Category: Game Reviews

Developer: Rare, Ltd. Publisher: Nintendo Released: November 22, 1999 Rated: E 8/10 “The bloat, the bloat, the bloat.” I’ve never seen a game’s public perception change over the years the way I have with Donkey Kong 64. As a kid, it was as highly-regarded as any of Rare’s 3D platformers, including those starring a beloved Read more

Developer: EA Canada Publisher: EA Sports Released: November 30, 1997 Rated: E 7/10 After rushing to make the launch window for the N64 in Europe with the disappointing FIFA Soccer 64, EA Canada manages to right the ship by year’s end with more than just a simple tune-up for their flagship franchise. This comes not Read more

Developer: Midway Games Publisher: Midway Games Released: September 12, 1998 Rated: E 9/10 It’s easy to dismiss the feud between more serious sports franchises of past generations, like the one between Madden and Quarterback Club on the N64 (or Madden and GameDay on the PlayStation). Games produced to be on the cutting edge rather than Read more

Developer: Software Creations Publisher: EA Sports Released: May 19, 1998 Rated: E 6/10 EA Sports vastly improved their efforts in a short few months between the release of FIFA Soccer 64, a rushed mess of a game from the early months of 1997, to November’s Road to World Cup ‘98. A fluid, content-rich title that Read more

Developer: Nintendo EAD Publisher: Nintendo Released: March 10, 1998 Rated: E 7/10 Somewhere way down on the totem pole of Nintendo’s platforming franchises sits the Yoshi series. While the character/species is beloved and integral to Mario games, both mainline and spinoffs, Yoshi’s starring roles have been spent working off of the touchstone release of Yoshi’s Read more

Developer: Iguana West Publisher: Acclaim Released: November 30, 1998 Rated: E 5/10 After their great success in publishing the home ports of NBA Jam in the 16-bit era, Acclaim made off like bandits with the naming rights going forward and attempted to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes with their first basketball title under the Read more

Developer: 3D Realms (Original) Eurocom (Port) Publisher: GT Interactive Released: November 16, 1997 Rated: M 7/10 It’s no secret in this particular case: on the N64, you are getting what most would consider to be the kid-gloves version of a classic ‘90s FPS. Duke Nukem 3D released in Spring 1996 as one of two sequels Read more

Developer: EA Canada (Original) NuFX (Port) Publisher: EA Sports Released: November 4, 1998 Rated: E 7/10 Similar to their only NHL output on the system, EA opts to give N64 owners the sloppy seconds treatment with their first basketball release, though they at least wouldn’t abandon the system just as quickly. A conversion of the Read more

Developer: Midway (Arcade Original) Eurocom (Port) Publisher: Midway Released: June 23, 1998 Rated: M 6/10 Well, it didn’t kill the series. Mortal Kombat 4 arrived in arcades in 1997. By that point, Ed Boon and Midway had mostly prepped their roadmap of 10 “Dos” and 500 “Don’ts” of 3D Fighting Game development from Midway’s own Read more