NHL 99 - All N64 Games

[Dcubed]

Midway really were the N64’s biggest 3rd party publisher, weren’t they?

Their output on the console is kinda bonkers.  And most of it is at least semi-decent to boot too.

Shame that they didn’t last much longer after the 5th Gen.  They fell off their peak like a lead balloon as soon as we hit 2001 and as they exited the arcade business.

[Cube]

Madden NFL 99
 

• NA release: 22nd September 1998
• PAL release: January 1999
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: EA
• Publisher: EA Sports
• N64 Magazine Score: 88%

A yearly update of a sports title I didn’t really understand. One of the biggest changes is that this version of Madden has the official NFL license and teams in the game, and has also had a bit of a graphical update.

The gameplay itself doesn’t seem that much different, although it does feel much more like your players are being properly tackled and not falling down with the slightest touch. Other than that, it’s still very stop and start and you have to watch the referee fetch the ball every time.

Quote

Madden is more of an arcadey game. It doesn’t have as many different moves to learn, and consequently it’s much easier to pick up and play. But what it gains in ease of use, it loses when it comes to the satisfaction of pulling off a spectacular play.

- Martin Kitts, N64 Magazine #23

Remake or remaster?

I don’t know enough about American Football games to comment.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get Madden NFL 99

[Cube]

Buck Bumble
 

• NA release: 30th September 1998
• PAL release: 18th December 1998
• JP release: 18th December 1998
• Developer: Argonaut
• Publisher: Ubisoft
• N64 Magazine Score: 70%

Buck Bumble is a insect-based flying shoot-’em-up. It’s set in a small area of a rural English down, where the land has been polluted, creating the rise of evil robotic super wasps poised to take over the insect kingdom. The game really surprised me when the main theme kicked in – a garage song about the biggity Buck Bumble. The developers, Argonaut, are particularly notable for creating the Super FX chip and Star Fox for the SNES.

My biggest complaint with Buck Bumble is the level design and graphics – its supposed to be set in the garden, but other than the very occasional sight – like a bench – it doesn’t really feel like you’re a small creature, and you just get to see lots of ugly browns and greens and there’s an immense amount of fog due to the poor draw distance.

The gameplay, however, is a lot of fun, with an impressive amount of different enemies getting a wasp-like makeover that you’ll need to content with. The controls are smooth and flying around is a lot of fun. The difficulty ramps up very quickly, though, and when you die you start the mission from scratch (the lives are for the pointless score system). You will find different weapons throughout the game, offering you lots of ways to dispatch your foes.

The game offers 19 levels. Most involving killing all enemies in an area, activating a switch for a door, while others have you transporting nuclear bombs. The levels do blend together a lot, though, with the game also throwing more and more enemies at you.

That said, Buck Bumble is an enjoyable game.

Quote

Buck Bumble is average in too many ways. Playable yet unspectacular, and rather workmanlike in execution, it’s a pleasant enough to wile away a few hours. Bur ‘Bee’-rilliant? Hardly.

- James Price, N64 Magazine #20

Remake or remaster?

A remaster would be good, although a sequel with more “giant human world” stuff would also be great.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get Buck Bumble.

[WackerJr]

27 minutes ago, Cube said:

The game offers 19 levels. Most involving killing all enemies in an area, activating a switch for a door, while others have you transporting nuclear bombs.

I had to re-read that last line a couple of times to make sure I’d read that right!  Was there a story reason for the nuclear bombs to be transported through the garden? 😂. There doesn’t need to be, I’m just curious.  I never played Buck Bumble and I also didn’t realised Argonaut was involved so thanks for this.

[Cube]

1 hour ago, WackerJr said:

I had to re-read that last line a couple of times to make sure I’d read that right!  Was there a story reason for the nuclear bombs to be transported through the garden? 😂. There doesn’t need to be, I’m just curious.  I never played Buck Bumble and I also didn’t realised Argonaut was involved so thanks for this.

They're bug sized nukes, you're either moving them away from your base or nuking the wasps.

[WackerJr]

Aha. Thanks!

[Glen-i]

Today, I learned that there's people out there who, despite being alive during the N64 era, were not aware of the Buck Bumble title theme.

Best fix that, just in case you're not the only one.

Wait, what? Hang on... Huh.

So, when going to get this theme, I just found out that the composer uploaded the full version to YouTube. A month ago...

Creepy timing, that.

Edited Sunday at 10:46 AM by Glen-i

[Cube]

Body Harvest

• PAL release: 30th September 1998
• NA release: 20th October 1998
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: DMA Design
• Publisher: Gremlin (PAL), Midway (NA)
• N64 Magazine Score: 91%

Body Harvest was originally going to be a large collaboration between DMA Design and Nintendo, but Nintendo ended up pulling out, leaving DMA to work it all out on their own. Despite this, DMA turned out something impressive in size and scope.

This game was the birth of the current open world modern-day open world games – many people associate it with GTA 3 on PS2, but many aspects of that can be found in Body Harvest. Of course, both were made by DMA Design (now known as Rockstar North), but it’s amazing how much of what they did started on the N64.

Alien bugs keep harvesting humans and, as humanity are on their last legs, the hero Adam and his assistants (a woman in a skimpy outfit and a robot) are sent back in time to stop multiple invasions to save humanity.

Roaming out of your time ship, the game feels like a 3rd person shooter – the controls are pretty good for the time, with a big help from autoaim. However, before you encounter your first enemies, you’ll come across a car, that you can hop in.

The vehicles are very odd to control by today’s standards, but you can get used to them. There are a massive amount of vehicles in the game – and not just cars, but tanks, planes, boats, helicopters and more. Some have their own weapons and special abilities, while all essentially act as armour for you – you don’t lose your health while in a vehicle, becoming vulnerable once they blow up.

The vehicles aren’t just for getting to places, ether, they’re all part of the “puzzle” of each area. The open world isn’t just a backdrop for the game, but is integral to the design of the game. You’ll encounter many roadblock and will need to figure out how to get past. It’s something that I feel a lot of open world games lack and you’re constantly thinking about how to get about the landscape.

The first area itself is impressive in size and scope, and that’s just one of the maps. There are four main areas – Greece 1916, Java 1941, America 1966, Siberia 1991 – that have unique looks and vehicles, all with its own puzzle to figure out. There’s also a final mission that takes place on the alien comet, but it’s a more straightforward combat mission.

I did find some parts of Java and America a bit too difficult to navigate, and sometimes a harvest will happen in an inconvenient location – as humans are eaten by the large harvester bugs (one of many different types of bug aliens), a bar will go up and losing too many humans will result in failure -and every so often a mutant will be created to hunt you down.

The difficulty of the game is very unfair, especially due to how the game saves. Each location has 3 or 4 alien processors and you can only save at beacons placed after these have been destroyed. This means that there can be a very long time between saves and messing up a fight can cost you hours of time.

On top of that, the game unfortunately has technical issues. Vehicles can sometimes get stuck, and some are required for progressing. Making a wrong turn when exploring can also lead you to a place where you can’t return, meaning you have to reset. These issues make it a pain to play the original version of it, so I highly encourage playing in a way that utilises save states.

While it certainly shows its age, Body Harvest is a phenomenal game. It’s simple, yet expansive at the same time, and the open world is designed around the gameplay. This game gets overlooked a lot, yet it was definitely an important step in the evolution of video games.

I also do wonder how different Rockstar would have been if Nintendo properly supported this project – would GTA3 had become a GameCube exclusive?

Quote

Body Harvest is magnificent. In many ways, it’s the ultimate 3D shoot-’em-up: packed-to-bursting with aliens, peppered with explosions, awash with blood and innards and rollicking good fun. Get it in.

- Tim Weaver, N64 Magazine #22

Remake or remaster?

Body Harvest is perfect for a remake. there are four amazing levels to recreate in higher detail, sort out the issues with saving, add some bonus challenges (perhaps let people return to previous levels to explore fully), better driving mechanics. The game’s world is wonderful, it just needs updating.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get Body Harvest

[Cube]

NHL 99

• NA release: 1st October 1998
• PAL release: 30th November 1998
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: EA, MBL Research
• Publisher: EA Sports
• N64 Magazine Score:75%

While we got plenty of versions of EA’s other sports on N64, but for hockey, this was the only one. EA’s NHL games on the Mega Drive were quite legendary, but for N64 it’s just another ice hockey game. This doesn’t feel particularly broken, but it also doesn’t do anything interesting or special.

One issue with NHL 99 is the passing and the AI of your team – they’re awful at getting into positions, and passing can sometimes send the ball where you don’t intend, meaning the main tactic is to never pass and run at the goal when someone gets the puck.

Wayne Gretzky remains the NHL champion.

Quote

Rather than team-based moves, players are almost encouraged to make solo dashes towards their opponent’s goal. Miss, and it’s a simple case of re-gaining possession, before repeating the process again. Now, this isn’t an entirely woeful way to pass the time, but we’d prefer a more measured approach that, despite its on-the-fly tactics, NHL ’99 just doesn’t deliver.

- James Price, N64 Magazine #22

Remake or remaster?

There’s better Ice Hockey games to focus on.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get NHL 99