Nagano Olympics
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami Computer Ent.
Release Date: January 1998
Best Feature: Realistic Events
Konami adds a new entry to its catalog of sports titles with Nagano Winter Olympics 98. Seeking to capture the thrills of the real Olympics events, developers painstakingly simulated twelve events in lifelike, fully polygonal fashion from ski jumping and speed skating to luge and curling. Choose from 16 countries and test your abilities with athletes that may appear completely unbeatable in your first five, or fifty, tries. Not unlike Track and Field, most events are won by quick button tapping. Others, like bobsled, begin with quick button combos followed then by pinpoint-accurate directional movement down the track. Move slightly too far and your sled will overturn, leading to disqualification. "Better luck next time!" Competing against the computer is tough and requires dedication to master tricky controls and inputs. Multi-player mode with friends is the best, most hilarious way to play this strenuous game.
Snowboard Kids
Publisher: Atlus
Developer: Racdym
Release Date: March 1998
Best Feature: Competitive Fun
Slide down the slick and snowy slopes in Atlus' Snowboard Kids for the Nintendo 64, a lighthearted racer that mixes Kart-like speed with shooter action. Five cartoonish contestants face off in six unique courses, with three hidden tracks waiting to be unlocked, questing to win the Gold Cup. Beyond the cutesy characters and areas, this cart is enormously good fun. Beware of fellow snowboarders who will attempt to knock you out using various silly items. Pull off staggering stunts on each course to earn prize money to unlock boards with stronger attributes. Three single-player modes add some flavor to the mix, including Battle Race, Skill Game, and Time Attack - the latter two offering additional challenges and ways to build up cash. Multi-player is likewise solid with up to four player-controlled racers able to hit the slopes at once. Master SK's steep learning curve and you will shred like no other. A fine rental for a snowy day home.
Robotron 64
Publisher: Crave Entertainment
Developer: Player 1
Release Date: January 1998
Best Feature: Totally Addictive
Taking its stride in the same fashion of Midway's Robotron X, the 64-Bit update for Atari's classic coin-op may just be the finest home version yet. The key to success with any remake or rehash is staying true to the roots of the original. Robotron 64 presents itself on a 3/4 viewpoint atop a checkered platform, as opposed to the strict top-down of the original. Your mission is to survive wave after wave of robots, firing frantically at the baddies while rescuing human families from electrocution. Collect tactical power-ups like flamethrowers to induce greater damage as robots approach in all directions. Robotron is defined by its superb (optional) "twin stick" control scheme, accomplished by attaching two controllers at once - steering with the left stick and firing with the right. With hundreds of levels to conquer, players will be busy at this one for several nights. Thank goodness the devs implemented a save feature. Whew!
Extreme-G
Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
Developer: Probe Entertainment
Release Date: October 1997
Best Feature: Looping Tracks
Faster than a speeding bullet! It's Extreme-G, a futuristic racing game on N64 based about blazing speed and combat. It pits players against some incredibly tough challengers along twelve amazing, rollercoaster-like tracks. Prepare to ride on these bullet-shaped bikes while traversing ancient ruins, lava pits, dusty deserts and more. Driving is insanely difficult to master, far more so than its closest competitor on the scene, Wipeout. It requires perseverance, but your hard work will be rewarded. Racing at 60 frames per second is one thing, and the shooting spree is another. Use electromagnetic pulses and locking missiles to take down computer rivals or choose the four-player battle mode for arena-style play. Super fun with the techno background sounds, too. The quirky Blade Runner-like aesthetic is sadly hindered by poor draw distance.
Chameleon Twist
Publisher: Sunsoft
Developer: Japan System Supply
Release Date: December 1997
Best Feature: Tongue Platforming
Now here's a true experimental oddity. Published by Sunsoft and developed by Japan System Supply, Chameleon Twist is a bizarre 3D platformer for the Nintendo 64. The reptilian hero has an intriguing weapon unlike anything seen yet: His tongue! Like Yoshi taken to the extreme, this tongue can be used to lasso on bits of scenery and swing, winch, and catapult himself from place to place. This tongue-based mobility system is way more fun than boring old running and jumping. This one is aimed at beginners, if the overly cute graphics and bouncy, repititious background tunes were not a dead giveaway. Baddies are scaled-up sprites rather than actual polygons - for shame! Our only genuine complaint is the shoddy camera. Unmovable angles tend to make it a rough quest to even locate platforms. A fun rental at the most.
Mace: The Dark Age
Publisher: Midway
Developer: Atari Games
Release Date: September 1997
Best Feature: Brutal Fighting
Mace: The Dark Age made it to N64 courtesy of Midway and Atari. Pasted from the halfway decent arcade fighter, this console port is only slightly less, er, decent. Hardly awe-inspiring. Though, by order of default, it is the best fighting game on the system. Its graphics are lovely, with mostly original character designs, fair polygons, and a pleasantly gritty medieval feel. Visuals are vibrant, and the 3-D arenas with destructible items and various objects to toss around in the ring. However, the frame rate stinks to high heaven, and the animations are woefully sluggish. The control system borrows heavily from the fighter gene pool, with fast button-led combos and half-circle D-pad moves of SF 2 and Soul Blade fame. For its faults, it's still rather fun to play tournament-style among a group of competitive friends.
San Francisco Rush
Publisher: Atari Games
Developer: Atari Games
Release Date: November 1997
Best Feature: Shortcuts Aplenty
Jet down the streets of San-Fran at a blinding pace with San Francisco Rush. Styled closely after the namesake arcade cab, this cart is a stunt-heavy racer with outrageous jumps that send you flying square across the city skyline. It comes nowhere close to the original graphically, lacking a sharp resolution and brimming with fog to hide pop-in, but as far as physicality and playability, this version is a choice pick. The key is to attach your controller to the Rumble Pak accessory. The added support will leave your hands all but numb as varied degrees of feedback sensitivity leaves the heart racing. This home port further adds exclusive tracks with plenty of shortcuts and secret areas to discover, as well as shiny cars to unlock. A solid addition to the pile of circuit racers.
Mischief Makers
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Treasure
Release Date: October 1997
Best Feature: Innovative Design
Shake, shake! Treasure strikes gold with Mischief Makers, a side-scrolling platformer rife with the developers' trademarked fast-paced action and quirky charm. It stars Marina Liteyears, a cybernetic housecleaner with a super-speed jetpack and an amusing habit of shaking her enemies, as she sets out to rescue her creator and the beleaguered civilians of Planet Clancer from an evil emperor. Players will slide, roll, and shake through a plethora of unique stages, each graced with imaginative graphics (What's with the face blocks? -Jet). MM shines in its puzzle-solving elements and, particularly, its stellar boss encounters. It is strongly reminiscent of Super Metroid's exploration-driven combat. Warning: Intense learning curve ahead! Gunstar Heroes fans will undoubtedly feel right at home.
Turok
Publisher: Acclaim Ent.
Developer: Iguana Ent.
Release Date: March 1997
Best Feature: Fun Weaponry Options
Turok was one of the earliest titles unveiled for Nintendo's next-gen device. Developers promised a first-person adventure set in a lush, prehistoric world filled with explosive firepower. They sought to break away from the age of tight corridor shooters with wide-open spaces populated with mutated creatures and dinosaurs. This cart delivers these tenets and proves to be an impressive visual treat to boot. Motion-captured animations bring lifelike movements to enemies and add a touch of realism to the otherwise fantastical scenes. A heavy dosage of fog in most areas cleverly attempts to mask the graphical limits of the N64, though doing so sadly blurs jungle areas together. Tricky controls - C-buttons for movement and stick for aiming - are a big drawback for us. Still some kick-ass dino fun, alright.
Blast Corps
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Rare
Release Date: March 1997
Best Feature: Explosions!
Blast Corps truly energizes the anemic Nintendo 64 catalog, proving Rare's three years of development resulted in a unique and creative payoff. You're tasked with clearing a route for an out-of-control nuclear missile carrier, demolishing anything blocking its way. It's like living a childhood dream with Tonka trucks, but bigger and bolder. It's not simply about mindless destruction; this game blends puzzles, vehicle simulation, and strategy into a stimulating challenge. Throughout its over 60 distinct stages, you control a dozen varied machines, ranging from bulldozers to a missile-firing motorcycle, each with their own handling of demolition. The game looks sharp - clean polygons and appealing lighting effects. With its expansive stages, lasting appeal, also that irresistible urge to play "just one more level," Blast Corps stands out as a worthwhile purchase among Nintendo 64 games.
Mario Kart 64
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: February 1997
Best Feature: Battle Mode
Mario Kart 64 retains the style and fun of its 16-Bit predecessor and supercharges the action onto the N64 with bright visuals and a challenging assortment of racetracks. Its gameplay immediately invokes familiarity thanks to straightforward, responsive controls utilizing the controller's analog stick. An abundance of play modes, racers, and items keeps the action engaging and the blood pumping. However, MK64 is not without its imperfections. Tracks are missing any real hidden paths or shortcuts, and the varied power-ups sometimes feel unbalanced - oftentimes propelling last-place characters to the lead. Wish we could disable that awful lightning bolt! Oh, plus a smidge of slowdown in four-player Battle Mode. That aside, the good far outweighs the bad, and surpasses the Super NES classic in virtually every way. This is a magnificent game that is certainly worth picking up to play with fellow player pals.
Goldeneye 007
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Rare
Release Date: August 1997
Best Feature: 4-Player Deathmatches
Rare's GoldenEye 007 isn't simply a great adaptation of the movie - its quality surpasses the film and is arguably the best N64 first-person shooter yet. It moves beyond the mindless corridor shooters on the market and forces players to rely on stealth and strategic thinking, truly embodying the spirit of James Bond. This title's eighteen intricate levels contain twenty missions, each with nifty gadgets at your disposal to accomplish your tasks. Using a silencer to sneak into a facility and rescue captured scientists isn't seen in your average Doom clone. Prepare to be immersed in this game world courtesy of solid enemy AI and realistic animations. Outside of the main missions, four-player, split-screen deathmatch mode is the stuff of shooter dreams. This is what the N64 was made for. We would warn that these controls may take a bit to get used to for players new to 3-D gaming.
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