N64 Reviews: Super Smash Brothers 
In light of the SSB2 announcement, John lays down his review of the original Super Smash Brothers. If you have an N64, you have probably heard of it. If not, you must live under a rock (or a PS2 ;). It is basically a game where Nintendo characters beat on other Nintendo charaters. How can it go wrong? Well, the answer is, it doesn't. Graphics In a word, beautiful. While the game stays in a side scrolling view, all the charaters are polygon-ed, in an almost perfect 3-D look. The stages all look 3-D as well. The animation is always on pace, with out a hint of slowdown. There are the nice touches, as well, like Metroids flying in the background of Samus' home level. Or in Fox's level, a fighter flies in from all angles and blasts you with lasers. The 3-D is also well used in the final boss level, but I won't spoil that for you. Sound Well, on to Sound. While not spectacular, it gets the job done. What music there is, it isn't memorable. But the sound effects are very good. They sound so... right. Know what I mean? everything fits. Like the noise when Samus powers up her blaster. Also, all tha charaters have 'voices.' They don't really talk, but they make noises, liek Donkey Kong's grunts, and Pikachu's, guess what, Pikaaaaaaaaaa! I especially like hitting Jigglypuff off into the sunset with DK's giant punch, and her the faint 'Jigglypuuuuuuuuuuuuff' as he flies away. Yeah, I have a problem. So what? :) Gameplay The heart of any good fighter has to be gameplay, and SSB doesn't disappoint. You move with the control stick. You jump with either any of the C buttons, of by hitting the stick up. You use your shield with Z,, grab with R, and do attacks with A and B. Pretty simple, huh? Well, that's the beauty of it all. It takes 5 minutes to get the hang of it, and you can have all the fun you want. The point of the game is to knock you opponents off of the stage, so they can't get back on. You can fight with either a set amount of lives, or a timed battle with point.
Also, the characters are very balaced, unlike some fighters. While Donkey Kong is very powerful, when he gets knocked off, he has trouble getting back on. Kirby on the other hand can get knocked quite a ways, but can "fly" a certain distance to get back on. Some charaters, like Ness, can be difficult to use at first, but are very dangerous when you get the hang of them. Multiplayer This is where SSB really shines. You can get up to four players battling it out in good old fashion mutliplayer fun. When you add all the weapons, you have a party right there. It just never gets old. If you want to have some fun, set a 60 min. point match with 3 buddies, and some caffine. you can't go wrong with that. Overall Overall, this is a must-have game for the N64. There is a reason it is a Million-Seller. Because it is the BEST fighter on the N64, and a game you do NOT want to miss. Go get it. Now. Why are you still reading? I know where you live. :P Overall Score: 9/10
The Shark Seal of Approval
N64 Reviews:
Excitebike 64
Left Field updates a Miyamoto Classic - Wesley investigates! GAME: Excitebike 64
DEVELOPER: Left Field
GENRE: Dirtbike racing
PLAYERS: 1-4
MEMORY PACK?: Yes - saves extra custom levels
EXPANSION PACK?: Yes
Initial Impressions The game looked quite good, but I'm not a huge fan of bike games or motorbikes in general so I was a little apprehensive to try the game out. Starting on the grid There are 6 options to choose from when you arrive at Excitebikes start menu - Season, Exhibition, Time Trials, Special Tracks, Options and Custom Tracks. The best thing to do is to go to Season and try the tutorial. Its one of the few useful tutorials (normally I just get stuck in to a game!) as it tells you all the basic controls - such as sliding and turbos, to more advance controls - like extra turbo on jumps and tilting your bike in the air. After you've completed the tutorials, you can now begin with the game. One thing that you should remember is to not overuse the turbo - because if you do, the engine overheats and your bike will slowdown. Not good if you have to make an important jump to make! GO!!!!!!!! You could opt to go to an Exhibition race, but I wanted to open all the new tracks so I got right into the Season race. You start with the 'Bronze' Season, and if you win the season you open up the 'Silver' Season. Next thing you do is choose your rider, in which you have 6 to choose from - Jumpin Jim Rivers, Tricky Ricky Stern, Sarah Sugar Hill, Bobby Big dog Malone, Nigel the Duke York and Vicky the Vixen Steele. All have varying statistics. You can change the colour of the bike and the rider also. After all this is complete you are ready to begin the race.
You first start off at Kyoto, Japan. This is a great track to get used to all the different things you can do with your bike, it is a simple square track and has some dips and ramps to test your bike handling skills. The next track is much harder than the first. The difficulty level gets harder as you progress further in the season. Hopefully you've beaten the 'bronze season' and learnt a few tricks to help you out in the next season, such as double-tapping the turbo button at the end of jumps to get an extra boost, and using the slide button to get around tight corners. You certainly need to learn these skills because your going to need them as you get further in the game.
To Get to the 'Gold' Season you need to complete the Silver season on Amateur difficulty. This way you slowly learn how to get the most from your bike. And before long you'll be making huge jumps - making smooth landings, and if your game - show off with a stunt or two! The AI in Excitebike is fantastic, The greater the difficulty level the harder the computer opponents are. The computer controlled riders are most definitely not on rails and race just like you do. On some occasions you can even see them crash! The other racers can also be a hinderance. Not only do they race well they can take you off your bike if you hit their rear wheel!!! Well luckily you can do the same - and as a bonus for doing it your engine heat is reduced back to zero.
If you have time to notice - as your zipping through the levels - you can see that Left Field has put alot of detail into the levels. The outdoor levels look especially good, with waterfalls, streams and trains all making an appearance. Even with the great detail, Excitebike runs very smooth and I haven't noticed any slowdown (though I probably ignored it if there was - the game is that good!) Excitebike also features a great replay mode, were you can truly admire the levels, and your racing skills! The sound effects also deserve a mention, they are quite good add to the great racing experience. The commentator is very helpful and doesn't get annoying - which is a good thing.
As an added bonus to complete all the seasons, Excitebike rewards you with with some Special Tracks. If you complete the entire game at Pro level you will unlock all the Special Tracks which include - Desert, Stunt Course, Original Excitebike, Soccer, Hill Climb and Excitebike 3D. The Desert Track is a fun idea were you and the bike riders have to race to campfire indicated with an arrow. The idea is to be the first one to touch all of the campfires in the desert. What makes this track so fun is the fact that you can go anywhere, and pretty much do anything in order to reach each campfire. The Stunt course allows you to practice your stunts and impress the crowds. The Original Excitebike is the NES version that Miyamoto created. I haven't played the game before and adding it in as a bonus is an excellent idea!. The Soccer game has to be one of the best multiplayer games ever! You have to use your bike to push a huge ball into the opponents goal. Its not easy to score a goal - and its even harder to defend!. The Hill Climb is another fantastic idea, were your given a time limit to reach the top of the mountain - in the process trying to stay on your bike and on the mountain side!. And finally the Excitebike 3D which is a 3D version of the Original NES game. Left Field did not need to add these fantastic special levels - the 20 tracks alone would have made this game worth the purchase price!!.
If that wasn't enough - Left Field decided to add a Custom Track Feature were you can create your own indoor tracks!!!. The feature is well thought out, giving you a wide selection of jumps, bumps and corners to help you create your own track. They even allow you to modify a section of the track, allowing you to adjust the height of the jumps, or the depth of the dips. You can then save one track on your game cartridge, any other tracks can be saved to a memory pak. On The Podium Well I wasn't a huge fan of motorcross racing games - but Excitebike 64 has changed that! The game is fun to play and has great graphics. Excitebike64 is a winner - and something I'm sure Miyamoto would be proud of! GRAPHICS: 9/10 Fantastic! some of the best seen on the N64
SOUND: 8/10 Good - the music and the sound effects are sufficient
GAMEPLAY: 9/10 Learning all the tricks and mastering the tracks is a truly enjoyable experience!
REPLAY: 9/10 20 tracks, 6 special levels and a track editor! you'll be playing this game for weeks Overall: 9.5/10
Final Word: Get it!!! The best Motorcross game anywhere! TIP: if you want to get get a quick start - pull your stick back and use your turbo when the race starts - it allows you to do a wheelie and gives you a headstart from your opponents ________________________________________________
Rogue Squadron Wesley jumps into an x-wing to test out Factor 5's latest creation! Game: Rogue Squadron
Developer: Factor 5
Publisher: Lucas Arts
Genre: Shoot'em up
Players: 1
Memory Pack?: No - 3 game saves on cartridge
Expansion Pack?: Yes
Rumble Pack?:Yes
Initial Impressions: The original Star Wars trilogy is the best trilogy ever! I was extremely excited to get my hands on Rogue Squadron, though memories of how average Shadows of the Empire haunted me.
Rogue who? Well to get you into the 'Star Wars' mood, Rogue Squadron starts off with a rather flashy introduction sequence. You get a glimpse of the great graphics you'll be enjoying later as an x-wing roars into action, accompanied by Star Wars-inspired music (i'll go into Rogue Squadrons sound later).
For those who don't know about the Star Wars story (and if you don't - were have you been?) well its basically a struggle between the good guys (the Rebels) and the bad guys (the Empire). Rogue Squadron is set between Star Wars: A New Hope, and The Empire Strikes back. The actual Rogue Squadron is a comprised of the best fighter pilots the Rebels can muster, which include The hero of Star Wars - Luke Skywalker and a fellow fighter pilot Wedge Antilles. Rogue Squadron task is to take on the most challenging missions - taking the fight to the Empire! A New Hope After choosing a save slot and entering your name, you go into the briefing room, were a holographic projector shows you all the missions you can do. The first mission your able to complete is Ambush at Mos Eisley. After selecting your mission, you move onto the hangar were you can choose what starfighter you wish to use for the mission. All the memorable Star Wars starfighters are there - from the classic x-wing to the lumbering y-wing, even the good old Millenium Falcon makes an appearance, though you can't select it (yet!). if you are unsure of what starfighter to take you can get a quick description of each fighter. But if your starting off your usually limited to one choice of fighter. After selecting your machine, its onwards to glory!,
Then your introduced to the story behind Rogue Squadron, Using that now familiar upward scrolling style accompanied by the famous Star Wars theme music, and it almost feels like your watching the movie!. Down to business, and The first mission is a great way to learn how to use your X-wing. Your objective is to destroy all Empire units and to save your (Luke Skywalkers) home town from destruction. Probe Droids are your first concern, they're not tough but they can cause some damage from their lasers (or if you crash into one of them). After wasting those pesky probe droids the Empire sends a squadron of TIE bombers. You have to race to Mos Eisley to quickly shoot them down before Mos Eisley is reduced to ash!. The first mission shouldn't be too much of a problem, and you can take the time to enjoy the great detail Factor 5 has crammed into the level. You can see familiar places like Lukes Home, Jabba The Hutts palace (strangely right next to Luke Skywalkers house!) and even the Rancor pit!
When you have had enough of the first level (honestly I still love going in to see all that famous Star Wars scenery!) you can move on to the next mission. Obviously the missions get harder and harder as you unlock more and more levels. Rogue Squadron employs a different method for their difficulty. Instead of completing missions at different difficulties, In Rogue Squadron you have to achieve a certain score or accomplish a certain task in order to earn one of three medals - Bronze, Silver and Gold. You could finish a level by completing the mission, but in order to win one of these medals you have to satisfy a set amount of parameters - such as accuracy, no. of enemies units destroyed and allies saved. To unlock the bonus levels (I assure if you don't you'd be missing out!) you have to win gold on all the levels. Use The Force Looking at listening to what Factor 5 has accomplished - I'm truly impressed! The graphics are great, with the Starfighter models looking fantastic. Also the amount of detail crammed into the levels is amazing, you can even see an individual Storm Trooper shooting at you!! The sound deserves a special mention - I was truly amazed how much sound Factor 5 squeezed into a cartridge. All the Star Wars tunes are faithfully recreated - and theres some new ones too. Also theres heaps of speech added into the game - wether its giving a ship description or the cockpit chatter in a dogfight. The Empire Strikes Back From what I've already written - it seems that Rogue Squadron is a sure fire winner. OK it still is, but it does have some flaws. The biggest problem Rogue Squadron suffers from is lack of a multiplayer mode. I would have loved to take on one of my friends in a dogfight between the agile TIE fighter and the powerful X-wing. Another problem is the AI of the enemies. The range from dumb - to bloody hard!. The dumb TIE fighters/bombers fly in a set path and offer little or no opposition. Then you have your bloody hard TIE fighters that get on your tail and its almost impossible to shake off. Personally I would have liked a TIE pilot that was above average,which would have allowed for more dogfights. Another minor problem is the fogging, but the draw distance is quite sufficient for the game. Return of The Jedi! Well thankfully Rogue Squadron is enjoyable to play - so all those flaws are easily forgotton (OK maybe not the lack of multiplayer). All memories of Shadows of the Empire are erased as you blast your way through 17 action packed levels.
GRAPHICS: 8.5/10 Great - Factor 5 has put alot of detail in the levels
SOUND: 10/10 Fantastic! - The best heard on the N64 - with plenty of music and speech
GAMEPLAY: 8/10 Good - Taking on the Empire has never been this good!.
REPLAY: 7/10 OK - Lack of Multiplayer does hurt RS, but the 17 levels will keep you occupied for some time
Overall: 8.5/10 Final Word: Finally theres a game on the N64 that does Star Wars justice! Goldeneye Wesley Dons a Tuxedo, straps on his Walther PPK, and prepares to save the world in Rares Goldeneye Initial Impressions I'm a huge fan of the James Bond movies - but strangely wasn't that excited about Goldeneye. Maybe its because previous games based on licenses weren't very successful.
From Rare with Love Goldeneye starts up well, using the familiar Bond introduction. Not much of a introduction for a game - but lets continue.
First of all, its good to remind all those who haven't watched the movie (why not? - its one of the best bond films!)what the story's about - Terrorists have hijacked a Russian satelite capable of wiping out all computers. Your job as the worlds greatest secret agent is to uncover whos behind the hijacking and stop them from accomplishing their evil plans! Got all that? good! lets get into the game shall we For Your Eyes Only After entering your name on one of the Game save slots, your given 2 options - Single Player and Multiplayer. Starting off with the single player - you then choose your difficulty level - Agent, Secret Agent and OO Agent. The first mission you get is Arkangelsk. You'll get all the information you need to know in your briefing papers, First your told of the objectives you must complete, M goes into more detail about your mission. Q gives information on Gadgets that you may require for the mission, and finally Money Penny - who gives you, well nothing really! But enough of the briefing now the fun really begins!
Licensed to Kill!! |
