Nofi’s ode to Mario 64 the other week got me feeling all nostalgic, but left me with a niggling feeling in the back of my head (that might have been the beer though). We all know about the N64’s big hitters – Mario, Zelda, GoldenEye 007; but what about the great games that never really get mentioned anymore? The N64 was far from a three horse race, so here’s my top five list of classic ‘alternative’ N64 games.
Space Station Silicon Valley
Space Station Silicon Valley landed on the N64 in 1998 and became an instant classic – which hardly anyone played! Brought to us by DMA Design (who went on to become none other than Rockstar North) the game revolves around the reappearance of a space station filled with animals that had gone missing 1000 years ago. Danger Dan and his robotic sidekick ‘Evo’ are sent to check it out, but unfortunately crash land – trapping Dan and reducing Evo to a crawling microchip.
It’s then we find out that all the animal inhabits have merged with the station’s technology – creating some interesting abominations (think jet powered fox). The central theme to Space Station Silicon Valley is the fact Evo can hijack any animal and use their abilities to solve puzzles and progress. A steam powered Hippo blocking your way? That’s cool, hijack a motorized Polar Bear and have a fight; or subsequently lure over a wheeled dog to distract it. Sure it didn’t look great, and had a number of glitches – but it had the foundations of something great, and a remake would be something very special.
Blast Corps
Nukes eh? Pesky things and the main threat in Rare’s 1997 classic ‘Blast Corps’. Two defective nukes have been scheduled for destruction, but in transit they develop a leak, causing an emergency protocol to kick in on the transport vehicle meaning it will go directly to the detonation site – the only problem is the buildings and people in the way, and that’s where you come in. Taking control of various vehicles it is your job to smash these buildings down – clearing a path for the nukes.
The range of vehicles is impressive; from super powered dumper trucks, to dune buggies, to huge mechs with jet packs; all with different special abilities to master -destruction has never been so much fun. The game was also incredibly tense, as the nukes were normally not far behind you – and when they appeared on screen you knew you were in trouble. Good job Rare.
Beetle Adventure Racing
During this previous Nintendo based article I bemoaned the lack of good racing games on the N64. Oh how foolish I was – I completely forgot about ‘Beetle Adventure Racing.’ The big stand out point of this game was the fact all the cars were VW Beetles. Sure there were different stats, but they were about as useful as a condom with air holes.
It sounds like a recipe for tedium, but it was incredibly good fun, and well remembered for its ‘shortcuts’ that actually took longer than going the normal route (hence the ‘Adventure’ in the title). The tracks were big, varied and enjoyable – and two player split screen racing and four player arena deathmatch sealed the deal. A real hidden gem.
Forsaken
Set on a post apocalyptic Earth, you play as a scavenger desperately trying to survive whilst harvesting as many goodies as you can before your rivals get them, or the Earth’s automated defence weapons get you. The game allowed full 360 degree movement, meaning attacks literally could come from anywhere as you piloted your jet-bike around large arenas.
Every weapon had three levels of upgrades, giving a noticeable jump in power – which is great because the game was rock hard with insane enemies and limited ammo. Forsaken also featured one of the best four player deathmatches on any console, with bots filling in for any missing friends.
Wrestlemania 2000
In my opinion this is still the best wrestling game ever created, and one that absorbed my younger years. Featuring 50 WWF stars, the game allowed you to edit them to your heart’s content, or dabble in one of the best ‘create a wrestler’ modes in existence. I’m fairly sure this was the first wrestling game that let you perform ‘The People’s Elbow’ as well – an important detail to any wrestling fan.
As it was based on the WCW vs. NWO Revenge engine the game had some horrendous collision detection, and none of the wrestlers’ arms/legs seemed to join to their bodies properly. This was offset by some amazing animation and the inclusion of taunts, allowing you to ‘flip the bird’ to the crowd. This was the golden age before wrestling games became stale and over complicated – I’d take Wrestlemania 2000 over its modern equivalent any day of the week.
So there we have it – my list. I’m aware there are some awesome games that have been missed (Body Harvest anyone?) but that’s where you come in – let me know your top five alternative N64 games.
Dany2Step
when i went to buy an n64 about 5 years ago the only games i wanted were mario 64 and silicon vally, now that right there is what id call a game.
other than SV i never really played any smaller cult titles.
Dany2Step
oh sorry for the double post, but was wrestlemania similar to raw is war and wwf attitude?
had them for PSone, awesome wrestling titles.
Dan Lee
No they (in my opinion) were much better – different control scheme.
Dany2Step
control scheme was great.
stun, taunt, pause, check button combo for special, special move, press O for pin.
remember figuring out shaun michaels taunt was sitting on the ropes, astonished!
Dan Lee
Ooops I meant wrestlemania 2000 was better – typed faster than my brain could handle :op
Dany2Step
well i haven’t played it so i cant really comment.
Burkatron
Pilot Wings, Tetrisphere, Extreme-G all sapped months of my youth:)
Dan Lee
Loved Extreme-G :op
Burkatron
remake/re-visioning needed.
aerobes
I thought the Tron game looked a lot like the old Extreme-G games. I admit it looks generic but here’s hoping.
Dan Lee
One of the lead guys working on Tron also did Extreme-G. From playing it it feels very much like Extreme-G
aerobes
Very cool! So what if the game is a movie tie-in? I realise the generally suck but I love the original Tron and I love Extreme-G so I’m very much looking forward to it. Cheers for the info, Dan.
MegaBonez
Blast Corps. Classic!
Reedus
I thought no mercy was better than wrestlemania. same engine, but deeper customization in every way. the only flaw was that the cart was so packed and pushed to the limit that the game slowed to a snail’s pace when four wrestlers were on screen at once.
Dan Lee
My problem with No Mercy was the bug on the early copies which wiped all saved data – of course the place I bought it from refused to take it back, and me being a youngling just accepted it (doh!), but what I managed to play of it was VERY good.
Lyts1985
Pilotwings, Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64, Shadowman, Lylat Wars, F Zero X, Turok 2, Snowboard Kids, Killer Instinct, Mario Tennis, Paper Mario, Re-Volt, SCARS, Ready2Rumble, Super Smash Bros, Wave Race, Wetrix, Worms Armageddon…
One of my
Lyts1985
What the hell happened there lol. Goddamn iPhone!
Meant to say, one of my favourite consoles of all time :-)
stonyk
I loved Turok 2 and shadowman. Agree with the N64 being favourite console. Best memories of gaming during those years with many classics. The 360 and PS3 haven’t come close for great memories. Would even suggest SNES was more enjoyable than these latest ones.
Charmed_Fanatic
Never heard of any of these!! haha
ghost5
“a condom with air holes” – lol
Blast Corps was a great game.
Pilot Wings is one that I remember owning but I also seem to remember it not being as good as all of the magazines made out.
Diddy Kong Racing was a brilliant game, better than mario kart in my opinion (all though you couldn’t beat a Mario Kart death match in slit screen).
ghost5
While I was google-ing Turok 2 I came across a game I forgot Duke Nukem 64 – the only Duke game I played.
Also Doom 64
Quinlank
I’d honestly struggle to name 10 N64 games I liked(I didn’t play them all of course, but anything that looked decent was a bit of a rarity on that machine).
Only real game I regret never playing on N64 was the original Paper Mario, which I now have downloaded onto my Wii, but haven’t played yet.
mcduff1979
curious as to why donkey kong wasnt on the top 5 that was amazing.
Dan Lee
Unfortunately I never got around to playing DK64 due to lack of funds – I’ve heard good things though.
aerobes
It kind of got semi- slated (I realise that sounds ridiculous) at the time but I really enjoyed it. It was essentially Banjo-Kazooie in DK clothes, what’s not to like? :)
Dan Lee
The problem on the N64 was that every 3D plat former was ultimately compared to Mario