• Blast Corps
  • Cruis'n USA
  • Dark Rift
  • Doom 64
  • Doraemon
  • Fifa 64
  • Glory of St Andrews
  • Go Go!! Troublemakers
  • Hexen
  • Human GRand Prix
  • ISS 64
  • J-League Perfect Striker
  • Killer Instinct Gold
  • King of Pro Baseball
  • Mah Jong 64
  • Mah Jong Master
  • Mario Kart 64
  • Mortal Kombat Trilogy
  • Multi Racing Championship
  • NBA Hangtime
  • Pilotwings 64
  • Power Pro baseball 4
  • Shadows of the Empire
  • Starfox 64
  • Super Mario 64
  • Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
  • Waverace 64
  • Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey
  • Wonder Project J2
  • War Gods

    BLAST CORPS
    A preposterous storyline is the excuse for some full-frontal global destruction as the Blast Corps - a kind of space age demolition gang - get to save the world by, er, knocking most of it down. There's no doubting that the game is one of the most idiosyncratically original on the N64 and one that you're almost certain to enjoy. However it's lifespan problems (mission repetition is never ideal) mean that your love affair with the game may be disappointingly short-lived.
    TOP TIP
    Park against a building with your vehicles door against it. Repeated pressing of Z will cause the structure to explode.
    SCORE
    88%

    CRUIS'N USA
    Undoubtedly, an accurate conversion of the coin-op. But that, while worth popping the occasional 50p into, is hardly Earth shattering stuff. Racing across the USA isn't all that tough, even with the irritatingly over sensitive controls. The music is awful, and the graphics, while functional, use only a fraction of the N64's power. Get Multi Racing Championship indtead.
    TOP TIP
    At the track selection screen hold down Left C, Bottom C and L for Golden Gate Park, Top C, Right C and L for Indiana, or Right C, Bottom C and L for San Francisco.
    SCORE 34%

    DARK RIFT
    Too dark for its own good, that's Dark Rift. Even when you have fiddled around with the Brightness and Contrast controls on your TV - so that you can actually see what's going on - your resultant picture will be a grave disappointment. It's a beat 'em up, basically, and while it's more accomplished than War Gods and Killer Instinct, there's just nothing new here to excite the most ebullient of fight fans.
    TOP TIP
    Enter this code at the title screen to play as the game's two secret bosses: A, B, R, L, Bottom C, Top C.
    SCORE
    72%

    DOOM 64
    Doom gets a complete overhaul for its N64 outing. That means all new levels, textures and a brand new rendered look for the monsters. The game's tough enough to last in its one-player only state and the only real let down is the animation on the monsters. Turok's a better game (with its running, jumping and swimming), but Doom 64 is still definitely worth a look.
    TOP TIP
    At the password screen enter ?TJL BDFW BFGV JVVB for a complete cheat menu. SCORE
    80%

    DORAEMON
    Just as its predecessors tried and failed to turn Mario into a blue atomic cat, so too does the latest Doraemon game try to bring a touch of feline magic to a Mario 64 like universe. Sadly, things turn out to be slightly linear, slightly confusing and all too tedious. Prehaps it's more suited to your younger brother or sister.
    TOP TIP
    Once you've beaten the missile in the car chase, race him again and beat him for a secret prize. Do it again and you'll win yourself a green crystal.
    SCORE
    60%

    FIFA 64
    This makes you wonder two things. Firstly, how, with all that advanced technical gubbins at their fingertips, EA managed to produce a worse FIFA game than the Playstation's. And secondly, how, in thw wide, world of sport, this passed Nintendo's quality control department. The Albanians execute people for lesser offences.
    TOP TIP
    Remember, you only need tap the shoot button once. The delay is terrible but you will eventually produce something. Don't press it a second time or your shot will fly over.
    SCORE
    39%

    GLORY OF ST ANDREWS
    The N64's first golf game lacks any redeeming features whatsoever. A ropey graphical engine - which induces a quite overwhelming sense of 16 bit deja vu - along with an only partially successful use of the analogue stick as a virtual club, adds up to an experience as ugly to watch as it is to play. A hugely disappointing golfing debut.
    TOP TIP
    Use the Player Configuration screen to customise your players' clubs for the course you're about to play.
    SCORE
    58%

    GO GO!! TROUBLEMAKERS
    Strangely backward but enormously entertaining. Go Go!! Troublemakers is an enigma that might not be solved even when the game gets translated. There are bundles of levels and a degree of imagination and innovation that companies like Midway can surely only dream of. It's not going to impress anyone with its graphical prowess, but sometimes that kind of thing can take second place to the game itself.
    TOP TIP
    No cheats are available for Go Go!! Troublemakers.
    SCORE
    90%

    HEXEN
    After their triumph with Doom 64 (all-new levels, brand new textures) Midway bring Hexen to the N64 party. Sadly, the game is exactly the same as its elderly PC mum, and the one new element - the four player split screen deathmatch mode - fails in Hexen's resolutely single player levels. It's still lots of fun in a retro kind of way, but in the N64 world where Turok reigns supreme, it's hard to recommend whole-heartedly.
    TOP TIP
    To activate the cheat menu, pause the game and press Top C, Bottom C, Left C, Right C very quickly.
    SCORE
    69%

    HUMAN GRAND PRIX
    Although never matching up to the high standards of the Playstation's F1 - inexcusable, really, when you consider the extra power available to its programmers - Human Grand Prix provides some thoroughly entertaining Formula 1 driving thrills, with beautiful handling and a plethora of options. Shame about the horrendous pop up though.
    TOP TIP
    For optimum cornering, don't use the brake, just stab at the accelerator.
    SCORE
    71%

    INTERNATIONAL SUPERSTAR SOCCER 64
    The finest football game in existence, ISS 64 is, quite simply, a work of art. It certainly looks gorgeous, but the real delight comes from its genuine football-ness. You can build the most intricate of passing build-ups, deliver the killer through-ball and score the sweetest of goals - all just like the real thing. An almost flawless game which could only have been bettered with the addition of real teams. Kills all known Fifas dead.
    TOP TIP
    To get the super teams enter this code at the title screen: Hold Z and press Up, L, Up, L, Down, L, Down, L, Left, R, Right, R, Left, R, Right, R, B, A, Start.
    SCORE
    92%

    J-LEAGUE PERFECT STRIKER
    Konami prove their footballing dominance with a magical footballing sim, combining breathtaking animation, a plethora of fantastic moves and some outrageous goals. Perfect Striker is as close to The Beautiful Game as any computer rendition has ever come. It has since become ISS64 for its UK release. This is sheer class.
    TOP TIP
    Learn how to use the 'kick ahead and run' button (Bottom C) both for attacking and catching opposing players.
    SCORE
    89%

    KILLER INSTINCT GOLD
    Killer Instinct might have been a big deal a couple of years ago, but even an arcade-perfect conversion looks a bit out-dated on the N64. It's not that KL wasn't a good game to start with - if you're still in love with it, you'll definitely enjoy this version - it's just that for most people enthusiasm for this type of beat-em-up is at a low ebb. And that includes me.
    TOP TIP
    To access the extra options, during the character bio screens in the intro press Z, B, A, L, A, Z in sequence.
    SCORE
    62%

    KING OF PRO BASEBALL
    The players are super deformed and cute, which initially proves tremendously entertaining. If you can fathom the copious Japanese menus, that is. Eventually, though, the too slow runners and super skilful CPU opposition will begin to get you down.
    TOP TIP
    Learn to use the C buttons to run your players between bases. Against human opposition, it's quite easy to steal bases by running on a strike or a ball.
    SCORE
    68%

    MAH JONG 64
    Built around an imaginary mah jong university, Mah Jong 64 is more of a beginner's guide to the game than previous efforts. Unfortunately, with its heavy reliance on Japanese text, unless you're already fairly proficient with the ancient Japanese tile game you'll be completely lost with this. And even if you know how to play, is this the kind of thing really what you want to be doing with your N64? Well, is it?
    TOP TIP
    If you need one tile to go out and another player makes a melded four by drawing that tile, adding it to a previously melded triplet, you may 'rob a kong' and thus go out.
    SCORE
    65%

    MAH JONG MASTER
    If you've never played Mah Jong, this would be a very tough way to learn, with its copious Japanese text. If you have, though, it's a jolly good rendition, with a selection of computer personalities to play against and some weird intro screens.
    TOP TIP
    If you have a melded triplet and draw the fourth from the wall, you may declare 'kong' and add it to your triplet to make a melded four.
    SCORE
    69%

    MARIO KART 64
    While it doesn't quite achieve the total perfection many had expected, Mario Kart 64 is still a vital purchase for your N64. Its outstanding feature is undoubtedly the multiplayer modes, and in particular the four player grand prixs. But you'll still find yourself racing the one player games too, long after you've beaten the game. The disturbingly addictive Time Trial Mode offers almost infinite longevity. Brilliant. Buy it.
    TOP TIP
    At the start of the race, time your acceleration burst just before the light turns green to get a rocket start.
    SCORE
    95%

    MORTAL KOMBAT TRILOGY
    Ahhchh, another Mortal Kombat sticks in the throat of beat-em-up fans. This is really poor - the animation a sub-standard variation of the Playstation's, with an overall presentation level little better than that of its SNES ancestor. A wealth of options, cheats, extras and finishing moves can't save this. Avoid with clinical determination.
    TOP TIP
    For unlimited credits, press Down, Down, Up, Up, Right Right, Left and Left on the story screen. When you lose, you'll have infinite credits.
    SCORE
    34%

    MULTI RACING CHAMPIONSHIP
    A case of nearly but not quite for Imagineer, whose Multi Racing Championship is the first proper N64 driving game. The steering mechanics make full use of the analogue stick, the three tracks are well designed and the on and off road sections feel challengingly different to drive. However, with its lack of graphical polish and the disappointing ease of its competitions, MRC doesn't make the leap from Good to Excellent.
    TOP TIP
    No cheats yet available for MRC.
    SCORE
    81%

    NBA HANGTIME
    Technically it may be an excellent continuation of the NBA JAM series, with huge (albeit 2D) players, great animation and sheaves of special moves and secrets. It is, however, basketball at the end of the day, and thus consists of running backwards and forwards, endlessly scoring baskets. Until you fall asleep. We'd rather play a decent football game.
    TOP TIP
    Create duplicates of star players by entering 0000 as your PIN, and then type in your name as the name of the player. (Try his first name + initial of surname).
    SCORE
    52%

    PILOTWINGS 64
    The first Pilotwings split gamers' opinions with its floaty, airbound subject matter. However, this 64 bit refurbishment is likely to have a much wider appeal than the SNES original. Intermingling the sublime talents of flight sim specialists Paradigm and Nintendo's usual playable shee, Pilotwings 64 emerges as a supreme example of how to harness the N64's immense potential. Up, up and away.
    TOP TIP
    The four Birdman Stars are situated in the park in New York, inside the Artic Island's waterfall, in a cave on Crescent Island and on the bridge shaped rock on Holiday Island.
    SCORE
    89%

    POWER PRO BASEBALL 4
    No, I haven't forgotten the '6'. PPB4 is the fourth in Konami's series of baseball games which started on the SNES years ago. Despite the fact the game went ballistic in Japan, I don't rate it as highly as Imagineer's effort, King of Pro Baseball. The players are similarly 'fat', but the picture in picture system doesn't work that well and the game is criminally difficult against the CPU.
    TOP TIP
    Nope, none here.
    SCORE
    54%

    SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE
    With ten levels of varying game styles, SOTE somehow fails to be more than the sum of its parts. Fab snowspeeder and space battles are ultimately let down by some lacklustre Doom style bits and the truly awful speeder bike level. It still has a great Star Wars feel though.
    TOP TIP
    To see the end sequence, enter your name as '_Credits' (case sensitive).
    SCORE
    78%

    STARFOX 64
    Lock up Shigeru Miyamoto, a rabbit, a team of Nintendo's finest programmers, a fox, a toad, a small star system and a falcon in a room for twelve months and Star Fox 64 is the result. It's the shoot 'em up the N64 has been waiting for, pushing the machine to new limits of technical sophistication and being immeasurably good fun into the bargain.
    TOP TIP
    Complete the game and at the title screen hold B and move the Analogue stick. Our heroes' heads will follow the wandering '64'.
    SCORE
    94%

    SUPER MARIO 64
    When other developers first caught glimpse of SM64, they went back to the drawing board with their efforts. The game is sublime, taking everything that's made previous Mario titles great and fleshing it out into 3D. Mario himself can do just about anything, the levels are huge, packed with incredible ideas and loads of secret bits. Without a shadow of doubt, this has to be the world's greatest videogame.
    TOP TIP
    You will enjoy this.
    SCORE
    96%

    TUROK: DINOSAUR HUNTER
    Replacing Soom's cyberdemons with screen filling dinosaurs, cranking up the violence to ludicrously bloody proportions and adding a series of breathtakingly devastating weapons, Acclaim/Iguana have produced - yes - a monster. A phenomenally good game which really shows the technical gulf that exists between the N64 and other consoles.
    TOP TIP
    At the edge of a platform the screen will dip. Jump here to gain maximum distance.
    SCORE
    91%

    WAVERACE 64
    Breathtaking water based racing is the order of the day in Miyamoto's astounding Waverace, with the N64 once again proving its mind expanding abilities. Thoroughly realistic water effects, a scintillating two player speedway and the possibility of trying your hand at Lee Majors style stuntwork make this easily as enjoyable as Mario Kart 64.
    TOP TIP
    To achieve the helicopter stunt and 1700 points, when you're on the ramp, turn sharply in a left/up direction and then hold Down to pull off a sideways flip.
    SCORE
    90%

    WAYNE GRETZKY'S 3D HOCKEY
    Ice hockey arcade style, with violent collisions, an absurdly fast moving puck and excellent 3D graphics. Wide ranging options allow you to play anything from rules free three a side in a reduced rink to a proper five a side simulation with infractions a plenty. There's not a great deal of subtlety here, but the four player game is tremendous.
    TOP TIP
    On the options screen, hold a C button and press R. 16 zeros will appear at the bottom of the screen. Alter these using the C Buttons to change your players' appearances.
    SCORE
    70%

    WONDER PROJECT J2
    You'll have to be either Japanese speaking or very 'special' to be able to get to grips with this weird adventure. And when you do, it's not all that great. You've got to guide a robotic girl through various 'life' situations with the overall aim of helping her realise her dream of becoming a real person. Which is, you know, nice.
    TOP TIP
    If Josette flies into a temper and won't coooperate, try winning her back with a 3D pudding. (Weird eh?).
    SCORE
    55%

    WAR GODS
    Although it's the first proper 3D beat 'em up, that's all War Gods has really got going for it. Picture, if you will, 12 fatally cliched characters, a distinct lack of moves, a shocking lack of innovation, and a comedy voiceover by the incredible bass man, you'll have a fair impression of the overall underachievement that is War Gods. For beat 'em up junkies only.
    TOP TIP
    For a full cheat menu, at the title screen (before 'Start' appears) quickly tap Right, Right, Right, B, B, A and A. "Too easy" should be the game's reply. The Cheat Menu is in 'Options'.
    SCORE
    46%