This is a relatively unheard of game due to its rarity – due to missing deadlines, it ended up only releasing in North America, exclusively to Blockbuster (although, from what I can tell, it was available for sale, and not supposed to be rental-only like Clayfighter: Sculptor’s Cut). This is a fun arcade racer with a retro-sci-fi style and some amusing levels.

The singleplayer mode is extremely difficult. Not so much for the actual races, but for the qualifying event. Here, you have a checklist of things to complete: collecting money and bonuses, performing stunts, and hitting 150mph, the latter being more difficult than you’d expect, as you need to use the turbo boost at the right time and not hit anything for a decent amount of time to reach the speed.

This is made much worse than it should be, as you not only have to complete all of them within three laps, but you also have to hit checkpoints before you run out of time. There’s a lot to do in a short amount of time.

The racing itself, however, is quite solid. Steering is fun, although not quite as precise as I’d like for collecting coins, and there’s a load of twists, turns, and jumps in the tracks. The tracks themselves have some fun themes – such as some toy-based tracks, a haunted house where you go inside it (it reminded me of later Mario Kart tracks), a space level, and an underwater race.

Stunt Racer 64 ended up being the last game that Boss Game Studios finished, with them being approached to make Xbox games but never finding a publisher to release them. It’s a shame, as they made some decent racing games for the N64.

Fun

Currently, Stunt Racer isn’t due for release until November. However, even at this relatively early stage in development, the game is superbly playable and incredibly ‘together’. Plainly, there’s a lot to look forward to here – and Stunt Racer, with the not-inconsiderable help of Turok 3, Zelda Gaiden and Conker’s Bad Fur Day, looks set to gie the N64 it’s best Christmas yet.

N64 Magazine #41

Remake or remaster?

A re-release would be nice.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get Stunt Racer 64.