2017/12/30: Nintendo 64: NHL 99

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VideoGameCritic
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2017/12/30: Nintendo 64: NHL 99

Postby VideoGameCritic » December 30th, 2017, 8:25 pm

Here's a new Nintendo 64 review for your reading pleasure. Comments?

jon
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Re: 2017/12/30: Nintendo 64: NHL 99

Postby jon » December 30th, 2017, 10:44 pm

It's crazy to think how bad Nintendo has been since the NES have been that even EA couldn't do much on a Nintendo system, ever, Sega too. I'm still waiting to uncover a hidden gym in the Nintendo sports library post NES. What's so unbelievable is just how awkward and bad the N64 was at sports games. Can't call it 3d growing pains when the PS1 was cranking out winners. What's even more shocking about Nintendo sucking at sports games is that the NES is one of the best sports systems ever made.

Kevin
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Re: 2017/12/30: Nintendo 64: NHL 99

Postby Kevin » December 31st, 2017, 11:16 am

jon wrote:It's crazy to think how bad Nintendo has been since the NES have been that even EA couldn't do much on a Nintendo system, ever, Sega too. I'm still waiting to uncover a hidden gym in the Nintendo sports library post NES. What's so unbelievable is just how awkward and bad the N64 was at sports games. Can't call it 3d growing pains when the PS1 was cranking out winners. What's even more shocking about Nintendo sucking at sports games is that the NES is one of the best sports systems ever made.


I'll agree with you from the Wii on there haven't really been any good sports games but the super Nintendo, n64 and to a lesser extent, the GameCube had plenty of good sports games. They pretty much got everything the other systems got at the time plus Ken Griffey baseball and Kobe Bryant basketball were decent exclusives.

matmico399
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Re: 2017/12/30: Nintendo 64: NHL 99

Postby matmico399 » December 31st, 2017, 12:07 pm

I agree on Nintendo consoles just in general. Luv my NES and like my GameCube. But other than those two not very exciting to me. Now I will say the Switch certainly looks intriguing, but I haven’t tried it yet.

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Stalvern
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Re: 2017/12/30: Nintendo 64: NHL 99

Postby Stalvern » December 31st, 2017, 1:33 pm

jon wrote:I'm still waiting to uncover a hidden gym in the Nintendo sports library post NES.

I think the SNES version of NBA Jam might have a secret high school basketball mode.

ThePixelatedGenocide
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Re: 2017/12/30: Nintendo 64: NHL 99

Postby ThePixelatedGenocide » December 31st, 2017, 4:10 pm

Thanks for these sports reviews. I've generally avoided the entire genre, but you provide a clear user-friendly explanation about the differences between a good game, an average one, and a bad title that has me rethinking the entire genre.

At the very least, I'm tempted to play my first post NES hockey game.

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Matchstick
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Re: 2017/12/30: Nintendo 64: NHL 99

Postby Matchstick » December 31st, 2017, 8:42 pm

ThePixelatedGenocide wrote:Thanks for these sports reviews. I've generally avoided the entire genre, but you provide a clear user-friendly explanation about the differences between a good game, an average one, and a bad title that has me rethinking the entire genre.

At the very least, I'm tempted to play my first post NES hockey game.


DO IT!! I feel like most people that are critical of sports games on Nintendo systems have either never tried them for themselves, or weren't around when the games were being released. The's quite a few hidden "gyms" in the SNES and N64 sports library, believe me.

As far as The Critic's review goes, I feel like he was pretty much on point. NHL '99 wasn't the best game. The passing was a joke, and if memory serves correctly, it was far too easy to score a wrap-around goal. I feel like this game was more or less using the same underlying code of its Genesis counterparts, but the new 3D engine just wasn't adapted to it well. I still have fond memories of this one, as me and a buddy used to play it daily, with his [expansion!] Nashville Predators going up against my Chicago Blackhawks. Both teams were equally terrible in the late 90's, so it was a pretty good matchup! I also loved the commercial, featuring "CYBER LINDROS" scoring points left and right to the tune of The Scorpions' "Rock You Like A Hurricane." If that didn't make you want to play the game, nothing would :-D

I also highly recommend Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey on the N64. It's an early N64 game, and the rubberband AI is unfair as efffff, but for a quick game of arcade hockey, you can do a lot worse. Gotta love the old teams and rosters, too - GO WHALERS!!

The Critic wasn't too kind to the NHL Breakaway series on the N64, but I rather enjoyed those games - all two of them. It was a heavy simulation, with the games sometimes feeling slow and tedious as a result. Still, it gave you a ton of options in the season mode (setting up offensive and defensive schemes, hiring and firing coaches, setting your own lines) and a hockey diehard like myself had more than enough to tinker with, on and off the ice.

Other notable N64 sports games, in my opinion:

All Star Baseball (A long-running baseball series. More simulation than arcade. Fun, but I like Griffey better)
FIFA 64 / World to the World Cup '98 (Like soccer? You'll love these. FIFA 64 was EA's first 3D soccer game)
International Superstar Soccer (More arcade that FIFA, but if you ask me, more fun, too)
Kobe Bryant's NBA Courtside (Good balance of arcade and simulation gameplay. Fun and easy to learn.)
Madden 64 (The first 3D Madden game EVER! Fast, unrealistic, arcade action. Like a 3D Madden '92)
MLB Featuring Ken Griffey Jr. (Fast arcade baseball fun. Great stadium atmosphere, especially for the N64)
NBA Hangtime (Pretty much NBA Jam on the N64. All you need to know right there!)
NFL Blitz (Just the OG one, not any of the followups. Great arcade gameplay and in-game soundtrack)
NFL QB Club '98 or '99 (Heavy sim with lots of options. Not bad if you can get them for a buck or two)
WCW/nWo World Tour & Revenge (All-time classic wrestling games. Great wrestler lineups, too!)

All of those games offer some cheap thrills nowadays. Heck, you could probably buy all of them for less than twenty bucks. Well worth it!

All that being said, yeah, compared to what was being produced for the PlayStation and Dreamcast at the time, the N64 really got the short end of the stick. Acclaim was the only company really making an effort to support sports games on the system. EA did make a new Madden every year, but only did NHL and Triple Play Baseball one year each. NBA Live may have gotten two years worth of games, but in my opinion, that series never did translate well to 3D. Sony's NHL Faceoff and NBA Shootout games were killer sports apps for the Playstation, as were the first few NFL Gameday and Gamebreaker games. As The Critic would say, I'd take the Pepsi Challenge of those series over anything EA produced in the same time period.

There are some good times to be had with N64 sports games, for sure. NHL '99 wasn't the best the system had to offer, but if you're willing to give them a chance, there's definitely some fun to be had with the Nintendo 64 sports library - even more so if you can rope some of your friends into playing with you. Like fighting games, having a player 2 can make all the difference in the world.

jon
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Re: 2017/12/30: Nintendo 64: NHL 99

Postby jon » January 1st, 2018, 5:35 pm

Ill put my money where my mouth is and admit I've never played Wayne Gretzky, so for all I know it could be great. But I have tried a lot of those SNES and N64 games. And Hangtime was a decent attempt at NBA Jam with solid graphics. But at the end of the day are we really going to compare the Sports games Nintendo put out in the 90's and early 2000's to Sega? Ok, let's do it. I'll take Sega's side.

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Matchstick
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Re: 2017/12/30: Nintendo 64: NHL 99

Postby Matchstick » January 2nd, 2018, 12:19 am

jon wrote:But at the end of the day are we really going to compare the Sports games Nintendo put out in the 90's and early 2000's to Sega?


Oh, not even. In no way, shape, or form do I think the N64 sports library is superior to the classic Sega Genesis lineup, or some of the all-time classics on the NES, either.

Like The Critic says, NHL '94 is iconic (although I, myself, think '96 is superior) as is Blades of Steel on the NES. I don't even think the developers were trying to make '99 compete with their earlier games. For what it is, it's a good 64 bit hockey game. Just good, though - not great, by any stretch!

Still, two of my all-time favorite sports games are Wayne Gretzky 3D and NFL Blitz on the N64. Whenever my buddies come over for a game night, we always play at least one of those games. Of course, that's usually after a few games of Tecmo Super Bowl, Double Dribble, or NBA Jam TE. Like I said above, having buddies to play against you in sports games can really make all the difference.

The fact that Gretzky has four player simultaneous play, with the lot of us racking up goals and checking the hell out of each other all game, always makes for a great time. You can even use the d-pad on the N64 controller for movement - same for NFL Blitz - so the wonky control stick is a non-issue. Really, for the five bucks or less that Gretzky costs, I can't recommend it enough!

CharlieR
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Re: 2017/12/30: Nintendo 64: NHL 99

Postby CharlieR » January 2nd, 2018, 1:17 pm

If you like Gretzky 3d Hockey, check NHL 2 on 2 open ice challenge for ps1. Game is fast, fun, and high scoring. I't like the NBA jam of hockey.

I've always been a fan of hockey games. I've been playing SEGA sports' NHL all star hockey '95 for the genesis. I convinced myself to get into it, even though I could be playing EA's NHL games on the genesis, which are far better. All star hockey '95 isn't bad though; players don't move as freely and it can be hard to score.

I try to have fun with every hockey game, but I have one NHL game for ps1, and the early 3d titles just seem hard to get into.


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