SNESmapper
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1995
Terrible fighting game trying to be yet another Mortal Kombat clone with its own unique spin featuring different demigods.
Most of the characters were forgettable, the only one I liked was Anubis but even then, the gameplay made this game almost unplayable with slow and stiff movements. The promise of 3D mechanics was a scam, with the game only featuring a step move that checked the box for "3D" movement.
Most of the characters were forgettable, the only one I liked was Anubis but even then, the gameplay made this game almost unplayable with slow and stiff movements. The promise of 3D mechanics was a scam, with the game only featuring a step move that checked the box for "3D" movement.
1997
The first soccer game released in North America for the Nintendo 64, FIFA 64 was a disappointment even back in the day due to its lackluster gameplay, graphics, and overall presentation.
This game featured a ton (perhaps every FIFA registered nation plus certain leagues) of teams to choose from but the overall content and poor gameplay did not help at all. It's crazy how just a couple of months after FIFA 64 released, Konami put out International Superstar Soccer 64 which put this game to shame in just about every category.
This game featured a ton (perhaps every FIFA registered nation plus certain leagues) of teams to choose from but the overall content and poor gameplay did not help at all. It's crazy how just a couple of months after FIFA 64 released, Konami put out International Superstar Soccer 64 which put this game to shame in just about every category.
1996
Mario Kart 64 was a big improvement in many ways over the original, especially in the graphics, presentation, and sound departments.
I always thought that the gameplay was not the best and found the drifting/sliding as well as the physics a bit off and never felt like they clicked properly with the game.
Track design and overall content is among my favorite in the series, with newly created 3D tracks featuring interesting shortcuts ranging from simple to complicated ones. Royal Raceway (featuring Peach's Castle) was an incredible track to experience at the time shortly after the release of Super Mario 64. Toad's Turnpike was another favorite of mine with the modern feel and addition of traffic obstacles. Battle mode was fun and properly done for the Nintendo 64.
I always thought that the gameplay was not the best and found the drifting/sliding as well as the physics a bit off and never felt like they clicked properly with the game.
Track design and overall content is among my favorite in the series, with newly created 3D tracks featuring interesting shortcuts ranging from simple to complicated ones. Royal Raceway (featuring Peach's Castle) was an incredible track to experience at the time shortly after the release of Super Mario 64. Toad's Turnpike was another favorite of mine with the modern feel and addition of traffic obstacles. Battle mode was fun and properly done for the Nintendo 64.
For being an early 3D/Nintendo 64 game I thought they did a very good job in creating a good atmosphere and setting the right Star Wars vibe.
This game is definitely more than just the Hoth battle level that helped popularize the game: it features a very interesting story (I'd almost movie worthy) and levels with gameplay variety. The gunplay was a bit clunky, as well as performance making some levels a bit frustrating to navigate. The difficulty was also all over the place with certain spikes here and there but overall this a very enjoyable action adventure set in the Star Wars universe and I'm glad I was able to experience it early in the life cycle of the Nintendo 64.
This game is definitely more than just the Hoth battle level that helped popularize the game: it features a very interesting story (I'd almost movie worthy) and levels with gameplay variety. The gunplay was a bit clunky, as well as performance making some levels a bit frustrating to navigate. The difficulty was also all over the place with certain spikes here and there but overall this a very enjoyable action adventure set in the Star Wars universe and I'm glad I was able to experience it early in the life cycle of the Nintendo 64.
This was basically a reskin using the Wayne Gretzky's previous games base engine focusing on the national hockey teams that competed at the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998.
It felt like a cheap and quick cash-in attempt on behalf of Midway. Content was straightforward with modes ranging from Arcade to the actual Olympic tournament and even going beyond with qualifiers if you were looking for more depth.
Since I borrowed this game, it was a good distraction for a few days and competed playing with Italy all the way from qualifiers to the actual tournament for an added challenge. I enjoyed the team's intros with the national anthems playing in a midi-like sound. Jerseys were terrible since they just slapped the country's flags on the front of the jerseys.
It felt like a cheap and quick cash-in attempt on behalf of Midway. Content was straightforward with modes ranging from Arcade to the actual Olympic tournament and even going beyond with qualifiers if you were looking for more depth.
Since I borrowed this game, it was a good distraction for a few days and competed playing with Italy all the way from qualifiers to the actual tournament for an added challenge. I enjoyed the team's intros with the national anthems playing in a midi-like sound. Jerseys were terrible since they just slapped the country's flags on the front of the jerseys.
1996
This was the 'next gen' version of NBA Jam. The Nintendo 64 game was a very good arcade port that brought the over-the-top arcadey basketball action to home consoles.
While the game was very fun and improved upon graphics and gameplay over previous NBA Jam games, it lacked content and variety.
While the game was very fun and improved upon graphics and gameplay over previous NBA Jam games, it lacked content and variety.
1996
The original/first Killer Instinct is one of my favorite fighting games of all time in its arcade form and I thought the SNES port was fantastic as well. So naturally, my first reaction was that KI Gold could only be the better game being the sequel and given the fact that the game was ported to a more powerful console.
For whatever reason, KI Gold never made an impact on me even though the game shared a lot of similarities with the previous game (such as finishing moves, elaborate combos, etc). I guess this game did not have all the bright new shine that KI had for its time and Gold ended up being more of the same but without the wow factor.
The cast of characters was not as memorable as the original cast and I was also hoping for a better port: it felt like the N64 had more power to provide a closer experience to the arcade machines but for whatever reason it fell short.
For whatever reason, KI Gold never made an impact on me even though the game shared a lot of similarities with the previous game (such as finishing moves, elaborate combos, etc). I guess this game did not have all the bright new shine that KI had for its time and Gold ended up being more of the same but without the wow factor.
The cast of characters was not as memorable as the original cast and I was also hoping for a better port: it felt like the N64 had more power to provide a closer experience to the arcade machines but for whatever reason it fell short.
1996
As an early title for a console deprived of frequent new releases, Pilotwings 64 quickly became my go-to time waster for the N64 as a way to pass the wait time in-between releases thanks to its relaxing and exploratory nature. I spent countless hours just flying around in the gyrocopter in the mini-USA map and enjoying the blocky sights that the game had to offer.
It's always difficult to explain exactly what Pilotwings is and what it aims towards, but it's essentially a flying academy basic sim with arcade controls. Aiming for the different types of medals was always fun and part of the challenge but overall the game has a relaxing nature and fun-to explore maps and environments. Performance wasn't great with some heavy frame drops but you can't blame the game much considering it's an early title with a lot going on as far as gameplay and environments.
Overall, this was a great early title and I have a ton of fond memories playing this both as a relaxing game as well as looking for a challenge trying to get the best scores/medals for each task.
It's always difficult to explain exactly what Pilotwings is and what it aims towards, but it's essentially a flying academy basic sim with arcade controls. Aiming for the different types of medals was always fun and part of the challenge but overall the game has a relaxing nature and fun-to explore maps and environments. Performance wasn't great with some heavy frame drops but you can't blame the game much considering it's an early title with a lot going on as far as gameplay and environments.
Overall, this was a great early title and I have a ton of fond memories playing this both as a relaxing game as well as looking for a challenge trying to get the best scores/medals for each task.
For being an early title for the Nintendo 64, MRC provided a solid racing experience following the Ridge Racer formula with a few ingredients of its own.
Graphics and presentation were very good as well as gameplay and basic physics. The game also featured small details that made it stand a bit over regular racing games such as dynamic dash gauge among other details. Tracks had solid designs with multiple paths / shortcuts that provided advantages depending on the type of vehicle you selected (i.e. off-road)
Perhaps the weakest point in this game is the relative lack of content / small number of tracks. The game does try to re-use them in certain ways such as mirrored tracks but the lack of content is apparent no matter what.
Graphics and presentation were very good as well as gameplay and basic physics. The game also featured small details that made it stand a bit over regular racing games such as dynamic dash gauge among other details. Tracks had solid designs with multiple paths / shortcuts that provided advantages depending on the type of vehicle you selected (i.e. off-road)
Perhaps the weakest point in this game is the relative lack of content / small number of tracks. The game does try to re-use them in certain ways such as mirrored tracks but the lack of content is apparent no matter what.
Played this back in the day because a friend of mine bought it. Even back then, I scratched my head at the concept of a car manufacturer model-specific racing game.
The highlight of this game was the track design. Tracks were long and littered with secret routes/shortcuts that sometimes, in turn, had other alternate routes or shortcuts within them.
All in all, this game had no business being as good as it was. Definitely a rare but fun game released in the late life cycle of the Nintendo 64.
The highlight of this game was the track design. Tracks were long and littered with secret routes/shortcuts that sometimes, in turn, had other alternate routes or shortcuts within them.
All in all, this game had no business being as good as it was. Definitely a rare but fun game released in the late life cycle of the Nintendo 64.
1997
While it's clear from the get-go that Mace is far from being a Mortal Kombat/3D fighter contender, I thought the game held on its own fairly well thanks to the impressive graphics (port of an arcade game) and interesting cast of fighters featuring unique stages with dynamic features.
Gameplay and performance make or break fighting games and Mace was average at best on these categories. CPU difficulty was unfair and added frustration to each playthrough the further you got on Arcade mode.
Gameplay and performance make or break fighting games and Mace was average at best on these categories. CPU difficulty was unfair and added frustration to each playthrough the further you got on Arcade mode.
1996
One of the most important console games of all time. The legacy of Super Mario 64 is based on the monumental transition of console games from 2D to 3D and, while SM64 was not the first 3D console game ever, it was the first one that was crafted to perfection with the tools and limitations available at the time of its development and release.
This game dropped jaws from its very first playable section outside the castle, which acted as a playground for the player to explore all the new moves that Mario could perform ranging from regular jumps, to acrobatic jumps, crouching, punching, backflips, etc. The physics behind Mario movements was ahead of its time to the point that this game remains a fan favorite for speed runs and it never ceases to amaze me how speedrunners combine all the different moves for a seamless ninja-like progression through the different levels.
Graphics were of course top notch at the time of release with the N64 hardware making use of cleaner and less pixelated textures versus other PlayStation and Sega Saturn games. Soundtrack was also fantastic with tunes that have become timeless and are part of Nintendo's legacy to the industry. Other milestones include Charles Martinet debuting as the voice of Mario and the game featuring limited voice acting (Princess Peach).
The overall game design was excellent with the castle acting as the main hub for levels but at the same time offering its own secrets and areas that were fun to explore. The thematic behind using the castle's paintings as levels/worlds allowed for the design team at EAD to have full freedom in terms of themes for each level which increased variety and replay value (snow, desert, haunted, underwater levels, etc). Furthermore, to increase replay value and varierty, each level features different "missions" to obtain stars which forced full exploration of said levels on behalf of the player. Simply put, if you wanted all 120 stars in this game, you would have to revisit and master each corner of all levels, creating a unique feeling of adventure and feeling of mastering the game.
Better graphics, presentation, and gameplay components have been crafted throughout the years in the 3D platforming world ever since the release of SM64; but the legacy this game left is unmatched and the level of polish and quality that Nintendo provided ended up creating a timeless masterpiece in the gaming universe.
This game dropped jaws from its very first playable section outside the castle, which acted as a playground for the player to explore all the new moves that Mario could perform ranging from regular jumps, to acrobatic jumps, crouching, punching, backflips, etc. The physics behind Mario movements was ahead of its time to the point that this game remains a fan favorite for speed runs and it never ceases to amaze me how speedrunners combine all the different moves for a seamless ninja-like progression through the different levels.
Graphics were of course top notch at the time of release with the N64 hardware making use of cleaner and less pixelated textures versus other PlayStation and Sega Saturn games. Soundtrack was also fantastic with tunes that have become timeless and are part of Nintendo's legacy to the industry. Other milestones include Charles Martinet debuting as the voice of Mario and the game featuring limited voice acting (Princess Peach).
The overall game design was excellent with the castle acting as the main hub for levels but at the same time offering its own secrets and areas that were fun to explore. The thematic behind using the castle's paintings as levels/worlds allowed for the design team at EAD to have full freedom in terms of themes for each level which increased variety and replay value (snow, desert, haunted, underwater levels, etc). Furthermore, to increase replay value and varierty, each level features different "missions" to obtain stars which forced full exploration of said levels on behalf of the player. Simply put, if you wanted all 120 stars in this game, you would have to revisit and master each corner of all levels, creating a unique feeling of adventure and feeling of mastering the game.
Better graphics, presentation, and gameplay components have been crafted throughout the years in the 3D platforming world ever since the release of SM64; but the legacy this game left is unmatched and the level of polish and quality that Nintendo provided ended up creating a timeless masterpiece in the gaming universe.
1997
A very competent rally game in the early life cycle of the Nintendo 64. The key to continue progressing through the game was to either get new rally cars with better stats and/or upgrade the components of your vehicle such as suspension, tires, engine, etc.
One of my favorite features in the game was the livery creator that allowed you to customize the looks of your rally cars. It was very well implemented and it had enough options to come up with detailed designs.
One of my favorite features in the game was the livery creator that allowed you to customize the looks of your rally cars. It was very well implemented and it had enough options to come up with detailed designs.
1997
One of my favorite "arcade" games of all time, Star Fox 64 took the concepts of the original SNES games to the next level by improving graphics, sound, and gameplay all while adding new features such as the innovative rumble pak experience. This game managed to create the perfect recipe of combining all these elements creating a need to replay the game and its levels over and over again while maintaining an incredibly high fun factor.
Gameplay is fast-paced and focuses on defeating as many enemies as possible to get more rewards/upgrades for your ship while unlocking new paths and competing for gold stars if you are up for the challenge. Some of the requirements to get to different paths were very cryptic and nearly impossible to figure out in your own but that's what Nintendo Power was for :)
The voice acting is limited, cheesy, and to the point, adding to the game's historical charm. Gameplay variety was greatly improved over the original game by adding all-range mode stages where you dogfight against the newly introduced Star Wolf faction and new stages featuring the Blue Marine (submarine) and LandMaster (tank). Star Fox 64 does a great job of keeping all these added gameplay components at bay as opposed to other future games in the series where new vehicles were not as intuitive or fun to use.
The branching planets/paths progression design for levels provided a ton of replay value for what in reality is a fairly short game. Replay value was further extended with the gold stars ranking system for players looking for a bigger challenge.
Multiplayer mode was a fun distraction but the single-player mode is where this game shines all the way.
Gameplay is fast-paced and focuses on defeating as many enemies as possible to get more rewards/upgrades for your ship while unlocking new paths and competing for gold stars if you are up for the challenge. Some of the requirements to get to different paths were very cryptic and nearly impossible to figure out in your own but that's what Nintendo Power was for :)
The voice acting is limited, cheesy, and to the point, adding to the game's historical charm. Gameplay variety was greatly improved over the original game by adding all-range mode stages where you dogfight against the newly introduced Star Wolf faction and new stages featuring the Blue Marine (submarine) and LandMaster (tank). Star Fox 64 does a great job of keeping all these added gameplay components at bay as opposed to other future games in the series where new vehicles were not as intuitive or fun to use.
The branching planets/paths progression design for levels provided a ton of replay value for what in reality is a fairly short game. Replay value was further extended with the gold stars ranking system for players looking for a bigger challenge.
Multiplayer mode was a fun distraction but the single-player mode is where this game shines all the way.
1999
Shadow Man was a pleasant surprise for me. Back in the day I bought it brand new at a discounted price without much hope for the game but it ended up being a very enjoyable experience and one that I would like to experience again via its remaster Steam game at some point in the near future.
The game combines 3D platforming with action shooting elements in a Metroidvania-like setup for levels that require some backtracking and solving puzzles/collecting items. You go back and forth between the Deadside and Liveside to fight different types of enemies with the ultimate final goal of stopping the mythical Jack the Ripper from grouping an army of baddies.
The game had good graphics (Expansion pack use recommended) and the soundtrack was decent. It also featured voice acting during cut-scenes which was pretty cool. Despite the gameplay being somewhat janky and tanky, the platforming was acceptable and the gunplay was good, at least enough to progress the game and enjoy the different levels and story progression. Guy Miller did a great job creating the world of the Deadside and the Insane Asylum remains one of my favorite places to visit on a game from an environment and setting point of view.
The game combines 3D platforming with action shooting elements in a Metroidvania-like setup for levels that require some backtracking and solving puzzles/collecting items. You go back and forth between the Deadside and Liveside to fight different types of enemies with the ultimate final goal of stopping the mythical Jack the Ripper from grouping an army of baddies.
The game had good graphics (Expansion pack use recommended) and the soundtrack was decent. It also featured voice acting during cut-scenes which was pretty cool. Despite the gameplay being somewhat janky and tanky, the platforming was acceptable and the gunplay was good, at least enough to progress the game and enjoy the different levels and story progression. Guy Miller did a great job creating the world of the Deadside and the Insane Asylum remains one of my favorite places to visit on a game from an environment and setting point of view.