Title

G

S

P

C

R

O

Automobili Lamborghini (97, Titus) – Ok, for a game made in 1997, and considering it’s very limited memory capacity, AL looks pretty good. Too bad it lacks courses and good sound. Fairly bland game.

B

C-

B

C-

D+

C

Blast Corps (97, Rare) – Many probably missed out on this gem of a game. Excellent graphics and a very original premise. Very challenging but after you finish, there’s really no reason to go back other than the highly difficult time trial.

A

A-

B+

A

A-

A-

Cruisn’ USA (96, Midway) – I was actually looking forward to owning this game when I first had my N64 back in 1997, since I loved the arcade game. Sadly, once you own the game, you don’t really feel like playing it over and over, plus there is no varitation in gameplay. The port did not need the pop-in.

C

C

B

D

D

C-

Cruisn’ World (98, Midway) – Better than Cruisn’ USA, and has new features not included in the arcade version. I pretty much squeezed the depth out of this one. A good arcade port, but not the best.

B-

B-

B

C+

C+

B-

Duke Nukem: Zero Hour (99, GT Interactive) – Breaking away from the first person perspective and on to the third, DNZH is the Syphon Filter of the N64. Huge stages, and plenty of them. Saving should have been easier. Pretty difficult. Good for anyone seeking a challenge.

B+

B

B

B+

B

B

Doom 64 (97, Midway) – It’s just a new version of Doom on the N64. It’s a bit too dark. Not much explanation on this one.

B

B

B

B

B

B

Extreme G (97, Acclaim) – Taking a cue from WipeOut and F-Zero, XG is another futuristic racing game with destructive weapons. The game has great course design, but the framerate doesn’t really provide the sense of speed you look for. Still, it’s a pretty fun game.

B+

A-

C

B

B

B

F-Zero X (98, Nintendo) – Nintendo favors framerate for style and gives an exhilarating racing experience on the N64. Six-Flags inspired courses and an overwhelming sense of speed makes FZX the reigning speed king of the N64.

B

B

A-

A-

A

A-

Forsaken (98, Acclaim) – Acclaim must have been on a roll in the 97-98 release period. Almost every game they had released was good, including Forsaken. Descent inspired gameplay with many large stages and destructive weapons. A good FPS on the N64.

B+

A-

B+

B+

B+

B+

GoldenEye 007 (97, Rare) – Probably the best and most well known game on the N64. It’s suprising to see a game by Nintendo do the FPS genre right, and also changing the way how we play them forever. If you’ve never had a chance to play this game, you should find a copy of this now before it goes away for good.

A-

A

A

A+

A+

A+

Hexen 64 (97, GT Interactive) – If GoldenEye was the one of the best FPS games on the N64, then Hexen has to be the worst. It’s ugly, confusing and just not that fun to play. It doesn’t redefine anything, and quite frankly takes a step backwards entirely. This is one game the N64 could have done without.

D

F

F

D-

D-

F

Jet Force Gemini (99, Rare) – Another game on the N64 that resembles Sony’s Syphon Filter, although larger and a bit more enjoyable. For an N64 game, this game has it’s moments where it looks pretty astounding, WITHOUT an expansion pak. It’s too bad this game wasn’t more well received, although I hope many people picked this up when it was at an unbelivable $14.99. I did.

A

A-

B+

A-

A-

A-

Mario Kart 64 (97, Nintendo) – Some games are better when they come into 3-D, others lose their edge, like Mario Kart 64. While the SNES original was highly challenging and innovative in it’s time, Mario Kart 64 is much too easy for an advanced racing game player like myself. It’s like they forgot the people who enjoyed the game in the past for the younger crowd then. I feel I paid too much for this one, and was slightly dissappointed.

B+

B

B+

C

B-

B

Mission: Impossible (98, Infogrames) – After an extra year in development, Mission: Impossible finally hit the N64. What were they doing in that time? The control is unperfected and the camera is in spaz mode when you come close to it. It’s really hard to have fun in this game, especially when you miss an objective and have to start the stage over again. If this were released before GoldenEye, I think I would have been a little more leinant, but as it is, it’s impossible to enjoy this mission.

B

B-

C

B-

C+

C+

Nuclear Strike (99, THQ) – A nice looking combat sim, but really doesn’t present anything new, and plays like every other Strike game before it. No FMV, but only a couple of companies have perfected that on the N64. If you’re looking for something a little different on the N64, Nuclear Strike is worth a rental. Expansion Pak doesn’t enhance anything.

B+

B

B

B+

B

B

Pilotwings 64 (96, Nintendo) – The other N64 launch title. This is pretty much a showcase for the N64’s graphics, but it is a fun sim. It’s very short, and it’s not as good (or even realistic) as the SNES original.

A+

B-

B+

B+

C

B+

Quake 64 (98, Midway) – I’ve never played Quake on the PC, so this version was refreshing to me. It’s basically a straight up port (from what I hear). It has many stages, but there’s no real variety in graphics. It’s a good FPS, but it doesn’t 1up GoldenEye. After GoldenEye, TWINE, Perfect Dark, Forsaken and Turok 2, Quake is a good N64 shooter, it just needs new stuff and better lighting.

B

B

B

B

B

B

Ridge Racer 64 (00, Nintendo) – In 1999, a shock hit the gaming world when Namco let Nintendo use the Ridge Racer license for a new RR game on the N64. How did it turn out? Even better than what Namco created. Totally updated graphics for Ridge Racer and RR Revolution, plus a new course called Renegade. It also has a four player multiplayer mode. Steady and smooth framerate with an exhilarating sense of speed. Probably the best non-character racer on the N64. A bit short, however.

A+

A

A

B+

A-

A

Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA (98, Midway) – It’s more of Rush, if you like it or not. The graphics are fairly the same as the first one, but introduces the stunt mode, which later becomes a key element in Rush 2049. It’s more of an upgrade than a sequel.

B

B

B+

B+

A-

B+

San Fransisco Rush (97, Midway) – An excellent port of the arcade original, without removing anything (like the PSX version). Graphics and textures are muddier than other games released around this time, but the game is really fun to play, and makes up for it.

B

B

B

A-

A-

A-

San Fransisco Rush 2049 (00, Midway) – For an N64 racer, it looks amazing, but when compared to the Dreamcast version, it’s a little drab. It has the same options, but with a lower framerate and resolution. For some reason, there’s no music, unless you need the expansion pak to hear it. Along with Ridge Racer 64, this is an impressive N64 racer with great art design.

A-

A-

B+

B+

A-

A-

Super Mario 64 (96, Nintendo) – Itsa me, the best platformer ever concieved! Mario 64 is deceptive. At first, I thought there wasn't much to the game considering there was only 15 stages, but I was wrong. Each stage has six different objectives, and some are very tough to do. It takes a long time to find everything, but once you do, it’s over. I wanted a little more to do after I found all 120 stars, but what you get isn’t much. Anyone who says this is a kids game is a DUMBASS! This is one of the greatest N64 games and changed how 3-D platform games are done.

A-

A-

B+

A

A

A

Super Smash Brothers (99, Nintendo) – You know, I had an idea for a game like this a long time ago, except there would be fatalitles. Ah, the fun with Mario Paint. SSB is a hectic fighting game, and is pretty fun until the novelty of beating the crap out of mascots wears off. Athough, it is fun smacking Pikachu with a baseball bat. A great multiplayer game.

A-

A-

B+

B+

B+

A-

Tetrisphere (97, H20) – The N64 lacks puzzle games and RPG’s, but at least Tetrisphere makes up for the puzzle part. An addictive 3-D puzzle game that makes you take tetris-shaped pieces and "peel" a sphere to reveal the core and free a robot. Go through the tutorial, it explains the gameplay better. Tetrisphere also boasts the best music on the N64. Many gameplay modes and battery save for scores and progress.

A-

A+

B+

A-

A+

A

The World Is Not Enough (00, EA Games) – Better than GoldenEye? Not really, but it’s so very close. More missions and bigger stages than the PSX version, plus it looks better and has a multiplayer mode. Even if you have no one to play against, you can use "bots" as opponents. It’s a great N64 FPS, and is right along GoldenEye. The only thing I would have liked to have seen is if Eurocom used the HydroThunder engine they made for a boat chase stage. That would have been cool. Oh well.

A-

A-

A-

A-

A-

A-

Wheel of Fortune (97, Gametek) – A standard trivia game with one really cool feature, FMV. That’s right, Wheel of Fortune actually has full motion video. It’s a fairly accurate repesentation of the gameshow, but I really regretted paying $50 for it when it came out. For $20, then it’s a deal. Good family or multiplayer game.

B

B+

A+

B+

C

B