 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
90 |
The New Tetris |  |
|||
| I know, Tetris is Tetris no matter what system its come for, but credit where its due the game is a puzzle classic that pretty much has to be mentioned. The New Tetris keeps the gameplay of the series intact, whilst improving the presentation and adding a few new modes of its own (one notable addition being the new, extremely fun 4-player battle mode). All in all its a great version of one of the most elegantly designed games in the history of the industry. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
89 |
NFL Quarterback Club 99' |  |
|||
| American Football game from the developers of the Turok series. The Quarterback Club series focuses on realism, depth (with a lot of work put into the AI) and graphical fidelity, with the hi resolution graphics of the series very much standing out at the time. This 99' addition of the game tightened up the gameplay over earlier releases. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
88 |
Extreme G |  |
|||
| Futuristic racing game where you ride bikes through rollercoaster-esque tracks picking up weapons and firing off rockets and such. Extreme G is a little rough around the edges, starting off a bit overwhelming, but it has an exhilarating illusion of speed, a lot of atmosphere, and is a rewarding experience for anyone wanting to take the time to master it. The game is obviously inspired by the popular Wipeout series, but it has a very different dystopian-inspired feel to it, and the tracks have more of a vertical, topsy-turvy bent to their design. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
87 |
Duke Nukem 64 |  |
|||
| This is a good port of the classic first person corridor shooter. Duke built on the formula laid down by Doom by adding a lot of interactivity and humour to the genre, whilst also being a little more ambitious with the level design. This version of the game plays very well, but unfortunately is censored (the original could be pretty raunchy at times), and was a little dated by the time it was ported to N64 (GoldenEye was already out by this stage). On the plus side though is the excellent addition of a splitscreen co-op mode, and a very respectable 4-player deathmatch feature (neither of which made it into the other console versions). Other quirks worth mentioning are some new weapons, some layout changes, and some new 3D models for some elements. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
86 |
Top Gear Rally |  |
|||
| Early rally game which might not look amazing, but has fun, well rounded gameplay, well designed tracks, and good arcade style handling. For its time Top Gear Rally had a notable amount of content and options, ranging from car colour customisation, to changing weather and a variety of different modes. The creators obviously put a lot of work into this, whilst still making sure to get it out on time, its a polished racer which entertains but doesn't astound. | |||||
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
85 |
Doom 64 |  |
|||
| This is a cool N64 exclusive Doom game. Doom 64 plays very much like earlier games in the series, you basically search for keys to open up areas whilst shooting some nasty looking monsters, but here they've also added some puzzles to the levels to make it a little more interesting. The graphics of Doom 64 are very much improved, with new, more frightening monster designs, and a lot of spooky lighting effects to keep you at the edge of your seat. At the time reviewers criticised Doom 64 for its use of "dated" 2D sprite enemies, but honestly these days without the shadow of "progress" to worry about, the thing which is most noticeable is how smooth and fast the whole thing runs in comparison to a lot of other N64 first person shooters. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
84 |
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing |  |
|||
| This is a quirky, fun boxing game that doesn't take itself too seriously. The controls here are well thought out, giving you all the necessary moves, it plays fluidly, and the inclusion of super moves help to make the game stand out against other boxing titles. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
83 |
Battle Tanx: Global Assault |  |
|||
| Vehicular combat game which has you driving around in tanks. Another tremendous multiplayer experience for the N64, Global Assault has fantastic control, a good variety of weapons and different tanks, and a lot of different modes to play in, including a Co-Op campaign mode to go along with the usual Deathmatch and Capture the Flag modes. The single player here is a little weak, and can get repetitive after a while, but is fun enough in short bursts, its all about the multiplayer where Battle Tanx is concerned. Note, the Playstation game is not really the same game, it has completely different maps and story, and is a much weaker game. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
82 |
Turok |  |
|||
| This was an important early first person shooter for the N64, not only did it show up during the system's early game drought, it also showed that the console could cater to the more adult gamers out there. The game is a comic book adaptation that has you searching for artifacts and coming up against a variety of Dinosaurs. Turok is a little dated in comparison to some of the later first person shooters on N64, there's a lot of close fogging cutting down your viewing distance, and jumping sections can be tricky (make sure you get into a habit of staring down at the ground when you jump), but its big strengths are still as apparent as they were when the game arrived. Turok is a fast, smooth game. Running through the environments jumping and climbing has a great feel, its much more kinetic and lifelike than anything found in its console contemporaries. The extra work the developers did on the animation here also helped to make the world more immersive, and gave the weapons a bit more kick. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
81 |
Hybrid Heaven |  |
|||
| One of the few worthwhile RPGs on the N64, Hybrid Heaven has you making your way through an alien base trying to thwart a conspiracy to take over the Earth. The game is a mixture of exploration, and the sort of simple puzzle solving you'd find in an action adventure game. The battle system here is an interesting, 360 degrees real-time affair which kind of plays like a prototype to the system in Vagrant Story. You shuffle around the areas in real time choosing different melee attacks, and defence options. Each limb actually gains experience independently. Overall its a competent RPG, the setting can be a little bland at times, but the game plays well, with a lot of unique elements, and the plot is fairly developed and entertaining. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||