Supercross 2000 - All N64 Games

[Cube]

Rayman 2: The Great Escape
 

• PAL release: 29th October 1999
• NA release: 6th November 1999
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: Ubi Pictures
• Publisher: UbiSoft
• N64 Magazine Score: 73%

With how both Rayman 2 and Tonic Trouble were developed by UbiSoft and released so close to each other, it’s amazing how different they are in terms of quality. It seems like the Tonic Trouble team spoke about everything they had trouble with during development, and the Rayman team were able to fix all of that, not sharing anything they did with the Tonic Trouble team.

Rayman 2 resolves all the issues from Tonic Trouble regarding dull characters, messy incoherent graphics, random level design, bad controls, and poor camera for a thoroughly enjoyable platformer.

Rayman 2 is much more linear than some of the other 3D platformers on the N64, but I think that it works in its favour, it helps give Rayman 2 a more distinct feel, with tightly made levels and some incredibly fun platforming along the way. Of course, there are still collectables in the form of lums and cages, so there’s still a lot of side passages to find – some can even take you down an entire new route that’s as long as a lot of levels.

Rayman’s main attack surprised me at first, as he shoots out a ball of energy from his fist, instead of sending his fist flying. However, the more I played the game, the more it seemed right with the pacing of the game and combat. Rayman automatically locks on to enemies, and you can hold R to strafe. Jumping is extremely precise, and the game makes it clear where you’re going to land. The camera also works really well, getting into good places when needed, and allowing you to adjust it for most of the game.

Rayman 2 also has a lot of action sequences to mix things up, such as water-skiing, riding on strange rocket animals, a mission where you get infinite flying, and some chase sequences. These are all enjoyable and keep the game exciting, with new things to discover throughout. The levels are also nicely varied, with some more puzzle-orientated, some about fast puzzling, some focused more on combat, so the game keeps itself fresh.

Rayman 2 is still an extremely enjoyable game, with a lot to find and discover. Returning to levels for the final few lums is a bit annoying as you can’t quit the level once you find them all (you need to reach the end of the level), but it’s an overall great experience.

Fave

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Rayman 2 isn’t all that bad, then. But for every involving moment, there’s another screamingly difficult or hopelessly linear section hiding just around the corner. As one of the few platformers to get its controls and camera near Mario standards, it’s worth a look, but it’s a stark reminder that only a few people in the world are able to make platform games which are truly special. And they don’t come from France.

Mark Green, N64 Magazine #35

Remake or remaster?

Rayman 2 has a lot of different versions. The Dreamcast version is considered to be the best of the original versions, and adds a hub world, while the game also got a remake on PS2 with debate over if it’s better – some people say the much larger hub world was too large. That said, it’s strange that there’s no modern remastered release. It definitely needs one.

Official ways to get the game.

The PC version of Rayman 2 is available on GoG and the UbiSoft Store.

Re-releases

2000: Rayman 2: The Great Escape (Dreamcast / PlayStation)

2000: Rayman Revolution (PS2)

2005: Rayman DS (DS)

2011: Rayman 3D (3DS)

[Cube]

Paperboy
 

• NA release: 31st October 1999
• PAL release: March 2000
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: High Voltage
• Publisher: Midway
• N64 Magazine Score: 62%

Sometimes, a poor choice in name can give the wrong impression, and can lead to your game being forgotten. On Wikipedia, the N64 Paperboy game is buried as a footnote for the original Paperboy. Even though it shares the same name, it’s a completely unique game, and the third main Paperboy game (the only ones we got after were mobile games). They really should have called this Paperboy 3 or Paperboy 3D (or, if they really needed to, Paperboy 64).

Paperboy is a silly and over-the-top paper delivery game. Your main task is delivering newspapers to certain houses, but that’s not all you do – throwing your newspapers at pretty much anything will get you points. People, animals, objects – committing assault and vandalism is very important. Some of these will not even get you points, but also bonus coins in order to unlock bonus modes. If you deliver all papers, you get given more houses (and time) for your next attempt.

The controls take a bit of getting used to. Holding R or Z will bring up a targeting arrow (starting in different directions), and then you can fine tune your aim. Once you’re used to it, it works really well. However, if you start off the game on easy, you’re in for a horrible experience, as you’re stuck to a thin “path” and can only move slightly to the side (like the original game), and can’t turn around.

But get to the later levels (or pick a harder difficulty), and you can now roam around the levels how you wish, and the game is much more enjoyable.

The game doesn’t really have much depth to it, though, and compared to other full priced N64 games, this really wasn’t a good option at the time of release. It’s still a fun little game, though, and feels like something that would have been great on the XBLA (that just got the original game).

Fun

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But when you look beyond the pointless extras and the funky new Ren & Stimpy graphics, it’s the same old Paperboy at heart. If you liked the arcade machine and don’t mind putting up with the fact that you’ll probably finish this in a couple of evenings, this is a reasonably competent, but extremely short-lived update.

Martin Kitts, N64 Magazine #36

Remake or remaster?

A re-release would be quite nice.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get the N64 version of Paperboy.

[Cube]

Resident Evil 2
 

• NA release: 31st October 1999
• JP release: 28th January 2000
• PAL release: 9th February 2000
• Developer: Angel, Capcom, Factor 5
• Publisher: Capcom (NA, JP), Virgin (PAL)
• N64 Magazine Score: 90%

Resident Evil 2 was originally a game with the PlayStation in mind. It came on two discs, with heavy usage of large textures and full motion video. So it’s a marvel that Angel Studios, with help from multiple Capcom teams and Factor 5 (who did wonders with the N64 and GameCube hardware), got the massive 2-CD PS1 game onto a single 64MB Nintendo 64 cartridge.

Of course, as a result of this, the Nintendo 64 version isn’t the ideal way to play Resident Evil 2. It does have a couple of exclusive things that weren’t included in later versions: extra written story files to find (which links to RE3, Code Veronica, and Zero) and a randomiser (which alters the location of objects), but for the most part, it’s heavily compressed port of the original.

That said, it’s still Resident Evil 2, and it’s still a really good version of the game. It’s a classic survival horror game, and I’m absolutely atrocious at it. I read up about the difficulties (as some games I’ve played remove a lot of content on easy), and saw comments about how it’s very easy on normal – yet playing on easy, I died a lot and struggled to find enough ammo.

There seems to be a lot of useless extra routes in the game. For example, the burning helicopter on the roof of the police building. You go on a long search and find a valve, using a load of ammo on zombies, then use the valve to put out a fire, getting…a box of handgun ammo, less than what I’d used up. I’m not sure if I missed anything else there, so I found it a bit odd.

But for what it does, it does it very well. The pre-rendered backgrounds look great, and the tank controls aren’t too bad due to the camera angles. The controls are nice and simple, with the analogue stick alone letting you swap between walking and running. There’s a lot of hunting for objects and finding where they go, and the story and characters are very interesting.

Resident Evil 2 is a really good game, but the N64 version is not one that you should choose to play. It’s fascinating, due to how much of a challenge it was to make it possible, so it’s an amazing game in terms of that, but you’re better off with the GameCube version.

Fun

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But not even hammy acting can dampen the thrill of Resident Evil 2’s many shocks and scares. Your enemies are genuinely frightening – zombies which make sudden lunges as you sprint past, cockroaches which envelop and kill you if you pause for a second, dogs which won’t run unless you do – and they’re topped off by some of the most hair-raising moments in gaming history.

Mark Green, N64 Magazine #36

Remake or remaster?

The game has had a complete remake and a few different versions of the original, but a new “Resident Evil 2 classic” combining features of different versions would be really nice. The GameCube version was considered to be the best accessible version, although there’s a newer Japan-only PC port that has mods for making it English.

Official ways to get the game.

The classic version of Resident Evil 2 is available on GoG, based on an older PC version. It lacks the additional stuff from the N64 version.

[Cube]

Supercross 2000
 

• NA release: 31st October 1999
• PAL release: February 2000
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: MBL Research
• Publisher: EA Sports
• N64 Magazine Score: 76%

The Supercross series had been released on PlayStation for a while, with this being the first one to make its way to the N64. Even so, out of all the games I’ve played before (including multiple ports of PS1 games), this is the first one that distinctly feels like a PlayStation game. I’m not entirely sure what, but something about the graphics and controls just comes across as a PlayStation game.

Supercross 2000 is a bike racing game. There are lots of jumps for you to gently float upwards from, thanks to the really moon-like physics, and the track is more of a “tunnel” of invisible walls that glide you down the correct path. The game as a whole feels really slow and clunky, and like you don’t have much control – which isn’t helped by how you can’t drive off the course by mistake. There is one nice touch in that the mounds of dirt get damaged as you race, but the floaty physics negate that a lot.

The best tactic in Supercross 2000 is killing your opponents. The game massively favours you in collisions, so ramming into your opponents will send them flying with little impact on you. While the sport itself is on tight tracks to cause more collisions, I don’t think this is an accepted practise. Still, it’s the main thing that works in the game.

There’s a surprising number of tracks in the game, alongside a stunt mode where you perform tricks in an arena, but the clunkiness and floatiness of the game makes it really dull to play.

Fine

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So, yes, the game can be maddening at times. But with practice comes reward, and once you’ve got used to the complex turning system – a balance of acceleration, braking and juggling the clutch – and the fact that the bike and rider move as two entities rather than one, Supercross starts to come alive.

Jes Bickham, N64 Magazine #39

Remake or remaster?

Nothing special for this game.

Official ways to get the game.?

There is no official way to get Supercross 2000