Category: Game Reviews

Developer: DMA Design Publisher: Midway Released: October 20, 1998 Rated: T 6/10 With the late ‘90s being the boom period of media about fighting alien space bugs, the N64 proved to be no slouch in this department — in spite of all of the other trends it failed to meet. And while top-tier established developer… Read more

Developer: Opus Corp, Anchor Inc. Publisher: Ocean Released: January 26, 1998 Rated: T 7/10 When the N64’s genre shortcomings are listed off, we often hear about the RPGs (taken away by Square, Capcom, and to a degree, Enix) and the fighting games (again, Capcom, why must you forsake us so?). And while the RPGs are… Read more

Developer: Devil’s Thumb Entertainment Publisher: GT Interactive Released: June 16, 1998 Rated: E 3/10 Released too late to even snag the coveted “first to market” title stateside, Mike Piazza’s Strike Zone does at least one thing right: it reminds us of a time when any old publisher could snag a professional sports license and release… Read more

Developer: Raven Software (PC Original), Software Creations (Port) Publisher: GT Interactive Released: May 31, 1997 Rated: M 6/10 Hexen joins the ranks of fellow Id Software shooters Doom and Quake on the N64 in between each’s respective release, though sadly we have more of a barebones port for the dark fantasy shooter than the original… Read more

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