Category: Game Reviews

Developer: Rare, Ltd. Publisher: Nintendo Released: November 20, 2000 Rated: E 9/10 Banjo-Tooie is a big game. Relative to the N64, one might very well say it is staggering. The textbook example of aiming for a sequel to be bigger, better, and badder in every way compared to its predecessor, Banjo-Tooie is also one half… Read more

Developer: Rare Publisher: Nintendo Released: June 29, 1998 Rated: E 10/10 The 3D platformer is almost certainly the genre most closely associated with the Nintendo 64, and while the console boasts Super Mario 64 as its inaugural release and its mission statement on this front, only one game from a library of varying quality can… Read more

Developer: Player 1 Publisher: Titus Interactive Released: October 13, 2000 (or August 18? Reference needed) Rated: T 4/10 You may have heard Hercules: The Legendary Journeys referred to, in passing, as an attempt at a Zelda clone. Starting the game, this makes some sense – many controls are executed with a context sensitive A-button, while… Read more

Developer: AKI Corporation Publisher: THQ Released: November 17, 2000 Rated: T 10/10 Full disclosure: I did not grow up on WWF No Mercy. The only one of AKI Corp.’s wrestling titles I even remember playing when I was young was a handed-down copy of WCW vs. nWo World Tour. Among a smattering of wrestling titles,… Read more

Developer: AKI Corporation Publisher: THQ Released: October 12, 1999 8/10 Rated: T The tide turns in the Monday Night War, and the video games follow suit. In spite of positive reviews and sales at the time – clearly the byproduct of the unprecedented success of the era – the superior reputation of WCW’s releases inspired… Read more

Developer: High Voltage Software Publisher: Acclaim Released: August 24, 2000 4/10 Rated: E I’ve actually always had a bit of a soft spot for High Voltage Software, as a few games they’ve made over the years like The Haunted Mansion, The Conduit, and the Hunter: The Reckoning franchise make up some of the sixth and… Read more

Developer: Player 1 Publisher: Titus Interactive Released: November 17, 2000 Rated: E 4/10 Right off the bat, Blues Brothers 2000 is its own self-contained puzzle box of circumventing biases. The Blues Brothers is a bona fide classic bit of cinema with a great cast and soundtrack. Blues Brothers 2000 is widely considered to be a… Read more

Developer: Acclaim Studios West Publisher: Acclaim Released: August 26, 1999 3/10 Rated: E Fumbled. Take every bit of improvement, however small, that Quarterback Club ‘99 made, and throw them right in the garbage. Somehow worse in presentation and oftentimes more unplayable than its inaugural N64 outing, I choose to blame the collapse of Acclaim Studios… Read more

Developer: Locomotive Entertainment Publisher: Bam! Entertainment Released: July 12, 2000 Rated: T 3/10 (Note: I would often see this game having a release date in North America around the holidays — November 15, 2000 — but have seen July as an earlier date. I believe this is the date it was made available at Blockbuster… Read more

Developer: Iguana Entertainment Publisher: Acclaim Released: November 10, 1999 5/10 Rated: E If your mediocre sports title still manages to sell upwards of a million copies, I won’t hold it against you for taking a “baby steps” approach to your next yearly iteration. Iguana doesn’t reinvent the franchise’s gameplay in following up their successful debut… Read more