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Last Topic's Ratings:
Bio Freaks - BGBABA - 33% (6)
Heiwa Pachinko World 64 - AB - 25% (2)
Lego Racers - AAAAAAA - 50% (7)
NBA Hangtime - GGBBGGGG - 75% (8) (1 SR)
Rayman 2: The Great Escape - GGGGGAGGGA - 90% (10)
Shadow Man - GAGGGGGG - 94% (8) (1 SR)
Well, I definitely look silly now for using Lego Racers and not Shadow Man as a headlining game for the last topic. Also, JackBurton85 becomes the first person to run out of SRs for N64.
Games for this topic:
Body Harvest
Chameleon Twist 2
Knife Edge: Nose Gunner
Robopon 64: Robot Ponkottsu 64
Super Bowling
War Gods
I've been eying Robopon 64 with excitement ever since we started these topics. Hopefully it's not too hard to figure out how to play in Japanese.
Body Harvest - B
ReplyDeleteChameleon Twist 2
Knife Edge: Nose Gunner - A
Robopon 64: Robot Ponkottsu 64 - A
Super Bowling - A
War Gods - B
I feel like Body Harvest is already on way to being the most divisive game in the N64 GAB, and I'm also definitely in the "it's not good" camp. Obviously, it is tremendously dated compared to more modern open-world games, so while playing it I tried to ask myself if I would have been impressed at the time, but I think the answer is that I still wouldn't have been. The biggest issue is that the open-world aspect of the game is not fun and instead actively hinders the experience. The maps are all extremely bland and samey and the draw distance is awful, so navigating them is extremely tough and requires constant use of the map. Unfortunately, the minimap shows virtually no useful information, so you must pause and call up the big map almost constantly, which interrupts the flow of gameplay to a significant degree. A simple dot on the edge of the mimimap indicating the direction to the nearest objective would have done wonders for the game's playability, though I guess this highlights one of the problems with the game, which is that it's really not very open-ended, there are a clear set of mission objectives that must be followed to complete the stages, and the main challenge of the game is simply finding them. I would often try to come up with my own solution to reach parts of the map and it almost never works for various reasons, forcing you to follow the intended path to the letter. Beyond this, the combat is also not very fun. The auto-aim is very powerful and having a vehicle is nearly essential for the extra armor, so most of the game will consist of driving around like a maniac while shooting repeatedly to take down enemies. Even if your vehicle gets damaged, there are tons of them so damage barely matters. The controls for driving are also pretty bad and indoor areas are a particular mess. There are definitely interesting ideas here but I feel that the concept had not quite gelled yet. It kind of reminds me of the first Metroid game, which is missing several key aspects of the formula (like the map and secrets to find), which ultimately renders it an uninteresting game to play. On the plus side, at least Rockstar did recognize what kinds of changes were needed to make this concept work in the future.
I've always felt that Chameleon Twist 2 was a step down from the first game. In many ways it's pretty similar, with mostly the same controls (the main new action is that you can now perform a kind of wall jump with your tongue), but in most ways it has less charm. One of the biggest differences is to the collectables. In the first game, each stage had a bunch of hidden crowns, at least a few of which were usually deviously hidden, forcing you to scour the levels quite thoroughly to find them all. Now, they have been replaced by coins, and the coins are almost always located out in the open. There are still a fair number of secret places, but they usually just contain health or power-ups, the latter of which is a real let down as it is almost always useless if not actively harmful. I also feel that the design of the stages, while perhaps more whimsical compared to the first, is also much more linear and "actiony", generally leaving little room to play around with your chameleon powers. Pretty much every obstacle has a single, obvious solution for getting past it, which makes the game feel a lot less open compared to the first. Oh, and the boss fights are much less creative as well, being far more traditional affairs where you just shoot them a bunch of times. It's not completely horrible or anything, but it feels much more mundane compared to the first game.
Knife Edge: Nose Gunner is a rail shooter that reminds me a bit of Panzer Dragoon and Gamera 2000, though it's not nearly as good as either of those games. Like those games, it's a rail shooter where you can turn while flying, though in this game it has only a very minor effect which is intended to help you avoid incoming fire. It never seems clear whether or not it will work, but at least it feels a little more interactive than just aiming the crosshairs. Beyond that, you also have a lock on weapon and a standard cannon, like in most similar games, and there are powerups you can acquire by shooting them throughout the stages. I suppose mechanically everything works fine, but IMO it doesn't feel very interesting, probably due to the somewhat generic setting and story. Of course, it would also be up against Starfox 64 on this console, and there's not even any point discussing that because it's so far ahead of this game.
DeleteI was initially hoping Robopon 64 would be kind of like an N64 version of Pokemon, considering that the gameboy games borrow heavily from it, but instead it's actually a lot more like Monster Rancher. Like in Monster Rancher, you can move around a 3D arena and launch attacks at your opponent that use energy, though it's far more simplistic. There's no attack ranges or anything here, the only point to moving around the battlefield is that if you launch an attack from behind, you do extra damage. There is maybe a little risk to this because if the enemy attacks they turn around to face you instantly and might hit you in the back, but otherwise there's little reason not to aim for the back every time. Besides the battles, the main game involves sailing around in your boat (the entire game takes place on water), battling random pirates, and seeking out towers to fight storyline battles. One somewhat interesting aspect of the game is that the inside of your boat acts as a base and your robots can perform various tasks around the base, up to 3 per day. These tasks can range from things like cleaning your room or training to eating and showering to maintain their combat readiness. Cleaning and eating are important, but much of the rest of the time will go to training, which is how you raise your stats. Unfortunately, unlike Monster Rancher, you have to play a lame minigame to train, and they really aren't very fun. After doing 3 actions, you have to sleep to advance to the next day so they can do it again, sort of like Monster Rancher, but as far as I can see there's no real issue with burning a bunch of days (this is also required to grow new robots and software (moves) from seeds, which takes several days), so it doesn't feel very strategic. Actually, that kind of sums up the entire game. There's not a lot of strategy to the battles either, you basically just have to grind enough so that you can overpower your opponents. What keeps Monster Rancher interesting is that the limited lifespan of your monsters forces you to use your time efficiently and raises the stakes in battles, but that's just not really the case here. Really, Monster Rancher is better than this game in every possible way (I haven't talked much about this game's presentation yet, but it's fairly lacking, animations are very basic and lack oomph, though I guess at least the robots look decent). It's still quite playable but there's no particular reason to go out of your way to play it.
I actually think Super Bowling is not too bad. In terms of the core bowling mechanics, they're decent, lining up the shot meter is not insanely tough but it poses enough challenge that you'll make mistakes occasionally, and it also seems to have decent physics, with it being quite hard to throw strikes consistently. My favourite feature is the Mario Golf-esque character acquisition mode, which feels pretty exciting to play (I love the fact that you bowl at the same time, this a huge upgrade over most games where you have to wait for the AI to bowl). Probably the only real downside is that the presentation is a bit muted and there's not really a ton of variety, there is a golf mode (where you have to play with preset pin combinations), though I don't find it to be very fun. Not a bad game necessarily, but I don't think it's one you'd go out of your way to get.
DeleteWar Gods is atrocious. It feels a lot like Mortal Kombat, but 3D, and even stiffer and worse than that game. About the only thing you can say for it is that visually it looks decent, but it's godawful to play. This is probably the worst 3D fighter of the era that we've reviewed so far.