This game is a mixed bag for me. As a mutliplayer game, it is fairly unmatched in my opinion. Meaning that (specifically with "License to Kill" turned on) I have never played a better/more fun FPS game multiplayer, in my entire life. It STILL holds up and is incredibly fun with friends, and while I may be an oddball, I like/prefer the N64 Goldeneye control setup, vs. say, typical dual-stick shooters.

On the OTHER hand, while for its time (outside of Turok 2) there was not a single FPS in its era that had better graphics, depth, or AI. That said, I personally just never got much into the single player. And I even like the film it's based on, but I just wasn't into playing the game by myself.

So, all that considered, to ME, the game deserves two ratings. As a multiplayer/death match shooter with friends? It's a 5 Star affair, easily. As a single player game, especially through the lens of decades since its release? It's maybe a 3.5. So I guess I'll give it a 4, to split the difference.

This game is, to ME, a near-flawless affair. For its time, the jump to 3D tracks over the SNES Mode 7, was amazing. And personally I have always been a HUGE fan of the look/feel of the pre-rendered 2D racer sprites. I'm glad they chose to go with that, over ugly, clunky polygons.

There are next to no BAD or lame tracks on this game, and for my money (while it certainly could have had more arenas), it has the best Battle Mode of the series. ESPECIALLY when talking about Block Fort. If the game only had that ONE arena, it would still have the best Battle Mode in MK history. In point of fact, every single MK entry since, has disappointed me with their Battle Modes...not really sure why Nintendo finds it so hard to get that TRULY right, again.

Overall, beyond my personal connection with this game, my memories of spending countless hours playing racing and battle with friends, over the course of years even, as a game standing on its own merits, while it certainly could be more refined, given when it released, as an early 3D Nintendo effort, I think the game is fantastic. Personally, in a similar case to something like Mega Man 2, while later entries certainly added and exapnded elements, had better graphics, more racers, new items, etc., I would argue that there hasn't been a single Mario Kart that TOPS MK64. I think it has a very simple, "less is more" approach, in that I don't think later MK games adding tons more racers, and especially a TON more obnoxious items, ever truly added anything to the formula. Beyond the rubber band AI, I don't think this game really has any glaring flaws. It is a well balanced game, in terms of racers AND items, and frankly, it's just about the only Mario Kart, in my experience, where no matter how cheap the AI is, it IS actually possible to just be so good at the actual RACING of the game, that you win most of the time. Meaning it IS possible to win just by being good, and not being lucky, is as often the case with later entries.

On a side note, I've noticed several other reviews getting snotty about someone, ANYONE (such as myself), apparently having the audacity to consider MK64 the best Mario Kart game. My question to them is: Who cares? How can someone else's opinion/taste differing from your own, actually bother you that much? Some people love this game the best, some love other MKs the best. SOME people don't like ANY Mario Kart games whatsoever. Does that bother you too? The point being, other people's opinions shouldn't bother you. YES, some people, like me, think MK64 is the best MK of the series, to this day. And that's OK. As far as I'm concerned, it's the most well balanced, it has everything going for it, I think the sprite racers look and play better, personally, than polygons. And that's just my take. Cheers!

This game's water graphics and physics, when it was new, when I first played it, were mind blowing. Nothing in a video game up to that point had felt that realistic. The game certainly wasn't flawless, but it was exciting and refreshing to play a game that really tried its best to mimic what racing on real water might be like.

In some ways, naturally, the Gamecube sequel is superior: graphics, sound, environmental effects, even the controls are tightened up a bit. But this entry really does stand the test of time, it's still fun to play, and still incredibly impressive for what they accomplished. Especially when you stop to consider this was one of their very first forays into 3D gaming. This game, to me, represents a high water mark (pun intended), back when Nintendo still developed a lot of games like this in-house. And I think their output was all the better for it.

This remains one of my favorite racing games, and one of the best N64 games of all time.

Such a unique, creative, and fulfilling game. The challenge was tough, but fair. The graphics for the time were fantastic. The gameplay kept you on your toes, and kept you thinking. And the soundtrack is bad ass, and I say that not even especially loving techno.

This was one of the few (like less than 10) N64 games I owned myself, when the console was new. But I was glad I owned it, and unlike almost every other puzzle game I've ever played (even the ones I love), I put in the time and actually beat this one, back in the day.

Just a really, really great game. TOP shelf N64 title.

When this game came out, I was both very pleased with it, while at the same time being a bit disappointed in it. On the plus side of things, Rare managed to port an (for its time) EXTREMELY advanced arcade fighter, onto home hardware. It wasn't arcade perfect, they had to take out the animated endings and victory screens, had to cut frames of animation from the characters, etc. But it was much closer to the real deal than the (still impressive for the hardware) KI1 port on SNES was. It retained most of what made the arcade KI2 great, and it was still very fun to try to play and master it at home. It's worth noting that the game has some of the highest quality sound/music on the system.

On the negative side of things, in the lead up to this game's release, it was directly implied, practically even stated by Rare, that this game would feature AT LEAST one new character, or perhaps one (or more) returning character from KI1. They had removed Cinder, Riptor, Chief Thunder, and Eyedol from the first game for its sequel, and I know I wasn't alone in being excited by the prospect of the home version including some of those characters again. Unfortunately, upon release, there was ZERO no characters, or really any new content whatsoever, even though it has definitely been talked about by Rare themselves. The only "new", were the 3D polygonal backgrounds, which they tried to play off as somehow being an "improvement" over the arcade, but not only was that BS, the truth was that they HAD to make 3D backgrounds, because the N64 (nor any of its contemporaries at the time) simply couldn't handle the high-level graphics of the arcade backgrounds. They were basically rendered FMV, which is why they looked so amazing. Rare's choices were either to do what they did with KI1 on SNES, and have mostly static renditions of the stages, or do what they did, which was go with ultimately fugly looking polygon stages instead. Personally, I think I would have preferred the SNES approach. It still could have looked good, they could have done DKC style multi-plane effects and things. It's also worth mentioning that this was a VERY early N64 effort by Rare, and I think if they had perhaps put in a bit more time on it, it likely could have turned out even better than it did.

Overall, this IS a pretty good port of KI2, and should be recognized as such. I'd argue its the best fighter on the console, and it's still a ton of fun to play. It's a bit of a mixed bag, but I think ultimately there's more good than bad.

As a personal aside, speaking of Rare letting me down, I was very much hoping they'd make a Killer Instinct 3 in the same style as the first two arcade hits. What they could have accomplished with that same advanced pre-rendered style, just looking even better? It could have been amazing. And, let's say, a Gamecube port probably could have handled it all much better. Alas.

I'll start off by saying, right up front, that while I always appreciated it for how impressive it was on SNES (albeit with the help of an extra chip), and what they were going for in general, I was never (and still am not, really) a big fan of the original Star Fox. It's fine. It just never clicked with me.

But the N64 sequel? GEEZUS. Such a huge difference. And unlike practically any other Star Fox entry, they developed this themselves, 100% in-house, no help. AND it was one of their earliest 3D efforts! That alone is amazing.

Simply put, in this man's opinion, Star Fox 64 is not only the best of its franchise, but it's the best 3D shooter ever made, as well. The variety of stages and missions is epic, with multiple paths upping the replay value. Every planet/mission feels unique, and its own. They added aquatic submarine and land tank missions as well, which further the diversity within the game experience. The game controls VERY well, it feels good to play it, not clunky or frustrating. And all told, it's just a REALLY fun game. Which I honestly can't say has been my personal experience with a lot of shooters.

They even added a dogfight/battle mode, which I was never a big fan of, but it was still neat of them to include it. It's always a good thing to have more, not less, so long as the additions don't take away from what they did/could do in the main game. But the main game is so incredible, that they can slap on battle modes all they want.

Sadly, I have been waiting for a PROPER, true follow up to this game ever since. And I've never gotten one. I was SUPER excited for Assault on Gamecube, because the early trailers (which only really showed bits of the first two stages), made it seem like EXACTLY what a SF64 sequel should have been: this but better/more. Instead, what I actually got, was a steaming pile of bitter disappointment. And none of the others have ever come even close to fitting the bill either. The Wii U game COULD have possibly been okay, but they decided to slap on some crappy control gimmick as the ONLY control option. No thank you.

I don't even own a Switch, but honestly, I would love for them to just give this game an HD remake. Don't mess with or change anything, just improve the graphics, maybe give it orchestrated music like Assault (one of the game's few good points), and that's it. But who knows if we'll ever get even that? Alas, at least this game DOES exist. It's one of the best games on the N64, hands down, and in my personal view, one of the best games Nintendo has ever crafted, and I'm well aware that's really saying something.

Proof the N64 could pull off a basically arcade perfect port, including sound. This game had MUCH better sound than MK Trilogy, which just proves that the developers of MKT were rushed/lazy, and THAT'S why it practically sounds like MK3 on SNES/Genesis.

As for Hangtime itself, it's a great game, looks great, sounds great, controls well. The only real knock I'd give it, which is a knock against the arcade NBA Jam/Hangtime/Showtime as well, is that the AI, especially late in the game, is a MASSIVE dick. Midway had a real issue with that. BUT, as a multiplayer game, it's pretty fantastic.

The N64 certainly was lacking in certain genres, but one major edge it had, was built-in 4 player readiness. And being able to play a game like Hangtime, 4 player with your friends, is invaluable.

In SOME ways, this is, IMO, the best MK3-ish experience you're going to get. The graphics are pretty much arcade perfect, and there's NO annoying load times or loading limitations (such as with Shang Tsung on PS1). The game plays great, with the exception of MK3's obnoxious AI of course. And it has a nice array of characters.

The only reason I don't give it a 4 (besides the obnoxious AI, which the developers REALLY could have taken the time to mellow out on easier settings), is that the sound sucks. Early on, Playstation fanboys of course, used this as a reason why N64 sucked, because the PS1 (and Saturn) versions of MKT had great CD sound/music. But the thing is, while N64 DIDN'T have CD sound, the hardware wasn't the reason MKT had terrible sound. There are many 64 games that prove the system could do great sound when developers actually TRIED, such as Shadow of the Empire, Star Fox 64, Goldeneye, Tetrisphere, Beetle Adventure Racing, NBA Hangtime, Top Gear Overdrive, etc. The devs were just rushed/lazy with the sound aspect of this game, plain and simple. For an N64 game to literally sound like the SNES Ultimate MK3 is unacceptable.

Outside of sound, I would say that this version of the game stacks up against the PS1 version pretty well. In fact I'd say it has more pros than cons, version Playstation. The PS1 game TECHNICALLY has "more characters", in that you can play MK1/2 versions of characters like Kano, Raiden, Goro, etc. But honestly, while being able to play Goro and Kintaro in MKT on 64 would have been nice, the others are completely throwaway. The PS1 version also has a character called "Chameleon", which switches between the look/abilities of the various male ninjas, whereas the N64 version has "Kameleon", which switches between the three female ninjas. So which you think is better between the two, is a matter of taste. That character, again, is fairly throwaway.

All in all, I definitely think that MKT on N64 could/should have been better than it is. BUT, having said that, outside of the shitty sound, it IS about as good a version of MK3/Trilogy as you're going to get. And behind Killer Instinct Gold, it's probably the 2nd best fighter on the system. It really makes me wish Capcom and SNK had bothered porting some of their arcade fighters to N64, as it absolutely could have done them, and they could have been superior to the Playstation (IE NO load times, etc.). Alas.

I was never NEARLY as enamored as many were with this game, and I'm not super nostalgic for it, even though I was still pretty young (teens) when it came out. Part of the reason for that, is that I've always preferred 2D Mario, and 2D gaming in general. So I wasn't madly in love with Mario's jump to 3D, as personally I would have been happier with a 2D "Super Mario Bros. 5" instead. The OTHER major reason, is that a couple of my friends played the damn game SO much (including at demo kiosks in stores, before the system had even LAUNCHED), that I frankly just got burnt out on seeing it. I played through and beat it myself, eventually, but I had already seen most of it, so my friends kinda "ruined" it for me.

That said, it IS still a wonderful game. As much as I hear some people complain about the dated blocky graphics and the camera, etc., in all blunt honesty outside of its direct clone Banjo-Kazooie, this is basically THE best 3D platformer that would come along, in my opinion, until Mario Galaxy over a decade later. Meaning I don't think there was a single 3D platformer, on any system, that controlled, had better physics/mechanics, or certainly better CAMERA (3D games had notorious bad cameras forever, many still do), than Mario 64.

This game was the blueprint for 3D gaming, as much as Super Mario Bros. was for 2D gaming, and that's not up for debate. Nintendo hasn't always been perfect (in fact they've gotten far less so as time goes on), but when it comes to literally shaping video games as an art/entertainment form, they've probably done more than any single company. Super Mario Bros., Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, Super Metroid, A Link to the Past, those games alone did SO much to show the way for other games, its insane. And Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time can also be counted among those, for the 3D era.

Hardly one of my FAVORITE games, but I still give it 4 stars because it deserves it. I like it, and I would be super on board with them giving it a full on HD remake. In fact, the one remade stage in Mario Galaxy 2, honestly made me wish they had just made a full Mario 64 remake on Wii with Galaxy graphics, instead of Galaxy 2. If you want great 3D platforming, it doesn't get too much better than this.

Yet another great example that the N64 COULD do great, practically arcade perfect ports for many games, if developers actually tried. If you're wondering why Cruis'n World is SUCH a better game on N64 than Cruis'n USA (or Mortal Kombat Trilogy, for that matter), it's because those were developed by Williams, and this was developed by Eurocom. HUGE difference, as Eurocom had a track record for actually putting in effort, and being a studio that usually turned out high quality games.

In partial fairness to Williams, I'm certain that they were pressured/rushed into getting USA and MKT done as quickly as possible, to have them available within N64's launch window. But I still maintain that World is excellent by comparison, BECAUSE Eurocom made it. In fact, this game was originally supposed to release on the N64 in 1997, but it was delayed all the way until September 1998, which while it sucked waiting for it, it was a good decision, as they clearly took the time needed to make it GOOD.

The game has close to arcade perfect graphics, good sound, good controls, up to 4-player multiplayer (one of N64's greatest strengths in an era when NONE of the competition, until Dreamcast in late '99, had out-of-the-box 4 player capability). Eurocom even went the extra mile, and added an additional hidden track, the Moon, as well as a Championship Mode, which allows you to play circuit versions of the tracks, instead of the "road" versions from the arcade.

It's a fun game on its own merits, and I would easily call it one of the best racing games, on a console that had a wealth of good racing games.

So many people talk up/reference No Mercy, as if they've never even heard of this game. And while No Mercy is certainly good, arguably a SLIGHT upgrade over this graphically, etc., in my opinion, having played/owned both, WM 2000 is the better game. To my memory the career mode was just more interesting/fun to play, and I put a TON of time into this game, creating made up characters, trying my best to add existing wrestlers into the game, etc.

The N64 was the first console I ever bought myself, with money from my first real summer job, and while I sadly didn't have it for TOO long (teenage idiocy), for the year and a half/two years that I DID have my original N64, this was one of my most played games on it, by far.

It's slow and a bit clunky these days, even compared to the game I eventually moved on to (Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain on PS2). BUT, for its era, it's still a phenomenal game. Best wrestling game on N64 (or perhaps from that entire console generation), and one of the best games on the system.

They never did put a Need for Speed game on N64, which always pissed me off back then. But they DID put this, made by the same basic people, and I'm glad they did. It's a very fun game, controls great, looks great, sounds great. Decent sense of speed, cool cars (even among the limited "one car type" set), very elaborate and imaginative tracks. They even managed to add a "battle" mode that is somewhat fun!

One of the N64's strong points, were racing games. That was one genre it definitely didn't lack. In fact, were it not for PS1 having so many Need For Speed and Ridge Racer games, I'd be willing to say the N64 was THE system to own for racing fans. And among such lofty company as Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Top Gear Overdrive, Extreme G, Wave Race 64, Cruis'n World, Star Wars: Pod Racer, etc., THIS is easily one of the very best on the console.

This was a rental, I sadly didn't own it when it was new. But out of all the games my friends and I played on N64, this was one of the ones that impressed me most. More fun, in my opinion, than Wipeout, on par I think with F-Zero X, this game was a refreshing and unique spin on the "futuristic racer" mold. The "gravity bikes" was a nice take, especially with force fields, and the game has an excellent sense of speed. I had a great time playing this on that first rental, and it remains one of my favorite N64 games.

Sadly, while I had been SUPER stoked for Extreme G 2 to come out, upon renting it, I was VERY disappointed. I don't know what they did, whether it was trying to fit too much graphical detail into too fast of a game, or what, but not only did it just feel undercooked compared to the first, but it honestly made me feel motion sickness trying to play it, which was super weird, and very unpleasant.

But the FIRST game is excellent, and should definitely be played, if you never have!

This game is equal parts a mixed bag, and wonderful.

One the one hand, the "shake mechanic" and overall gameplay aren't necessarily my favorite. The game is hardly "perfect", and certainly could have played smoother, or had some more interesting level designs.

On the OTHER hand, on a system that had all but abandoned 2D gaming (to my great sorrow), here was a game that helped illustrate WHY they shouldn't have. The game is mostly 2D, with prerendered graphics, though there are some stages, and even bosses, that have polygonal elements. But it is a pure side scroller, and while it's not THE most beautiful game (Yoshi's Story looked better, well, at least the sprites did), it still helped to illustrate what games like Symphony of the Night had already proven. That there was still a LOT that 2D gaming had to offer, and with more powerful 32/64 bit hardware, there was a lot more that 2D games could do than we had yet seen, be it graphics or inventive level designs, etc.

This game isn't amazing, by any means, but I was still very fond of it, and it was one of the handful of N64 games I actually owned myself in the late 90s, on my original system. There is still a good amount of fun to be had, once you get used to the gameplay, and it's still one of my favorite N64 titles.