 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
80 |
Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6 |  |
|||
| Tactical strategy/shooter where you have to kit out a team of counter-terrorist operatives and then plan out and supply them with orders to complete your mission. The game is both an in-depth, realistic, stealthy action game, and complex strategy all in one, with you switching between first person shooter style action one moment, and giving orders the next. A tense and unique N64 experience. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
79 |
All Star Baseball 2000 |  |
|||
| Iguana Entertainment (the makers of the Turok series) really stepped up their game with the 2000 edition of their N64 Baseball series. Here Iguana tweaked the gameplay, included many more options, and improved the already impressive graphics to create an intuitive, highly polished Baseball game. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
78 |
Pokemon Puzzle League |  |
|||
| Unfortunately there were never really any true Pokemon games made for the N64 (a fact made even more annoying when taking into account the RPG drought the console had). Out of the cash-in's this Pokemon themed sequel to the SNES classic Tetris Attack is by far the best, being built on the foundation of what was already a great game, just now with Pikachu's face plastered all over it. The Tetris Attack games are puzzlers where the aim is to arrange blocks into three of the same by swapping them with their neighbour, the gameplay here is as fun it ever was, and there's a bunch of new gameplay modes added here too. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
77 |
Snowboard Kids |  |
|||
| Fun multiplayer orientated racer that plays like Mario Kart on ice (those wanting a serious snowborder should look to 1080 instead). Snowboard Kids has you sliding down mountains picking up colour-coded power-ups which are red (projectile weapons), or blue (various items such as shields). You can hold one of each at a time. The graphics are a little ropey, and single-player is nothing special, but the gameplay has a lot of its own nuances (most attacks can be evaded with skill for instance), and the balance and handicapping make for exciting competition, with the multiplayer mode often reaching sky high Mario Kart 64 levels of fun (in this one area I actually prefer it to Diddy Kong Racing). Definitely one to check out for party play with a bunch of good friends. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
76 |
Quake 64 |  |
|||
| After the huge success that was Doom, developers Id Software decided to go Medieval for their highly publicised successor, Quake. Quake is a corridor first person shooter where the aim is pretty simple, kill monsters and find keys to open doors. The game is just exciting, gory, brainless, fun. Monsters are grotesque and do their best to make you jump out of your seat in fear, and the atmosphere is thick, creepy, and feels almost Clive Barker inspired. The N64 port is good but not great, the texturing is simplified and indistinct (make sure you turn off filtering in the options), but the game is fast and smooth, and its water and sky effects were improved from the PC original. | |||||
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
75 |
Duck Dodgers |  |
|||
| This is an excellent 3D platformer from Paradigm, the developers of Pilotwings 64. Duck Dodgers is a very fun title that has you running through all the platform game staples in a search for Atoms. Level design is put together very well, there are a lot of very fun items to use and puzzles to solve throughout the game, and the style and humour of the original cartoons is very much recreated. So if its so great, why's it in #75? Well, there are a few elements that aren't that polished, the camera for instance can be a pain (I'd recommend putting it on manual), and the framerate can be choppy (it gets better as the game progresses though). All in all though its a great game that fans of 3D platformers should try out, and a must buy for any fans of the cartoon. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
74 |
Forsaken |  |
|||
| Enjoyable, but tough first person shooter that's reminiscent of the old PC game Descent (kind of plays like Doom, but in a craft that flies instead of being on foot). When you get the hang of controlling the craft Its an engrossing game with a lot of smooth shooting action, and a good 4-player deathmatch mode. What some may not realise is this isn't strictly a port, as the N64 game actually has completely different levels to the PC original, and the Playstation port (which should be avoided). | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
73 |
Top Gear Overdrive |  |
|||
| This is a nice, fast, arcade style racer for the N64 with great atmosphere, a lot of style, and Grungy rock music that complements everything perfectly. The game gives you over-the-top crashes, blazing boost pick-ups, and loads of shortcuts to learn. Outside of that it looks great with the Expansion Pak, and has good 4-player support. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
72 |
International Superstar Soccer 98' |  |
|||
| For me this was simply one of the best footy games of the time. ISS 98' is a fast, smooth, and responsive title with loads of moves and intuitive gameplay. The game dominated the competition until the appearance of ISS Pro Evolution on the Playstation. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
71 |
Fighter's Destiny |  |
|||
| What a strange, unique 3D fighting game! This seems to have more in common with the karate games of old than it's peers of the time. There's not really a health bar here, you can win a round in one move just by completing a throw, or pulling off a special, but everything here revolves around gaining points. You need 7 points to win the match, and throwing will only give you 2 points, whilst dazing someone and then doing a finisher will give you 4 points, so all in all it balances out. Due to the nature of 1-hit-wins, matches between skilled opponents regularly turn into tense stand-offs between players each looking for an opening so they can decisively beat their opponent. The game is not for traditional fighting fans, but those looking for something different may find they appreciate it. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||