Goldeneye 007 (EA, 1997) was an institution on the Nintendo 64, but you don't hear much about its sequel. The World is Not Enough delivers a superb campaign and rich multiplayer split-screen modes. The missions are more polished and cinematic than Goldeneye and the character models are lifelike. They actually have voices this time, although they sound somewhat muffled. The cut-scene exposition is painfully dry but the missions themselves are pretty intense. They involve rescuing hostages, defusing bombs in a subway, pursuing villains on a pier, and infiltrating an exotic villa. The most exciting stage takes place on ski slopes where you blow up fuel dumps and gun down enemies while careening down the mountain. I love it! I also appreciate the attention to detail; when you shoot a picture on the wall, it falls down. I find it really difficult to avoid shooting fleeing hostages - that's something I need to work on. Unlike Goldeneye's roundish health meter, World gives you a more conventional health bar. Selecting items is awkward. The x-ray goggles seem cool until you realize enemies behind walls can see you too! What the hell? I was worried about the missions that forbid you from killing guards until I realized it was still permissible to beat the living [expletive] out of them! What a relief! The multiplayer lets you deploy CPU-controlled "bots", allowing you to play solo (always a plus). The arenas are bright and spacious, set in small villages, snowy mountains, and the MI6 Headquarters. My friends who were very critical of Goldeneye found this game to be a pleasant surprise. The soundtrack may not be as catchy as Goldeneye but it still maintains a high degree of intensity. When it comes to old first-person shooters, I'd have to say The World Is Not Enough has held up better than most. © Copyright 2016 The Video Game Critic.

Widely considered the premiere baseball franchise for the Nintendo 64, All Star Baseball is vastly overrated. This 2000 edition plays a decent all-around game, but it's hardly what I'd call exciting or addictive. Granted, All Star Baseball is easily the best looking baseball title for the system. Its graphics are sharp and well defined, with realistic stadiums and players that resemble their real-life counterparts. Die-hard fans will easily recognize the distinct batting stances and pitching motions of their favorite players. All Star Baseball's animation could be more fluid though. Players move realistically during the action, but when the play is over they revert to robot-like stances. My buddy Eric and I used to have a field day doing hilarious impersonations of these guys. I especially hate how runners stop abruptly at first base instead of overrunning it. The well-designed control scheme makes it easy to get started right away. You can run down fly balls and toss the ball between bases with ease, but the trigger-controlled base running system can be tricky. Perhaps most impressive is the way you can adjust your slides going into bases to avoid tags. The game has just about every option you could imagine, including a nifty four-player mode with a special screen that lets you to map the players to each position. All Star's presentation looks like a real telecast, but the two-man play-by-play is sparse, and they tend to repeat phrases like "that fast ball made him look silly". The instant replay feature is handy, but it often reveals serious collision detection issues on the field. All Star 2000 has no glaring flaws, but I found its cursor-based pitching and batting to be slow and tedious, and I hate having to wait for the catcher to throw the ball back to the pitcher. The computer AI is pretty weak, making it very easy to strike out CPU-controlled hitters. Saving your season consumes almost an entire memory pack. Baseball purists will appreciate All Star Baseball's realism, but casual gamers may doze off long before the seventh-inning stretch. © Copyright 2006 The Video Game Critic.

I like the idea of controlling toy plastic army men in a video game. I can easily recognize the various types of soldiers and their distinctive combat stances from my childhood. The fact that the combatants are only toys allows for a certain degree of levity you wouldn't normally associate with a war game. Enemy troops literally melt under the heat of flamethrowers, and the comical dialogue includes stuff like, "It's only a plastic wound Sarge!" Sarge's Heroes challenges you to a series of brief missions against the evil "tan" army. A typical scenario involves locating an injured soldier and escorting him to safety. Along the way you'll encounter well-fortified strongholds, wandering tanks, and even minefields. The action is viewed from behind your soldier, and an auto-aim mechanism helps you pick off enemies. Holding down the right trigger provides a alternate first-person view, but it's so clumsy that you'll want to save it for the heavy artillery. In addition to its generic battlefields, Sarge's Heroes incorporates fantasy stages that place you in a bathroom, living room, and garden (remember, you're just a little toy). You might expect these stages to be a barrel of laughs, but their comic potential is completely squandered. The camerawork in Sarge's Heroes is absolutely horrendous. When you turn, it automatically swings to face your new direction, but not without a substantial lag that results in many undeserved deaths. The graphics are shabby, marred by heavy fog, boxy buildings, triangular mountains, and flat, cardboard trees. The controls become less responsive as the action heats up, and the collision detection also goes to hell in hand basket. I don't think I ever truly knew the definition of heinous until I attempted Sarge's split screen model, which is a pointless mess. 3DO's first Army Men 3D (Playstation, 1997) game was decent, but once they started pumping out cannon fodder like Sarge's Heroes, the series quickly degenerated into joke material. © Copyright 2007 The Video Game Critic.

As one of the more beloved games for the Nintendo 64, Banjo Kazooie took the Mario 64 style of gameplay and expanded it every which way. Banjo is a likeable honey bear and Kazooie is his smart-aleck feathered sidekick. Working together, they can execute an astonishing number of moves, ranging from your standard double-jump to the lightning-fast "beak bomb" attack. Fifteen moves are listed in the instruction manual, but they're introduced gradually over the course of the game to ease the learning curve. A helpful mole character appears in each stage to advise you, so you'll rarely get stuck. Your mission is to save Banjo's sister, held captive by an evil Witch named Gruntilda. Unlike the generic villains of most adventure games, Gruntilda is a very funny and interesting character. There's plenty of stuff to do in Banjo Kazooie, with expansive new areas constantly opening up. Our adventurous pair face their share of adversaries, but the strength of the game lies in it intelligent, thought-provoking puzzles, which are rarely frustrating and often quite satisfying. If there's one aspect where the game goes a bit overboard, it may be the item collecting. There are about nine sets of items to collect, and at times it seems downright gratuitous. Still, the game is well paced and fairly easy. The control scheme is intuitive enough, although you will encounter occasional camera glitches. When it comes to sheer production values, Banjo Kazooie is first class all the way. The graphics are outstanding, brimming with subtle details like cracks in rocks, shimmering water, and flowers blowing in the grass. The music, audio effects, and dialogue are expertly performed, although their childlike nature may turn off some mature gamers. All things considered, Banjo Kazooie is a terrific game that is adored by legions of fans. © Copyright 2003 The Video Game Critic.

Not your typical Batman game, Beyond represents some kind of bizarre off-shoot of the comic book series where Bruce Wayne is an old man mentoring a young, spry new Batman. Robin is not in the picture due to some bizarre circumstances revealed during cut-scenes. The Joker is your primary foe, although you'll face several sub-bosses you've never heard of like Woof and Ghoul. Batman Beyond is weird as hell, but it gets by on its hard-hitting hand-to-hand combat and easy-to-grasp controls. The game is rendered with 3D polygons, but the side-scrolling fighting action is more along the lines of 2D brawlers like Streets of Rage (Genesis, 1991). Most of the stages take place in high-tech facilities, and they're pretty boring. The 3D scenery is composed of clean textures and nice lighting effects, but plain metallic walls and stacks of boxes make for dull scenery. This game lacks the interesting illustrated details you find in 2D brawlers. Batman controls well as he goes up against generic thugs, robots, and creepy hyena-people. You can punch, kick, duck, block, jump, and brandish weapons. You have several outfits to choose from, each of which is suited to a unique play style. Personally I prefer the defensive suit with its super-effective shoulder charge. Fighting is satisfying because you can easily dish off a quick succession of hits, and enemies hit the floor with a resounding thud. The audio is terrific with its edgy guitar soundtrack and jarring explosions. Batman Beyond's primary flaw is its questionable replay value. You'll get several continues but no password, so each time you play it's back to the start! The game is pretty short with its five stages, and there's no score or rating to gauge your performance. Batman Beyond had some potential, but Ubisoft didn't put enough effort into this. © Copyright 2009 The Video Game Critic.

My recollections of this oldie are a little hazy, but if the "best times" records screen is any indication, my friends and I played the hell out of this thing! I'm seeing the names of people I haven't talked to in ten years! Beetle Adventure's arcade-style tracks were sensational in 1999, and frankly they still look pretty good today. Mount Mayhem offers snow swept mountains and Metro Madness boasts a gorgeous shimmering city sunset. The Jurassic Park-inspired "Inferno Isle" features a harrowing route through an active volcano. There are plenty of unexpected surprises (like a hungry T-Rex) and even some "big air" moments. Your car selection is limited to Volkswagon Beetles of various color schemes. The controls are excellent thanks to the trigger/brake which allows you to execute power-slides with tight turn radiuses. The roads are heavily constrained with guardrails, rocks, and fences to keep you on track, and hitting them doesn't slow you down much. Since there's no damage modeling, it's often advantageous to sideswipe a wall or bump an opponent. The single player mode pits you against seven CPU cars, and it's addictive and challenging to unlock the tracks. Each race is three laps, and you'll want to be alert during that third one because the route will change unexpectedly. The two-player split-screen mode is less exciting because there are no CPU racers and the scenery is less impressive. This mode also exposes the game's most serious flaw, which is the inability to adjust the number of laps. Considering each lap can last up to five minutes, things can get boring if one person takes a commanding lead. Did the designers purposely make the tracks as long as possible? In some cases it seems they are "padded" with similar repeating sections. Crashing puts you back on track almost immediately, but occasionally you'll become stuck in a hopeless location - like on the wrong side of a fence! Shortcuts abound, but you should exercise extreme caution before heading off the beaten path. More often than not you'll find yourself in no-man's-land desperately trying to find your way back onto the main road! The four-player battle mode is a nice bonus but it's hard to track your opponents. The multi-player modes don't live up to expectations, but the solo racing will not let you down. Beetle Adventure Racing has an arcade flair that stands the test of time. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

I've been on board the Bomberman train since Super Bomberman (SNES, 1992) but this 3D version is off the rails. Adventure mode invites you to wander around maze-like levels, blowing up obstacles and slow-moving enemies to collect items. Just imagine Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U, 2014)... if it sucked. Bomberman 64 suffers from blurry graphics, cryptic objectives, awful controls, and an unweildy camera system. This game is a constant struggle. I got stuck in the very first stage because the final gem was obscured from all sides. That's bad design by any measure, but in the first stage?! First impressions make it hard to enjoy a game like this, but rest assured you won't! The graphics will make you cringe; those flat "steps" turn my stomach. The stages feature all the obligatory themes (water, volcano, snow) but tend to be claustrophobic with bombs raining down all over the place. Patrolling enemies like snowmen and fish people are slow and easy to blow up, but touching just about anything in this game will cause you to spontaneously combust. There's a weird pause when you walk through a doorway; is the cartridge is loading the next area? The controls are idiotic, forcing you to press two buttons at once to perform the basic actions. Don't even attempt this game without instructions or a walk-through. Using the four yellow button to manipulate the camera is a headache as usual. Even the light, breezy soundtrack failed to sooth my growing rage. I tried battle mode with my friends which features open 3D battlefields that let you kick bombs diagonally and stun your opponents. While playable, it's plagued by slowdown and most stages are so convoluted you can't tell what's going on. Bomberman 64 is downright detestable. The fact that it someone thought it merited a sequel blows my mind. © Copyright 2018 The Video Game Critic.

On paper Carmageddon sounds like a slam-dunk winner. You're racing around post-apocalyptic world smashing cars and running over zombies. How can this be bad? Oh it can be bad alright! In fact, Carmageddon may just possibly be the disgraceful thing I've ever played. Let's begin with the gut-churning dreck that's meant to pass for graphics. The textures in the game are so fuzzy you'll feel the need to put on glasses - even if you don't wear them! The storefronts are best described as "smeared". Even the hazy skylines in the distance look blurry! The angular roads are strewn with so many barricades you can't even tell where the [expletive] you're supposed to go! How am I supposed to race "laps" when the track goes in five different directions? You know you're in trouble when you start seeing the message "wrong checkpoint". The first time I played the game I quickly found myself at the bottom of a lake, searching for some means to escape. Then I noticed other cars milling around under there! WTF? The controls are abysmal. You'd expect the analog steering to offer some degree of precision, but it's all-or-nothing as your car jerks abruptly from side-to-side. In addition to racing, you can "win" (and I use the term loosely) by destroying other cars. There are no traditional weapons like Twisted Metal (PS1, 1995) but you can collect icons that unleash semi-automated attacks. The CPU opponents are utterly clueless, languishing in ditches and wedged hopelessly between rocks. Your third option is to mow down all the zombies, but locating all of these cardboard cut-out ghouls would take forever. Even watching them splatter into green goo is unsatisfying. The audio track is just a irritating jumble of beats and samples. The fact that this is a PC port explains a lot but it's still no excuse. Carmageddon 64 is such an atrocity it actually gives Superman (Nintendo 64, 1999) a run for the money. If a friend ever asks you to play Carmageddon, be sure to punch him in the face. © Copyright 2017 The Video Game Critic.

I recall critics referring to this as more of a remake than a sequel, perhaps because the original was not very well received. Apparently the developers didn't get the memo, because Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness has more of the same camera and control issues. That said, Legacy still has a lot to offer, starting with its graphics. Using the enhanced RAM and high resolution options delivers a superb level of detail with sharp lines and smooth polygon textures. If the cancelled Dreamcast Castlevania had ever seen the light of day, I suspect it would have looked a lot like this. The low resolution option delivers a slightly better framerate, but the game is perfectly playable at any setting. You'll assume the role of multiple characters, beginning with some white-haired metrosexual named Cornel who walks like he has a pole up his butt. The first stage takes place on a haunted ship, culminating with an encounter with a sea serpent. The platform jumping benefits greatly from the fact that you can grab and hold any nearby ledge. Unfortunately, some controls (like pulling yourself up) change depending on the camera position, leading to confusion. Your default projectile attack is effective, often more so than special items like axes, crosses, and holy water. You can transform into a werewolf, which intensifies your attacks. In addition to jumping and fighting, there are puzzles to solve. "Will you pull the lever?" Uhhh... yeah! (Duh!) Legacy of Darkness automatically adjusts the camera based on the situation, but the system isn't foolproof. In one area you need to drop down several levels, and it's hard to tell which ledges you can safely step off of. Some stages are cookie cutter in design, making you wonder if you're entering new territory or retracing your steps. Otherwise the game is highly playable and there are a generous number of white gem "quick save" points around the game. Legacy is more action than horror, but I enjoyed the creepy bosses and raging thunderstorms. Having a Frankenstein monster chase you through a hedge maze with a chain saw is particularly scary. All the horror icons are represented like vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and the obligatory skeletons-riding-motorcycles-with-sidecars-and-machine-guns. Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness has its awkward moments, but its forgiving nature and fun atmosphere will help you see past its faults. © Copyright 2013 The Video Game Critic.

As the third entry in this grammatically-incorrect series, Exotica may be the most over-the-top racer I've ever played. Its twelve locations include Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Korea, Alaska, India, Ireland, Tibet, Holland, Korea, and the Sahara Desert. You even get a few fantasy tracks like the undersea world of Atlantis, a dinosaur-infested Amazon, and the surface of Mars! My personal favorite is Hong Kong, with its elevated highways amidst a sea of buildings and colorful lights - it's pretty amazing. The controls are identical to its predecessor, Cruis'n World, but the "turbo" function has been relabeled with the more fashionable term "nitros oxide". The vehicle selection goes far beyond sports cars, including a psychedelic van, military jeep, and a forklift. Like previous entries in the series, the racing action is overly-forgiving, preventing you from veering off-course and immediately setting you back on the road after a wreck. While the gameplay hasn't changed much from the previous Cruis'n titles, the ample eye candy makes each race worth watching. Unfortunately, as with most early 3D games, Exotica suffers from severe "pop-up". The pop-up I'm referring to is buildings or mountains that suddenly appear as you approach, instead of scaling in from the distance. This detracts from some otherwise beautiful graphics. Along the same lines, certain parts of the scenery tend to repeat over and over to an annoying degree. Yes, this occurred in previous Cruis'n games, but it's far more obvious with Exotica's huge set pieces. Another annoyance is the preponderance of invisible walls, especially when you fly off of high jumps. Finally, computer opponents have a nasty penchant for bumping you off the road, and can make your life hell on the more narrow tracks. The one player game is pretty much limited to beating your previous times (saved to cartridge), but the split screen mode accomodates up to four players. Exotica may be a bit shallow compared to most modern racers, but there's still fun to be had. It's clear however, that the series had nowhere to go from here. © Copyright 2006 The Video Game Critic.

This much-anticipated early N64 title was delayed several times before finally being released to a lukewarm reception. It's not a bad game, but doesn't fare well at all when compared to the Playstation's Ridge Racer (1995). In the spirit of Outrun, Cruis'n USA is strictly an arcade racer, with invisible "walls" that keep you on track, cars that bounce off each other like rubber, and the ability to recover from crashes almost instantly. Ten scenic tracks are strung together from San Francisco to Washington DC, and along the way you'll visit Beverly Hills, the Grand Canyon, cornfields in Iowa, and the city of Chicago. Each section has its own flavor, and I enjoyed the varied locations. Yes, there are "pop-up" issues, but it's only severe in the two-player split-screen mode. Cruis'n USA's racing action is fast and exciting as you jockey with competitors and swerve out of the way of oncoming traffic. Pile-ups are common, and even the CPU-controlled cars can have head-on collisions. At its best, Cruis'n USA feels like an early version of Burnout (GameCube, 2002), but at its worst, it feels shallow and sloppy. The steering controls are twitchy, the physics is crazy, and the collision detection is hit-or-miss. Or maybe I should say "miss-or-miss". At one point I drove through a whole row of redwood trees - something I hardly ever do in real life. Waiting for you at the various finish lines are some very hot but pixelated bikini babes (and a few shirtless dorks). The first thing you should do when playing Cruis'n USA is reconfigure the controls, because the default settings (Z to accelerate) are awkward at best. I also find it odd how the manual unfolds like a big poster. Was Nintendo trying to save money on staples? The game's soundtrack has been maligned in the past, but I don't mind it at all. The tunes have an understated quality, and the guitar-plucking "Deadwood Ride" is rather catchy. Cruis'n USA may not have lived up to expectations, but if you take it for what it is, you'll find this arcade racer to be quite an enjoyable trip. © Copyright 2006 The Video Game Critic.

Man's evolution began when he learned how to fashion tools from sticks, and ended when he learned how to smash expensive cars into each other. The original Destruction Derby (Playstation, 1995) was fun but lacking in one critical area: multi-player! Destruction Derby 64 (DD64) addresses that shortcoming in a big way, and delivers some of the best racing action you'll find on the N64. You can select between wide-open smash-up-derbies or stockcar racing with cars headed in opposite directions around a track! The derbies are wild and exciting as cars plow into each other and the polygons go flying. Only one will prevail, but since your rank is determined by the damage you inflict, you'll want to be aggressive. Unfortunately, the scoring seems arbitrary at times ("I only got one point for that?!") In stockcar races you earn points by reaching checkpoints in addition to taking shots at oncoming cars. The first few laps are utter chaos, but when you get finally get down to the last two cars, it becomes a bit of a stalemate. If both cars pass each other on a long track, it can be a while before you cross paths again. A radar display helps you anticipate crash opportunities, but there are too many colored dots on that damned thing. The controls are responsive enough, but I wish the emergency brake had been mapped to the trigger instead of the right shoulder. The quality of the tracks in a pleasant surprise. The seaside resort is absolutely beautiful, offering realistic lighting effects, scenic views, and rich textures. It reminded me of Ridge Racer (Playstation, 1995). Other notable locations include the Louisiana Bayou and a gothic town at night. In the alpine ridge track, your tires slip realistically on snowy surfaces but grip well in tunnel sections, and you have to respect that level of attention to detail. The soundtrack is a series of hypnotic techno beats. A world championship mode will challenge the solo player and a split screen will accommodate up to four players. The frame-rate gets sketchy on the split-screen, it's still fun. Destruction Derby 64 is one of the few smash-up games that actually "gets it", and is sure to keep you and your friends entertained for hours on end. © Copyright 2010 The Video Game Critic.