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All N64 Games #162: NBA Jam 99
After playing a few Basketball games on the N64, I don’t think that the proper rules of basketball translate very well to a video game. It’s focuses on blocking with any attempt to get the ball off an opponent counting as a foul.
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #161: Mario’s Photo Studio
Mario’s Photo Studio (or Mario no Photopi) is a photo editing software for the N64 that was exclusive to Japan. It used a special cartridge that had slots to insert SecureMedia cards, which were presumably popular with digital camera in Japan at the time.
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #160: Freak Boy
Virgin Interactive really wanted to get onto Nintendo’s “Dream Team” – a group of developers that got special treatment because Nintendo were interested in their projects. However, they could not come up with anything that they thought was special enough.
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #159: Golden Nugget 64
I was very intrigued to see Westwood when this game booted up. Looking it up, and this is the first game developed by Burst Studios after EA purchased them and rebranded them as “Westwood Pacific” (they would later make Red Alert 2).
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #158: Bust-A-Move 3 DX
Known as Bust-A-Move 99 in the USA and Puzzle Bobble 64 in Japan, this is a home console port of the third Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move game.
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #157: Nightmare Creatures
Nightmare Creatures is a port of an earlier PlayStation title that really is a bit too authentic of a port. When this was released on the N64, it already felt very dated and really needed improvements. It’s a horror slash-’em-up set in 1834 in London.
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #156: NHL Breakaway 99
NHL Breakaway 98 was a very bland ice hockey game that paled in comparison to Wayne Gretzky – plenty of room for improvement, then.
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #155: Legend of the River King 64
Nushi Tsuri is a series of fishing RPGs that were released between 1990 and 2007. A few games have received western releases under the name Legend of the River King on the Game Boy and Game Boy Colour. Some of the later games were called River King in North America, but Harvest Fishing in Europe.
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #154: Milo’s Astro Lanes
Milo’s Astro Lanes sounds like a fun concept. Take the quick and speedy game of bowling, add some elements of the just as nippy mini golf, add some power ups and mix it all in a retro sci-fi aesthetic.
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #153: Top Gear Overdrive
The Top Gear series of racing games is a bit like Need For Speed in terms of how it can cover a variety of different racing game styles. While Top Gear Rally was a more simulation-based racing game, this is more on the arcade side of things
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #152: Fox Sports College Hoops ’99
Instead of opting for the fully professional basketball teams, Fox Sports instead went to the various colleges and universities to include their teams (but the players are all fictional).
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #151: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Often heralded as one of the greatest games of all time, I really don’t need to go into great detail as to what makes Ocarina of Time so amazing, as it provided one of the first epic adventures in 3D in a way that felt real.
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #150: Magical Tetris Challenge
One week after the previous Tetris game comes another officially licensed Tetris game – this one starring Mickey Mouse, even though the title surprisingly lacks any mention of either Mikey or Disney.
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #149: Extreme G 2
Racing sequels typically take the same formula, refine it and have a bunch of new tracks, but XG2 feels a lot further apart from its predecessor than I expected. While I can easily see people preferring this, the differences are not ones I like.
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #148: Glover
I have quite fond memories of Glover from when I was a kid, but upon trying to replay it, I discovered that I barely saw anything in the game – just the initial level. I wasn’t prepared for just how difficult this game is, and not entirely for the right reasons.
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #147: Tetris 64
Tetris 64 is Tetris on the Nintendo 64. The main mode is basic Tetris. No bells or whistles, just a slideshow on in the background and acceptable background music.
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #146: Twisted Edge Extreme Snowboarding
The first emulator I booted Twisted Edge in didn’t have the sound working. After moving to one that worked better, I regretted it due to the game’s utterly dreadful music. I even checked YouTube videos just to make sure what I was hearing wasn’t an emulator issue, but it sounded just as terrible.
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #145: Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA
Rush 2 is better than the first game in every single way. The handling is now great, letting you turn at last minute amongst the twists and turns, the levels are more expansive with a ton of shortcuts to find, and it feels like a full video game rather than an arcade conversion.
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #144: NFL Quarterback Club 99
While this is another American football game, I was pleasantly surprised about this one. I still don’t fully understand (or like) the sport, but I managed to have some fun with this.
Posted by Dean Jones last month
All N64 Games #143: Knife Edge: Nose Gunner
Knife Edge: Nose Gunner (or just “Knife Edge” in Europe) is a lightgun shooter game that doesn’t come with a lightgun – the N64 itself never had a lightgun, either.
Posted by Dean Jones last month