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40 |
Donkey Kong 64 |  |
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| Praised at the time for its huge scope and technical prowess DK64 tends to garner a little more of a mixed reaction these days. Donkey Kong 64 is a work of pure excess, the idea that more is always better. The game includes many times the number of items to find than Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie, pretty much everything that can be collected, has to be. Some say the game is simply too big, personally I think the problem is more one of pacing, there's just not enough levels here to fit all this stuff into, you end up getting bogged down searching the same levels over and over instead of moving forwards and seeing new things to keep you interested. On the other side though, there is a lot to like here, many of the challenges are as fun as you'd expect from Rare, the environments are cool and well designed, and its certainly technically excellent too (in fact DK64s greatest strength over its siblings Conker, and Banjo Tooie remains is graphics and smooth framerate). Overall its long and bloated, but for those who love these kinds of games and just have to collect every last thing this will probably be mana from heaven. | |||||
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39 |
Bust a Move 99/Puzzle Bobble 3 |  |
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| This is a revamped version of the 3rd Bust-A-Move game. The game is a puzzle classic which has you shooting coloured bubbles at clumps of same coloured bubbles to burst them and hopefully clear the screen. The gameplay here is as great as it was in earlier iterations of the series, with the added extra here of an excellent 4-player battle mode (which is a rare feature for the series). Overall its a very polished, and well-ported version of what was a classic arcade game. | |||||
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38 |
World Driver Championship |  |
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| Whilst the N64 library is packed with many of the best racing games of its time, realism in the genre is not really the system's strong point. World Driver Championship is the main challenger representing this side of the genre, luckily its a good game, and manages to be one of the most graphically impressive titles of its generation. The game starts off a little slow, with some of the early cars not having the best handling, but give it some time and everything starts to fall into place revealing a very playable, challenging, in-depth, and enjoyable racing experience to get stuck into. | |||||
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37 |
Bangai-O |  |
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| Treasure ended up making a total of three games in for the N64 and as can be expected of a company with such pedigree, all of then ended up pretty much being stone cold classics. Bangai-O is a very unique, frantic, and generally over-the-top shmup that has you piloting a hovering mech through a bunch of different stages shooting anything that moves. The game controls well, with you being able to fire in any direction and move independently, and it never stops being exciting and totally engrossing. | |||||
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36 |
Wipeout 64 |  |
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| It was a long time coming, but when the popular futuristic racing series did eventually make it to the N64 it was worth the wait. Wipeout 64 may not have been the greatest Wipeout of its generation, but its definitely the most under-appreciated one. Whilst rarely mentioned, this is actually very competitive with the Playstation classics, containing all of their rewarding gameplay, and stylish art design. Wipeout 64 is essentially a re-jigged amalgamation of the first Wipeout game, and Wipeout 2098, containing altered courses from both games that have been changed to emphasise speed, and have new environment artwork. The re jigged stages look fantastic, and very different to the originals, new analogue controls give you a glorious feeling of precision in movement, there's an excellent new challenge mode (great addition), and this is also the only game in the series to feature a 4-player split-screen mode. | |||||
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35 |
The World is Not Enough |  |
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| GoldenEye was a hard game to follow, but it has to be said that Eurocom actually did a pretty good job here as TWINE is certainly one of the more criminally overlooked first person shooters of its generation (note that this game is an N64 exclusive, the PS1 game is completely different, and inferior). The game closely follows the gameplay mechanics of GoldenEye, giving you a load of mission based stages requiring shooting skills, stealth, and general espionage inspired gameplay gimmicks. In my opinion the single player experience of TWINE has actually dated much better than many other fps titles on N64, mainly due to Eurocom's focus on getting the game running smoothly with a good framerate and clean, detailed graphics. Levels tend to be more consistent here than in GoldenEye, but obviously its all very derivative, and the multiplayer is unfortunately inferior. Ironically many years later Eurocom actually went on to make the remake of GoldenEye on the Wii. Fans of Rare, and Free Radical's fps titles should definitely check this out. | |||||
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34 |
Beetle Adventure Racing |  |
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| Easily one of the best arcade style racers on the N64, Beetle Adventure Racing focuses on uncomplicated fun, and colourful, imaginative courses filled with secrets to discover. The game is infused with a quirky, non-serious vibe, with you racing through courses populated with things like Dinosaurs & UFO's, and careening off ski jumps. There's a lot of content here to keep racing fans busy (including a 4-player battle mode), and due to its offbeat nature its actually aged quite well. | |||||
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33 |
Jet Force Gemini |  |
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| Another memorable game from Rare, Jet Force Gemini is a 3rd person shooter reminiscent of games like MDK and Body Harvest, except with Rare's usual humour and cartoon styling apparent in spades. The game is mainly focused on gung-ho action, with you amassing loads of fun, overpowered weaponry to deal death and destruction to your enemies, but there's also ample adventuring elements, and other secondary mission objectives to keep you involved along the way. | |||||
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32 |
Pilot Wings 64 |  |
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| Pilotwings was a beautifully realised N64 launch title which has you flying different aircrafts (including Auto-Gyro's, hand-glider's, and jet packs) around islands fulfilling a range of mission objectives. This sequel to the SNES original was made by Paradigm, who had previously been a company specialising in designing commercial flight sims for the US department of defence (amongst others). Nintendo contracted them to develop the game, and they subsequently shifted their projects towards gaming, going on to develop some other interesting, and underrated titles, such as the aforementioned Beetle Adventure Racing, and Duck Dodgers. I'd say Pilotwings remains their greatest release though, a very singular, unique, and carefree experience. | |||||
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31 |
Mario Tennis |  |
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| The best of Mario's sports outings, Mario Tennis has you playing some very fun, arcade focused Tennis with famous characters from the Mario franchise. The game has all the required elements you'd expect from a good Tennis game, with good controls, a variety of different shots, and multiple court types. It also has some Mario themed game modes which are a lot of fun, such as one which has you using items a la Mario Kart. All in all a very admirable, and fun Mario outing which is great to play both alone and with friends. | |||||
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