Quite a few people were involved in the creation of this game. Terminal Reality developed the original PC version while Edge of Reality ported it to N64 (they spent their first few years developing N64 ports, most notably the Tony Hawk series). Microsoft published it originally, but got Rockstar to publish in on the N64 (incidentally, Rockstar only published one other N64 game in North America). There’s some impressive names in there, so it’s quite amazing that they’ve somehow managed to turn Monster Trucks into something incredibly boring.

Monster Truck Madness 64 has one idea that could work: you are free to cut corners as long as you hit the desired checkpoints, driving up mountains or through water. However, the controls and physics completely and utterly spoil this. The trucks jerk around and turning is erratic, so it never feels like you have any control. In one moment, a tiny nudge of the stick makes you do a 90 degree turn, while other times it barely moves you.

The physics are equally wonky, you can never predict how a jump will end up, and an enemy colliding with you can make you slowly float across half the map. It’s very broken.

The one time that the game does control well is when you get a flight power-up – it’s strange how smooth and precise turning and going up and down is with this power-up. Other power-ups are quite boring, some missiles and oil slicks are useful against enemies, but any boost or jump ones will just mess up your race.

The graphics are also bad. Everything feels like it’s in a different scale and so many parts of the game feel like they belong to completely different games. The trucks themselves also feel like toy cars – when they’re supposed to be the big proper machines, as they license real monster trucks.

There’s also absolutely no spectacle. There’s no satisfying noise or visual effect when landing, no splash when going through water. There’s not even much to smash – just a few fences. This is a Monster Truck game, there needs to be spectacle, destruction and mayhem. This game would play no different if you replaced the trucks with a milk float or scooter.

There are a few interesting multiplayer modes. There’s a football game where cars bash around a giant football into a futuristic goal (I’m surprised nobody else has tried this concept), as well as a hockey. Oddly, these let you select them with just one player, but has no CPU players, just giving you the ball and an open goal.

There’s also a king of the hill mode which does have CPU players, and a few 2-player only chase modes. These might provide a bit of enjoyment for someone renting it, but it doesn’t make up for the entire game being a wreckage.

Worst

Everything is absurdly ‘floaty’ – hit a bump and you’ll fly into the air, invariably hitting the ground, rolling over and skidding for several metres before you’re placed back on your wheels. The sheer over-the-topness is quite entertaining for a while, but soon becomes tiresome because of its inaccuracy. Cornering is equally as problematic, and irritatingly erratic; you skid out, accompanied by the camera swinging in a seasickness-inducing manner.

Jes Bickham, N64 Magazine #33. Review Score: 66%

Remake or remaster?

A monster truck game could be a lot of fun, but not this. The football mode could be turned into something interesting, perhaps replace the monster trucks with something crazy like supersonic acrobatic rocket-powered battle-cars.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get Monster Truck Madness 64