Finally, after all these years, played this on my Switch. Kind of baffles me, as a kid I would rent absolute garbage for my N64 but I always passed this up. Why? The mind of a child can not be rationalized.

A lot of this holds up. There is something nice about a game where you enter a level and aren't racing to some boss. You just explore and collect things. You start out knowing nothing of the environment and eventually master each stage. The only criticism for that is the overworld, or hub, or whatever. It's very confusing and tedious to backtrack through and having puzzles and stages in different places? Get the fuck outta here.

There is some frustration and tedium here. Naturally. It is an N64 game after all. Missing a jump because you were fighting the camera can be a big setback and you have to wonder what the logic of punishing players with damage for missing the aerial dive bomb attack. Thank the Lord for save states. I'm a grown ass man, I am not going to climb the stage four times because I slipped off. Nope. This especially goes for the bullshit last boss. Rare made fun games, they made awful bosses. That was one of the things that killed Donkey Kong 64. BK has just one at the end, but she certainly does suck. The controls are not tight and responsive enough to make it enjoyable. It just feels like you are drunkenly swaying around trying to survive. Oh you better believe that's a save scum.

Overall, a lot of charm and satisfaction in just collecting stuff. Simple is good.