N64 Time - Duke Nukem 64

[noobish hat]

Steady on, the first Top Gear game isn't even out until issue 8! They both get top ratings in the magazine though, looking at the index, so I'll definitely be checking them out. I have the first one in my stockpile.

I'm upset now, because the racer I was looking forward to was Rev Limit, which was previewed in this month's issue. I just looked it up and it was cancelled! I hate it when that happens

Anyway, the mag focuses on RPGs this month, so at least I have Mother 3 to look forward to.

[nakamura]

I remember hugely looking forward to Rev Limit and being gutted it was cancelled. Thanks for the memories!

http://www.unseen64.net/2008/04/04/rev-limit-unreleased/

[noobish hat]

That's where I just visited For these kinds of games (where it was basically finished), I still hold out hope. With stuff like Bound High, Resident Evil GBC, and Resident Evil 1.5 being released, it's not impossible that these games will see the light of day at some point - or even get coded to completion!

Anyway. I just played through the normal and hard modes of Shindou Wave Race 64. First things first: I don't see any difference between this and the PAL version, in terms of speed or choppiness. This is all to my advantage, I guess. Or rather, it would have been at the time, when importing a single 60 Hz game from Japan or the US would have cost over ?100 (along with the hassle of convertor carts, or the expense of buying a foreign console). I think in a minute I will actually put on the PAL version and see if I can notice anything when they're played back to back.

How about the rumble? Well, this time it is much more effective I think. Perhaps I should say it's more appropriate here. Riding over waves and slapping down hard into choppy water, and elbowing past other racers (or, in my case, having other racers elbowing past me) is greatly enhanced by the rumble pak. I rarely use modern consoles (and I certainly haven't touched one in 6 months because I don't have any with me), but I think the vibration they use is much weaker. Or possibly we've had rumble for so long, it's second nature now, and we barely notice it. Unless it's just the time warp mind set making it feel novel once again, I'd swear the N64 rumble pak is stronger, or put to much better use.

I'd definitely recommend this as the optimal version of Wave Race 64 though. For one thing, it's a racer, so the Japanese text is minimal and intuitive anyway, there's quite a bit of English (bizarrely, the voice overs are a mix of English and Japanese). Second, it's in 60 Hz, if you notice such things (which apparently everybody but me does). And of course it has great use of rumble.

I'd also like to say that I've been struck again by how great it looks. My favourite track is probably Milky Lake (which is probably a stupid choice because it's the only one with no waves!). The reflections in the glassy surface of the water, the fog, the flock of birds rising out of the long reeds as you ride past - everything looks beautiful. It really goes to show how wrong people are when they say that N64 games don't hold up well - this was one of the earliest titles!

Also, Milky Lake still has great music. The pan pipey feel reminds me strongly of Dragon Roost Island from Wind Waker. Check it out:




Could just be that all pan pipe music sounds the same though...

[charlesr]

I really prefer the look of Waverace64 to the GC version.

That Rev Limit game looks great

[noobish hat]

Ok, I just dug out the PAL version (of course it was at the very bottom of my box of carts). It is slower! And the colours are washed out and there are borders! Nintendo were doing Europe up the arse!

[Kit]

Nice to see you back, mr hat.

[sj33]

Ok, I just dug out the PAL version (of course it was at the very bottom of my box of carts). It is slower! And the colours are washed out and there are borders! Nintendo were doing Europe up the arse!

Same goes for other Nintendo games.

[noobish hat]

Thanks Kit

I think some games fared better than others. I'm pretty sure Mario 64 is considered a fairly decent conversion. It's the racing games that are most vulnerable to it, I think.

[nakamura]

Sega were like it too.

[Tetsuo]

I think some games fared better than others. I'm pretty sure Mario 64 is considered a fairly decent conversion. It's the racing games that are most vulnerable to it, I think.

Mario 64 is actually one of the worst PAL conversions, along with Wave Race 64. It affected early titles in particular, and it wasn't really until Rare came along and showed everyone how it could be done that the NTSC > PAL conversion issues slowly all but disappeared.

[noobish hat]

Issue 7, bros. I did have a big old post that prefaced this with some 1997-era console wars waffle, a picture of my new Hori controller, and a shot of Wil Overton with a ludicrous cotton wool beard on. But that was lost when the site crapped out on everybody, so whatever.

It's another slim month. Goldeneye is reviewed, but it's the US and Japan import version. SERIOUSLY. RARE. YOU'RE KILLING ME. Honestly, I would love to know why everyone else got the games made by a British developer before Britain. America, I could almost understand. But Japan? Is this a joke?

Goemon is also out, but that's the Japanese release, of course. I have ummed and ah'd over it, but I think I'm going to wait to for the PAL version.

So what am I playing? Well, this, for one thing:

I'm enjoying it really rather a lot. The presentation is excellent - I love the design and the colours. The graphics are lovely, and I don't think it's aged at all. It has high quality trancey, electronic music too, which apparently is something everyone praises this game for. The actual mechanics of the game totally went over my head to begin with. The tutorial isn't much cop, to be fair. After a few games though I got the hang of it. There's a ball, or sphere, if you will, and it's covered in several layers of tetrominoes. A random piece falls from the centre of your screen (so all you can see is its shadow), and you have to place it on top of an identical piece that a. is exposed, and b. has at least one other identical tetromino lined up next to it. And it does have to be lined up completely (if possible for that particular piece), that is, the whole length of the long thin one has to be touching the entire length of another long thin one, for example. When your piece touches down, the other will disappear, along with other identical pieces that it is touching. You have to do this until you get to the surface of the sphere and open up a big enough window to release a round idiot. You can also drag other pieces around to position them next to others, to rack up combos.

That's the Rescue mode. I haven't tried the other modes yet. I have two problems with the game so far: 1. It gets too hard very quickly. I'm only halfway through all the available Rescue levels, and it's nearly impossible. The pieces just drop way too fast for you to be able to assemble any combos. 2. The level naming system in the menu is upside down. The stages are split into Episodes, and each Episode has 10 Levels. When you're playing, the top left corner displays, for example, 4:3 - this means Episode 4, Level 3. BUT IN THE MENU IT'S THE ****ING OPPOSITE! The Level is at the top, and the Episode is at the bottom, like a sub category. This threw me off completely the first few sessions I spent with the game. I even wiped the memory and started again because I was convinced the later levels had been opened up by a previous player.

Anyway, yeah. The presentation makes it worthwhile. It also has an addictive quality to it (though not as strong as real, GB, Tetris). It even induces "headtris", the syndrome whereby you end up playing it in your head long after you put the game away, and start imagining real life items acting in the way the game does. This is especially unnerving with this game because the screen lowers inexorably closer to the surface of the sphere, inducing panic, until you land on the wrong tetromino and lose a life. This means after I finish playing, I'll be reading something on the internet, and I'll feel like my face is being drawn towards the screen, as if by a giant face magnet. Unpleasant.

[charlesr]

You have to do this until you get to the surface of the sphere and open up a big enough window to release a round idiot.

Wut? Is this a typo or is there someone trapped inside that is round?
edit: I see it's called "rescue mode" so I guess it's for real

Really enjoy reading this. Keep up the good work.

[noobish hat]

Ha ha, yes! There really is a round idiot trapped inside the sphere. If you watch the video, you should see him pop out of the window at the end. I don't know what he was doing in there.

[egparadigm]

Anyway, yeah. The presentation makes it worthwhile. It also has an addictive quality to it (though not as strong as real, GB, Tetris). It even induces "headtris", the syndrome whereby you end up playing it in your head long after you put the game away, and start imagining real life items acting in the way the game does.

This is why I don't play chess ? it happens worst of all at night and ruins my sleep.

If you eventually finish this series, you should edit it and self-publish as a standalone issue of N64 magazine. Wil is still floating around ? maybe he'd do a cover illustration. I'm thinking a picture of you smashing your head against a copy of Turok or something.

[egparadigm]

Inspired by the thread I whipped out the N64 for another bash at Doom 64, which I have now finished. Game finished a little quickly, since the level numbers skip forward quickly thanks to some hidden levels. I nearly failed to complete the game as it turned out to be one of those that requires you to pick up secret items earlier in the game in order to defeat the final boss. I can only forgive the developers because of the level select passwords and cheats, which enabled me to see the credits. I hate it when games do this – it happened when I played Abe's Oddysee. I also hate it when games allow you up to the final boss without being properly prepared – for example if you haven't done enough leveling up in an RPG like Paper Mario TTYD, and doesn't allow you to go back and do so. That's what's so good about Metroid games – they always max out your ammo and health before boss encounters.

Anyway, otherwise a good game that stands the test of time, although I recall enjoying the earlier levels a little more than later ones.

I've now picked up TWINE again. This time I've taken a forgiving attitude and continued on Agent difficulty only. Gosh, what a dull game!