense amount of fun, and there’s something about it that just keeps you smiling. The game is surprisingly dark in moments, but the game never acknowledges it or points it out. For example, some enemies will surrender and throw their gun away. As doors are tied to the life of enemies, you have to execute them. Of course, if you do turn your back, they’ll throw a grenade at you. It’s a lovingly created game that feels like everything is there because the developers wanted to do it. It’s also likely why this was published by Rare themselves instead Nintendo, but it works wonders for the sheer fun of Jet Force Gemini. Fave Remake or remaster? While the Rare Replay version is a great version of the game, I’d love to see a proper remaster. The controls could still do with a little adjusting, having a toggle for manual aiming and allowing you to jump while in that mode would be perfect. A reworked final level to let you choose who you play as (you’re stuck with Juno) would also be nice. Other than that, some slight graphical improvements to just improve the quality of the textures (but keep the style). And perhaps a better way to keep track of Tribals. Official ways to get the game. Jet Force Gemini is available as part of Rare Replay on Xbox One/Series. Re-releases. 2015: Rare Replay (Xbox One/Series) 2023: Nintendo Switch Online (Subscription Only)

Knockout Kings 2000 PAL release: 10th October 1999 NA release: 12th October 1999 JP release: N/A Developer: Black Ops Publisher: EA Sports N64 Magazine Score: 82% Shortly after EA entered the ring with their own take on wrestling, they also made a game of a different event that takes place in a similar kind of ring: boxing (although, like the sport itself, boxing rings have more differences from wrestling rings than you might expect). That said, while WCW Mayhem went for an arcade-style game, this goes for a much more technical route. One interesting thing I found is that Wikipedia – and some other sources – claim that this was called Box Champions 2000 in Europe, but only the German version had that name. In Knockout Kings, you have multiple punches and signature punches at your disposal, choosing the right one at the right time is important, as is blocking and dodging. The game is great to control, and there’s even a super simple control scheme where you just mash A for punching and the game will pick the kind of punch. The matches are a good length and don’t last too long, and are a lot of fun to play, more than I was expecting. The main let downs are the create-a-boxer with very limited options, and the few amount of modes in the game. The singleplayer mode is a good idea, though, as you fight other random boxers to work your way up a league table. It’s not just about winning, though, as your performance is graded (pulling off special punches, accuracy of punches, successful blocks, and so on), and the amount of points you earn is important for success. It’s a good start for the series, but the next few skipped Nintendo platforms – although strangely the final one, Knockout Kings 2003, was a GameCube exclusive. Fun Remake or remaster? I don’t really know much about boxing video games to comment – there don’t seem to be many serious ones recently, though. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get Knockout Kings 2000

The 15 million units for Gex is a completely fictional bit of information. The 15 million "fact" was added to Wikipeida without a source, a random website read it on Wikipedia and posted about it, and then that article was added as a source for the original claim. There's no actual information on sales of the Gex games.

Glover 2 JP release: N/A NA release: N/A PAL release: N/A Developer: Interactive Studios Publisher: Hasbro N64 Magazine Score: N/A I had quite a few issues with the first Glover. The levels felt disjointed, being random platforms in voids of bottomless pits, and the entire game being an escort mission for a ball that was far to easy to lose or pop. It was still a nice concept, and could have been something good with another attempt. After playing the prototype of the unfinished Glover 2, we very nearly got a game that alleviated my issues with the first, and would have been a great game. In the prototype, the first hour and a half of the game is fully playable, while a level select lets you see the rest of the game, with levels in varying states of difficulty. Glover 2 starts with Glover helping his brother make a spell, by grabbing ingredients and rolling them over to a cauldron. As the game is no longer about escorting a crystal transformed into a ball, it frees it up to be more of an adventure. Gathering ingredients to create spells is one of the main methods of progression in Glover 2. After the first spell goes wrong and the pages of the spell book are taken, it’s up to Glover to try and save the day. The first part of restoring spells is gathering runes, which are hidden across the map and as rewards from helping NPCs. After this, the ingredients are revealed, and you need to locate them and take them to a cauldron. The first spell creates a bouncy ball, like the first game. You collect magical energy and can use it to spawn this ball whenever you want – losing it is not longer an issue (you can lose/break ingredients, and have to return to get a new one). Glover can also use other objects he finds – a shovel to dig up onions, an axe for chopping trees, a lawn mower for racing, and a speedboat. This gives Glover a wide array of abilities to find and use throughout the game, on top of all the spells he can learn. One of these spells is a possess spell, which lets you throw an enemy into a cauldron to become them and use their powers (not dissimilar to Space Station Silicon Valley or Super Mario Odyssey). One of the last areas you can get to naturally in the prototype is a gambling den, where you can play pool and snap to unlock goodies. Walking out of this area crashes the game, so it’s then up to using the level select to explore the rest of the game. Some of the later levels are very early versions, with placeholder textures, and many buttons and objects not working, but others are near complete. You can get a good idea about what the rest of the game would have been like. After the Gambling den, you would move onto a boss in a sewer (who just bops up and down in the prototype), and lead to a farm. You need to reach a high up area by flooding the farm, by making a large wall cry (the farmer is not happy about this). This lets you reach parts of the runes, and more objects to use as ingredients, too. A harbour with a boat you can sink follows next, then a boss fight/race which is only partially complete. A little town-like hub world comes next, which is where the rest of the game stems from. Here, there’s a large moving/twisting robot that you need to use to access different areas, and some NPCs with quests to complete. The textures aren’t finished, but everything seems to be working. There’s a museum area you can access, as well as a factory that seems to be a gauntlet for near the end of the game. Another fairly complete area is a snow/village area. This is a group of maps where you get to transport bombs, take someone’s eye to a telescope, and rebuild a snowman, although there is a lot of empty space: more runes were likely planned to be hidden. There’s a minecart ride into a mine where the objective is to get a crystal and transport it for a spell. One fascinating level starts with Glover being kidnapped and attached to a ball and chain. You can use Glover’s throw (which is much easier to use than the first game) and the ball will pull Glover up. After escaping a cell, you use a guillotine to snap the chain and revert back to normal. It would have been nice to use the ball and chain mechanic a bit more, but it’s just another example as to how the gameplay changes up throughout the game. The final area of the game has you preparing a space ship to get to the moon, where you would encounter the final boss. There’s lots of markers in the boss room to give an indication as to what the fight would have been like, but no actual fight. The game also has a multiplayer mode, with an area and races. You can also load into the main levels with extra players, although I’m not sure if that was something they were planning. It works fine with two people, but the physics go a bit crazy with four. Glover 2 was shaping up to be a great platformer. The parts that work are a lot of fun, and the progression sounds interesting, as you’re always working to gain new powers, rather than getting a number to unlock a door. I do think that, if it was finished, it would have been among the best N64 platformers – and I didn’t like the first game that much. I felt that the concept had a lot of promise, and needed another attempt – and this is exactly the kind of attempt I wanted. So why was Glover 2 cancelled? Well, the reason is both stupid and tragic. When the first game came out, 150,000 sales were a good amount for a well received first party title on the N64. Nintendo pointed out an offer where the cartridges were slightly cheaper if they bought 300,000, and an executive went with that. A year or so after the game released, Hasbro Interactive were stuck with 150,000 copies, and Glover was deemed to be a financial failure because of this, so when they were looking at gutting projects, Glover’s bad name caused it to get the axe, even though the development of Glover 2 was going nicely. Great Should it be finished? Yes, this game really deserves it. Sadly, Piko Interactive hold the rights to it and, while they promised to finish the second to boost sales of their terrible PC port of the first game, progress doesn’t seem to be happening and they seem to be too busy being rude towards others on social media than actually making it.

Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals JP release: 1st October 1999 NA release: 12th July 2000 PAL release: N/A Developer: Locomotive Publisher: Takara (JP), Bay Area (NA) N64 Magazine Score: N/A Sometimes, when games are released on both N64 and PS1, they’re mostly the same game with some differences based on the hardware. Sometimes, though, they’re completely different games with a similar basic core idea. Both are 1 on 1 fighting games, but the PlayStation version tries to do something interesting: they take place in 3D arenas so navigation (and using vehicle mode) is important. The N64 version, on the other hand, is more of a traditional 1 on 1 fighter. And a complete mess. The battlefield here is just a flat space with a 2D background. You can still move around in 3D, which really completely breaks the game as melee attacks don’t “lock on”, making it almost impossible to hit anything. Most of your projectiles will miss, too. You can swap between different modes. Beast mode is melee only, so is useless for attack. Vehicle mode is very fast, but you’re not going to hit your opponent. Robot mode is the only one of any use, as the left C is a lock on shot attack that you can charge up for significant damage. Get a quick shot in at the start of the match, time your charges right, and you can wipe out anything. To counter this, the N64 version introduces a new mechanic: if you stay in robot mode, a bar will deplete. When it’s empty, you can no longer attack in robot mode. The only way to recharge is to swap to beast mode. So the only valid tactic is shooting in robot mode, then switching to beast mode to run around until you can carry on shooting in robot mode. Another notable change in the N64 version is the scale of the characters. In the PS1 version, they’re different sizes to account for power and manoeuvrability (and the actual show). For the N64, everyone is resized to be roughly the same size. There are a few really simple minigames, but none of them are very good, with the best one being a simple quick draw. This might be the worst fighting game on the N64. Worst Remake or remaster? If we can somehow get a collection of all Transformers games, then at least this can be part of something that has Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals some good games.

Destruction Derby 64 NA release: 30th September 1999 PAL release: 12th October 1999 JP release: N/A Developer: Looking Glass Publisher: THQ N64 Magazine Score: 65% Along with Wipeout, this is another Sony owned series that made its way to the N64, this time licensed out to Looking Glass Studios and THQ. Like Wipeout, this is another Psygnosis series that, despite a lot of love from fans, has been left abandoned by Sony. Instead of being a port of the PlayStation games, this is a whole new game. It’s a bit more colourful than the PlayStation games, but I think that works really well. Destruction Derby is a game about smashing other cars. There are multiple starting points on the track, with cars moving in opposite directions. To keep the game flowing, there’s a checkpoint system and a time limit. I usually hate this in racing games, but it makes a lot of sense in Destruction Derby. The goal isn’t simply to be the last person standing, but to score as many points as possible. Your main scoring is from smashing into other cars and totalling them, although you also get points for reaching checkpoints, so you are rewarded for staying alive, but with diminishing returns, as you get less and less time the longer the match goes on. This creates a great risk/reward system, as you want to smash into others, but you also don’t want to blow up too early. Cars low on damage emit smoke, so you can target those specifically. It’s an immense amount of fun. There are also some events that take place in small arenas. No time limit, it ends when only one car is left (although they may not have the most points). Lots of chaos here, although I personally preferred the races. There’s also a good amount of multiplayer modes. One thing that surprised me is how good the handling feels. It’s kind of a shame that there’s no standard race option (where you can still destroy opponents) – this could have been a really great racing game as well. Still, this is a ton of fun. Great Remake or remaster? A new Destruction Derby would be great. I think it would work best with slightly cartoony graphics, and keeping the game simple and fun. More realistic games like Wreckfest just aren’t the same kind of fun. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get Destruction Derby 64

Dimps (yes, the handheld Sonic guys) were the main developer for the original, Japan Studio just provided a bit of support. Dimps got permission from Sony to use the IP themselves and are doing the remaster themselves, which is why Namco are publishing. The developer of Wild Arms could potentially do the same thing, though.

Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko NA release: 28th September 1999 PAL release: December 1999 JP release: N/A Developer: Crystal Dynamics Publisher: Crave N64 Magazine Score: 22% Gex 3 actually addresses a few of my complaints from Gex 64. The levels have more interesting themes and aren’t repeated, and the humour is more relevant to what is actually happening on screen. The voice acting is also different, depending on if you have the North American or European version of the game – I personally preferred Danny John-Jules’ version of Gex, but I think that’s purely because the game now makes me think of Cat from Red Dwarf. While the humour is more relevant to the game, it’s still not that funny, and still has moments of just being random. In a snow level, Gex made a comparison to Hoth, which works, then later on randomly said “Live long and prosper”, which had no relevance to anything. The more interesting worlds – which include a fairy tale land, gangster world, a Victorian mansion, and the north pole – also don’t extend into the actual level design, with many levels feeling like a couple of tiny areas that your have to replay in a few different ways. Gex’s moves are slightly more refined, yet also more generic, feeling less lizard-like than the previous game. It’s still difficult to judge jumps, and the camera, while you have more control of it, can often be in really frustrating locations. I think this is an improvement over the previous game, but it’s still just an average platformer. Fine Remake or remaster? There’s a remaster in the works, hopefully it can make the game more playable. The latest trailer for it didn't look very promising, though. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get Gex 3 at the moment, but a remaster is on the way.

All the games tell us is that she's the daughter of the general (who is a green army man). She had her own game on PS2 called Portal Runner.

Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes NA release: 28th September 1999 PAL release: September 1999 JP release: N/A Developer: The 3DO Company Publisher: The 3DO Company N64 Magazine Score: 67% There’s something inherently charming about playing as toys in a human world. The Micro Machines games are a great example of this. Army Men takes the concept of playing with little green army men in a variety of genres, with Sarge’s Heroes being a third person shooter. Micro Machines managed to pair up the charm with extremely solid gameplay, so was Army Men capable of doing the same? Unfortunately, no. Being an early third person shooter, Sarge’s Heroes relies on very heavy auto aim. As long as your gun is in the general direction of an enemy, you’ll hit them. This is something that is mainly necessary due to the game’s controls and camera, which take ages to catch up with your character – you’ll spend a decent amount of time firing randomly just in case an enemy is there, as your camera looks at Sarge in the face for 10 seconds before turning around. It’s a shame, as the levels themselves are quite enjoyable, especially those set around the house. A lot of the game takes place in the world of Army Men, which sadly doesn’t look quite enough like a toy world, yet the levels themselves are still well designed. The plot is cheesy in a good way, involving portals to another world (the house), and you have to rescue your kidnapped squad, who sadly are a bit of a pain to escort and don’t have their own big moment, with them getting ready to rescue you right after you finish the game. Sarge’s Heroes is a fun, colourful game, but the core gunplay doesn’t really hold up, and the controls and camera are a nightmare. I also found that 3DO referencing themselves so much in the game was a bit off-putting (interestingly, they replaced it all in the Dreamcast version). I would be interested in seeing this franchise return, though. Fun Remake or remaster? It would be nice to see a remake of Sarge’s Heroes (or perhaps both games combined), with graphics that make the Army world levels look more like army toys, and some modernised control options so you can aim would make it a lot of fun. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes

Somehow, the Wii U returned. (Surely if it's dual screen, then one of the screens will be detachable and usable in TV mode?)

Michael Owen’s WLS 2000 PAL release: 24th September 1999 NA release: N/A JP release: N/A Developer: Silicon Dreams Publisher: THQ N64 Magazine Score: 84% While I’ve tried to be as accurate as I can with dates for this list, information online for PAL release dates is often wonky. Many sites list this as coming out on the 10th November 2000, which is after the American reskinned version of it (which I will be covering separately). However, N64 Magazine reviewed the game in an issue released early September 1999, saying that it was going to be released on the 24th September, so I have gone with that release date. Michael Owen’s WLS 2000 – also known as RTL World League Soccer 2000 and Telefoot Soccer 2000 elsewhere in Europe, is a port of the World League Soccer series, with this one being N64 exclusive. However, it’s just a rather clunky and mediocre football game. It has plenty of league teams from different countries, but that’s really about it. It looks more like a very early N64 football game, and passing and tackling are both difficult to aim. Oddly, the menus are also rather clunky. Even just playing a regular single match is overly complicated, making the whole experience feel very cheap. It doesn’t come close to ISS or FIFA in terms of quality or enjoyment. Fine Remake or remaster? The genre has evolved from this. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get Michael Owen’s WLS 2000.

With how the Switch's library hasn't resonated with me very well, I'd probably look at getting one when the console after is announced. I'd also personally like a cheaper model with no screen.

WCW Mayhem NA release: 23rd September 1999 PAL release: 24th September 1999 JP release: N/A Developer: Kodiak Publisher: EA N64 Magazine Score: 78% With AKI & THQ getting hold of the WWF license for the upcoming WWF WrestleMania 2000, EA stepped up to grab the WCW license they left behind for their own wrestling game. Instead of trying to directly compete with them, EA decided to go for a more arcade-style gameplay with their fast-paced WCW Mayhem. WCW Mayhem is very quick, and fun for a quick blast. There aren’t that many moves to pull off, though, so you will see most of the game pretty quickly. There aren’t a great deal of modes, either, with the biggest variety being the ring designs. You can also take the fights backstage, something I initially didn’t realise, as most wrestling games punish being outside the ring. Here you can find some overpowered weapons for some quick pins. The create-a-wrestler mode is rather basic, too, with most of the options being some silly designs that only really work if you use the full skin and nothing else. The core game is fun in its simplicity, but there isn’t much here. Fine Remake or remaster? There are other wrestling games to focus on. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get WCW Mayhem

I wonder if the person that decided to not announce the game until launch is one of those being let go - that choice was a bit of a disaster. Especially so for a game that takes a bit of time to get to grips with.

WinBack JP release: 23rd September 1999 NA release: 30th September 1999 PAL release: 7th July 2000 Developer: Omega Force Publisher: Koei (JP/NA), Virgin (PAL) N64 Magazine Score: 83% When you play a third person shooter these days, you expect there to be a cover button – one that “attaches” you to a wall so you can pop out to shoot an enemy, and pop back into cover to evade bullets and reload. However, when WinBack came out (with slightly different names depending on region), this was a completely new concept. It’s a little bit clunky, but for the time, it worked extremely well. The problem WinBack has, is that the novelty of the cover system was the main interesting thing about the game, so as it became a “standard” thing in games, there’s not a great deal else going for it. Which is a shame. WinBack has you taking control of a building that has been overrun by terrorists. It controls a powerful space laser, and you must get it back before it fires again. The plot is fine with some good twists, but the game struggles with coming up with reasons for your squad to split up (as there’s no friendly AI in the game, so you only meet up in cutscenes). About half way through, the main character (Jean-Luc) is deep in thought for a moment when the rest head off, and it takes the rest of the game to catch up, shooting through waves of enemies and solving puzzles (by hitting switches) that the rest of your squad seemingly had no access to – perhaps they have the ability to climb over small objects. The level design is also just grey. There’s nothing interesting to look at throughout the game, just warehouse-like buildings. You’ll go back and forth through the same sections in different levels, and some different sections are nearly identical to previous areas. WinBack doesn’t really have much of its own identity, other than silly bosses that crop up. WinBack was originally great because of its gameplay, as it provided a unique way of shooting. It should definitely be remembered for this concept, and it still plays absolutely fine, but it’s just a bit boring. Fun Remake or remaster? WinBack got a remaster on PS2. It got criticised for terrible voice acting (the original had none) and for graphics that were a bit jarring – a strange mix of higher detailed models and stuff that was clearly from the N64. An updated release that adds a few graphical effects, control options and the like would be nice. Official ways to get the game. There is no way to buy a new copy of WinBack, the only official way to play is to rent it via the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pak.

Not a sacking but somewhat similar. The entire video games publishing staff at Annapurna have quite due to disputes. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-12/annapurna-video-game-team-resigns-leaving-partners-scrambling?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTcyNjE3NzQyOSwiZXhwIjoxNzI2NzgyMjI5LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTSlBZWklUMEFGQjQwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.BpoA_wBJDrNbDbgj_LjnVUJQg6SM_vsIzWUEM6v85xE

Road Rash 64 NA release: 22nd September 1999 PAL release: 17th December 1999 JP release: N/A Developer: Pacific Coast Power & Light Publisher: THQ N64 Magazine Score: 69% In the Road Rash series, Road Rash 64 is a bit of an odd one. This one wasn’t developed or published by EA, instead being made by Pacific Coast Power & Light (a really odd name for a gaming company) and published by THQ. It also seems like they took what was actually a small, but memorable, element of the earlier games – the fighting – and made it the sole focus of this version. Road Rash 64 is a case of a game you know is bad, but is still really enjoyable, and something that is even more so in multiplayer. You have a few attacks with the C-button, and there are a bunch of weapons to use. You can even sacrifice your weapon by jamming it into an opponent’s wheel, making them fall over. That said, as savage as the crashes look, it’s only a minor inconvenience as you’re back to racing very quickly. Road Rash 64 is really best played with as many opponents as possible, the most traffic, the most cops (which join in with the fighting), and the most pedestrians (which the game encourages you to run over – and there’s even a multiplayer where it’s the sole objective). When the game is incredibly crazy and you’re enjoying the chaos, it’s a lot of fun. However, when it comes to actually racing, the game is a bit of a let down. Racing skill is rarely a factor, and there’s a lot of rubber banding to help with the chaos and fun. There’s also no structure to the tracks, they just start and end abruptly. The finish line is a couple of flags on tyres, and when you’re in the middle of fighting, it’s extremely easy to not notice it at all, so you’re in the middle of smashing someone and the race just ends. This is partly because the tracks are just portions of one large map, so multiple courses will use the same parts. However, this means that there isn’t much variety to it, and most tracks are fairly straight lines that have little to tell them apart visually. Out of curiosity, I did turn around at the start of one of the races and you can drive around the entire island the game is set on – it’s a shame the game does absolutely nothing with this. Road Rash 64 is a complete mess – but that’s what makes it fun. Fun Remake or remaster? A Road Rash collection would be very nice. That said, the odd licensing of this game may make it impossible to include. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get Road Rash 64.