Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack: N64 & SEGA Mega Drive (& GBA!!)

[Julius]

Extreme-G and Iggy's Reckin' Balls are joining N64 NSO...today! 

Quote

Today, two racing games originally released on the Nintendo 64" system are bringing full throttle thrills to players with a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership! Careen around rollercoaster racetracks in Extreme-G™ and bounce up, up and away in the offbeat lggy's Reckin' Balls™ game when these titles join the Nintendo 64- Nintendo Switch Online library. 

 

[Dcubed]

Well that’s certainly a surprise! Had no idea that Throwback Entertainment got the rights to Extreme G.  Neat!

[Hero-of-Time]

Wow. Those are a surprise. Nice to see some lesser known 3rd party games show up on the service.

[BowserBasher]

Sweet I remember playing Extreme G but never played Iggy. 
Guess we have another few games for Friday nights to play. 

[Glen-i]

I was not expecting Extreme-G! Wow! My second ever N64 game I owned. Maybe 34 year old me can actually finish it?

Never played Iggy, either. Worth a go, I reckon!

Edited Wednesday at 03:17 PM by Glen-i

[Jonnas]

That makes, now what, 7 distinct racing games on the N64 NSO? Surprising amount of variety in this console alone.

(Even more, if you count the minigames in Mario Party & Pokemon Stadium)

[Dcubed]

36 minutes ago, Jonnas said:

That makes, now what, 7 distinct racing games on the N64 NSO? Surprising amount of variety in this console alone.

(Even more, if you count the minigames in Mario Party & Pokemon Stadium)

The N64 sure did have a lot of racing games, easily the most over-represented genre on the system (helps that Nintendo themselves published no less than 9 of them!)

It's not as crazy as the shooter genre on the TG16, or the fighting game genre on the NeoGeo, but it's definitely the console's speciality it's most known for.  That and FPS games.

Edited Wednesday at 04:14 PM by Dcubed

[Helmsly]

If i remember correctly, N64 magazine used to talk about Extreme-G quite a bit and seemed to really like it. I always wanted to try it out but never got a chance until today and it's pretty good and seems to hold up really well.

[Hero-of-Time]

6 minutes ago, Helmsly said:

If i remember correctly, N64 magazine used to talk about Extreme-G quite a bit and seemed to really like it. I always wanted to try it out but never got a chance until today and it's pretty good and seems to hold up really well.

Indeed. I think they gave it a score in the high 80s. 

EDIT: Yup.

https://www.nintendomags.com/magazines/n64-magazine/issue9/

Edited Wednesday at 08:03 PM by Hero-of-Time

[Ashley]

Where's Beetle Adventure Racing? 😠

[Glen-i]

13 hours ago, Ashley said:

Where's Beetle Adventure Racing? 😠

Unfortunately, EA own the rights to that, so I'll be absolutely floored if that gets on NSO.

Shame too, I've always wanted to try it.

[Ashley]

6 hours ago, Glen-i said:

Unfortunately, EA own the rights to that, so I'll be absolutely floored if that gets on NSO.

Shame too, I've always wanted to try it.

In fairness I do have a copy of it, I just don't have an N64. 

Much like I have a few GameCube games here and the console itself is somewhere in my mom's shed. 

[Josh64]

Is there some NSO magic working here with Extreme G, like with how they upped the FPS on Pilot Wings? As it just seems to perform SO WELL. I assume that has to be the case, as I'm sure people would have made a huge deal about this game back on the N64 otherwise. 

 

I did used to have Extreme G as a kid but didn't really like it, my brother was more into it. I found the visual style and music a bit scary and was much more fond of Diddy Kong Racing and Mario Kart 64 lol. I can appreciate the game much more now. 

 

 

[Glen-i]

3 hours ago, Josh64 said:

Is there some NSO magic working here with Extreme G, like with how they upped the FPS on Pilot Wings? As it just seems to perform SO WELL. I assume that has to be the case, as I'm sure people would have made a huge deal about this game back on the N64 otherwise.

It's not quite upping the framerate, it's more that some games don't cap their framerates, which results in uneven dips in games like Goldeneye and Pilotwings.
NSO's emulator is far more capable of running these games at a high framerate, so it's able to reach these uncapped framerates, which results in smoother gameplay.

Now I'm not certain if Extreme-G has an uncapped framerate or not. (If anyone knows, it'll be @Dcubed) But that would very likely be why.

Edited 10 hours ago by Glen-i

[Glen-i]

20 minute heads up for @S.C.G and @BowserBasher.

We might have to have a Gentlemen's Agreement to not use the last two secret cars in Extreme-G. They're kinda OP, and not even remotely balanced.
Unless you don't mind everyone being the neon blue one...

Edited 7 hours ago by Glen-i

[Glen-i]

Uhhh... Sooo...

Iggy's Reckin' Balls is kinda legit amazing!?

It's a very unique take on a racing game, even nowadays. Loads of fun in multiplayer, and seems to be jam packed with levels (Assuming each "world" has 10 levels like the first one we tried, that would be 110 levels!).

The grappling hook mechanic is very neat, especially when we discovered we could use it to throw other players around. Loads of ways to screw other people, and naturally, loads of laughs.

Don't sleep on this game, guys! It's solid!

Edited 5 hours ago by Glen-i

[Dcubed]

Yeah… Iggy’s Reckin’ Balls is really good! A proper little multiplayer hidden gem for the N64.  First time playing it and I’m real impressed, loads of fun.  Wish I played it before.

May have to make it a bit of a mainstay for future N-E N64 nights I reckon

[S.C.G]

Thanks for the games.

Here's a link to this weeks extreme stream...

Extreme-G on the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack - N-Europe Multiplayer (26/04/2024)