Last Retro Game You Finished And Your Thoughts

Off Road Challenge always interested me, but similarly, N64 Magazine's coverage put me off. I loved Super Off Road on the Master System; it was the first good game I ever played. I've had a hankering for a top-down racer recently, and have a bunch of them on my Xbox wishlist as it appears there have been some modern takes on the genre that stick the landing (Super Woden, Mantis Burn).

Silicon Valley was an odd one, it was reviewed positively and played well enough, but my mates at school who had it were quick to lend it out. I wasn't impressed at the time - it felt very empty and much like Body Harvest, felt fairly primitive by the time it was released, despite having a great premise. It's probably got more in common with Blast Corps - which also looked rough at the time. My main memory of Silicon Valley though, is the terrifying artwork, made scarier by the 49.99 pricetag it had. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns up on Switch Online - can't see Rockstar pausing GTA6 development for a remake.

I half-remember Off Road Challenge as one of those games that you’d only see a single dusty and full-cost copy of in the biggest shops, like the HMV in Edinburgh or the Virgin Megastores in Glasgow. They definitely didn’t have any in my smallish seaside hometown, not to buy or rent. It was both too expensive and too hard to find to take a punt on, and I trusted N64 Magazine’s word as pretty much gospel. Looking back, there’s a fair few games I felt they underrated considerably, and this is one of them.

It’s eye-catching that Super Off Road was the first good game you played. I’m guessing that it was one of the first games you played too?

Body Harvest’s primitiveness makes it, in my opinion, the hardest N64 game to go back to. I tried playing it during lockdown alongside all these other games, but it wasn’t for happening. It so, so rough in every regard. A clean-up of the visuals and a faster framerate (exactly like we’d seen with Pilotwings 64 on Switch Online) would improve Body Harvest a lot. I think Silicon Valley has been relatively unscathed by aging, mostly because of its wild imagination.

I've had trouble looking at Body Harvest and thinking "I wish I'd played that" but I would love to go round again with Space Station Silicon Valley. It did get price-dropped quickly (£8.79 - and in fact with £8 reward, 79p!) I would like a remake though - firstly as it wasn't possible to 100% due to a bug, but also the cartoon animals would work out better in a modern engine and a different style.

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N64 Magazine said: “Stunningly dull. Give it a miss”. 38% in Issue 26, 0/5 in Issue 59.
Arcade said: “Dreadful beyond words”. ⅕ in Issue 7.

I completed Milo’s Astro Lanes, an odd space-themed ten-pin bowling game that’s very reminiscent of the Hanna-Barbera’s Jetsons cartoon series. It was totally fresh to me at the time of playing, I had no prior experience with it. I don’t think I’d even seen a copy of it in the wild until it randomly shored up in a faraway CEX about five years ago, and I don’t recall ever seeing it since. It seemed interesting enough to be worth a go. That said, I remembered that it got it’s arse handed to it on a plate by all the critics of the time, so I approached this with low expectations.

Milo’s Astro Lanes isn’t a standard bowling game, and it gets a lot out of its cartoony cosmic theme. The rules of bowling are the same as ever, yes, but Milo’s Astro Lanes shakes things up with the addition of Mario Kart-style power-ups. They’re quite good fun, with weapons such as an item that makes you ball grow massive, another that splits the ball into three, and another that gives your ball a turbo boost. There’s defensive weapons to lay on the alley for your opponent as well, like a landmine that explodes your opponent’s ball on the lane, and a spring that launches their ball over the alley. There’s some strategy with involved with most of the game’s twelve lanes, many having obstacles of their own. For example, one features a river of lava flowing through the middle, and a meteor shower crashes down onto the lane of another. These imaginative lanes, the intergalactic setting, freaky characters, Casio-keyboard tunes and perky sound effects help make a fitting atmosphere that’s easy to get settled into, and I give Milo’s Astro Lanes credit for that. It’s a shame that none of it is especially well-made though.

I hate that Milo’s Astro Lanes is an absolute munter of a game, comfortably one of the worst on Nintendo 64. It would have looked downright ugly on the Atari Jaguar, and it’s aged woefully since. And as a bowling game it just completely falls apart. The controls are really stiff and the gameplay is obscenely slow – and that’s before you’ve even rolled your ball. Things get worse from there. None of the selectable balls move anything like you’d expect it to, and the pin physics feel all wrong too. You feel like you should be hitting strike after strike, but the ball and pins just seem to do what they please. Adding to this, Milo’s Astro Lanes’ analog controls never give you the precision that a ten pin bowling game absolutely demands. Coupling these issues together means that there were too many times where I feel I got cheated out of a game because of the unreliable movement and inconsistent physics. It’s a really unsatisfying game in this regard alone, but the aforementioned visual, control and pacing issues really bring the game’s problems into focus.

Milo’s Astro Lanes tries hard to be inventive, and I almost feel bad about the score I’m ‘awarding’ it. But it simply fails in too many ways. It doesn’t get the basics right: it’s slow, ugly, monotonous and unfair. The magazines were right, Milo’s Astro Lanes is rubbish. 3/10.

I seem to remember Interplay's name being heavily associated with a lot of duffers from that era. And once again, I do remember the crushing reviews this one got. (Not the score in this case.) Nice* to see it exhumed briefly.

Actually, did Interplay do Iggy's Reckin' Balls? A game my mind still returns to from time to time. It got 90% in NOM if I recall correctly, and 50% in N64 Magazine. Incredible differentials.

I think you might well see Milo’s Astro Lanes exhumed again someday. I remember seeing that it’s license was acquired by PIKO Interactive/Ziggurat Games/one of those sorts of companies. So we’ve all got that to look forward to.

Iggy’s Reckin’ Balls was by Iguana Entertainment, the same company that developed stuff like Turok Dinosaur Hunter and South Park. I think a 50% score is too kind, it’s unplayable nonsense. It’s also yet another of these old games that had it’s licence acquired. So we’ve all got that to look forward to.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:: It’s eye-catching that Super Off Road was the first good game you played. I’m guessing that it was one of the first games you played too?

Yeah, Alex Kidd in Miracle World was my first game. I remember picking up Master System titles for a few quid in, what must have been the early 1990s. I definitely need to revisit the Off-Road franchise one day.

I had no idea Iggy was named after the Iguana logo - that thing was engraved in my eyeballs thanks to Turok 2. I bet firing up these N64 titles gets the ol' nostalgia gland throbbing uncontrollably. I just can't really justify purchasing an N64 at this point, but should go back to the emulation scene as I know the N64 games are largely decent on Project 64.

gjones wrote:: I bet firing up these N64 titles gets the ol' nostalgia gland throbbing uncontrollably.

Thanks I hate it.

gjones wrote:: I bet firing up these N64 titles gets the ol' nostalgia gland throbbing uncontrollably.

Not really to be honest, because I play these games all the time and I play games the dubious quality of...

Last Retro Game You Finished And Your Thoughts - Page 32 N64-twisted-edge-snowboarding-c

Last Retro Game You Finished And Your Thoughts - Page 32 N64-twisted-edge-snowboarding-c

N64 Magazine said: “An amateur snowboard outing. Just competent”. 60% in Issue 24, 2/5 in Issue 59.
Arcade said: “Stupidly slow races on white stuff. Do not buy”. 2/5 in Issue 7.

The story goes that Twisted Edge Snowboarding progressed through its development at a time when, unbeknownst to developer Boss Studios and publisher Kemco, 1080 Snowboarding was secretly being worked on by Nintendo too. Twisted Edge wasn’t far off of being completed and released, but then 1080 was announced to their surprise and, to their even bigger shock, was prepared for launch just three months later. I imagine that Twisted Edge’s developers had the same sort of reaction that Bubsy 3D’s did when they saw Super Mario 64 running at E3 1996. Anyway, Twisted Edge ended up getting postponed for a few months so that further work could be carried out on it, surely with the intent being that it would be a worthwhile alternative to 1080 once players had finished playing that. 1080’s European release was memorably delayed itself, with Nintendo of Europe’s UTTERLY BRILLIANT logic being that N64 owners wouldn’t want to play an UTTERLY BRILLIANT snowy game in the spring or summer. Presumably hoping to avoid unfavourable head-to-head comparisons, that news consequently caused havoc for Kemco’s release of their Twisted Edge game. Delayed once and then delayed again, in the end I don’t remember Twisted Edge coming out until well into 1999, ages after 1080 and long after the game had debuted elsewhere in the world.

Yet unfavourable head-to-head comparisons are totally unavoidable. Put simply, Twisted Edge Snowboarding is worse than 1080 Snowboarding in every conceivable way. Breaking things down, the controls are nowhere near as nuanced and realistic as 1080s, and the course design is far less imaginative too. Also, the stunts are much less rewarding to pull off, the presentation is dreary, the speed is slow, and the visuals, audio and longevity of it compare really poorly to 1080 as well. Twisted Edge feels out of its depth on N64, and there’s good reasons why it’s remained a sub-£5 game even in this mental post-COVID retro games market.

But there’s always a but. Despite all these drawbacks, Twisted Edge remains decently entertaining. Twisted Edge has exactly the same qualities that Cruis’n USA does, in that it’s an simple and unfussy game that‘s really easy to play with your brain switched off. Most N64 games require you to readjust to them and the time they’re from; Twisted Edge honestly doesn’t. There’s not much else to it, there’s not much else to explain.

Regardless, there’s very few games on the Nintendo 64 that make you think ‘what was the point?’ as much as Twisted Edge Snowboarding does. Like, honestly, I’m even wondering about whether it’s even worthwhile to post this review as I type right now. 6/10 (it gets an extra point because it’s got a trick called Sad Ken).

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Doodle World is a new NES game that's on Evercade in Indie Cart 1 but this new redrawn version is the Game of the Month on the EXP (Did a video on it) and VS (Where I finished). This new version is like a harder version of the game, which whilst recording did find to be quite hard.

Though when loaded up on my VS did it in my first run in about 20mins, in a nice little 2D platformer.

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Whilst recording, some Evercade played the first 8 Capcom games on the EXP and got into Final Fight which I decided to keep playing and get finished with Cody. Still a great beat'em up after all these years.

Last Retro Game You Finished And Your Thoughts - Page 32 445733-to_box_jpn_front

N64 Magazine said: “A tedious old wrestling sim”. 49% in Issue 12.

What is it? You’re looking at Shin Nippon Pro Wrestling: Tohkon Road Brave Spirits. Not only was this the first New Japan Pro Wrestling-licensed game on the N64 but it was the first pro wrestling game on the system altogether – and everybody knows the rich heritage of wrestling games on the console. It was also one of my Secret Santa gifts from a couple of years back – cheers masofdas! Father Christmas

Is it any good? Reasonably so, aye. During the N64’s lifespan it was universally recognised that the best wrestling games used the AKI engine, which was shared and repurposed between the likes of Virtual Pro Wrestling, WCW/NWO Revenge and lastly the legendary WWF No Mercy. Being developed by Yukes, Tohkon Road uses an engine that you’d be much more acquainted with if you ever played the lesser-regarded yet still fondly remembered PlayStation SmackDown! games. Ergo, in the gameplay department what you have here is essentially a slightly stiffer and slower version of WWF SmackDown!. I think it’s a very decent alternative to the N64 wrestling games that you already know and have played to death. It’s unfair for N64 Magazine to have called it “a tedious old wrestling sim”, as it’s definitely preferrable to those WWF and ECW games that used that always-rubbish Acclaim engine yet very undeservedly got massive review scores.

Worth emulating? Go for it. Helpfully, the button prompts come up on the screen while you’re in a match and the menu options are all displayed with cartoony graphics, meaning that it’s quite English-friendly.

Last Retro Game You Finished And Your Thoughts - Page 32 220px-Puyopuyosun

N64 Magazine said: “You didn’t buy your N64 to play this but it’s still rollocking fun”. 80% in Issue 10.

What is it? That’s Puyo Puyo SUN, which is basically the third Puyo Puyo game. As well as the traditional matching of four blobs in any direction to chain combos and landslide your opponent with your garbage, the game’s main mechanics focus on – yes! - the sun. Yet all that seems to amount to is the game being set on a beach and introducing a new type of garbage blob that’s somewhat useful for quickly clogging up your opponent’s grid.

Is it any good? Despite my inability at it Puyo Puyo has always been good. I don’t know what truly makes this version stand out though. I don’t remember seeing the sun gimmick in any other Puyo Puyo game before or since, and I don’t think it’s any sort of major game-changer.

Worth emulating? It’s a rare of example of a Japanese N64 game that I finished all the way through, and while I certainly enjoyed my time with it there was nothing uniquely must-play about it. You’re fine with Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine I think.

Last Retro Game You Finished And Your Thoughts - Page 32 Choukuukannight

N64 Magazine said: …nothing from what I can gather. Eh?

What is it? A drumroll please for Chokukan Night: Pro Yakyu King, a Japan-only anime baseball game that I’ve already ran out of things to type about.

Is it any good? It’s okay. With bouncy sound effects and fun out-of-proportion graphics at least it has some character about it, and because of that I’d much rather play it than the officially-licensed Western baseball games that were abundant at the time. Yet when it comes to baseball games I say that the conversation starts and ends with Baseball Star 2 on the NeoGeo. After that, how many baseball games would you want? Or need?

Worth emulating? It’s difficult to get excited about…

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N64 Magazine said: “Proves to be fairly enjoyable but instantly forgettable”. 73% in Issue 27.

What is it? Let me reintroduce you to Hiryu No Ken Twin, a sort-of two-in-one fighter that you’d perhaps faintly remember by it’s PAL title, Flying Dragon. Essentially, one of the modes is like Virtua Fighter; the other is like Virtua Fighter Kids. The difference between the two modes is purely cosmetic – the character proportions and anime expressions change, but everything else seems pretty much the same.

Is it any good? It appears to be a pretty so-so fighter but it’s absolutely stuffed full of options that I can’t understand, purely because I don’t have any working knowledge of the Japanese language. I sense I’m not getting the full experience by trying to play my physical import. Even so, Hiryu No Ken Twin looks, sounds and smells like so many of the other self-proclaimed Tekken killers of the late ‘90s that ultimately drifted into obscurity.

Worth emulating? Life goes on if you do or don’t. At least it’s much better than Clayfighter 63 1/3, Dual Heroes, Dark Rift and the other riff-raff that cluttered the N64’s fighting scene. Let’s be honest though: the N64 is the last console you’d want to be playing for quality arcade fighters.

Last Retro Game You Finished And Your Thoughts - Page 32 Customrobo

N64 Magazine said: "A tremendously quirky game, obviously inspired by Pokemon". 83% in Issue 41.

What is it? You’ll maybe know this, it’s Custom Robo. It’s Nintendo’s own 3D robot fighting game that emphasises the, um, customisation of, er, robots.

Is it any good? From what I can understand of it, it’s really good. The game’s main text-heavy RPG mode is utterly incomprehensible, and that’s disappointing as it appears to be quite involved. It wouldn’t have hurt to have seen Custom Robo be translated for a Western release, even if to only allow Nintendo to say ‘hey, we’ve got an RPG on the N64!’ and appeal to that audience. The other freeplay and arcade modes are really good fun though, with gameplay that’s simplistic and uncomplicated in any language. You can get really creative with how you customise the weapons that go on your robots’ body, head, arms and legs, I’d imagine it’s a game that’s got unseen depth.

Worth emulating? For sure. This is a highly-polished and well-designed N64 game that’s still easily enjoyed. It’s on the Japanese N64 Switch Online app if you fancy a swatch – I’d definitely encourage you to give the arcade mode a bash at the very least.

I loved the Nintendo DS Custom Robo game back in the day. I fancy giving the others a shot at some point

I enjoyed reading those. I've always fancied a bit of Custom Robo, since reading about the Gamecube one. I remember the Japanese Switch service having it and you've convinced me to have a pop.

I'm not a Puyo Puyo megafan BUT I have picked up a packet of Puyo Puyo gummy candy from the supermarket.

I'd love to have a crack at Custom Robo, but I've been too lazy to change my eShop region this far and I can't imagine that'll change for a text-heavy N64 game in Japanese any time soon. Nice that it's up there though, and nice that it holds up!

Makes sense to post this with its Switch Online re-release a bawhair away:

Last Retro Game You Finished And Your Thoughts - Page 32 Excitebike-64-cover.cover_large

Last Retro Game You Finished And Your Thoughts - Page 32 Excitebike-64-cover.cover_large

N64 Magazine said: “Delicious handling, top tracks and a heap of extras make this easily one of the finest racers on the N64”. 90% in Issue 56, 5/5 in Issue 59.
64 Magazine said: “Motorcycle racing has never been so good!”. 94% in Issue 41.

Nobody pays attention to Excitebike 64 when they’re discussing N64 racers, it’s all ‘Mario Kart 64’ this and ‘F-Zero X’ that. Even when the conversations get more involved, you usually see people bring up 1080 Snowboarding, Wave Race 64 and even third-party stuff like Star Wars Episode 1 Racer and – Christ Almighty! - Lego Racers before Excitebike 64 gets a mention. That’s a bit of a shame, as I think the Excite series has been nothing but excellent since it debuted on the NES in 1984. Excitebike is one of the best games on NES, Excite Truck is one of the best games on Wii, Excitebike World Challenge was one of the best games on WiiWare…and I’m telling you that Excitebike 64 is low-key one of the best games on N64.

I remember this coming out. I read that Nintendo of Europe badly struggled to keep up with demand for Pokemon Stadium and Perfect Dark throughout 2000, so they postponed Excitebike 64’s release until a time when they had enough cartridges produced for a continent-wide launch. That didn’t happen until July 2001, over a year after the North American launch. Thusly, it became one of the very last N64 games to come out in Europe. Gaming changed a lot in those twelve-plus months between Excitebike 64’s US and EU launch. I half-recall feeling a bit sorry for it sitting on the shelf of my local Electronics Boutique for £49.99 and looking like shite, while Sony were busy promoting Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec and SEGA were showing off Sonic Adventure 2. Even when the shops were clearing out their N64 stock to make way for the GameCube, Excitebike 64 didn’t grab me. Exactly like when I skipped Banjo-Tooie and Kirby 64, I’d decided that PS2 was my future by this point, and N64 was my past. I didn’t add Excitebike 64 to my collection until I found an insulting cheap copy on Amazon many years later; £7.09 for a minty-mint boxed copy did me very nicely.

To me, the other Excite games are a bit of an arcadey laugh, with a understated cartoony sense of humour and some daft and over-the-top gameplay elements (“SUPER TREE RUN”) that really make them stick out. This, on the other hand, is a far more technical, almost simulation-like motocross racer that’s built on realism. While there’s still lots of jumps and still the need for you to not overheat your engine, I’d more closely compare Excitebike 64 to Wave Race 64 than its own NES and Wii counterparts. Like weaving between buoys in that Wave Race 64, Excitebike 64 demands that you master how you race across your terrain while making precise and very tight turns. Also, like hitting against the waves in that game, Excitebike 64 gives you extra height, turbo and manoeuvrability on how you position yourself on each ramp, steer in mid-air, land and then drift round each part of the track. There’s definitely a sophisticated physics engine at work here: speed, weight and cornering are a much more important factor here than in any racer I’ve mentioned in this review so far. It’s not just a case of holding the A button and scooting forward, pretty much every button on the controller has at least some sort of function that you’ll need to use to win.

You’re well prepared for this ‘technicalness’ with a seventeen-point tutorial mode, as well as the usual helping of Exhibition and Time Trial modes for practicing. After that comes the Season Mode, which you can complete on three difficulty classes. These are tough. It took me weeks to finish Excitebike 64, because some of these Seasons took me a few tries to beat – and even when I did, I only won by the skin of my teeth. For the most part, this wasn’t too frustrating, as ultimately I felt that skilfully using all my advanced racing techniques was very satisfying once I got the knack for it. Indeed, this was quite a hard game to control, to finish and to finally master, but it was a really good one.

Excitebike 64’s presentation, soundtrack and riders are pretty generic all told, and the graphics are basic even by 2001’s standards. Yet the tracks are expertly crafted, and varied enough in their settings, lighting and difficulty as to not become stale to look at or compete on. The announcer brings a lot of colour to the races, belting out some cracking lines of dialogue that are delivered with energy and enthusiasm – can of Coke for him, I think he really adds to the atmosphere. It’s this track design and atmosphere that really kept me switched on with Excitebike 64, as to be honest there were a couple of points where I thought ‘bugger this’ and was tempted to just move on to something else. I’m glad I didn’t though, and I felt I was well-rewarded for my perseverance. The track editor and four player modes were there from the start, and while I didn’t try these, they’re yet more proof about how committed Excitebike 64 is to giving you value for money. It’s a seriously hefty N64 game.

The Excite series made an impressive transition from 2D to 3D on N64, and then made another smart evolution on Wii. It’s regrettable that Nintendo didn’t have faith in Excitebots Trick Racing and never released it commercially in most places. It feels like that decision spelled curtains for the franchise. Being honest, you’ve probably knackered Excitebike on NES and Excite Truck on Wii can diplomatically be described as “polarising”. Excitebike 64 a different beast that you’re probably unfamiliar with, and I recommend that you sort that out. I think Excitebike 64 still stands up well today, and as badly overlooked as it is, I urge you to investigate it on the Switch. 8/10.

Over a thousand works on Excitebike 64...aye, work was pretty quiet during lockdown!

Is it on the Switch yet? I do want to give it a go, as I like the NES one well enough, motorbikes are cool and I am the Excite Truck World Champion of the World.

It's out on Switch tomorrow (30th) & I'm honestly quite excited to finally play it.

You did touch on it it and is a more of random retro thread thing but what was the N64 like in 2001 especially with Cube not till March 2022? As by then you would have had the next-gen SEGA come & go, and the PS2 would have been out for what about a year.

masofdas wrote:: You did touch on it it and is a more of random retro thread thing but what was the N64 like in 2001 especially with Cube not till March 2022? As by then you would have had the next-gen SEGA come & go, and the PS2 would have been out for what about a year.

I remember the N64’s release schedule in 2001 being pretty quiet and spaced out, and mostly being made up of PAL conversions of games that had already released in other parts of the world. Off the top of my head that included Excitebike 64, Kirby 64, Banjo-Tooie, Pokemon Stadium 2, Mario Party 3, Paper Mario and maybe one or two others that have slipped my mind. There were a couple of third party titles that padded things out, the most notable one was likely the late-to-the-party port of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 in late 2001. Conker’s Bad Fur Day was the only N64 game from 2001 I can remember having any real magazine/TV/in-store marketing and advertising put behind it. Everything after that (Easter time?) seemed to quietly come and go without much attention.

While Electronics Boutiques, Woolworths, Virgin Megastores and the likes were getting rid of their old stock to make way for the PS2 and XBox, finding and buying N64 games and accessories for practically hee-haw was no trouble at all, even Nintendo and Rare’s stuff. If it were still open I wonder if Electronics Boutique would still be offering Turok: Rage Wars for £2.99 with any purchase?

Up until the GameCube launched there was a spell in 2002 when it was just Game Boy Colour and Game Boy Advance stock on the shelves. I’ve got an odd memory the last time I saw N64 games for sale in my local Electronics Boutique right after New Years 2002: on a sad display at the arse-end of the shop there was a couple of new copies of Mario Party 3, tons of naff basketball games that they probably couldn’t have given away, and a strange abundance of new copies of Rocket: Robot on Wheels that had presumably been found in the stockroom.

Excitebike 64! I think I must have borrowed it from someone, as I never owned it but remember pissing about in the track editor as that was pretty novel at the time. Would love to revisit it.

Great to hear your reflections on the period when it was released, as I had moved on to Dreamcast in 2000 which felt like a massive step up. I traded in Perfect Dark for Shenmue, moving from regular 4-player gaming at 10fps, to this ridiculously detailed game I couldn't quite believe was real.

Never played Turok: Rage Wars, Acclaim must have overordered stock or something because that was frequently a free giveaway with Special Reserve orders. Probably a magazine subscription gift at some point too.

I was just listening to the 1080 Snowboarding soundtrack, like the sad bastard I am, and you're right, it did make Twisted Edge a bit pointless. Didn't know anyone who owned it but many friends had 1080, and the N64 seemed to have an abundance of extreme sports games on it. Tony Hawks 2 being released on N64 when Tony Hawks 3 was out on PS2 always fascinated me.

I fired up Excitebike 64 and, on the recommendation of Jaster, I did all the tutorials. I'm glad I did as the game has some tricksy tricks. I reckon I've got my head around it now and i'm enjoying actual races.

How they explain the tricks isn't too great, the icons don't really show that you have to make a down then up or left then right input for certain tricks for example. Thankfully they aren't really needed in the season mode which I'm have an absolute blast with except when Jim "bawbag" Rivers cuts me off on the final lap.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

masofdas wrote:: You did touch on it it and is a more of random retro thread thing but what was the N64 like in 2001 especially with Cube not till March 2022? As by then you would have had the next-gen SEGA come & go, and the PS2 would have been out for what about a year.

I remember the N64’s release schedule in 2001 being pretty quiet and spaced out, and mostly being made up of PAL conversions of games that had already released in other parts of the world. Off the top of my head that included Excitebike 64, Kirby 64, Banjo-Tooie, Pokemon Stadium 2, Mario Party 3, Paper Mario and maybe one or two others that have slipped my mind. There were a couple of third party titles that padded things out, the most notable one was likely the late-to-the-party port of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 in late 2001. Conker’s Bad Fur Day was the only N64 game from 2001 I can remember having any real magazine/TV/in-store marketing and advertising put behind it. Everything after that (Easter time?) seemed to quietly come and go without much attention.

While Electronics Boutiques, Woolworths, Virgin Megastores and the likes were getting rid of their old stock to make way for the PS2 and XBox, finding and buying N64 games and accessories for practically hee-haw was no trouble at all, even Nintendo and Rare’s stuff. If it were still open I wonder if Electronics Boutique would still be offering Turok: Rage Wars for £2.99 with any purchase?

Up until the GameCube launched there was a spell in 2002 when it was just Game Boy Colour and Game Boy Advance stock on the shelves. I’ve got an odd memory the last time I saw N64 games for sale in my local Electronics Boutique right after New Years 2002: on a sad display at the arse-end of the shop there was a couple of new copies of Mario Party 3, tons of naff basketball games that they probably couldn’t have given away, and a strange abundance of new copies of Rocket: Robot on Wheels that had presumably been found in the stockroom.

That line up doesn't sound bad in 2001 and guess if you stuck with the N64, you'd be having a great time with Paper Mario. Guess same with the Cube and why some late Cube games are now expensive, why a lot of people would have moved on to PS2 or 360.

The_Jaster wrote:: How they explain the tricks isn't too great, the icons don't really show that you have to make a down then up or left then right input for certain tricks for example.

Yep, that was exactly what I was failing to understand for about fifteen minutes. Once I got that, they were doable.

gjones wrote:: Great to hear your reflections on the period when it was released, as I had moved on to Dreamcast in 2000 which felt like a massive step up. I traded in Perfect Dark for Shenmue, moving from regular 4-player gaming at 10fps, to this ridiculously detailed game I couldn't quite believe was real.
...

I was just listening to the 1080 Snowboarding soundtrack, like the sad bastard I am, and you're right, it did make Twisted Edge a bit pointless. Didn't know anyone who owned it but many friends had 1080, and the N64 seemed to have an abundance of extreme sports games on it. Tony Hawks 2 being released on N64 when Tony Hawks 3 was out on PS2 always fascinated me.

I was all intent on moving onto the Dreamcast when it launched in 1999. I was absorbed by the articles, screenshots and hands-on previews in the likes of C&VG, Arcade and Gamesmaster for months beforehand. It looked like a massive step up in the magazines. It was when I first got to play a pre-launch demo pod at my local Electronics Boutique that convinced me otherwise though. Ready 2 Rumble Boxing was brilliant right enough, but Trickstyle was flashy button-mashing nonsense and I just didn’t think that Sonic Adventure was that good. My first impression of playing the Dreamcast was that it just wasn’t on the same level as the N64 or PS1. Maybe if I’d committed to getting a Dreamcast though I’d be typing up reviews for Looney Tunes: Space Race and Kiss Psycho Circus instead of Twisted Edge Snowboarding and Milo’s Astro Lanes.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 even made it to N64, albeit in North America only and well after even the GameCube and Xbox had launched there. The version of Ace of Spades that’s been utterly crushed onto that cartridge really needs to be heard:

The_Jaster wrote:: Jim "bawbag" Rivers

Which character do you go? I usually pick Sarah “Fucking Arsehole“ Hill.

masofdas wrote:: That line up doesn't sound bad in 2001 and guess if you stuck with the N64, you'd be having a great time with Paper Mario. Guess same with the Cube and why some late Cube games are now expensive, why a lot of people would have moved on to PS2 or 360.

Nah, Paper Mario wasn’t on my radar at all. None of the N64 games were to be honest, it was just the Game Boy Advance that was interesting me in 2001 when I’d occasionally buy the Nintendo magazines. The last N64 game I remember buying on release was WWF No Mercy in late 2000 – everything after that was focused on the PS2 and GBA. That was up until Gamestation opened up here in Scotland in 2003ish and started selling old Mega Drive, PS1 and N64 games for practically nothing. “Feel like shit just want Gamestation back” indeed.

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