Space Station Silicon Valley (Nintendo 64)

[NAC1]

Space Station Silicon Valley (Nintendo 64)

                How would you like to kill an animal and then take control of it? Yeah, that’s right. Space Station Silicon Valley has got to be one of the most unique video games ever released.  In this weird 3D platformer, you play as a computer chip that can hop inside of dead animals to control them.  Some of the animals include dogs, sheep, bears, and mice on wheels, all of which have abilities that may aid with completing the objectives in each stage. For example, the mice on wheels have a speed boost to allow them to go off ramps, the sheep can gently float down large elevations, and the bears can lift large objects.  Environments include farms, energy rooms, snowy mountains, jungles, and deserts, and each have their own set of new animals with new abilities. This is a rather diverse game with plenty of surprises. Silicon Valley has a mission based style of gameplay that can include activating switches, killing off groups of animals, and obtaining items such as key cards. The objectives are generally clear, but it can be pretty easy to get stuck at certain points in a stage. For example, I’ve been stuck at a point where I had to get past a giant pit of lava, and I had absolutely no idea how to considering that I couldn’t go around it or jump across it on platforms. Finally, I checked an FAQ just to find out that I had to follow an invisible path to cross this lake of fire. How the heck was I supposed to know that!? The lack of checkpoints can also be a real bummer when the player gets killed off towards the end of a long and hard stage, especially when you consider how difficult some of the later stages can be. The graphics are generally good for an N64 game, the controls are precise, and the music is rather unique, although I don’t really know how to explain it. Silicon Valley is a hidden gem for the N64 that fans of platformers, or somebody looking for something original, should give a shot, even if they will have to look up an FAQ every now and then.

­­­Final Grade: B+

Final Score: 8.5/10

[JustLikeHeaven1]

Cool review.  I remember renting this game a long time ago.  If I recall correct you aren't killing animals and hopping inside their corpses...I believe everything in the game is a robot or mechanical.  Which is why you are a computer chip that walks around like a spider.  It was a really neat game that didn't get much attention, I think this is one that I have to track down and try again.

Also you might want to put some spacing in the review.  The mini wall-o-text is a bit hard to read.  Otherwise great job!

[NAC1]

Thanks for the advice JustLikeHeaven! I modified the review.

Space Station Silicon Valley (Nintendo 64)

                How would you like to kill an animal and then take control of it? Yeah,

that’s right. Space Station Silicon Valley has got to be one of the most unique video

games ever released.  In this weird 3D platformer, you play as a computer chip that

can hop inside of dead animals to control them. Okay, they're actually robots that

look like animals, so it's not as violent or bloody as it sounds. Some of the animals

include dogs, sheep, bears, and mice on wheels, all of which have abilities that may

aid with completing the objectives in each stage. For example, the mice on wheels

have a speed boost to allow them to go off ramps, the sheep can gently float down

large elevations, and the bears can lift large objects.  Environments include farms,

energy rooms, snowy mountains, jungles, and deserts, and each have their own set

of new animals with new abilities. This is a rather diverse game with plenty of

surprises. Silicon Valley has a mission based style of gameplay that can include

activating switches, killing off groups of animals, and obtaining items such as key

cards. The objectives are generally clear, but it can be pretty easy to get stuck at

certain points in a stage. For example, I’ve been stuck at a point where I had to get

past a giant pit of lava, and I had absolutely no idea how to considering that I

couldn’t go around it or jump across it on platforms. Finally, I checked an FAQ just

to find out that I had to follow an invisible path to cross this lake of fire. How the

heck was I supposed to know that!? The lack of checkpoints can also be a real

bummer when the player gets killed off towards the end of a long and hard stage,

especially when you consider how difficult some of the later stages can be. The

graphics are generally good for an N64 game, the controls are precise, and the

music is rather unique, although I don’t really know how to explain it. Silicon Valley

is a hidden gem for the N64 that fans of platformers, or somebody looking for

something original, should give a shot, even if they will have to look up an FAQ

every now and then.

­­­Final Grade: B+

Final Score: 8.5/10

[Leo1]

Nice game

Too bad it has a fatal flaw when the expansion pack is installed that prevents completion of the game on all (Or at least, the vast majority) of copies of the game.

I keep a spare Nintendo 64 with a jumper pack installed just to swap in when I want to play this game every few years.

[a1]

[QUOTE=Leo]Nice game

Too bad it has a fatal flaw when the expansion pack is installed that prevents completion of the game on all (Or at least, the vast majority) of copies of the game.

[/QUOTE]

I must be lucky then. I beat it on my 64 with expansion pack.

[ActRaiser1]

The wiki article for it lists the developers as the guys that made GTA.

Pretty nifty.

[NAC1]

Hm, the text on my redo turned out larger than I expected it to. Oh well.
@Leo: Really? I've never heard of that. That sounds really lame though, and I guess that's one upside for me not using an Expansion Pack.
@Actraiser: Cool. I never knew that. It's pretty fun to read the gameographies of developers (I'm not sure if gameography is a real word. I'm referring to the overall games that the developers produced).
It'd be cool to see The Video Game Critic review Silicon Valley if he can obtain a copy at a reasonable price.

[Leo1]

[QUOTE=a][QUOTE=Leo]Nice game

Too bad it has a fatal flaw when the expansion pack is installed that prevents completion of the game on all (Or at least, the vast majority) of copies of the game.

[/QUOTE]

I must be lucky then. I beat it on my 64 with expansion pack.

[/QUOTE]

You aren't the first person I've seen that said that, so I think there were at least two runs produced of this cartridge.

[VideoGameCritic]

This was a very interesting review for a game I had never heard of.  I promoted it to the review pages.

[Blueguy93]

I've wanted this game for a while. Since it's on my favorite console of all time (Nintendo 64) and since I'm trying to collect every N64 game ever, I think I'll put Space Station Silicon Valley on my list N64 games to get.