Armorines - All N64 Games

[Cube]

Twisted Edge Extreme Snowboarding 
 

• NA release: 11th November 1998
• JP release: 18th December 1998
• PAL release: 12th March 1999
• Developer: Boss Game Studios
• Publisher: Midway (NA), Kemco (JP, PAL)
• N64 Magazine Score: 60%

The first emulator I booted Twisted Edge in didn’t have the sound working. After moving to one that worked better, I regretted it due to the game’s utterly dreadful music. I even checked YouTube videos just to make sure what I was hearing wasn’t an emulator issue, but it sounded just as terrible.

Twisted Edge is a snowboarding racing game similar to 1080° Snowboarding, but massively lacking the kind of polish that Nintendo put on their games.

The biggest weakness of Twisted Edge are the tracks. They all look too close to each other and mostly feel the same. There are a few short sections that are noticeable, such as a bridge and the inside of a pipe, but at the end of the game I would have guessed that there were only three tracks (with some slightly longer versions), but it turned out I raced on seven.

The tracks are also very boring, mostly wide open and not much to interact with. The inside of the pipe I mentioned? Whenever you see one of those, your first instinct is to do all loop, but the side is essentially a flat wall and you’ll fall over if you get too close.

Your recovery speed is also the main difficulty of the game. Fall over and it takes ages to reach top speed (which still feels slow). This also counts if an opponent touches you. When the main movement is quite dull, having to restart due to one mistake (or even an opponent flying into the back of you) is just frustrating.

The best part of the game so far is the game’s announcer saying the odd move names like “tuna salad” or “stale fish air”.

Quote

And getting back to speed is a significant problem for the game, particularly as it isn’t very fast in the first place. Whilst the speed-o-meter might be telling you you’re pelting along at 60mph, it really doesn't feel like it.

- Tim Weaver, N64 Magazine #24

Remake or remaster?

There’s nothing interesting enough in this game to re-do.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get Twisted Edge Extreme Snowboarding

[Cube]

Tetris 64
 

• JP release: 13th November 1998
• NA release: N/A
• PAL release: N/A
• Developer: Amtex
• Publisher: Seta
• N64 Magazine Score: 42%

Tetris 64 is Tetris on the Nintendo 64. The main mode is basic Tetris. No bells or whistles, just a slideshow on in the background and acceptable background music. The thing is, everyone already had Tetris on the Game Boy, which was portable so much easier to just play a round and it had the amazing classic Tetris music.

There are a few options in the regular mode, such as one where rows of bricks come up from the bottom as time goes on, so it does a decent job, but it has a few more, one silly and one rather interesting.

The silly one is Giga Tetris, where you have to place a mixture of giant tetrominos (one “block” is the same as a regular 2×2 tetromino). The variation is not particularly good, and it doesn’t feel like you can do that much planning.

The interesting mode is unfortunately one that I can’t play as it requires an additional piece of the hardware. You know the infamous Wii Vitality Sensor that never released? And how people said that it could be used for horror games or something like Tetris? Well, the latter already happened on the N64, using the Bio Sensor that plugged into the N64 controller and clipped onto your ear to read your heartrate.

Despite how interesting this sounds, N64 Magazine stated that they didn’t notice much different in this mode. The Bio Sensor wasn’t included with the game, yet it was the only game it was compatible with.

Quote

Normal Tetris is, well, normal, and Giga Tetris uses enormous super-blocks to completely destroy one of the finest game concepts ever conceived. Why do games publishers still think they can already make Tetris better than it already is?

- James Ashton, N64 Magazine #26

Remake or remaster?

There are better Tetris games.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get Tetris 64.

[Dcubed]

As I hinted at before, the Bio Sensor was the other N64 hardware accessory that Seta put out for the N64.  They were certainly prolific, and they ended up doing what Nintendidn't with their Wii Vitality Sensor.

Bit of a shame that no other game made use of it, could imagine a Wario Ware game that responds to your heart rate being quite fun!

Nintendo would eventually get some sort of pulse-oximeter device with their clever retrofitting of the Right Joycon IR Camera in Ring Fit Adventure, but that's as far as they ever got with the concept.  Might not be revolutionary and game changing necessarily, but it could be a neat feature to make available to developers with Switch 2... (would be piss easy to integrate into your game as a developer, it's just a simple HR number at the end of the day)

Quote

Despite how interesting this sounds, N64 Magazine stated that they didn’t notice much different in this mode. The Bio Sensor wasn’t included with the game, yet it was the only game it was compatible with.

Clearly they were too cold hearted for the Bio Sensor to actually work then

Edited May 26 by Dcubed

[EEVILMURRAY]

On 24/05/2024 at 10:26 PM, WackerJr said:

This was one of my guilty pleasures on the N64.  Apart from that bug (which later it was revealed that the final level could be played via a cheat code I believe) I loved this game!  

It shouldn’t have worked, and had so much against it, from the fairly basic graphics to the camera you mentioned, but the puzzles were good and the bizarre robotic creatures had so much character.  From the moment you crashed landed and immediately landed upon the romantic partner of another  robotic sheep, only to take over its lifeless body you knew exactly what kind of humour you were going to get.

Creative and fun.  Talented game designers have the ability to make this kind of thing work.  Glad to hear others liked it too!

Never feel guilty about loving this game. It's awesome and I still wish I had my copy

[Cube]

Glover

• NA release: 16th November 1998
• PAL release: 24th November 1998
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: Interactive Studios
• Publisher: Hasbro
• N64 Magazine Score: 83%

I have quite fond memories of Glover from when I was a kid, but upon trying to replay it, I discovered that I barely saw anything in the game – just the initial level. I wasn’t prepared for just how difficult this game is, and not entirely for the right reasons.

In Glover, you play a wizard’s glove as he tries to restore the magic crystals that were protecting the kingdom, turning them into balls to protect them. You have to get a crystal to the end of each world, trying not to lose or break it along the way.

Glover has a lot of charm going for it. The controls are unique and fiddly, as you bounce the ball to gain height, throwing and slapping it to move it around the level. On top of this, you can transform the ball though a few different types for different attributes.

If the game’s levels worked in conjunction with Glover’s moveset, it could be a great game. Instead, once you get past the stating level, the game tries to work against you as much as possible, filled with bottomless pits, awkward platforming, unclear ways to progress and just a general sense that the game wants you to suffer. This is made even worse by the game’s camera, which throws you off narrow platforms by suddenly moving to try and give you a better view.

I ended up using a level select cheat to see as much of the game as I could, and all levels from the second onwards are like this. On top of getting to the end of the level, there are also collectibles to find to unlock some bonus levels, such as a Frogger clone which controls horribly. A lot of these are found on branching paths, so if you’re just trying to find the exit, you can end up wasting your time on the wrong route.

The concept of the Glover is great, and there’s a lot of charm to the simple world of the game. Unfortunately, the platforming feels imprecise and the level design hinders the experience rather than compliments it. It’s a great memory, but one of those best left as memory.

Quote

Glover is so tricky to get into, you might get fed up of repeated failures long before the control system ever becomes second nature. Buf if you’re after something a little bit out of the ordinary, and you don’t mind putting up with a few annoying quirks here and there, it’s recommended as a unique experience.

- Martin Kitts, N64 Magazine #21

Remake or remaster?

Glover needs a bit more. He needs a new attempt at the game, taking the concept and building something completely new from it. Such a game was very far into development before being cancelled, but I’ll be looking at that in a lot more detail separately.

Official ways to get the game.

Glover is available on Steam, however this Piko Interactive port gives you the option of playing the inferior PlayStation version in a badly configured emulator, or an incredibly broken PC port. Definitely avoid this version. There's also an official emulation of the N64 version on Evercade, although without any analogue control. Finally, Glover is one of four ROMs that are officially sold on the EverDrive64 X7 at StoneAgeGamer.

[Helmsly]

Glover sounds like it would be perfect for some kind of remake or remaster.

I just read about the nearly completed sequel which I had no idea was in development until I read your post, quite fascinating really and I'm looking forward to read what you say about it. Also, i feel the need to share that Glover was a sponsor for a WWE (WWF at the time) PPV in 1998:

 

[Cube]

Extreme G 2
 

• NA release: 17th November 1998
• PAL release: 4th December 1998
• JP release: 10th September 1999
• Developer: Probe
• Publisher: Acclaim
• N64 Magazine Score: 85%

Racing sequels typically take the same formula, refine it and have a bunch of new tracks, but XG2 feels a lot further apart from its predecessor than I expected. While I can easily see people preferring this, the differences are not ones I like.

The biggest ones are due to the tracks. The originals were colourful, but also fairly simple, allowing you to remain full speed throughout most of the game. In XG2, they’re very dull in colour and work against the speed of the game, requiring a lot more care to navigate.

Contrasting the lack of colour are the extremely out of place billboard for Diesel and Storm – with Storm even getting a permanent place as the lap timer on the HUD. They really don’t gel with the style of the game, and there are far too many of them.

There is a a good umber of levels this time, and there are different variants that take different routes – annoyingly, though, the barriers blocking the routes used in the different versions are incredibly gaudy and, like the billboards, detract from the tracks.

The game is still a lot of fun, with an immense sense of speed when the game lets you, yet it feels a bit more clunky from the original and there’s just something that feels missing that I can’t quite figure out.

The preference of the first or second game is entirely down to each person, though, as some of the things I disliked will be reasons that others enjoyed this one more.

Quote

The weapons, which in the first game took a back seat to wrestling with your bike, are now of greater prominence. There’s a lot of jostling for position this time around, and lining up an opponent in your sights to let rip with a fusillade of rockets is a far easier, and more tactical, prospect.

- Jes Bickham, N64 Magazine #23

Remake or remaster?

A remastered Extreme G collection would be nice.

Official ways to get the game.

Extreme G 2 is available on Steam, however, this is a re-release of the old PC version, with minute support for modern systems. Controllers don’t work well with it, and this version of the game lacks any kind of analogue movement. It also has a different soundtrack.

 

[Cube]

Magical Tetris Challenge
 

• JP release: 20th November 1998
• NA release: 14th January 1999
• PAL release: September 1999
• Developer: Capcom
• Publisher: Capcom (JP/NA), Activision (PAL)
• N64 Magazine Score: 51%

One week after the previous Tetris game comes another officially licensed Tetris game – this one starring Mickey Mouse, even though the title surprisingly lacks any mention of either Mikey or Disney.

This isn’t just a regular Tetris game (although standard Tetris is an option), but takes on more of a Puyo Puyo format as you battle an opponent.

As you clear lines, you’ll send “bad blocks” to opponent, which can be countered by them quickly clearing a line, going back and forth until left alone for long enough. These will then cause non-standard Tetris pieces to appear, consisting of more than 4 blocks. These are awkward to place, with some being large squares, to mess you up.

However, it’s not all bad. Filling up your power bar will erase everything above a certain line, while doing well will reward you with a straight 5 block piece, which can be used to score a “Pentris” by clearing 5 lines at once.

It’s a hectic back and forth, but one I quite enjoy. You get to play the story from the view of Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy, with Tetris used to resolve disputes. These are done on “Tetris machines” which fit into the classic Mikey aesthetic surprisingly well, with nice animation on the top and characters operating the controls.

On top of regular Tetris, you can also play “Upside Tetris” (which is one of the letter “Types” in other Tetris games) where blocks will appear at the bottom as you play.

I can definitely see why some people wouldn’t be keen on this version of Tetris, due to all the awkward blocks, but I personally like it a lot.

Quote

But interesting shapes there are – and they’re almost entirely rubbish. Especially the whopping five-by-five blocks, which comprehensively screw things up every time one appears. The reasoning behind them is apparently tactical – rather than having your opponent’s lines deposited beneath your opponent, the kerr-aazy new shapes are shuttled back and forth between you as a way of nobbling everyone’s best effort to win.

- Jes Bickham, N64 Magazine #34

Remake or remaster?

The Magical Tetris mode would be nice to see in a newer version of Tetris.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get Magical Tetris Challenge

[Dcubed]

This is the other Aleck 64 game that got a home release, one of only two (the other one being Star Solider: Vanishing Earth).

What's also interesting about this one is that Capcom actually went out of their way to license the Temporary Landing System mechanic from Arika's Tetris: The Grandmaster series for inclusion in this game.  Arika was made up of former Capcom staff, so there's another odd connection there too.

Finally, this is one of only a handful of games that were designed for the N64 first as the primary target platform but then later ported to the PS1 (usually it's the other way around).  Speaking of which... Glover just so happens to be another one of those handful!

Edited May 29 by Dcubed

[Cube]

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
 

• JP release: 21th November 1998
• NA release: 23rd November 1998
• PAL release: 11th December 1998
• Developer: Nintendo
• Publisher: Nintendo
• N64 Magazine Score: 98%

Often heralded as one of the greatest games of all time, I really don’t need to go into great detail as to what makes Ocarina of Time so amazing, as it provided one of the first epic adventures in 3D in a way that felt real. For this, I played a fan made PC port of the game that is a very faithful recreation. I used a few enhancements, such as camera control and the ability to assign items to the D-pad, plus a texture pack which added detail but still kept the feel of the N64 original.

The game starts out in Kokiri Forest, which serves as a tutorial hub that manages to not feel like a tutorial. This is a small playground that lets you play with aspects of the game’s control and targeting systems, the context sensitive A-button, but all the lessons are completely optional and are for the player to find. This kind of discovery was a great feeling as a kid, and the starting area is designed in such a way that if you know what you’re doing, you can very quickly grab your sword and shield and get on with the game.

I feel like Kokiri Forest is overlooked for how well it introduces Ocarina of Time, as a lot of the stuff is now just second nature in video games, but Ocarina had to teach everything from scratch. Even simple things like pots respawning to collect more rupees is taught by the rarity of rupees and the need to buy the Deku Shield, and the little pond areas introduce how jumping is done in the game.

Dungeons are a big part of Ocarina of Time, and the game eases you into them with the Deku Tree, while also showing off the verticality possible thanks to the N64’s power. There are a few little tricks like trapping you in the slingshot room until you use it. Unfortunately, Navi does decide to butt in by explaining specific actions like moving blocks and diving, running the freedom of the starting village, but as you the action for interacting with a block changes based on if you’re still and moving, I can see people missing one of the actions and getting stuck.

The game directs you upwards to perform a big jump to get to the lower areas of the tree, and uses deku sticks to activate torches and remove obstacles, showing the kind of ways that you can interact with in the game.

After the Deku Tree, we get a significant gap until the next dungeon as the game opens up to a large expansive world, a technique still used in games today. You’ll be directed towards the castle by a really annoying owl (with confusing did you not hear me or did you not not hear me? yes or no questions), but the size of Hyrule Field is specifically designed that (without knowing the way and rolling to move faster) night will fall, a way to introduce how time works in the game, and how it moves in certain areas.

Castle Town is filled with NPCs to talk to and side quests that are hinted at for you to start later on – although first is the obligatory stealth section, but with a fixed camera to make it easier (was Ocarina of Time the start of the forced stealth section trend?), where you’ll meet Zelda as you learn the quest of the game. Once the “main” quest starts, you need to start figuring out things yourself, with the first big hurdle figuring out what to actually do in Goron City, which is likely where a lot of kids got stuck for a while, as the solution lies in revisiting somewhere across the map.

Dodongo’s Cavern waits to introduce its name until you reach the main central room. Here you can see a lot of paths, both on the current level and upstairs, but this guides you far less than the deku tree as you have to figure out how to navigate the dungeon yourself. It also presents an added danger as your deku shield can be destroyed by fire enemies – you are no longer in a kid’s world, and this dungeon does a great job at portraying that.

After this, you have access to even more of the world, as you’re directed to Zora’s Domain. You also get introduced to magic beans, which let you plant in patches of soft dirt – they’ll take years to grow, so this is the first in-game hint as to what will happen later on. Zora’s Domain also teaches you about bottles (although if you do side missions, you can get some before here), which are used to collect certain items for later on, as well as letting you carry a fairy to revive Link. You also need to go to Lake Hylia, where you can find the wonderful fishing minigame.

After solving the puzzle to get inside Lord Jabu-Jabu, you enter the next dungeon with pulsating walls and dangerous electric jellyfish. This one is very difficult to navigate first time round, and you have to use Ruto to activate switches as she accompanies you for part of this dungeon – a concept revisited in Wind Waker. I like the style of this dungeon, but it’s definitely my least favourite.

With all three spiritual stones in hand, you head to the Temple of Time – grabbing the Ocarina of Time from the fleeing Princess Zelda along the way as Link gets hold of the Master Sword, only to wake up after 7 years in slumber. He’s now an adult, and the world outside is much darker, with a destroyed Hyrule Market overrun by Zombies. A mysterious new character, Shiek, is on hand to guide Link towards the temples he needs to visit to awaken the sages of the land.

You get directed to Kakariko Village, where you need to use clues given by NPCs to find one of the coolest objects in the game – the hookshot.

The Forest Temple is the first dungeon as an adult, and has some very unnerving music (the music is amazing across the entire game) and some really neat ideas of manipulating the dungeon itself – something else that would be revisited in more detail in future Zelda games. Here you get the adult equivalent of the slingshot, the bow and arrow. It’s a very unnerving dungeon, and ends with a practice for the final boss of the game.

You can do the temples in different orders, although some optional areas may be locked off – the map for the fire temple, for example, needs the bow. The fire temple also needs a special tunic that you need to get first (although people have completed the dungeon without it), here you get the Megaton Hammer, which is used to activate rusty switches and smash harder rocks, before fighting a fire-breathing dragon. I like to use the Giant’s Knife here, which is a powerful sword that can only last a few hits (a permanent one is a reward for one of the longer side quests of the game).

The Water Temple has a really bad reputation, and I can see why. It’s not as outrageously hard as its reputation, but it does a few things differently. The biggest difference is how it treats small keys. Usually they’re on the way to close to the locked door they’re needed for, but the Water Temple is a bit more open ended, with keys hidden all over the place. One in particular (under the central room) is very easy to miss. You also need to change the water level a lot, so exploring it can be a faff. Lastly, the iron boots needed to be constantly equipped and removed, and could only be done so from the pause menu (luckily the version I played, like the 3DS version, lets you assign it to an item button).

Eventually, you’ll be unable to progress as adult Link and will have to return to the past as child Link – something alluded to by the man in the Windmill complaining about someone playing a song on the ocarina in the past (and then teaching you the song, which you will then teach him in the past). The game ups the horror vibes a lot and, if you wait until this point to go back in time and head to the well, you’ll also feel much more vulnerable due to not having access to a lot of your items. This is to get the Lens of Truth, needed for the Shadow Temple (technically you can do it without, but you need to know the game extremely well).

With lots of creepy vibes and invisible enemies and objects, the Shadow Temple really freaked me out as a kid – to the point that I backed out after getting the hover boots and did the Spirit Temple, and I even stopped playing the game, only returning after completing Majora’s Mask years later. It seems really tame now as I know what to expect, but the unknown really was too much for me back then. This temple – and the next – are much more linear, although with really fun bosses.

The Spirit Temple is fascinating as it needs to be completed in two parts – one half as a kid and the other as an adult. You get a really nice shield which is used to reflect light and certain attacks and, like a few other items from the adult dungeons, it’s a shame it doesn’t have much use elsewhere in the game.

After this, you then have access to the final dungeon, which consists of mini challenges loosely based on the various temples, before you take on Ganondorf. Of course, there are still side quests to complete.

The hunt for heart pieces is the most significant kind of collectible, but the trading and mask side quests are also great. Hidden throughout the land are also 100 Gold Skulltulas, many of which only appear at night. The rewards for the first 50 are pretty good: bigger wallets, a heart piece and a special stone that rumbles when you’re near a secret. The final 50 only grants you 200 rupees which, while you can collect it multiple times, is completely pointless at that point in the game as you’ll spend most of the game with a full wallet anyway. A gold coloured tunic would have been a better option (perhaps it can have protection for fire and water so you don’t need to change tunics). 

The lack of things to use money for is probably one of the bigger weaknesses of the game. The dungeons and overworld have bonus puzzles, most leading to money or the Gold Skulltulas. It feels like a waste when the reward you get is completely pointless, but that’s only a minor issue.

Ocarina of Time is still a wonderful game. The world does feel a bit small by today’s standards, but for its time, it was phenomenal, and in many ways, Ocarina of Time showed how 3D adventures could and should be done. It’s an important piece of video game history that is still great to play today.

Remake or remaster?

Something similar to what the fan PC port offers would be lovely for Ocarina of Time, combined with some of the enhancements of the 3DS version.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no way to buy a new copy of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the only official way to play is to rent it via the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pak.

[Dcubed]

Not much I really need to add here.  It's one of the greatest games ever made, and next to Super Mario 64, is the single most influential and important game of its entire generation across all platforms.

It would go on to basically write the rulebook on how to make a 3D action title, and literally every single developer who makes 3D games today uses it as a reference when building their own game engine.  You simply would not have the likes of Elden Ring or God of War without it.

That being said, it's also worth noting that for however influential OoT was, it was itself a clear iteration on the formula that ALTTP had written 7 years prior.  It's not really wrong to say that OoT was "A Link To The Past But In 3D", but that does sell it very short for the myriad innovations that it did bring to the table; even ignoring the obvious jump to 3D.  And while retrospective looks at the series today are often quick to label OoT's sequels as being mere clones and repeats of the same formula, that's also very much revisionist baloney; it's a very unfair statement that is more a reflection of Nintendo's status within the console market as a whole than true reality.

The Zelda series would live under OoT's shadow all the way up until 2017, when BOTW would essentially re-write history and abandon almost every convention laid out by ALTTP and OoT, but even that game owes a huge debt to OoT for its continued use of the Z-Targetting system and its camera system in general.

I'd also like to point out that OoT itself also owes a debt to Virtua Fighter, which pioneered the use of 3D humanoid playable characters and the use of motion capture in video games.  VF itself is a game that doesn't get anything close to the credit it deserves for how much it changed the entire industry (Indeed, the Playstation would never have existed without it), and it should be considered in the same breath as SM64 and OoT (certainly at least the 3rd most influential game released in that generation).

Edited May 30 by Dcubed

[Glen-i]

Eh, Majora's Mask is better.

[Jonnas]

Ocarina of Time is such a well designed game. I've seen other Adventure games of the era, and OoT is really the only one that can mix good world/level design, an interesting story, and an exceptionally well made tutorial. It's the game that keeps on giving, whether you're a casual enjoyer, a completionist, or a speedrunner.

8 hours ago, Dcubed said:

VF itself is a game that doesn't get anything close to the credit it deserves for how much it changed the entire industry (Indeed, the Playstation would never have existed without it), and it should be considered in the same breath as SM64 and OoT (certainly at least the 3rd most influential game released in that generation).

Amen. A lot of videogame history is remembered as being console-only, but the PC and Arcade scenes were instrumental for so much VG development as well.

(Granted, maybe Virtua Fighter would be better remembered if Sega didn't insist on attaching its name to a shitty Mega Drive port all the time...)

[Ashley]

Never heard of it. 

[Cube]

Fox Sports College Hoops ’99
 

• NA release: 23rd November 1998
• JP release: N/A
• PAL release: N/A
• Developer: Z-Axis
• Publisher: Fox Sports
• N64 Magazine Score: 25%

Instead of opting for the fully professional basketball teams, Fox Sports instead went to the various colleges and universities to include their teams (but the players are all fictional). I personally find college sports being watched nationwide to be a bit of an odd thing, but it’s very popular in America.

College Hoops starts out with some extremely epic menu music, which is far too good for the game. Once you get past the menu and into the game, the only good part of the game – that music – is completely over and all you’re left with is the mess.

The game itself is hideous, each player looks out of proportion in a different way and you have an ugly wall of a crowd to look at. The gameplay doesn’t fare much better as it’s slow and unresponsive. Defending barely works and anything I tried resulted in a foul, I had much better luck by simply not taking control of any of the defending players.

You can hold the Z button to bring up button prompts to throw the ball to specific players, but when none of them get into good positions, the ability is wasted. I really struggled to get the ball through the hoop, with it bouncing so often or the opposing players forming a brick wall, so I could completely trashed.

College Hoops is definitely one of the worst sports games on the N64 so far.

Quote

All of which leaves you wishing you could be doing just about anything other than playing this pile of complete and utter dross. Falling down a flight of stairs, cracking your head open on an icy pavement, vomiting copiously into your lap, anything. Frankly, Fox College Hoops is the worst basketball game in the world.

- Tim Weaver, N64 Magazine #26

Remake or remaster?

This adds nothing to the genre.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get Fox Sports College Hoops

[Dcubed]

Bit of a tough act to follow there 

[Glen-i]

Eh, Majora's Mask is better.

[Cube]

Top Gear Overdrive
 

• NA release: 23rd November 1998
• PAL release: 25th November 1998
• JP release: 19th March 1999
• Developer: Snowblind
• Publisher: Kemco
• N64 Magazine Score: 79%

The Top Gear series of racing games is a bit like Need For Speed in terms of how it can cover a variety of different racing game styles. While Top Gear Rally was a more simulation-based racing game, this is more on the arcade side of things – and unfortunately that includes having you starting in last place with all the other racers already racing.

The racing itself is quite smooth, especially once you earn cash to upgrade your car. There’s a good sense of speed, but the cars also feels a bit too light an fragile, with your car flying over a turn or exploding when grazing a wall. Parts of some objects can be destroyed, but other things can be smashed through and it isn’t always clear.

There’s a good variety of cars, including some fun silly designs to unlock, and they’re all really nicely detailed, including also having a basic interior with see-through windows. The tracks also look nice, with detailed “skybox” backgrounds and a good amount of detail – plus zero pop-in. It’s unfortunate, then, that this has a similar problem to a lot of other racing games on the N64: the number of tracks, with five main ones and one bonus track.

Overdrive does take the same “seasons” approach as Top Gear Rally, where you play through a few courses to complete a “season”, then play through variants (mainly different weather) before reaching the “new” course of that season – eventually adding mirrored versions into the mix.

Top Gear Overdrive is a good racing game, but there’s nothing particularly special or spectacular about it.

Quote

But, somehow Overdrive just isn’t quite good enough. Or, at least, it foolishly undoes a lot of the very, very good things it’s managed to bring about in the first place.

- Tim Weaver, N64 Magazine #24

Remake or remaster?

As mentioned previously, a Top Gear collection would be nice.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get Top Gear Overdrive

[Cube]

Milo’s Astro Lanes
 

• NA release: 24th November 1998
• PAL release: 25th July 1999
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: Player 1
• Publisher: Crave (NA), Interplay (PAL)
• N64 Magazine Score: 38%

Milo’s Astro Lanes sounds like a fun concept. Take the quick and speedy game of bowling, add some elements of the just as nippy mini golf, add some power ups and mix it all in a retro sci-fi aesthetic. I also remember seeing this game a lot in advertising in N64 Magazine. Sadly, Milo’s Astro Lanes squanders the potential for fun.

The biggest issue with Milo’s Astro Lanes is how slow it is. It takes far too long for the ball to reach the pins, something that was likely decided due to how the power ups work.

The power ups can make your ball faster, stronger, larger or other tings like creating two clones. When it’s not your turn, however, you can use these power ups against your opponent, which hinders them by slowing down or shrinking their ball. I think the intention is that there was time for a back and forth battle of power ups, but in reality, you’re best off waiting until the final moments anyway. As a result, the game is extremely slow, and very boring as a result.

One aspect I was expecting the game to do well with was the silly animations you get when bowling, mocking you for causing a split and fun things for spares and strikes. To my surprise, there’s pretty much nothing. You don’t even get the word “STRIKE” – just some incoherent mumbling (due to bad audio quality, it’s supposed to be actual words) and a little bit of confetti. It makes an already boring experience feel extremely lifeless.

The initial concept of Milo’s Astro Lanes is good – with the lanes getting more difficult as you progress, but it’s not enjoyable to play at all.

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The problem with Milo’s is that it’s just not very much fun. Balls go down alleys incredibly slowly, pins get knocked over and just disappear, then characters mumble something unintelligible and that’s it. Repeat to fade.

- Tim Weaver, N64 Magazine #26

Remake or remaster?

The concept would be nice to see attempted again – perhaps with a few sports instead of one, but done from scratch.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get Milo’s Astro Lanes.

[Cube]

Legend of the River King 64
 

• JP release: 27th November 1998
• PAL release: N/A
• NA release: N/A
• Developer: Pack-In-Video
• Publisher: Victor Interactive
• Original Name: Nushi Tsuri 64
• N64 Magazine Score: 56%

Nushi Tsuri is a series of fishing RPGs that were released between 1990 and 2007. A few games have received western releases under the name Legend of the River King on the Game Boy and Game Boy Colour. Some of the later games were called River King in North America, but Harvest Fishing in Europe, to try and market it as a Harvest Moon spin-off (the mainline games of both franchises were made by Marvelous, but River King was first).

While the N64 version of Legend of the River King was marketed for a western release at some point, it ended up getting cancelled, so we’re left with a Japan-only game, which heavily relies on Japanese text. Google Lens is fine for rough translations, but is unfortunately not quite up to the task for specifics like translating fish names and other technical things like baits and lures. Still, I tried out what I could.

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The game is presented as a top down 2D RPG and it looks lovely in motion, especially the water. Movement is surprisingly unrestrictive as it seems you can climb up any surface and swim through the water – there is one section where you’re blocked that’s part of a lengthy quest to reach the main objectives. The setting seems to be based on the British countryside (my girlfriend even commented on the look without seeing the red post box or football field), but with Japanese buildings.

The game stars a large family, and you get to choose which one to play as. While most of the game is the same for each, they have their own end goals. The girl I picked wanted to find a rare fish that uses a nest because it’s something her fiancé wanted to see. Along the way, you need to hone your skills by catching fish in order to get better equipment and win tournaments.

While the game is pretended in a cute and lovely 2D format, it changes completely once you get a bite on your rod. You are presented with a 3D view of the very nicely detailed fish. You need to use the analogue stick to make the fish think that the bait is real (it’s very difficult to figure out the tight motion) and use the a button to reel in. If the rod starts to strain, you’ll feel a rumble and you’ll need to let go until you see enough slack on the line to start reeling in again.

I found the fishing to be very difficult, even after reading tips online, and still struggled with the little indoor fishing that lets you fish as much as you want without using resources. You need to keep your eye on both your supplies and the quality of your rod.

Exploring the areas of the game (that I could access to – I never got the bridge repaired to access the blocked off areas), I did manage to find an old man that talked about the fish my character was after, as he laments that the species is now incredibly rare due to pollution. I did attempt to fish in this area on the off chance that I would find one, but I couldn’t even get bite, even trying lots of different bait.

I imagine that the information needed to figure out what kinds of rods, lures and baits you need to use in different locations is somewhere, but as Google isn’t great at translating those kinds of things, it’s lost on me, so this was kind of the end of my adventure. I did manage to catch a few fish, and you fill out an encyclopaedia with information – and you can make the model of the fish move its mouth by pressing A, so I had fun making it sing along to the tune of the music.

There is also more than just fishing. Wildlife will also attack you, either form you walking into them on the map or random encounters. Everything – seagulls, mice, eagles, cats, starfish – is out to get you, and you have three options: placate them with food, attack them or run away.

On top of catching fish, you also collect bugs and flowers. With bugs, you find them on the map and use your net to start the “battle” phase where you use a net or your bare hands to collect the bugs in a first person view. Cutting flowers is a bit more simple.

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Legend of the River King seems like a nice and relaxing game, and it’s a shame that the language barrier makes it difficult to fully play and enjoy. I do really like this kind of RPG where the “combat” is something that isn’t a battle system, such as the handheld Mario Golf and Tennis games.

Even though I couldn’t get very far in the game, I enjoyed the time I spent with it.

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It’s almost impossible to get a decent way into it if you’re not even slightly conversant in Japanese, such is the option-heavy nature of the text – but we did have a fair amount of fun once we discovered how to fish.

- Jes Bickham, N64 Magazine #26

Remake or remaster?

It would be nice to see an English translation of this game – and perhaps a Story of Seasons fishing game.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get Legend of the River King 64

[Ashley]

23 hours ago, Cube said:

Google Lens is fine for rough translations, but is unfortunately not quite up to the task for specifics like translating fish names and other technical things like baits and lures

Only tangentially related but when I was in Japan last year I was using it to scan menus and was quite shocked at seeing "bukakke" before remembering it's actually a word there. 

But as to your actual point, it does look like a charming laid back kind of game although I'd never be able to play a game based around fishing personally. Would be nice to have more of these. 

[Cube]

Yeah, more RPG games with stuff other than battling would be great.

NHL Breakaway 99
 

• NA release: 30th November 1998
• PAL release: N/A
• NA release: N/A
• Developer: Iguana
• Publisher: Acclaim
• N64 Magazine Score: 64%

NHL Breakaway 98 was a very bland ice hockey game that paled in comparison to Wayne Gretzky – plenty of room for improvement, then.

The second game updated the roster and…that’s it. This makes no effort to improve upon the first, and so little has changed that you can even select the original roster in the menu.

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There’s no other way to describe NHL Breakaway ’99 than with a shrug of the shoulders, a non-committal “hmm” and a general summary – again – that tells you to go for Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey instead.

- Jes Bickham, N64 Magazine #24

Remake or remaster?

There are better sports games to focus on.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get NHL Breakaway 99

[Cube]

Nightmare Creatures
 

• NA release: November 1998
• PAL release: N/A
• NA release: N/A
• Developer: Kalisto
• Publisher: Activision
• N64 Magazine Score: 57%

Nightmare Creatures is a port of an earlier PlayStation title that really is a bit too authentic of a port. When this was released on the N64, it already felt very dated and really needed improvements. It’s a horror slash-’em-up set in 1834 in London. You play as one of two characters, neither of which have any backstory, personality or dialogue in the game (if you want to know, it’s in the manual).

The story itself is told by little snippets of text at the start of each level that scrolls through part of the screen. On some levels, including the starting level, there are enemies at the start and they’ll attack you as this text scrolls past. The gist of it is that there’s an evil man called Crowley that runs away from you the entire game and a load of monsters in your way.

The controls of Nightmare Creatures are really poorly implemented tank controls, where you turn left and right to turn, forwards to go forwards and backward to go backwards. The camera makes matters worse as it’s usually behind your character, but tries to be at an angle for fights, and then some areas have their own camera angles – the first boss has a high up camera that really messes with your brain when trying to move.

To make matters worse, the game has platforming sections where missing a jump means instant death, as your character can’t swim, so water means instant death – apart from a few sections where the water is shallow and you have to walk through it (the shallow water looks no different from instant death water). This control scheme may have felt more natural on a D-pad (the original came out before the PS1 got analogue sticks), but it feels very wrong on an analogue stick.

The levels themselves are also mostly bland, and it’s easy to get lost due to everywhere looking the same, as well as the black “fog” to hide loading. They’re also mainly long corridors with a few optional areas and some hidden switches (many of which blend into the walls). Missing switches can also be very deadly, due to the “adrenaline bar”.

The manual explains that a virus is turning people into monsters, and the hero you play as is infective. Adrenaline keeps it at bay, and you keep this topped up by killing monsters. If you take too long before killing monsters, your health will start to drain. If you didn’t read the manual, then you’ll just start losing health with no warning (the mechanic isn’t explained in the game). This means that if you kill all the enemies but need to hint for a switch you missed, you’ll likely die multiple times. Supposedly this was a last minute addition to “fix” an issue where a player could potentially run past all the enemies.

I really can’t blame anyone for running past the enemies, either. The combat is tedious. The game lets you mix things up with lots of combos, items and spells to use, but combos rarely work and once you hit an enemy, their recoil means you can just mash the attack button until they die. That said, I did end up using cheats to see more of the game and I couldn’t defeat the final boss as you can only harm him with combos, and seemingly the basic B-B-B one doesn’t count.

The story in the manual paints a setting that could make for a really good game, but none of it is translated into the game.

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The final nails in Nightmare Creatures’ coffin are the linearity of the gameplay, and the frequent instant death situations that result from the deficiencies of the camera, the control system, and the general design of the puzzles – thing you’re stepping in a puddle? Nope it’s a water-filled bottomless pit, and your character swims about as well as a puppy in a weighted sack.

- Martin Kitts, N64 Magazine #25

Remake or remaster?

I think a new game in a similar setting could be a nice idea. The Order 1886 did something similar (but with a more steampunk vibe).

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get Nightmare Creatures

[Cube]

Bust-A-Move 3 DX
 

• PAL release: November 1998
• JP release: 5th March 1999
• NA release: 30th April 1999
• Developer: Taito
• Publisher: Acclaim
• N64 Magazine Score: 82%

Known as Bust-A-Move 99 in the USA and Puzzle Bobble 64 in Japan, this is a home console port of the third Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move game. Like Bust-A-Move 2, I still had issued telling the colour apart, as while they use shapes, they don’t stay still.

The rules have been tweaked a little bit, and there are two options: 2.5 and Normal. These change which kind of special bubbles appear and how the bubbles move down the screen.

The various modes from the previous game returns, along with some new ones. There’s a challenge mode which gives you specific objectives before you move onto the next match, a mode where you battle endless opponents and a create-your-own mode where you can create your own puzzles – or play one of the 1025 submitted by fans.

This version also has a brand new four player mode, although N64 magazine said that it was difficult to play on most TVs due to how tiny everything was.

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Even with the visual enhancements and extra features it doesn’t stretch the machine any more than a Space Invaders conversion would, but it’s the best version of the game to date. Compulsive stuff.

- Martin Kitts, N64 Magazine #24

Remake or remaster?

All the options in a new game would be nice.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get Bust-A-Move 3 DX

[Dcubed]

Worth pointing out that the SEGA Saturn version of Puzzle Bobble 3 is available on Switch.

Also fucking hell, that box art is ultra ugly! Did the artists draw Bub and Bob with their left hand or something!? How did they screw up their proportions so much!?

Edited June 6 by Dcubed