#149. Triple Play 2000
March 22, 1999
Treyarch
EA Sports
$19.99 on Amazon
This game felt slow and methodical like baseball does, so I’m ranking it higher than some of the other baseball games. It also has the best presentation. Solid announcing and other little audio touches like fans heckling you when you come up to bat help set this one apart from the crowd. The batters’ warm up animations look nice and fluid too, as opposed to Slug Fest where it looks like the players ceremoniously warm up by fracturing every bone in their arms before taking the batter’s box. All of these factors make this a perfectly fine baseball experience which is held back by convoluted pitching controls. If you’re going to play three or four N64 baseball games, make sure Triple Play 2000 is one of them! — M. Roebuck
#148. San Francisco Rush 2049
September 5, 2000
Midway Games
A cool $99.99 on Amazon
Welcome… to the world of tomorrow! The year is 2049, there is a new Blade Runner happening, and the world is filled with inexplicable advertisements for Slim Jims and Dickies at every corner. San Francisco Rush 2049 controls better than its predecessor, but not by a wide margin. Turning around tight corners is a lot more forgivable, but you might still find yourself crashing headfirst into walls every now and then. You can really get some air in this game, making it even easier to find more of the hidden unlockables in each race course. There’s a lot more customizability here, too– you can even change the “fog” level! Huh, I thought N64 fog was a bug, not a feature. — K. Podas
#147. Olympic Hockey ‘98
February 23, 1998
Treyarch
Midway
One of two laughably similar new coats applied to Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey, the most notable thing about this game is that it was the development debut of Treyarch, who went on to make some of the most successful video games of all time in the call of Call of Duty, which curiously feature very little international ice hockey. It’s fun to see the different arrangements of NHL all-stars playing for their home countries, but aside from different jerseys and a few elements of added Olympic realism (5-on-5, more whistles), this is the third version of Wayne Gretzky 3D Hockey on the platform. Same menus, same controls, same flaws. Critics at the time said this could have been a bonus feature on Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey ‘98, which was released two months earlier, and that feels like a valid complaint. But who knows? If this cash grab hockey game wasn’t foisted onto the world, Treyarch might never go on to make Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Historical significance or not, however, I think I’d rather play Gretzky or the curling game in Nagano Winter Olympics ‘98. — M. Roebuck
#146. Donald Duck: Goin’ Quackers
December 20, 2000
Ubisoft
Adequate. Satisfactory. Fine. These aren’t just three words my parents have used to describe my writing — they also encapsulate how it feels to play Disney’s Donald Duck: Goin’ Quackers. This is an okay platformer of an okay length based on an okay character. It’s a Crash Bandi-clone through and through: 3D graphics with a 2D platforming sensibility. As you might expect from a game of this genre and era, most of its challenge can be attributed to depth perception. Whoops, that hole is bigger than it looks. Better jump slightly later next time. Whoops, that enemy is closer than it looks. Better jump slightly earlier next time.
Don’t get me wrong. If I’m a kid at Target in 2001 picking a game using the ‘cereal box test’ — demanding that my parents select the box featuring the cartoon I like the most—I could do a whole lot worse than this game. As licensed games go, it’s probably at the exact midpoint between GoldenEye and Superman. It’s truly decent. But in some ways, being decent comes at the expense of being interesting. I wanted wild worlds; manic mini-games; a screwy McCameo from Scrooge McDuck. In short: I wanted this game to go more quackers. But it wasn’t to be. Alas, a-quack. — C. Dean
#145. Mission: Impossible
July 16, 1998
Infogrames
Ocean
$14.99 on Amazon
This spy thriller, released a full two years after its cinematic inspiration, itself a reboot of a long running franchise (featuring an iconic theme song) is NOT GoldenEye. It’s hard not to talk about that when looking back at Mission: Impossible, which is unfair, because it’s also not Syphon Filter, or Hitman, or a couple other more enjoyable games that it brings to mind. It’s not terrible, but sadly just mostly notable for what it isn’t, all the way down to Tom Cruise reportedly not wanting to be involved. This was like that Avengers game in a pre-Twitter era, when you had to write a letter to GamePro if you wanted anyone to know what you thought about something game related. And even then, you had a better chance of getting in the magazine if you drew a picture of all the female Mortal Kombat characters using crayons.— M. Roebuck
#144. Top Gear Overdrive
November 23, 1998
Snowblind Studios
Kemco
$34.99 on Amazon
Upon first glance, I assumed Top Gear Overdrive was going to be a goofy, Twisted Metal style car destruction simulator. Just look at the chompers on that thing.
Alas, it’s just an extremely average N64 racing game with nothing very special about it. The controls are fine, the camera kinda sucks, and there’s actual licensed music which is a refreshing change of pace from the usual fare of borderline stock tracks most of these games have. The only notable negative I have is that there’s no way to reverse, which is real weird.
I’d say the only stand out is that one level designer really liked dinosaurs and mammoths because they’re fucking everywhere on the tracks for some reason. — N. Krause
#143. 007: The World Is Not Enough
October 17, 2000
Eurocom
EA Games
$50.45 on Amazon
Just like how GoldenEye saw no real equal in subsequent Pierce Brosnan Bond film entries*, any sequel to the Nintendo 64’s GoldenEye 007 was doomed to be judged harshly. Despite having a much better technical presentation than almost any other game on the system in terms of sound and graphics, 007: The World Is Not Enough lacks a certain je ne sais quoi. The youth may call this “vibe.” The game is competent but misses the liminal atmosphere and musical moodiness that injected GoldenEye with so much personality. And while the multiplayer modes are fun, the graphics take a distracting dive in quality compared to single player. But if you approach this game with lowered expectations, you might find that The World Is Not Enough is actually… enough. (Sorry.) — J. Danek
*Ok FINE, Tomorrow Never Dies is watchable.
# 142. In-Fisherman Bass 64
July 30, 1999
GearHead Entertainment
Take-Two Interactive
Oh, hello. Some of you may recognize me. I’m a guy that’s been stuck in a hole for a pretty good while now. My captors insist that I post about great video game deals and I obey in hopes of one day being set free. It’s a tough life, living in a hole and tweeting about video game discounts, but I’m making the most of it. The other day they chucked an N64 down into the hole and asked me to review a fishing game? Never was a huge fishing guy, video or otherwise, but hell, I’ve been posting about video games so much it was great to finally get to play one. It was pretty alright, to be honest. The decision to commit to a permanent split screen isn’t my favorite, as it really limits the field of view on the lure and water surrounding it, with equal real estate given to my avatar just standing there with his rod in his hand. The music is nothing to write home about, either. Being stuck in a hole, now that’s something you write home about!
Other than these qualms, this is a pretty enjoyable experience overall, and the amount of locations and equipment in the game add plenty of depth for fishing fans or people with access to a Nintendo 64 for an indefinite amount of time.
Also, if anyone wants to send help, I think I’m somewhere in Eastern Europe. Thanks! — GWISIAH
#141. Virtual Chess 64
Titus Interactive
June 10, 1998
Congratulations. If you’ve made it this far in the list, you have officially reached the nexus point of the Nintendo 64 library. There are good games, there are bad games, and at the exact midpoint in between, you have Virtual Chess 64. This game cannot be subjectively evaluated because it is literally just chess. Well, that’s not totally fair—Titus Interactive couldn’t help themselves—they had to make it a little shitty. The 3D board is at a weird angle and poorly lit, so it’s sometimes difficult to visualize your next moves. Also, every time a piece is taken, you are treated to a moderately disturbing pre-rendered animation of medieval characters fighting each other that looks like something out of a Video Brinquedo production (minus the Brazilian charm). But even if that were a deal-breaker, you can always switch to 2D mode and play matches that are basically indistinguishable from what you get on chess.com. So, look man, I don’t know. What score do you give chess? It has existed for over a thousand years. Couldn’t you argue that at least by one measure, this is by far the greatest Nintendo 64 game? Sure, we all love Ocarina of Time, but will people be playing it a thousand years from now? Let’s split the difference: chess itself is a 10/10, and Titus Interactive’s contributions are a 0/10. Virtual Chess 64 is simultaneously iconic and forgettable. Everything and nothing, all at once. A 5/10. — C. Dean
Next Page
