12th November 2013, 5:54 PM
(This post was last modified: 19th November 2013, 7:34 PM by A Black Falcon.)
Big update! I've gotten a bunch of N64 games over the past year-plus, and here are reviews of 16 new games. Yes, many of these reviews are longer than the ones in the original list. Hopefully eventually I make some of those longer, because plenty of those games definitely deserve more. :) Also when I have fewer games to cover at once, it's more tempting to write more about each one... and many of these are not the best-known titles.
New Reviews, Nov, 2013: A Bug's Life, Chameleon Twist 2, Custom Robo (J), Doraemon Nobita & The 3 Fairy Spirit Stones (J), Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Hot Wheels: Turbo Racing, Mario Party 3 (J), NBA Hang Time, Neon Genesis Evangelion (J), The Powerpuff Girls: Chemical X-Traction, Rampage: World Tour, SD Hiryu no Ken Densetsu (J) [SD Flying Dragon Legend], Sin and Punishment: Successor to the Earth (J), Tigger's Honey Hunt, V-Rally Edition '99, Xena: Warrior Princess -- The Talisman of Fate. The (J) after a title means that it is a Japanese import game.
A Bug's Life - A Bug's Life, from Traveller's Tales, is the first of two games from the longtime licensed-game developer for the N64. Unfortunately, while TT (now TT Games of Lego ____ fame) could sometimes make good games, their N64 ports were badly botched and subpar. Whether this game or Toy Story 2, both games have worse presentation, closer draw distances, lower framerates, and worse graphics on the N64 than they have on PS1. It's really, really sad. A Bug's Life is a 3d platform/action game based on the decent Pixar movie. The game is quite linear, and plays from a behind-and-above angle. It's not well thought trhough, and making jumps is much harder than it should be because of the horrible camera angles. If you had a problem with something like Croc, don't even think about trying this, because it's much, MUCH worse. The game is very linear, too; branching paths exist, but always dead-end. You throw stuff at enemies to fight, while wrestling with the bad camera of course. Very basic. There are some puzzle elements though, and they do add a bit to the game. Generally the puzzles are simple, as you figure out which things to use where in order to get to a higher area for instance, but I did like that element. In addition to the main story mode, there is also a Challenge mode where you ahve to do specific goals within a strict, and tight, time limit. Challenge mode is actually quite challenging, surprisingly enough, but mostly not for good reasons -- the objectives are not always clearly explained, the time limits are tight, and the bad camera makes success difficult. One other major problem is, as I said earlier, how bad the porting job was from the PS1. I imagine that this game isn't that great on the PS1 either, but this version is, unfortunately, worse. The FMV cutscenes are of course gone, replaced with still images. The framerate is bad, and I just couldn't adjust. Normally I have no problem with N64 framerates, but somehow this games' choppyness was just a little bit too bad. It's like the worse moments in Banjo-Tooie or Conker, except the whole game's framerate is like that, and there are no good graphics to explain the awful framerate away, either. Just bad programmers, sadly. Making this worse is a horrendous camera. It's really bad, and makes the whole game harder and much less fun. Play this game and then something like Mario 64 or Jet Force Gemini and you'll appreciate all over again how competent those sometimes-tricky camera systems are in comparison to this one! So yeah, this game is bad. Don't get it. One player, Controller Pak saving (12 pages). Also on PS1.
Chameleon Twist 2 - The second Chameleon Twist game is similar to the first one, but with slightly better graphics and new levels. This game feels a little more cheaply made than the first game, since the multiplayer versus mode was removed -- this is a single player only game, though you can choose to play as any of the chameleons from the first game during play -- and the internal save was replaced with controller pak only saving, but the base gameplay is the same, and it's still good. The graphics are still average at best, though. They may have improved a bit, but they're still second or third rate. This time the player characters look much more like chameleons, though. In the first game the "chameleons" are very cartoony figures that look little like their supposed form, but in this game they do look like chameleons, albeit cartoony ones. I like the new character designs. Chameleon Twist 2 feels something like a 4th gen third-party platformer, in that it has six big levels but is much more linear than platformers from Nintendo and won't last you nearly as long. Each of the six levels are long, with multiple sections followed by a boss fight, and the game has some challenging parts for sure. You do get a lot of health though, so you can make many mistakes before losing a life. Unless you care about how well you are doing (as you are rated at the end of each level) or whether you're finding the collectables along the way, beating the game probably won't take long. There is a little replay value in going back and trying to find everything, but it's limited. As before, levels are completely linear areas, often on platforms floating in space. This is a 3d platformer, but your path is mostly linear. Some areas may have multiple routes, but often those are just hiding places for collectables. I do like the level designs, though. The controls work similarly to the first game, so once again, the central focus is on your chameleon's long tongue. You can attach to things with the tongue, swing around, and more. Getting used to it is tricky, so practice -- you'll need it! Swinging with precision is central to the game. The training rooms can be tough, but you will need to have mastered the moves, with the tongue particularly, in order to get through the levels. As with the first game, you get used to it with practice. Overall, Chameleon Twist 2's structure, with the small number of big long levels, is dated, but the gameplay is fun. This is a classic, simple platformer. There aren't all that many 5th gen 3d platformers developed in Japan, but this series is. They are no match for the top N64 3d platformers, but are simple, fun games that 3d platformer fans should try. Expect a short game though -- there's not much to this one. Fortunately it's fun while it lasts. One player, Controller Pak saving (5 pages).
Custom Robo (J) - Custom Robo is an outstanding game which started a great and highly under-rated series. For anyone who has played the (US-released) Gamecube or Nintendo DS Custom Robo games, this N64 original is very similar, just in Japanese. The series' basic gameplay has been the same from the start, and it start off great. The Gamecube game is the best one in the series, since it is the only Custom Robo game with a simultaneous four player battle mode and those three and four player battles are really, REALLY fun, but otherwise, this game holds up very well. Custom Robo is a fighting game RPG, essentially. Each fight happens in a small arena. You move around the arena, and try to defeat your opponent with your weapons. You have three weapon types to use, a main gun, a missile weapon, and a bomb, each mapped to a different button. There are many types of each to unlock. You can also jump up, or dash forward. The games' graphics are average at best, but the game is extremely fast and fluid. If they compromised the graphics here to keep the framerate up, it worked! I was worried that this would be yet another slow-paced N64 fighting game, but it isn't at all. Fights in Custom Robo are just as fast and fun as they are in the Gamecube or DS games, and controls are better than the DS game too, since you have an analog stick. Normally I would talk about graphics after game modes, but it's very important to say how well the game plays. It makes the game great. Once you learn the moves, you can run around, jump and dodge attacks, charge enemies, use your three weapon types judiciously in order to leat the enemies into your fire (as the guns, missiles, and bombs each have different firing patterns and uses), and more. It's a great fighting-action game, one of the better ones around. Fighting is simple but great fun, and there is depth.
Custom Robo has three main modes, a battle tournament mode where you fight through eight or so opponents in your usual tournament game, a two player versus mode, and a story mode where you play through the RPG-ish main game. All Custom Robo games have an "RPG" mode like this one. Here you play as a young boy who is just getting into Custom Robo battles, battles fought between mini robots which you can customize with various parts. As you progress you unlock more and more parts for your robot, which with to make it better and try out new weapons. You don't really gain levels, but instead unlock parts. It is very unfortunate that this game wasn't released here, because it really is a great game and I'd like to know what the story is, too. Fortunately, Custom Robo is a fairly simple game, so even not knowing the language it is not hard to figure out how to play. As with the later games, the game mostly plays out in a city, and has a basic overworld map with the various places you can go, connected by paths, and the various areas (buildings, usually) once you go to them. As I said earlier the battles are entirely polygonal, but the environments youy explore as a person have sprite-based characters in polygonal worlds. They look okay, not great, but do use that Custom Robo style you also see in the later games. Occasionally you will need to wander around to figure out where to go, but none of the Custom Robo games have all that many areas, so it's not hard. The game doesn't even have a guide online worth mentioning, but it's entirely playable. The main language-barrier issue with the game is the part names. Instead of being able to figure them out by name, you'll have to try the parts out. That's alright, though, it's not too bad.
Overall, Custom Robo is a fantastic game. I was hoping that it'd be alright, considering how much I like the GC and DS games, but it exceeded my expectations, and I'm very happy to have gotten it. The game also has a Japan-only sequel on the N64, Custom Robo V2. I'll need to get it eventually. There's also a GBA game only released in Japan as well, though it's entirely 2d (side-scrolling battles and everything) and doesn't look quite as interesting as the other games. Regardless, the Custom Robo series is a great fighting/action/RPG game series, and I highly recmmend it, and this game. The US-released ones will probably be easier to find, but this N64 game is fantastic as well and is well worth tracking down! I actually got this game complete with the box, and it was worth it. It's not too expensive either. Two player multiplayer, on-cart saving..
Doraemon: Nobita & The 3 Fairy Spirit Stones (J) - This is the first of three 3d platformer Doraemon games on the N64. All three were only released in Japan, of course. With average graphics, not the best controls, and no really special gameplay elements, we didn't miss all that much here, but this game is moderately amusing if you like 3d platformers. The game does have a language barrier at first, but there is a good GameFAQs guide which can help with that. I recommend reading it if you don't know the language. Doraemon is not a complex game, as expected from a game based on a childrens' cartoon, but you do need to go from place to place and need to know what the menu options do. Doraemon and friends have to collect the pieces of the titular three spirit stones, which have been broken. The intro is far too long, for how simple the story is. In the game, you start out as Doraemon, but as you progress you can switch to Doraemon's human friends as you save (and unlock) them. Doraemon also gets a few new abilities as well. It's the usual stuff -- items to swim, fly, and such. The game has an overworld, from where you go into missions in the levels. You have to talk to a person then get the right item and go to the right place to reach each level, so a guide is helpful if you can't read Japanese, though the areas are not that large, so you'd probably figure it out eventually anyway. The levels themselves are each a linear sequence of rooms to get through. Each area has some jumps, enemies, collectables, invisible walls (argh), etc. This game is probably too simple and predictable; it's got nothing original about it, and the levels aren't large or complex enough to really grab me, either. The graphics are okay, but bland. It's quite average visually, just like the gameplay. It looks alright, but doesn't have the size, scope, or graphical quality of the systems' better 3d platformers. I was interested to try this, but the mediocre reviews I see of it online are, unfortunately, accurate. Still, I don't regret getting it; it's interesting to see one of the only N64 3d platformers not released in the US (there are these three and that's about it, the Taz game aside...). And even if the game is probably below average for an N64 3d platformer, it's still playable. I wonder if the sequels are any better. I'm not sure. At least it does have on-cart saving. One player, on-cart saving..
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is one of only two games based on Kevin Sorbo's Hercules TV show; the other one is a GBC game. So, it's a licensed game based on a TV show set in a fantasy version of ancient Greece. As it apparently is in the show this doesn't feel much at all like Greece, and has lots of medieval fantasy elements in it, but it's always that way, unfortunately. The game was also published by Titus, another bad sign. However, the game is actually okay! Yeah, I was surprised too. That's nice; I haven't watched the show before, myself, but did love Sorbo's next TV show, the sci-fi series Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda (which sadly never had a videogame; it should have). Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, though, is a 3d action-adventure game with beat 'em up-style combat and Zelda-inspired towns and adventure elements. The game has decent graphics, too. They aren't the best, and you can clearly see the Ocarina of Time influence in the games' graphical design, but they did a good job of making something that looks somewhat similar. The game does have fog, and I wish the draw distance was farther back, but it is enough to see where you are going, and the graphics are reasonably good. Just remember to center the camera behind you frequently. You play as Hercules at first, but eventually unlock two more characters you can switch between, or use in areas that the others cannot reach. This gives the game some nice variety. Hercules is slow and strong, Iolaus fast and agile, and Serena is better at ranged attacks (and is a centaur). The game feels different with each character, which is good. Enemies are definitely tougher with Iolaus than Hercules. The battle system does get repetitive, though; don't expect greatness here, just average stuff.
The game is linear in that you have to do things in order, but has puzzles and exploration along the way, as you would expect. You'll have to talk to people in the towns, solve some puzzles, and the like, in addition to going around fighting enemies and exploring. Talk to everyone! This is often necessary to progress. This game is not nearly as great as a Zelda game, but still, it's a fun little game. The game does have some parts where you have to find specific objects or people but aren't told specifically where to go, but just explore and talk to everyone again, that will usually help. Or use a guide, if you're really stuck; the game does have them. As I said earlier, though, the combat is nothing like a Zelda game. With Hercules, it plays much more like a beat 'em up. Hit the buttons to punch and kick the enemies (or hit them with your weapons), use basic combos to keep the hits going. Enemies all have health bars on them. You can ignore some enemies, but some you will have to fight, either to progress or in order to get drops (health, money, and such) you need. There are also bosses occasionally. Overall, this game is unoriginal, but it's alright. It's a decently average game (or maybe slightly above average? It's in that range, anyway), which is pretty good considering we're talking about a licensed game published by Titus. One player, Controller Pak saving (16 pages per save).
Hot Wheels: Turbo Racing - Hot Wheels Turbo Racing is an okay futuristic racing game. The game is a Playstation port and looks it, unfortunately. This game also has some very narrow tracks. Perhaps that's being accurate to the license, but the best Hot Wheels games, such as Stunt Track Challenge, aren't like that. That is a newer game than this one, though. This game looks dated. As with many earlier polygonal racing games, environments feel small, too many tracks have walls cloose by on both sides as if this game was from years before it released, and the graphics are mediocre at best -- the N64 can do much better than this. But of course, this is only a PS1 port. Still, the graphics are below average for the N64. There aren't all that many tracks, either, and the game isn't fun enough to make me want to master them and unlock the hidden ones. The game does have some nice track elements, such as loops, curving walls, traps to avoid, and the like, though, so there is something interesting here. Each track will take a bit of practice to master, but even so this isn't that long of a game. The stunt system is another disappointment, though. It's kind of like Rush 2 or Rush 2049's, except without a dedicated stunt mode and with far fewer ways to get points; instead, you just get points for spins and flips and the like that you make during jumps during races. Spinnging a bit during jumps is vitally important because it can get you turbos, but it's nowhere near as fun, varied, or interesting to look at as Rush 2049's, or even Rush 2's. As for modes, you've got circuit championships in several difficulties, a single-race mode, and two player splitscreen. That's about it. Futuristic and arcade style racing games are one of my favorite kinds of games, but this one isn't particularly good at either. This game isn't really worth playing. Two player multiplayer, Controller Pak saving (28 pages). Also on PS1.
Mario Party 3 (J) - Mario Party 3 is the third Mario Party game, and it's pretty much the same basic thing as the second game, except with new minigames, new boards, and a few minor new modes. Unfortunately, since the US version of this game was the last game Nintendo released for the N64 before abandoning the system before its time, the US version is not cheap. I ended up getting this Japanese version in a lot with several other games (Doraemon, Flying Dragon SD). And... yeah, it's pretty much more Mario Party, just with a language barrier that makes figuring out how to play it a little harder. Once you do figure out how to get into the main game, though, it's the same Mario Party as ever. Well, minigame instructions are also in Japanese, but most games are simple enough to easily figure out. The new mode is a mode with very few minigames; instead, you go around and try to take as many of the board spaces as you can. Honestly though, it's kind of boring, since the minigames are the best part about Mario Party games. The main tables and minigames are fine, but I don't think this game is quite as good as Mario Party 2, language barrier aside. That game was quite an improvement over the first game, but this is pretty much more of the same. Also, as always, the game isn't very fun in single player mode. Mario Party and Wii Party games just aren't remotely the same when played single player, and Nintendo, Hudson, or the current series developers have never figured out how to solve that problem. This game certainly doesn't do that. So yeah, probably just stick with Mario Party 2, for your N64 Mario Party needs -- that game is cheaper. Four player multiplayer, on-cart saving.
NBA Hang Time - NBA Hangtime is a home port of Midway's third arcade basketball title. While Midway lost the NBA Jam name to Acclaim, they kept making games in the series, just under new names. The first of those was NBA Hangtime, and the second NBA Showtime (which I have for Dreamcast). Originally an arcade game, Hangtime was ported to multiple platforms (SNES, Genesis, GB, PS1, N64), but the N64 has one of the best versions. The game is classic NBA Jam, and has 2-on-2 arcade basketball, with that great NBA Jam gameplay that holds up so well. The graphics are quite good, too -- this game is sprite-based, and looks quite nice on the N64. Of course it has real sprite scaling, as you'd expect for a 5th gen platform. As a result, the game looks and plays great. However, some of NBA Jam T.E.'s innovations are sadly cut out of this version, however, which is a real disappointment; overall, I like T.E. more than I do Hangtime as a result. Most notably, turbo mode (2x, 3x, and 4x speeds), Hot Spots, and Power Ups are all gone. Also, T.E.'s quarter-based player replacemenet system is gone. INstead, you can only switch players at halftime, instead of each player. This completely gets rid of the slight strategy element T.E. had in having to manage your players' injury ratings (since the player on the bench healed up; remember that in T.E. there were only three players on most teams). Those first three mode removals are unfortunate, but that last change really is bad. I thought that the addition of injury ratings and quarter-based player replacement were probably the best thing about T.E. compared to the original NBA Jam. Why in the world did Midway remove it from their next game? That was a big mistake. There is one new feature, though, apart from the better graphics and the roster update: there is a player creation feature now. If you create players it'll take up some memory card space of course, but it's a nice feature to have. Midway's later basketball games would bring this feature back, though; it's not only in this game. Still though, despite its flaws, NBA Hangtime is a good game that is great fun to play, and I'd absolutely recommend it. It is a good arcade basketball game with some nice scaling 2d graphics and great gameplay. Unfortunately some feature cuts place it slightly below its predecessor in my opinion, but still, it's a very good game. Four player multiplayer, Controller Pak saving (7 pages per player file, more for create-a-player files). Also on Arcade, PS1, SNES, Genesis, and GB.
Neon Genesis Evangelion (J) - Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the most popular anime series of the last couple of decades, or at lesat it's one of the best known in the West. It is a series about teenagers who fight in giant robot suits called EVAs, defending the Earth from monsters called Angels which are trying to destroy it. Well, that's just the story on the surface; below that there's a very complex story going on about the characters and Shinji (the main character)'s psychology that I won't get into. Evangelion was an interesting anime, I liked it. In Japan there have been many Evangelion games, but most were adventure or board/card games; only a few are action games, and this was the first of those (there have since been PS2 and PSP Evangelion action games). As such, back during the N64's life, this game became known as the "good Evangelion game", because it's the one that Western gamers could actually play. Is it actually a good game, though? Well... not really; it's a below average collection of minigames of sorts, sadly. The GRAPHICS, however, are absolutely incredible! Seriously, Evangelion is one of the very best looking games on the N64, and should be on any list of the best-looking N64 games. This game looks fantastic, the EVAs look extremely impressive. They even get the animations and expressions down perfectly. The games' presentation is also spot-on. The menus and cutscenes look like something straight out of Evangelion, and there are plenty of speech samples in this game, too. The music is also fantastic, and sounds just like the music from the show. The music is MIDI, so there aren't voices in the ending theme (which is used in the end-level screen, cleverly enough), but still, the graphics and music in this game are outstanding.
But that gameplay? Yeah, that is the weak link here. The many cutscenes during missions are flashy, and the ingame graphics good as well, but the actual gameplay isn't as good. The Story mode starts with several battles against Angels, 2.5d fighting game-style. You control your EVA, and can walk forward and back, do a weak attack with A, do a strong attack/grab with A+B plus a direction, block with B, or use your shield (AT Field) with C-down. The EVAs are huge, so the long delay between when you press a button and when something happens actually makes sense, sort of. I hope it was intentional, anyway. It is annoying and frustrating, but you'll have to get used to it. Timing is key in this game, both in the fighting missions and later. Attacks, blocks, etc. must be done at the right time to succeed, and the game is not forgiving. AT Fields are great, but you can only use it occasionally; the bar on the center-left of the screen tells you if you can use it or not. When trying to break through an Angel's AT Field with your own, alternate button presses on C-down and A if you want to succeed. The gameplay is simple, but hard at times. The first level isn't too bad, but the second one is quite challenging, even on "Easy". In addition to your and the Angel's health (on the upper left and right corners), you also have a sync ratio between your pilot and EVA. There's an extremely useful guide on GameFAQs that tells you which moves you can do depending on your sync ratio -- the lower it goes, the fewer moves you can use. Fortunately the game saves your progress at each match, but still, I'm sure some people have just given up at level two. I sure was tempted to. If you get past match two, the game starts varying what you do in each mission. You play as Shinji in most of the 13 (13.5 really) missions, but Asuka has two (2.5 really, since one is split into two parts) missions, and Rei one. There is a sniping level (very short), a rhythm-style level where Shinji has to synchronize with Asuka (I hate this stuff...), some levels entirely about timed button pressing, and more, though it does return to some fighting-style levels later as well.
However, regardless of mission type the gameplay is never better than average, and that's probably being kind. You don't fight all the Angels from the TV show, either. Since there are only 13 full missions, some are skipped over, unfortunately, probably for cartridge space reasons. There are multiple difficulty levels to complete, though, and the second and third difficulties do each have one more level on the end, versus Normal, to encourage you to replay the game a few times. You also unlock a mission-select option after beating the game on Hard. Given the mediocre gameplay, though, you may or may not want to do that. There is also Simulation mode, which basically is just a series of target-shooting tests. You choose any one of the five Children -- yes, here you can play as any of the five, including Kawada, Toji, and Rei, as well as the two from the Story mode. However, it really is just a shooting gallery, so that's a minor bonus unfortunately. These Angel target-shooting tests are pretty hard to get a good rating in, though, despite their simplicity. Try to hit the weak points if you want to do well -- it's not easy. Overall, whether NGE is worth getting or not depends almost entirely on what you think of the anime. The game is easily playable for non-Japanese speakers who know the series, since menus are in English, the story is the same as in the anime, and the controls are easy to figure out, but the lacking gameplay is a problem. I highly doubt that people who don't know, or don't like, the anime would have much interest in this game, apart from looking at the quite impressive graphics, but I do like the anime, so yeah, I do think this game was worth getting. This game could have been a lot better, but fans of the series, or those who want to see some of the systems' best graphics, might want to check this game out. It's not the cheapest import, but isn't one of the most expensive either, fortunately. I wouldn't want to pay the cost for a boxed copy, though; as cool as that box looks in pictures it probably isn't worth it. One player, on-cart saving.
The Powerpuff Girls: Chemical X-Traction - Based on the popular, and amusing, cartoon, this game was released in late 2001, and is one of the later N64 releases. However, the game is abysmal. Seriously, don't buy this, it's the worst game I own for the Nintendo 64 -- yes, it somehow manages to dethrone War Gods for that "honor!" This is a 3d fighting game perhaps somewhat inspired by Power Stone, but the designers were either incompetent or had no time to actually make a half-decent game, and the results are horrible. This game was also released on the Playstation, and this game feels like a down-port of that version, but oddly it seems to have released on N64 a month before PS1. On PS1 probably this game doesn't stand out nearly as much in its badness, since there are so many bad PS1 games, but games this awful almost never also released on the N64... but this one, somehow, did. This is a 3d fighting game where you fight in tiny little arenas. The game has six arenas and nine characters (the three Powerpuff Girls and six villains), but extends its single player game by not giving you the ending until you beat all 6 rounds with each PPG member. When it comes to gameplay, though, the game has very little in terms of move variety. You can punch, kick, block (C-left/right), punch or kick repeatedly to do a very basic "combo", jump plus punch or kick, and that's about it. You can also block, but it's hard to use, since it only blocks one hit, no more. This means that a block must be followed immediately with an attempted attack, or at least a jump, and you cannot block continuing enemy attacks -- you've got to try to get out of the way. What a bizarre design decision, and it's a bad one for sure. In a game where skill mattered that could potentially be interesting, but in this it's just frustrating. On that note, jumping is the only good way to get out of a "combo", when you are being hit by one. And by "combo" I mean "mashing one of the attack buttons repeatedly", because that's all you have to do to keep an attack going that only a well-timed jump or block plus jump or attack can get the victim out of. The AI will combo you a lot, so learn how to get out of them. This system gets very annoying, very fast, and is quite awful game design. Regardless, it's stupid and horribly designed. Why is blocking so hard in a game that otherwise involves almost no skill? It's bizarre! Also, you can try to throw objects in the arena at your enem (to stun them), but actually hitting them is hard, while they will hit you almost every time with the objects they throw. Argh.
The controls are also bad, because jump is mapped ONLY to the Z button, while L does nothing. So, if you want to use the D-pad, somehow you have to use it with Z, which is not going to be comfortable. Horrible design! The controls are not particularly responsive, either, I don't think. However, the graphics are reasonably nice, honestly. The arenas are very small, but somewhat detailed, and character graphics are okay. The music, however, is another story. On the N64, this game has only one music track, the Powerpuff Girls theme, which plays in the menu and during every match. Yes, really. The rendition of the song isn't that great, either. Unacceptable. Also, compared to the PS1 version, that version has a CGI intro video, while the N64 has a plain-text-only intro, without even any stills or something, like competent games would. And the text's font is so bad that I honestly couldn't read some of the words. Really. Also, there's more speech on the PS1 version -- on PS1, but not on N64 (in text or speech), there are silly little stage intro lines and it says the characters' names before the fight. Characters do speak furing fights though on the N64, for their moves and such. Also, the PS1 version supports memory-card saving. On N64, bizarrely, saving is password only, making this one of only two N64 games I know of with password-only saving (the other is Charlie Blast's Territory). However, the N64 version does have better in-fight graphics, thanks to its much cleaner graphics, so there is that. Overall, PPG:Chemical X-Traction is shamefully incompetent, horrible game for the N64. It may or may not be the overall worst game on the N64, but either way, it is definitely near the bottom of the list. Two player multiplayer, password save. Also on PS1 and PC.
Rampage: World Tour - Rampage: World Tour started Midway's rebirth of the Rampage series. The first Rampage, a popular '80s arcade game that was ported to the NES and other systems, didn't immediately get a sequel, but with this game, it finally got one. As in the original, you play as three monsters, and go around destroying cities. The monsters are humans who were transformed into monsters in science experiments gone wrong, and now you're getting your revenge on humanity by levelling all of its cities, from a 2d side-scrolling view. Yes, this game is entirely 2d. The graphics are okay, but aren't anything great, and use a pre-rendered style popular in the '90s. The game has a simple concept, but it's a simple series. You walk left or right, jump onto buildings to grab onto them and climb them King Kong style, and punch and kick them into rubble. There are human tanks, helicopters, soldiers, etc. shooting at you. Lots of hits cannot be avoided, as always in Rampage games; the series requires a little skill, but luck and endurance are more important. Rampage is a series which is fun for a little while, but gets old fast since there is never any variety whatsoever. World Tour tries to help that a bit with several different city environments, but the base gameplay never changes and does not require enough skill or strategy to not get tedious. It's always been that way in Rampage games, and it is here. However, it is a fun game for a while, and unlike in the arcade version of World Tour, or any version of the first Rampage, the console versions of World Tour do let you save your progress. That is great, and that's one reason to get this game for the N64 instead of just playing the emulated arcade version that was included in various Midway games and collections; there you'd have to play the entire long game in one sitting, which just is too boring to endure. As a result of that, the N64 version of Rampage: World Tour is still the best version -- it's the only one with both three player support AND saving. On that note, unlike the two-players-only PS1 or Saturn ports, N64 World Tour supports three player simultaneous play, which is great. The first Rampage was always a two player only game, but World Tour's arcade version had three player support, and this does as well. Overall though, Rampage: World Tour is a somewhat average game. The game is a good port of an average game. The game has a sequel released in the arcades, PS1, and N64 called Rampage: Universal Tour, but I don't have that one. There's also a final PS1-exclusive one, Rampage Through Time. Both games are basically rehashes of this game though, with the same gameplay but some new environments and monsters to play as. Finally, there's Rampage: Total Destruction for the GC/PS2/Xbox/Wii. It adds some new things to the series, such as isometric 3d gameplay (side-view-with-depth stuff, not full-roaming 3d); it's alright. It's still Rampage though, for good and bad. Rampage: World Tour is, ultimately, repetive, simplistic, and gets boring after a while. However, it's fun to wreck cities for a while, and the game does save, so sure, pick it up if you like this kind of thing and it's pretty cheap. Three player multiplayer, Controller Pak saving (7 pages). Arcade port, also on PS1 and Saturn. The arcade version is also included in Midway Arcade Treasures 2 and Rampage: Total Destruction.
SD Hiryu no Ken Densetsu (J) [SD Flying Dragon Legend] - SD Hiryu no Ken is Flying Dragon's sequel. This game is another Japan-only game, and it's got a big language barrier, because there is absolutely no English text in the game anywhere; it's 100% Japanese, with some Arabic numerals for numbers. Fortunately there is a guide for the game on GameFAQs. Use it! Otherwise figuring out what to do in the menus will be quite tricky. The game is fun enough to perhaps make it worth the effort, though, though it is unfortunately very easy. As the name suggests, though, this time there is only one gameplay mode, the cute-looking "SD" (super-deformed) mode from the first game; the "Virtual Hiryu" mode, with more realistic, Virtua Fighter-esque, graphics, is gone. In the first game, SD mode had 3d-dodge buttons, while Virtual mode did not, as in VF 1 or 2. This time, you can choose whether you want to be able to enable the 3d-dodge buttons or not. The feature is disabled by default, but I much prefer it on, and that's how I've mostly played the game. SD Hiryu has slightly better graphics and a better framerate than the first game, as well. For the most part it looks similar, but it runs a bit better, which is great; Flying Dragon does have some framerate issues. This game is not as smooth and well-playing as the best 5th gen 3d fighting games, but it is an improvement over the first game, which is good. The game plays alright, though even in "Hard" AI opponents are easy to beat, and in "Normal" I found myself winning almost every single round even on my first time playing the game. As far as modes go, there is a story mode which has you play as the series' main character guy only. The story is all in Japanese of course, and there isn't voice acting, but you can at least do the fights and maybe figure a few things out by what's going on. The GameFAQs guide gives you some story details as well. There is also a tournament mode where you fight the usual eight or so enemies, versus mode, options, training mode, and the like. As in the SD mode in the previous game, you can buy items with the money you win in the various modes. This adds an "RPG" element to the game, as you try to get the better items. Of course, all item descriptions are netirely in Japanese, but the FAQ does have an item list with descriptions, which is nice. The other main unlockable are alternate tournaments for tournament mode. In addition to the basic one, there are seven more unlockable themed tournaments you can get if you do specific things and have certain items. Not bad. There are more characters to play as in this game than the last one as well, and the Virtual-only characters have been brought over into this game, in new superdeformed forms of course. Overall, SD Hiryu no Ken is an okay to good game. It's slightly better than the first Flying Dragon overall, thanks to the improved framerate most notably. If you like Flying Dragon, definitely check this game out. However, it is easy, and do use that FAQ if you can't read Japanese. Two player multiplayer, Controller Pak saving.
Tigger's Honey Hunt - Tigger's Honey Hunt is a 2.5d platformer, and while it is quite easy, it's actually kind of fun. As the name suggests, in this game you play Tigger, the tiger from Winnie the Pooh. While most Winnie the Pooh games are basic educational games for little kids, though, this one is a real platformer, and yes, it's alright. The main game is, that is; the minigames are unfortunately horrible. Yeah, do NOT play this for multiplayer. In the main game, Tigger's Honey Hunt has you bouncing through a somewhat short quest as you, as Tigger, have to find Pooh's honey (sorry, hunney), since, as always, he messed up and spilled Pooh's honey. Your goal in each level is collecting enough of the honey to unlock the next stage. Tigger can jump, but also can bounce high on his coil tail. You'll have to explore each level reasonably well in order to get everything, though this is at its core a linear platformer. There are only nine levels, though, so this is a short game. Still, there's a little replay value if you don't manage to find all of the honey on the first try; this generally isn't that hard, but for the target audience here it's probably perfect. You also do get a few more abilities during the game that will have you going back to the earlier levels if you want to get all the honey. But even for adults, even if the game is far too short and easy, I found it a fun game. Tigger's Honey Hunt has decent to good graphics, too. You can tell that this is a multiplatform title and that it doesn't really push the N64, but still, it looks good. I like the graphics, you couldn't do 5th gen 3d Pooh characters much better than this. There aren't many 2d or 2.5d platformers on the N64, so it's great that this one was released. Unfortunately, the sound is weak. There is no voice acting in the cutscenes, so children will have to be able to read for this one (or have someone read it for them). On PS1 there are voices, but they didn't want to pay for a larger cartridge to fit them in this release, I presume. Too bad. Also the game is only a few hours long, with somewhat limited replay value. And last, those minigames really are bad. There are only three of them, and they are Simon Says, Rock Paper Scissors, and a really tedious "watch sticks float down a river" game. That's it -- pretty bad! Still, overall, Tigger's Honey Hunt is a fun little game. If it's cheap, it's worth checking out, I think. It won't take long to play through, and it's a simple, fun game while it lasts. Four player multiplayer (minigames only; main game is single player only), on-cart saving. Also on PS1.
Tsumi to Batsu: Hoshi no Keishousha - Sin and Punishment [Sin and Punishment: Successor to the Earth] (J) - Sin and Punishment is surely the best-known and most popular N64 game that was not released outside of Japan. The game is a rail shooter (of sorts) by Treasure, and it's a quite good game as well. The game even is fully voice acted in English. The anime-esque story is confusing, and the ending in this N64 version has some text-only Japanese in it, but still, it IS mostly in English. However, some idiots at Nintendo decided that they wouldn't release the game outside of Japan, despite how badly me and so many other people wanted the game, and that was that. This was the N64 import game I really wanted, but could not have gotten, or afforded, back then; I wouldn't even have a credit/debit card until the mid '00s, never mind a way to import games from Japan. So yeah, Nintendo was stupid. I ended up looking up how to play N64 games emulated just to play this game, but always wanted to own the real thing too. Even after I got a Wii, and picked up the US Wii Virtual Console release of the game, I still wanted the actual cartridge. Well, I finally got it, complete in box. It cost about $40 shipped, but that's what it costs now. I do think that VC releease cut the price of the game in half, though, which is good; it used to cost even more. It's easy to see why when you play the game, though. Sin & Punishment is not a perfect game, though, Most importantly, it's way too short -- there are only three levels, each made up of three stages. That's not many, and not all of the levels are equally great, either. However, when it's good it's very, very good, and that makes up for the flaws. The game also keeps me coming back to try to get better scores. This is a Treasure game, and it's got some depth to it to make players want to keep playing it, try harder difficulty levels, and get better scores. That's good, when a game is as short as this one is. Still, the game needed more stages. Only nine, and one of the last ones is a random side-scrolling stage which isn't quite as great as the rail-shooter levels are? Plus the last stage is just the final boss fight, no more. It's a long boss fight, but still, all in all the games' length is disappointing. As for modes, the game has a main story mode (with saving), difficulty selection, some minor hidden options to unlock depending on which difficulty level you beat the game on, a training mode to help you through the controls, and high-score tables for each stage and difficulty. There is multiplayer, if someone hits start on controller two, but it just lets controller two control the cursor and fire, nothing more. Pretty disappointing.
Sin and Punishment is a rail shooter, but it is not a conventional one. Instead of flying a spaceship forward, Star Fox style, instead this is more like Jet Force Gemini bossfights, or perhaps Wild Guns and such on the SNES -- you move a character on a 2d plane in front and can run or jump to avoid projectiles, while also moving a cursor around the screen to shoot at enemies. This game isn't a static-screen game, though; instead, you're usually moving forward. Sometimes the screen will stick for a while while you fight some tougher enemy, or a boss of course, but usually you're moving forward, either on the ground somewhere or on some flying platform. So, it is indeed a rail shooter. You use the analog stick to aim, and the C-buttons to move. R jumps, and A switches between lock-on fire (with lower damage) or aimed fire (with higher damage). The controls take getting used to -- learning how to use R with the C-buttons and analog stick all at the same time isn't easy. I honestly find the controls even harder to use on the Gamecube controller (with the Wii VC release), though. X or Y to move left and right, plus R to jump? Argh! Not comfortable. And I like the C-stick even less. So, even though the controls are kind of odd, I do think that the N64 version has the better control setup. It's easier to use the C-buttons plus R than the various GC or CC options. And yes, jumping is very important. Once you get used to it, the controls do work well, and the gameplay is somewhat unique and plays great. Indeed, the great gameplay is why this game is so good, despite the various issues the game has. As for graphics and sound, the graphics are good, but not really great. This game looks good, but the N64 can do better. Some stages, most notably 2-2, the flying battle against an enemy fleet, look great, but others are less impressive. I'd have liked to see more stages like 2-2. Still, overall the graphics are decently good. The art design is great, as well. I like the box-art quite a bit. Enemy and boss designs also are often pretty good. The music is reasonably good, and it's cool that the voice acting is in English. You probably won't remember the music after playing, though.
Returning to the story, in Sin and Punishment you play as two teenage resistance fighters, Saki (a boy) and Airan (a girl). They are led by Achi, a girl with mysterious powers and an unknown agenda. Monsters called "Ruffians" are attacking the Earth, and yet again things are not looking good for Japan. The resistance is fighting Ruffians, while other enemy forces are using Ruffian powers instead. They are a private military corporation here to crush resistance, I believe; I'm not entirely sure. At the beginning of the game, their troops wipe out some other resistance bases, leaving only the three characters to continue their fight. Achi has her own secrets, which you learn later in the game, but the story isn't really the main draw here; it's okay, if you like dark anime-esque plots, and when you when you can actually figure out what's going on, but it's not great. It would be nice if it made more sense without having to go read online about what was happening, though. Ah well. You play the first and third levels as Saki, and only the second as Airan. No, you cannot choose who you play as, it's all preset according to the story. That's too bad; the sequel (Sin & Punishment: Star Successor for Wii) lets you choose either of that games' two characters during the game. Better. That game has a LOT more content than this one, too, and probably is the better game overall. Still, the first Sin & Punishment is a great game. The game has some flaws, most importantly the short length but also the learning curve on the controls, the lack of good multiplayer, no character selection allowed, etc., but the action is fast and furious, the game design somewhat original, and the game fun and high quality overall. This is a good game, and I don't regret getting the N64 version. I've always wanted it, and now I finally have it. The game definitely is not perfect, but it is good. Two player multiplayer (limited), on-cart saving.
V-Rally Edition '99 - V-Rally is a European rally racing game that started on the PS1. While the PS1 game had the Need for Speed license put on it in the US, it wasn't originally a NFS game, and this N64 port doesn't have the license either. V-Rally Edition '99 is a late N64 port of the first V-Rally game. This port released not far off from when V-Rally 2, the much-improved sequel, released on PS1, but this has none of the second games' features, sadly. Instead, players will have to make do with all of the signs of a shoddy port; this may have released long after the PS1 version, but it sure doesn't look like the developers knew how to get much out of the system. V-Rally has some of the most "Playstation-like" graphics I've seen on the N64, with some pretty ugly polygon models and even attempts at PS1 pixelization; this game has some of the most pixelated N64 graphics I've ever seen, I don't know how they managed to make it look so bad. Impressive work there, I guess. There is also heavy fogging, since apparently these poor graphics somehow were all they could manage. Really, this game looks bad visually. As for music, there is none during races, something "simmish" rally racers do sometimes, to their detriment. The menu music isn't very good, but something would have been better than nothing, in-race. The gameplay is only slightly better. The game has 50 tracks, all one-way courses, just like the original had, but the gameplay is bland and unexciting, and as there are only seven actual environments for those tracks, the tracks blend together and feel similar. Great fun gameplay could make up for that, but this game doesn't have that, for sure. This is a common problem in more "realistic" rally racing games, but it does get repetitive. Car controls and physics are even worse, unsurprisingly. At first you'll skid on every turn, and the AI opponents are tough and those crash physics frustratingly floaty and defintely nothing approaching realistic. That's okay, since I prefer arcade racing games to sims, so I probably like this game more than I would a hardcore sim on a subjective level, but objectively it's no good, for sure. Try not to hit things or spin out on turns. It's not easy to learn how to control the cars in this game well, and it's absolutely not worth the effort either. If you want to play a great N64 rally racing game, play Rally Challenge 2000 or the two Top Gear Rally games; this one probably isn't worth it. You can do worse, but you can also do a lot better. Test Drive V-Rally (aka V-Rally 2 in Europe; this is no more Test Drive game than it is NFS), the Dreamcast port of V-Rally 2, is much better, for example; play that one. This game, however, has awful graphics and plays poorly too. There are worse N64 racing games than this, and it's arcadey enough that it can be okay once in a while, but there aren't really any good reasons to get this game for people who aren't trying to own every N64 racing game, as I am. Two player multiplayer, on-cart saving. Also on PS1.
Xena: Warrior Princess: The Talisman of Fate - Xena for the N64 is a somewhat beat 'em up-inspired 3d fighting game based on the popular Xena TV show. The show was initially a spinoff of Hercules, except with a female lead, and like Hercules it's got very little to do with its supposed Greek/Roman-era setting, design-wise. Sorry, but as a history major, this stuff bugs me. But yes, as with Hercules, I barely ever watched this show, so I'm not really familiar with the source material outside of what I've heard about it. In the game you can play as eleven different characters from the series, including Xena, Gabrielle, and various others (no, not Hercules). This game is a full 3d fighting game, and you move around the arena with the stick (or dpad, but the stick probably gives better control). The four C buttons are your attacks, two punch/kick and two weapon attacks. Each character has a couple of baisc combos (two to four hits) and a few special moves, though not many. R and Z jump and crouch, which are useful since most distance attacks cannot hit crouching characters. Fire breath can, but not stuff like thrown weapons. You can also block while standing or moving backwards. A changes targets in multiplayer matches with three or four players. The game is simplistic, but winning in the later fights, or Hard difficulty, will require a bit of thought -- enemies will block, and you'll have to time your attacks well in order to get through the block. This can be frustrating at times, as the AI blocks constantly and then hits you the moment you try to attack sometimes, but I did get used to it after a little while. The game also has balance issues, and the moves and characters are not at all evenly balanced, unfortunately. It also can be difficult to tell exactly whether you can hit someone before you swing, because of the 3d arenas and how the characters are constantly circling around eachother, while the camera always stays in one static position in front of the arena. When the enemy is between you and the camera, it can get annoying. So yeah, the gameplay here is definitely nothing better than average, and probably is below average. Run around, whack at the enemy, try to time your hits right, hit the button a few times to do a short combo, rinse, and repeat. That's about all there is to the game.
The graphics and sound are okay, though. The characters are okay looking and do look like the characters from the show, and the audio is alright. The arenas are bland looking, though; there aren't any obstacles in them, and they aren't very large either since each one has to fit on a single screen. However, yes, this game has four player matches! It's pretty cool... except for the critical design flaw that the game only allows one AI opponent in any match, so it's impossible to play with more than two characters on screen in single player. That's very disappointing and is a real problem with the game. The game would be more fun with four-player single player matches. That is only one of the signs that this game was made on a tight budget. Another one is that after you win matches in the main tournament ("Quest") mode, there isn't any kind of victory screen, score screen, or anything. The announcer says that you win, and then it's straight to the next match with no interruption. It's kind of odd, I'm not sure if I've ever seen a fighting game quite like that. Also, in the tournament you fight all 11 characters, so it takes longer to get through than most fighting games, since in these games you usually only have 7 or 8 characters per tournament. Once you're done, though, replay value isn't that high, as far as the single player goes; this isn't a fighting game many people will keep returning to on their own. At least each character does have a (very short) custom ending, so there is that at least. Other than Quest mode, your only other options are single match (vs. 1 CPU or up to three humans), training mode, and options. On normal the game isn't that hard, but it's not a complete pushover either, which is good. You also unlock the ability to play as the boss after beating the game once, and there are a bunch of entertaining cheat codes too, such as a big-head mode for instance. Overall though, Xena: The Talisman of Fate is a very mediocre game, and is below average overall. It's somewhere between bad and mediocre, I think. It's probably much more fun in multiplayer (with three or four people particularly!) than it is in single player, though, so keep that in mind. Four player multiplayer, Controller Pak saving (1 block).
New Reviews, Nov, 2013: A Bug's Life, Chameleon Twist 2, Custom Robo (J), Doraemon Nobita & The 3 Fairy Spirit Stones (J), Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Hot Wheels: Turbo Racing, Mario Party 3 (J), NBA Hang Time, Neon Genesis Evangelion (J), The Powerpuff Girls: Chemical X-Traction, Rampage: World Tour, SD Hiryu no Ken Densetsu (J) [SD Flying Dragon Legend], Sin and Punishment: Successor to the Earth (J), Tigger's Honey Hunt, V-Rally Edition '99, Xena: Warrior Princess -- The Talisman of Fate. The (J) after a title means that it is a Japanese import game.
A Bug's Life - A Bug's Life, from Traveller's Tales, is the first of two games from the longtime licensed-game developer for the N64. Unfortunately, while TT (now TT Games of Lego ____ fame) could sometimes make good games, their N64 ports were badly botched and subpar. Whether this game or Toy Story 2, both games have worse presentation, closer draw distances, lower framerates, and worse graphics on the N64 than they have on PS1. It's really, really sad. A Bug's Life is a 3d platform/action game based on the decent Pixar movie. The game is quite linear, and plays from a behind-and-above angle. It's not well thought trhough, and making jumps is much harder than it should be because of the horrible camera angles. If you had a problem with something like Croc, don't even think about trying this, because it's much, MUCH worse. The game is very linear, too; branching paths exist, but always dead-end. You throw stuff at enemies to fight, while wrestling with the bad camera of course. Very basic. There are some puzzle elements though, and they do add a bit to the game. Generally the puzzles are simple, as you figure out which things to use where in order to get to a higher area for instance, but I did like that element. In addition to the main story mode, there is also a Challenge mode where you ahve to do specific goals within a strict, and tight, time limit. Challenge mode is actually quite challenging, surprisingly enough, but mostly not for good reasons -- the objectives are not always clearly explained, the time limits are tight, and the bad camera makes success difficult. One other major problem is, as I said earlier, how bad the porting job was from the PS1. I imagine that this game isn't that great on the PS1 either, but this version is, unfortunately, worse. The FMV cutscenes are of course gone, replaced with still images. The framerate is bad, and I just couldn't adjust. Normally I have no problem with N64 framerates, but somehow this games' choppyness was just a little bit too bad. It's like the worse moments in Banjo-Tooie or Conker, except the whole game's framerate is like that, and there are no good graphics to explain the awful framerate away, either. Just bad programmers, sadly. Making this worse is a horrendous camera. It's really bad, and makes the whole game harder and much less fun. Play this game and then something like Mario 64 or Jet Force Gemini and you'll appreciate all over again how competent those sometimes-tricky camera systems are in comparison to this one! So yeah, this game is bad. Don't get it. One player, Controller Pak saving (12 pages). Also on PS1.
Chameleon Twist 2 - The second Chameleon Twist game is similar to the first one, but with slightly better graphics and new levels. This game feels a little more cheaply made than the first game, since the multiplayer versus mode was removed -- this is a single player only game, though you can choose to play as any of the chameleons from the first game during play -- and the internal save was replaced with controller pak only saving, but the base gameplay is the same, and it's still good. The graphics are still average at best, though. They may have improved a bit, but they're still second or third rate. This time the player characters look much more like chameleons, though. In the first game the "chameleons" are very cartoony figures that look little like their supposed form, but in this game they do look like chameleons, albeit cartoony ones. I like the new character designs. Chameleon Twist 2 feels something like a 4th gen third-party platformer, in that it has six big levels but is much more linear than platformers from Nintendo and won't last you nearly as long. Each of the six levels are long, with multiple sections followed by a boss fight, and the game has some challenging parts for sure. You do get a lot of health though, so you can make many mistakes before losing a life. Unless you care about how well you are doing (as you are rated at the end of each level) or whether you're finding the collectables along the way, beating the game probably won't take long. There is a little replay value in going back and trying to find everything, but it's limited. As before, levels are completely linear areas, often on platforms floating in space. This is a 3d platformer, but your path is mostly linear. Some areas may have multiple routes, but often those are just hiding places for collectables. I do like the level designs, though. The controls work similarly to the first game, so once again, the central focus is on your chameleon's long tongue. You can attach to things with the tongue, swing around, and more. Getting used to it is tricky, so practice -- you'll need it! Swinging with precision is central to the game. The training rooms can be tough, but you will need to have mastered the moves, with the tongue particularly, in order to get through the levels. As with the first game, you get used to it with practice. Overall, Chameleon Twist 2's structure, with the small number of big long levels, is dated, but the gameplay is fun. This is a classic, simple platformer. There aren't all that many 5th gen 3d platformers developed in Japan, but this series is. They are no match for the top N64 3d platformers, but are simple, fun games that 3d platformer fans should try. Expect a short game though -- there's not much to this one. Fortunately it's fun while it lasts. One player, Controller Pak saving (5 pages).
Custom Robo (J) - Custom Robo is an outstanding game which started a great and highly under-rated series. For anyone who has played the (US-released) Gamecube or Nintendo DS Custom Robo games, this N64 original is very similar, just in Japanese. The series' basic gameplay has been the same from the start, and it start off great. The Gamecube game is the best one in the series, since it is the only Custom Robo game with a simultaneous four player battle mode and those three and four player battles are really, REALLY fun, but otherwise, this game holds up very well. Custom Robo is a fighting game RPG, essentially. Each fight happens in a small arena. You move around the arena, and try to defeat your opponent with your weapons. You have three weapon types to use, a main gun, a missile weapon, and a bomb, each mapped to a different button. There are many types of each to unlock. You can also jump up, or dash forward. The games' graphics are average at best, but the game is extremely fast and fluid. If they compromised the graphics here to keep the framerate up, it worked! I was worried that this would be yet another slow-paced N64 fighting game, but it isn't at all. Fights in Custom Robo are just as fast and fun as they are in the Gamecube or DS games, and controls are better than the DS game too, since you have an analog stick. Normally I would talk about graphics after game modes, but it's very important to say how well the game plays. It makes the game great. Once you learn the moves, you can run around, jump and dodge attacks, charge enemies, use your three weapon types judiciously in order to leat the enemies into your fire (as the guns, missiles, and bombs each have different firing patterns and uses), and more. It's a great fighting-action game, one of the better ones around. Fighting is simple but great fun, and there is depth.
Custom Robo has three main modes, a battle tournament mode where you fight through eight or so opponents in your usual tournament game, a two player versus mode, and a story mode where you play through the RPG-ish main game. All Custom Robo games have an "RPG" mode like this one. Here you play as a young boy who is just getting into Custom Robo battles, battles fought between mini robots which you can customize with various parts. As you progress you unlock more and more parts for your robot, which with to make it better and try out new weapons. You don't really gain levels, but instead unlock parts. It is very unfortunate that this game wasn't released here, because it really is a great game and I'd like to know what the story is, too. Fortunately, Custom Robo is a fairly simple game, so even not knowing the language it is not hard to figure out how to play. As with the later games, the game mostly plays out in a city, and has a basic overworld map with the various places you can go, connected by paths, and the various areas (buildings, usually) once you go to them. As I said earlier the battles are entirely polygonal, but the environments youy explore as a person have sprite-based characters in polygonal worlds. They look okay, not great, but do use that Custom Robo style you also see in the later games. Occasionally you will need to wander around to figure out where to go, but none of the Custom Robo games have all that many areas, so it's not hard. The game doesn't even have a guide online worth mentioning, but it's entirely playable. The main language-barrier issue with the game is the part names. Instead of being able to figure them out by name, you'll have to try the parts out. That's alright, though, it's not too bad.
Overall, Custom Robo is a fantastic game. I was hoping that it'd be alright, considering how much I like the GC and DS games, but it exceeded my expectations, and I'm very happy to have gotten it. The game also has a Japan-only sequel on the N64, Custom Robo V2. I'll need to get it eventually. There's also a GBA game only released in Japan as well, though it's entirely 2d (side-scrolling battles and everything) and doesn't look quite as interesting as the other games. Regardless, the Custom Robo series is a great fighting/action/RPG game series, and I highly recmmend it, and this game. The US-released ones will probably be easier to find, but this N64 game is fantastic as well and is well worth tracking down! I actually got this game complete with the box, and it was worth it. It's not too expensive either. Two player multiplayer, on-cart saving..
Doraemon: Nobita & The 3 Fairy Spirit Stones (J) - This is the first of three 3d platformer Doraemon games on the N64. All three were only released in Japan, of course. With average graphics, not the best controls, and no really special gameplay elements, we didn't miss all that much here, but this game is moderately amusing if you like 3d platformers. The game does have a language barrier at first, but there is a good GameFAQs guide which can help with that. I recommend reading it if you don't know the language. Doraemon is not a complex game, as expected from a game based on a childrens' cartoon, but you do need to go from place to place and need to know what the menu options do. Doraemon and friends have to collect the pieces of the titular three spirit stones, which have been broken. The intro is far too long, for how simple the story is. In the game, you start out as Doraemon, but as you progress you can switch to Doraemon's human friends as you save (and unlock) them. Doraemon also gets a few new abilities as well. It's the usual stuff -- items to swim, fly, and such. The game has an overworld, from where you go into missions in the levels. You have to talk to a person then get the right item and go to the right place to reach each level, so a guide is helpful if you can't read Japanese, though the areas are not that large, so you'd probably figure it out eventually anyway. The levels themselves are each a linear sequence of rooms to get through. Each area has some jumps, enemies, collectables, invisible walls (argh), etc. This game is probably too simple and predictable; it's got nothing original about it, and the levels aren't large or complex enough to really grab me, either. The graphics are okay, but bland. It's quite average visually, just like the gameplay. It looks alright, but doesn't have the size, scope, or graphical quality of the systems' better 3d platformers. I was interested to try this, but the mediocre reviews I see of it online are, unfortunately, accurate. Still, I don't regret getting it; it's interesting to see one of the only N64 3d platformers not released in the US (there are these three and that's about it, the Taz game aside...). And even if the game is probably below average for an N64 3d platformer, it's still playable. I wonder if the sequels are any better. I'm not sure. At least it does have on-cart saving. One player, on-cart saving..
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is one of only two games based on Kevin Sorbo's Hercules TV show; the other one is a GBC game. So, it's a licensed game based on a TV show set in a fantasy version of ancient Greece. As it apparently is in the show this doesn't feel much at all like Greece, and has lots of medieval fantasy elements in it, but it's always that way, unfortunately. The game was also published by Titus, another bad sign. However, the game is actually okay! Yeah, I was surprised too. That's nice; I haven't watched the show before, myself, but did love Sorbo's next TV show, the sci-fi series Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda (which sadly never had a videogame; it should have). Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, though, is a 3d action-adventure game with beat 'em up-style combat and Zelda-inspired towns and adventure elements. The game has decent graphics, too. They aren't the best, and you can clearly see the Ocarina of Time influence in the games' graphical design, but they did a good job of making something that looks somewhat similar. The game does have fog, and I wish the draw distance was farther back, but it is enough to see where you are going, and the graphics are reasonably good. Just remember to center the camera behind you frequently. You play as Hercules at first, but eventually unlock two more characters you can switch between, or use in areas that the others cannot reach. This gives the game some nice variety. Hercules is slow and strong, Iolaus fast and agile, and Serena is better at ranged attacks (and is a centaur). The game feels different with each character, which is good. Enemies are definitely tougher with Iolaus than Hercules. The battle system does get repetitive, though; don't expect greatness here, just average stuff.
The game is linear in that you have to do things in order, but has puzzles and exploration along the way, as you would expect. You'll have to talk to people in the towns, solve some puzzles, and the like, in addition to going around fighting enemies and exploring. Talk to everyone! This is often necessary to progress. This game is not nearly as great as a Zelda game, but still, it's a fun little game. The game does have some parts where you have to find specific objects or people but aren't told specifically where to go, but just explore and talk to everyone again, that will usually help. Or use a guide, if you're really stuck; the game does have them. As I said earlier, though, the combat is nothing like a Zelda game. With Hercules, it plays much more like a beat 'em up. Hit the buttons to punch and kick the enemies (or hit them with your weapons), use basic combos to keep the hits going. Enemies all have health bars on them. You can ignore some enemies, but some you will have to fight, either to progress or in order to get drops (health, money, and such) you need. There are also bosses occasionally. Overall, this game is unoriginal, but it's alright. It's a decently average game (or maybe slightly above average? It's in that range, anyway), which is pretty good considering we're talking about a licensed game published by Titus. One player, Controller Pak saving (16 pages per save).
Hot Wheels: Turbo Racing - Hot Wheels Turbo Racing is an okay futuristic racing game. The game is a Playstation port and looks it, unfortunately. This game also has some very narrow tracks. Perhaps that's being accurate to the license, but the best Hot Wheels games, such as Stunt Track Challenge, aren't like that. That is a newer game than this one, though. This game looks dated. As with many earlier polygonal racing games, environments feel small, too many tracks have walls cloose by on both sides as if this game was from years before it released, and the graphics are mediocre at best -- the N64 can do much better than this. But of course, this is only a PS1 port. Still, the graphics are below average for the N64. There aren't all that many tracks, either, and the game isn't fun enough to make me want to master them and unlock the hidden ones. The game does have some nice track elements, such as loops, curving walls, traps to avoid, and the like, though, so there is something interesting here. Each track will take a bit of practice to master, but even so this isn't that long of a game. The stunt system is another disappointment, though. It's kind of like Rush 2 or Rush 2049's, except without a dedicated stunt mode and with far fewer ways to get points; instead, you just get points for spins and flips and the like that you make during jumps during races. Spinnging a bit during jumps is vitally important because it can get you turbos, but it's nowhere near as fun, varied, or interesting to look at as Rush 2049's, or even Rush 2's. As for modes, you've got circuit championships in several difficulties, a single-race mode, and two player splitscreen. That's about it. Futuristic and arcade style racing games are one of my favorite kinds of games, but this one isn't particularly good at either. This game isn't really worth playing. Two player multiplayer, Controller Pak saving (28 pages). Also on PS1.
Mario Party 3 (J) - Mario Party 3 is the third Mario Party game, and it's pretty much the same basic thing as the second game, except with new minigames, new boards, and a few minor new modes. Unfortunately, since the US version of this game was the last game Nintendo released for the N64 before abandoning the system before its time, the US version is not cheap. I ended up getting this Japanese version in a lot with several other games (Doraemon, Flying Dragon SD). And... yeah, it's pretty much more Mario Party, just with a language barrier that makes figuring out how to play it a little harder. Once you do figure out how to get into the main game, though, it's the same Mario Party as ever. Well, minigame instructions are also in Japanese, but most games are simple enough to easily figure out. The new mode is a mode with very few minigames; instead, you go around and try to take as many of the board spaces as you can. Honestly though, it's kind of boring, since the minigames are the best part about Mario Party games. The main tables and minigames are fine, but I don't think this game is quite as good as Mario Party 2, language barrier aside. That game was quite an improvement over the first game, but this is pretty much more of the same. Also, as always, the game isn't very fun in single player mode. Mario Party and Wii Party games just aren't remotely the same when played single player, and Nintendo, Hudson, or the current series developers have never figured out how to solve that problem. This game certainly doesn't do that. So yeah, probably just stick with Mario Party 2, for your N64 Mario Party needs -- that game is cheaper. Four player multiplayer, on-cart saving.
NBA Hang Time - NBA Hangtime is a home port of Midway's third arcade basketball title. While Midway lost the NBA Jam name to Acclaim, they kept making games in the series, just under new names. The first of those was NBA Hangtime, and the second NBA Showtime (which I have for Dreamcast). Originally an arcade game, Hangtime was ported to multiple platforms (SNES, Genesis, GB, PS1, N64), but the N64 has one of the best versions. The game is classic NBA Jam, and has 2-on-2 arcade basketball, with that great NBA Jam gameplay that holds up so well. The graphics are quite good, too -- this game is sprite-based, and looks quite nice on the N64. Of course it has real sprite scaling, as you'd expect for a 5th gen platform. As a result, the game looks and plays great. However, some of NBA Jam T.E.'s innovations are sadly cut out of this version, however, which is a real disappointment; overall, I like T.E. more than I do Hangtime as a result. Most notably, turbo mode (2x, 3x, and 4x speeds), Hot Spots, and Power Ups are all gone. Also, T.E.'s quarter-based player replacemenet system is gone. INstead, you can only switch players at halftime, instead of each player. This completely gets rid of the slight strategy element T.E. had in having to manage your players' injury ratings (since the player on the bench healed up; remember that in T.E. there were only three players on most teams). Those first three mode removals are unfortunate, but that last change really is bad. I thought that the addition of injury ratings and quarter-based player replacement were probably the best thing about T.E. compared to the original NBA Jam. Why in the world did Midway remove it from their next game? That was a big mistake. There is one new feature, though, apart from the better graphics and the roster update: there is a player creation feature now. If you create players it'll take up some memory card space of course, but it's a nice feature to have. Midway's later basketball games would bring this feature back, though; it's not only in this game. Still though, despite its flaws, NBA Hangtime is a good game that is great fun to play, and I'd absolutely recommend it. It is a good arcade basketball game with some nice scaling 2d graphics and great gameplay. Unfortunately some feature cuts place it slightly below its predecessor in my opinion, but still, it's a very good game. Four player multiplayer, Controller Pak saving (7 pages per player file, more for create-a-player files). Also on Arcade, PS1, SNES, Genesis, and GB.
Neon Genesis Evangelion (J) - Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the most popular anime series of the last couple of decades, or at lesat it's one of the best known in the West. It is a series about teenagers who fight in giant robot suits called EVAs, defending the Earth from monsters called Angels which are trying to destroy it. Well, that's just the story on the surface; below that there's a very complex story going on about the characters and Shinji (the main character)'s psychology that I won't get into. Evangelion was an interesting anime, I liked it. In Japan there have been many Evangelion games, but most were adventure or board/card games; only a few are action games, and this was the first of those (there have since been PS2 and PSP Evangelion action games). As such, back during the N64's life, this game became known as the "good Evangelion game", because it's the one that Western gamers could actually play. Is it actually a good game, though? Well... not really; it's a below average collection of minigames of sorts, sadly. The GRAPHICS, however, are absolutely incredible! Seriously, Evangelion is one of the very best looking games on the N64, and should be on any list of the best-looking N64 games. This game looks fantastic, the EVAs look extremely impressive. They even get the animations and expressions down perfectly. The games' presentation is also spot-on. The menus and cutscenes look like something straight out of Evangelion, and there are plenty of speech samples in this game, too. The music is also fantastic, and sounds just like the music from the show. The music is MIDI, so there aren't voices in the ending theme (which is used in the end-level screen, cleverly enough), but still, the graphics and music in this game are outstanding.
But that gameplay? Yeah, that is the weak link here. The many cutscenes during missions are flashy, and the ingame graphics good as well, but the actual gameplay isn't as good. The Story mode starts with several battles against Angels, 2.5d fighting game-style. You control your EVA, and can walk forward and back, do a weak attack with A, do a strong attack/grab with A+B plus a direction, block with B, or use your shield (AT Field) with C-down. The EVAs are huge, so the long delay between when you press a button and when something happens actually makes sense, sort of. I hope it was intentional, anyway. It is annoying and frustrating, but you'll have to get used to it. Timing is key in this game, both in the fighting missions and later. Attacks, blocks, etc. must be done at the right time to succeed, and the game is not forgiving. AT Fields are great, but you can only use it occasionally; the bar on the center-left of the screen tells you if you can use it or not. When trying to break through an Angel's AT Field with your own, alternate button presses on C-down and A if you want to succeed. The gameplay is simple, but hard at times. The first level isn't too bad, but the second one is quite challenging, even on "Easy". In addition to your and the Angel's health (on the upper left and right corners), you also have a sync ratio between your pilot and EVA. There's an extremely useful guide on GameFAQs that tells you which moves you can do depending on your sync ratio -- the lower it goes, the fewer moves you can use. Fortunately the game saves your progress at each match, but still, I'm sure some people have just given up at level two. I sure was tempted to. If you get past match two, the game starts varying what you do in each mission. You play as Shinji in most of the 13 (13.5 really) missions, but Asuka has two (2.5 really, since one is split into two parts) missions, and Rei one. There is a sniping level (very short), a rhythm-style level where Shinji has to synchronize with Asuka (I hate this stuff...), some levels entirely about timed button pressing, and more, though it does return to some fighting-style levels later as well.
However, regardless of mission type the gameplay is never better than average, and that's probably being kind. You don't fight all the Angels from the TV show, either. Since there are only 13 full missions, some are skipped over, unfortunately, probably for cartridge space reasons. There are multiple difficulty levels to complete, though, and the second and third difficulties do each have one more level on the end, versus Normal, to encourage you to replay the game a few times. You also unlock a mission-select option after beating the game on Hard. Given the mediocre gameplay, though, you may or may not want to do that. There is also Simulation mode, which basically is just a series of target-shooting tests. You choose any one of the five Children -- yes, here you can play as any of the five, including Kawada, Toji, and Rei, as well as the two from the Story mode. However, it really is just a shooting gallery, so that's a minor bonus unfortunately. These Angel target-shooting tests are pretty hard to get a good rating in, though, despite their simplicity. Try to hit the weak points if you want to do well -- it's not easy. Overall, whether NGE is worth getting or not depends almost entirely on what you think of the anime. The game is easily playable for non-Japanese speakers who know the series, since menus are in English, the story is the same as in the anime, and the controls are easy to figure out, but the lacking gameplay is a problem. I highly doubt that people who don't know, or don't like, the anime would have much interest in this game, apart from looking at the quite impressive graphics, but I do like the anime, so yeah, I do think this game was worth getting. This game could have been a lot better, but fans of the series, or those who want to see some of the systems' best graphics, might want to check this game out. It's not the cheapest import, but isn't one of the most expensive either, fortunately. I wouldn't want to pay the cost for a boxed copy, though; as cool as that box looks in pictures it probably isn't worth it. One player, on-cart saving.
The Powerpuff Girls: Chemical X-Traction - Based on the popular, and amusing, cartoon, this game was released in late 2001, and is one of the later N64 releases. However, the game is abysmal. Seriously, don't buy this, it's the worst game I own for the Nintendo 64 -- yes, it somehow manages to dethrone War Gods for that "honor!" This is a 3d fighting game perhaps somewhat inspired by Power Stone, but the designers were either incompetent or had no time to actually make a half-decent game, and the results are horrible. This game was also released on the Playstation, and this game feels like a down-port of that version, but oddly it seems to have released on N64 a month before PS1. On PS1 probably this game doesn't stand out nearly as much in its badness, since there are so many bad PS1 games, but games this awful almost never also released on the N64... but this one, somehow, did. This is a 3d fighting game where you fight in tiny little arenas. The game has six arenas and nine characters (the three Powerpuff Girls and six villains), but extends its single player game by not giving you the ending until you beat all 6 rounds with each PPG member. When it comes to gameplay, though, the game has very little in terms of move variety. You can punch, kick, block (C-left/right), punch or kick repeatedly to do a very basic "combo", jump plus punch or kick, and that's about it. You can also block, but it's hard to use, since it only blocks one hit, no more. This means that a block must be followed immediately with an attempted attack, or at least a jump, and you cannot block continuing enemy attacks -- you've got to try to get out of the way. What a bizarre design decision, and it's a bad one for sure. In a game where skill mattered that could potentially be interesting, but in this it's just frustrating. On that note, jumping is the only good way to get out of a "combo", when you are being hit by one. And by "combo" I mean "mashing one of the attack buttons repeatedly", because that's all you have to do to keep an attack going that only a well-timed jump or block plus jump or attack can get the victim out of. The AI will combo you a lot, so learn how to get out of them. This system gets very annoying, very fast, and is quite awful game design. Regardless, it's stupid and horribly designed. Why is blocking so hard in a game that otherwise involves almost no skill? It's bizarre! Also, you can try to throw objects in the arena at your enem (to stun them), but actually hitting them is hard, while they will hit you almost every time with the objects they throw. Argh.
The controls are also bad, because jump is mapped ONLY to the Z button, while L does nothing. So, if you want to use the D-pad, somehow you have to use it with Z, which is not going to be comfortable. Horrible design! The controls are not particularly responsive, either, I don't think. However, the graphics are reasonably nice, honestly. The arenas are very small, but somewhat detailed, and character graphics are okay. The music, however, is another story. On the N64, this game has only one music track, the Powerpuff Girls theme, which plays in the menu and during every match. Yes, really. The rendition of the song isn't that great, either. Unacceptable. Also, compared to the PS1 version, that version has a CGI intro video, while the N64 has a plain-text-only intro, without even any stills or something, like competent games would. And the text's font is so bad that I honestly couldn't read some of the words. Really. Also, there's more speech on the PS1 version -- on PS1, but not on N64 (in text or speech), there are silly little stage intro lines and it says the characters' names before the fight. Characters do speak furing fights though on the N64, for their moves and such. Also, the PS1 version supports memory-card saving. On N64, bizarrely, saving is password only, making this one of only two N64 games I know of with password-only saving (the other is Charlie Blast's Territory). However, the N64 version does have better in-fight graphics, thanks to its much cleaner graphics, so there is that. Overall, PPG:Chemical X-Traction is shamefully incompetent, horrible game for the N64. It may or may not be the overall worst game on the N64, but either way, it is definitely near the bottom of the list. Two player multiplayer, password save. Also on PS1 and PC.
Rampage: World Tour - Rampage: World Tour started Midway's rebirth of the Rampage series. The first Rampage, a popular '80s arcade game that was ported to the NES and other systems, didn't immediately get a sequel, but with this game, it finally got one. As in the original, you play as three monsters, and go around destroying cities. The monsters are humans who were transformed into monsters in science experiments gone wrong, and now you're getting your revenge on humanity by levelling all of its cities, from a 2d side-scrolling view. Yes, this game is entirely 2d. The graphics are okay, but aren't anything great, and use a pre-rendered style popular in the '90s. The game has a simple concept, but it's a simple series. You walk left or right, jump onto buildings to grab onto them and climb them King Kong style, and punch and kick them into rubble. There are human tanks, helicopters, soldiers, etc. shooting at you. Lots of hits cannot be avoided, as always in Rampage games; the series requires a little skill, but luck and endurance are more important. Rampage is a series which is fun for a little while, but gets old fast since there is never any variety whatsoever. World Tour tries to help that a bit with several different city environments, but the base gameplay never changes and does not require enough skill or strategy to not get tedious. It's always been that way in Rampage games, and it is here. However, it is a fun game for a while, and unlike in the arcade version of World Tour, or any version of the first Rampage, the console versions of World Tour do let you save your progress. That is great, and that's one reason to get this game for the N64 instead of just playing the emulated arcade version that was included in various Midway games and collections; there you'd have to play the entire long game in one sitting, which just is too boring to endure. As a result of that, the N64 version of Rampage: World Tour is still the best version -- it's the only one with both three player support AND saving. On that note, unlike the two-players-only PS1 or Saturn ports, N64 World Tour supports three player simultaneous play, which is great. The first Rampage was always a two player only game, but World Tour's arcade version had three player support, and this does as well. Overall though, Rampage: World Tour is a somewhat average game. The game is a good port of an average game. The game has a sequel released in the arcades, PS1, and N64 called Rampage: Universal Tour, but I don't have that one. There's also a final PS1-exclusive one, Rampage Through Time. Both games are basically rehashes of this game though, with the same gameplay but some new environments and monsters to play as. Finally, there's Rampage: Total Destruction for the GC/PS2/Xbox/Wii. It adds some new things to the series, such as isometric 3d gameplay (side-view-with-depth stuff, not full-roaming 3d); it's alright. It's still Rampage though, for good and bad. Rampage: World Tour is, ultimately, repetive, simplistic, and gets boring after a while. However, it's fun to wreck cities for a while, and the game does save, so sure, pick it up if you like this kind of thing and it's pretty cheap. Three player multiplayer, Controller Pak saving (7 pages). Arcade port, also on PS1 and Saturn. The arcade version is also included in Midway Arcade Treasures 2 and Rampage: Total Destruction.
SD Hiryu no Ken Densetsu (J) [SD Flying Dragon Legend] - SD Hiryu no Ken is Flying Dragon's sequel. This game is another Japan-only game, and it's got a big language barrier, because there is absolutely no English text in the game anywhere; it's 100% Japanese, with some Arabic numerals for numbers. Fortunately there is a guide for the game on GameFAQs. Use it! Otherwise figuring out what to do in the menus will be quite tricky. The game is fun enough to perhaps make it worth the effort, though, though it is unfortunately very easy. As the name suggests, though, this time there is only one gameplay mode, the cute-looking "SD" (super-deformed) mode from the first game; the "Virtual Hiryu" mode, with more realistic, Virtua Fighter-esque, graphics, is gone. In the first game, SD mode had 3d-dodge buttons, while Virtual mode did not, as in VF 1 or 2. This time, you can choose whether you want to be able to enable the 3d-dodge buttons or not. The feature is disabled by default, but I much prefer it on, and that's how I've mostly played the game. SD Hiryu has slightly better graphics and a better framerate than the first game, as well. For the most part it looks similar, but it runs a bit better, which is great; Flying Dragon does have some framerate issues. This game is not as smooth and well-playing as the best 5th gen 3d fighting games, but it is an improvement over the first game, which is good. The game plays alright, though even in "Hard" AI opponents are easy to beat, and in "Normal" I found myself winning almost every single round even on my first time playing the game. As far as modes go, there is a story mode which has you play as the series' main character guy only. The story is all in Japanese of course, and there isn't voice acting, but you can at least do the fights and maybe figure a few things out by what's going on. The GameFAQs guide gives you some story details as well. There is also a tournament mode where you fight the usual eight or so enemies, versus mode, options, training mode, and the like. As in the SD mode in the previous game, you can buy items with the money you win in the various modes. This adds an "RPG" element to the game, as you try to get the better items. Of course, all item descriptions are netirely in Japanese, but the FAQ does have an item list with descriptions, which is nice. The other main unlockable are alternate tournaments for tournament mode. In addition to the basic one, there are seven more unlockable themed tournaments you can get if you do specific things and have certain items. Not bad. There are more characters to play as in this game than the last one as well, and the Virtual-only characters have been brought over into this game, in new superdeformed forms of course. Overall, SD Hiryu no Ken is an okay to good game. It's slightly better than the first Flying Dragon overall, thanks to the improved framerate most notably. If you like Flying Dragon, definitely check this game out. However, it is easy, and do use that FAQ if you can't read Japanese. Two player multiplayer, Controller Pak saving.
Tigger's Honey Hunt - Tigger's Honey Hunt is a 2.5d platformer, and while it is quite easy, it's actually kind of fun. As the name suggests, in this game you play Tigger, the tiger from Winnie the Pooh. While most Winnie the Pooh games are basic educational games for little kids, though, this one is a real platformer, and yes, it's alright. The main game is, that is; the minigames are unfortunately horrible. Yeah, do NOT play this for multiplayer. In the main game, Tigger's Honey Hunt has you bouncing through a somewhat short quest as you, as Tigger, have to find Pooh's honey (sorry, hunney), since, as always, he messed up and spilled Pooh's honey. Your goal in each level is collecting enough of the honey to unlock the next stage. Tigger can jump, but also can bounce high on his coil tail. You'll have to explore each level reasonably well in order to get everything, though this is at its core a linear platformer. There are only nine levels, though, so this is a short game. Still, there's a little replay value if you don't manage to find all of the honey on the first try; this generally isn't that hard, but for the target audience here it's probably perfect. You also do get a few more abilities during the game that will have you going back to the earlier levels if you want to get all the honey. But even for adults, even if the game is far too short and easy, I found it a fun game. Tigger's Honey Hunt has decent to good graphics, too. You can tell that this is a multiplatform title and that it doesn't really push the N64, but still, it looks good. I like the graphics, you couldn't do 5th gen 3d Pooh characters much better than this. There aren't many 2d or 2.5d platformers on the N64, so it's great that this one was released. Unfortunately, the sound is weak. There is no voice acting in the cutscenes, so children will have to be able to read for this one (or have someone read it for them). On PS1 there are voices, but they didn't want to pay for a larger cartridge to fit them in this release, I presume. Too bad. Also the game is only a few hours long, with somewhat limited replay value. And last, those minigames really are bad. There are only three of them, and they are Simon Says, Rock Paper Scissors, and a really tedious "watch sticks float down a river" game. That's it -- pretty bad! Still, overall, Tigger's Honey Hunt is a fun little game. If it's cheap, it's worth checking out, I think. It won't take long to play through, and it's a simple, fun game while it lasts. Four player multiplayer (minigames only; main game is single player only), on-cart saving. Also on PS1.
Tsumi to Batsu: Hoshi no Keishousha - Sin and Punishment [Sin and Punishment: Successor to the Earth] (J) - Sin and Punishment is surely the best-known and most popular N64 game that was not released outside of Japan. The game is a rail shooter (of sorts) by Treasure, and it's a quite good game as well. The game even is fully voice acted in English. The anime-esque story is confusing, and the ending in this N64 version has some text-only Japanese in it, but still, it IS mostly in English. However, some idiots at Nintendo decided that they wouldn't release the game outside of Japan, despite how badly me and so many other people wanted the game, and that was that. This was the N64 import game I really wanted, but could not have gotten, or afforded, back then; I wouldn't even have a credit/debit card until the mid '00s, never mind a way to import games from Japan. So yeah, Nintendo was stupid. I ended up looking up how to play N64 games emulated just to play this game, but always wanted to own the real thing too. Even after I got a Wii, and picked up the US Wii Virtual Console release of the game, I still wanted the actual cartridge. Well, I finally got it, complete in box. It cost about $40 shipped, but that's what it costs now. I do think that VC releease cut the price of the game in half, though, which is good; it used to cost even more. It's easy to see why when you play the game, though. Sin & Punishment is not a perfect game, though, Most importantly, it's way too short -- there are only three levels, each made up of three stages. That's not many, and not all of the levels are equally great, either. However, when it's good it's very, very good, and that makes up for the flaws. The game also keeps me coming back to try to get better scores. This is a Treasure game, and it's got some depth to it to make players want to keep playing it, try harder difficulty levels, and get better scores. That's good, when a game is as short as this one is. Still, the game needed more stages. Only nine, and one of the last ones is a random side-scrolling stage which isn't quite as great as the rail-shooter levels are? Plus the last stage is just the final boss fight, no more. It's a long boss fight, but still, all in all the games' length is disappointing. As for modes, the game has a main story mode (with saving), difficulty selection, some minor hidden options to unlock depending on which difficulty level you beat the game on, a training mode to help you through the controls, and high-score tables for each stage and difficulty. There is multiplayer, if someone hits start on controller two, but it just lets controller two control the cursor and fire, nothing more. Pretty disappointing.
Sin and Punishment is a rail shooter, but it is not a conventional one. Instead of flying a spaceship forward, Star Fox style, instead this is more like Jet Force Gemini bossfights, or perhaps Wild Guns and such on the SNES -- you move a character on a 2d plane in front and can run or jump to avoid projectiles, while also moving a cursor around the screen to shoot at enemies. This game isn't a static-screen game, though; instead, you're usually moving forward. Sometimes the screen will stick for a while while you fight some tougher enemy, or a boss of course, but usually you're moving forward, either on the ground somewhere or on some flying platform. So, it is indeed a rail shooter. You use the analog stick to aim, and the C-buttons to move. R jumps, and A switches between lock-on fire (with lower damage) or aimed fire (with higher damage). The controls take getting used to -- learning how to use R with the C-buttons and analog stick all at the same time isn't easy. I honestly find the controls even harder to use on the Gamecube controller (with the Wii VC release), though. X or Y to move left and right, plus R to jump? Argh! Not comfortable. And I like the C-stick even less. So, even though the controls are kind of odd, I do think that the N64 version has the better control setup. It's easier to use the C-buttons plus R than the various GC or CC options. And yes, jumping is very important. Once you get used to it, the controls do work well, and the gameplay is somewhat unique and plays great. Indeed, the great gameplay is why this game is so good, despite the various issues the game has. As for graphics and sound, the graphics are good, but not really great. This game looks good, but the N64 can do better. Some stages, most notably 2-2, the flying battle against an enemy fleet, look great, but others are less impressive. I'd have liked to see more stages like 2-2. Still, overall the graphics are decently good. The art design is great, as well. I like the box-art quite a bit. Enemy and boss designs also are often pretty good. The music is reasonably good, and it's cool that the voice acting is in English. You probably won't remember the music after playing, though.
Returning to the story, in Sin and Punishment you play as two teenage resistance fighters, Saki (a boy) and Airan (a girl). They are led by Achi, a girl with mysterious powers and an unknown agenda. Monsters called "Ruffians" are attacking the Earth, and yet again things are not looking good for Japan. The resistance is fighting Ruffians, while other enemy forces are using Ruffian powers instead. They are a private military corporation here to crush resistance, I believe; I'm not entirely sure. At the beginning of the game, their troops wipe out some other resistance bases, leaving only the three characters to continue their fight. Achi has her own secrets, which you learn later in the game, but the story isn't really the main draw here; it's okay, if you like dark anime-esque plots, and when you when you can actually figure out what's going on, but it's not great. It would be nice if it made more sense without having to go read online about what was happening, though. Ah well. You play the first and third levels as Saki, and only the second as Airan. No, you cannot choose who you play as, it's all preset according to the story. That's too bad; the sequel (Sin & Punishment: Star Successor for Wii) lets you choose either of that games' two characters during the game. Better. That game has a LOT more content than this one, too, and probably is the better game overall. Still, the first Sin & Punishment is a great game. The game has some flaws, most importantly the short length but also the learning curve on the controls, the lack of good multiplayer, no character selection allowed, etc., but the action is fast and furious, the game design somewhat original, and the game fun and high quality overall. This is a good game, and I don't regret getting the N64 version. I've always wanted it, and now I finally have it. The game definitely is not perfect, but it is good. Two player multiplayer (limited), on-cart saving.
V-Rally Edition '99 - V-Rally is a European rally racing game that started on the PS1. While the PS1 game had the Need for Speed license put on it in the US, it wasn't originally a NFS game, and this N64 port doesn't have the license either. V-Rally Edition '99 is a late N64 port of the first V-Rally game. This port released not far off from when V-Rally 2, the much-improved sequel, released on PS1, but this has none of the second games' features, sadly. Instead, players will have to make do with all of the signs of a shoddy port; this may have released long after the PS1 version, but it sure doesn't look like the developers knew how to get much out of the system. V-Rally has some of the most "Playstation-like" graphics I've seen on the N64, with some pretty ugly polygon models and even attempts at PS1 pixelization; this game has some of the most pixelated N64 graphics I've ever seen, I don't know how they managed to make it look so bad. Impressive work there, I guess. There is also heavy fogging, since apparently these poor graphics somehow were all they could manage. Really, this game looks bad visually. As for music, there is none during races, something "simmish" rally racers do sometimes, to their detriment. The menu music isn't very good, but something would have been better than nothing, in-race. The gameplay is only slightly better. The game has 50 tracks, all one-way courses, just like the original had, but the gameplay is bland and unexciting, and as there are only seven actual environments for those tracks, the tracks blend together and feel similar. Great fun gameplay could make up for that, but this game doesn't have that, for sure. This is a common problem in more "realistic" rally racing games, but it does get repetitive. Car controls and physics are even worse, unsurprisingly. At first you'll skid on every turn, and the AI opponents are tough and those crash physics frustratingly floaty and defintely nothing approaching realistic. That's okay, since I prefer arcade racing games to sims, so I probably like this game more than I would a hardcore sim on a subjective level, but objectively it's no good, for sure. Try not to hit things or spin out on turns. It's not easy to learn how to control the cars in this game well, and it's absolutely not worth the effort either. If you want to play a great N64 rally racing game, play Rally Challenge 2000 or the two Top Gear Rally games; this one probably isn't worth it. You can do worse, but you can also do a lot better. Test Drive V-Rally (aka V-Rally 2 in Europe; this is no more Test Drive game than it is NFS), the Dreamcast port of V-Rally 2, is much better, for example; play that one. This game, however, has awful graphics and plays poorly too. There are worse N64 racing games than this, and it's arcadey enough that it can be okay once in a while, but there aren't really any good reasons to get this game for people who aren't trying to own every N64 racing game, as I am. Two player multiplayer, on-cart saving. Also on PS1.
Xena: Warrior Princess: The Talisman of Fate - Xena for the N64 is a somewhat beat 'em up-inspired 3d fighting game based on the popular Xena TV show. The show was initially a spinoff of Hercules, except with a female lead, and like Hercules it's got very little to do with its supposed Greek/Roman-era setting, design-wise. Sorry, but as a history major, this stuff bugs me. But yes, as with Hercules, I barely ever watched this show, so I'm not really familiar with the source material outside of what I've heard about it. In the game you can play as eleven different characters from the series, including Xena, Gabrielle, and various others (no, not Hercules). This game is a full 3d fighting game, and you move around the arena with the stick (or dpad, but the stick probably gives better control). The four C buttons are your attacks, two punch/kick and two weapon attacks. Each character has a couple of baisc combos (two to four hits) and a few special moves, though not many. R and Z jump and crouch, which are useful since most distance attacks cannot hit crouching characters. Fire breath can, but not stuff like thrown weapons. You can also block while standing or moving backwards. A changes targets in multiplayer matches with three or four players. The game is simplistic, but winning in the later fights, or Hard difficulty, will require a bit of thought -- enemies will block, and you'll have to time your attacks well in order to get through the block. This can be frustrating at times, as the AI blocks constantly and then hits you the moment you try to attack sometimes, but I did get used to it after a little while. The game also has balance issues, and the moves and characters are not at all evenly balanced, unfortunately. It also can be difficult to tell exactly whether you can hit someone before you swing, because of the 3d arenas and how the characters are constantly circling around eachother, while the camera always stays in one static position in front of the arena. When the enemy is between you and the camera, it can get annoying. So yeah, the gameplay here is definitely nothing better than average, and probably is below average. Run around, whack at the enemy, try to time your hits right, hit the button a few times to do a short combo, rinse, and repeat. That's about all there is to the game.
The graphics and sound are okay, though. The characters are okay looking and do look like the characters from the show, and the audio is alright. The arenas are bland looking, though; there aren't any obstacles in them, and they aren't very large either since each one has to fit on a single screen. However, yes, this game has four player matches! It's pretty cool... except for the critical design flaw that the game only allows one AI opponent in any match, so it's impossible to play with more than two characters on screen in single player. That's very disappointing and is a real problem with the game. The game would be more fun with four-player single player matches. That is only one of the signs that this game was made on a tight budget. Another one is that after you win matches in the main tournament ("Quest") mode, there isn't any kind of victory screen, score screen, or anything. The announcer says that you win, and then it's straight to the next match with no interruption. It's kind of odd, I'm not sure if I've ever seen a fighting game quite like that. Also, in the tournament you fight all 11 characters, so it takes longer to get through than most fighting games, since in these games you usually only have 7 or 8 characters per tournament. Once you're done, though, replay value isn't that high, as far as the single player goes; this isn't a fighting game many people will keep returning to on their own. At least each character does have a (very short) custom ending, so there is that at least. Other than Quest mode, your only other options are single match (vs. 1 CPU or up to three humans), training mode, and options. On normal the game isn't that hard, but it's not a complete pushover either, which is good. You also unlock the ability to play as the boss after beating the game once, and there are a bunch of entertaining cheat codes too, such as a big-head mode for instance. Overall though, Xena: The Talisman of Fate is a very mediocre game, and is below average overall. It's somewhere between bad and mediocre, I think. It's probably much more fun in multiplayer (with three or four people particularly!) than it is in single player, though, so keep that in mind. Four player multiplayer, Controller Pak saving (1 block).