Not owning a PC growing up, I missed
the whole Doom/Wolfenstein craze of the early nineties. In fact, the
Nintendo 64 was the system that introduced me to the genre, as my
16-bit days of gaming cosisted of every other kind of genre but
shooters. Even if I could have afforded Doom on the Super NES, I
probably would have spent my money on something else, because my
gaming tastes were different.
Some how, by saving birthday money, and
lunch money, and from my brother having a job at the time, we managed
to buy a Nintendo 64 in the summer of 1997, and by September, we also
managed to buy a Playstation (a system we bought because of Final
Fantasy VII), so in 1997, we rushed ahead into the next generation.
I said in my spotlight: PS1 First
Person Shooters video that for the longest time, I believed that the
only two shooters worth talking about on the PS1 were Medal of Honor,
and Medal of Honor: Underground, and another part of the reason I
held that view is because, owning both system as the time, the N64
was my go-to system for first person shooters, whereas the PS1 was my
go-to system for almost every other kind of genre in my gaming tastes
at the time (I did not play 3D platformers at that time, so almost
everything else went to the PS1). By and large, I have fond memories
of playing most of the games I am going to list. I did not own most
of them at the time, but I rented the crap out of them. I swear, you
kids these days will never appreciate how cool American Video Rental
Store culture was. A pastime I miss a lot.
Going through this list, I remembered
how many quality offerings the system had to offer in this genre of
gaming. As with my PS1 video, I am only going to be showcasing
shooters from my personal collection, so this won't be covering every
single shooter on the system. Unless someone brings another one to my
attention, I would say the biggest omission on this list is the
Original Quake which I own on the PC and Saturn, but not the N64.
Other than that, no Daikatana, and no Rainbow Six. Also, I know you
can play games like Shadows of the Empire in first person view, but
Shadows will always be a third-person shooter/everything else thrown
in for good measure game, and not a first person shooter.
With all that said, here is a rundown
of first person shooter games that I own on the Nintendo 64:
007: The World is Not Enough
Look at a list of
the best Bond games released since Goldeneye, and there will usually
be one thing common in all of them, they're, more than likely, all
developed by Eurocom, and The World is not enough is all where it
started. While I, personally, still prefer Goldeneye over this game,
mostly due to the feeling in the gunplay, there are some people out
there who, indeed, like this game over Rare's Goliath, and I can
understand why. While I can't go into every detail, one of the
biggest pros is that it definitely gets the Bond feel down better
than Goldeneye, especially with a heavier emphasis on the use of
gadgets. Swap any character out with Bond in Goldeneye, and the game
would still make sense.
The World is Not
enough, you would still be able to tell there was a heavy Bond
influence.
The Core design
still copies the foundation first seen in Goldeneye, objective-based
missions, with tons of bad guys to dispatch. The mechanics are the
same in the controls, and the auto aiming of weapons. The game
duplicates Goldeneye's gameplay masterfully, while still managing to
create it's own feel. Even the gunplay is done really well, but I
cannot put my finger on what exactly, but Goldeneye's feels a little
better. Maybe it's the speed of it, I can't really say. That being
said, this is still, easily, one of the best shooters on the Nintendo
64, and it even adds bots in the multiplayer for good measure.
Armorines: Project S.W.A.R.M.
As I said in my
spotlight PS1 First Person Shooters video, even for it's time,
armorines was an average-at-best first person shooter. That being
said, I do remember the reviews for this game being awful, and while
I haven't played all the way through this game, I can already tell
you that it is better than the reviews made it out to be. This is not
the best shooter you will find on the Nintendo 64, but it certainly
isn't the worst either. The N64 version is probably the better buy
over the PS1 version, even if it feels more sluggish (even with an
expansion pak, and running it in lo-rez mode), and the designers, for
whatever reason forgot about the play mechanic where, firing off your
last round makes your charcater automatically reload for you. You
have to do it manually every time.
Doom 64
This was my
introduction to Doom. Having never owned a PC growing up, I never had
the chance to experience the original. PC's were neither as cheap,
nor as common place as they are today, and very few people I knew
ever owned one. So, having never played the original Doom, Doom 64 is
the game I referenced in my mind every time the subject of Doom came
up. This darker-feeling moody Doom game with redone character
sprites, fully polygonal graphics, and an ambient soundtrack is what
I truly thought Doom was. It is strange to say, looking back now, but
I had no internet, and no magazine subscriptions at the time of it's
release, so I did not find out the truth about this game for years.
That being said,
this, for it's time, completely new Doom game, made from the ground
up, all new graphics, all new levels, and same great Doom feel is a
great addition to the Doom series, and a great addition to your N64
first person shooter library.
Duke Nukem 64
While Duke Purists
pan the N64 port for having the raunchiest bits of the game censored,
which in hindsight, as gaming has already long-since passed the
F-bomb and nudity lines, is a small complaint. Yes, some of the
raunchy bits add to the cheesy-action-character theme of the game,
even without the shock value, you are still left with an
exceptionally designed first person shooter. Do you really think that
Duke was only popular because of it's shock value?
What this port of
Duke loses in censorship, it makes up for with some thoughtful
additions; The graphics have been completely revamped Better looking
areas, better looking explosions, redone, smoother looking weapon and
enemy sprites, and a smooth framerate; some level layouts have been
altered, and there are even new secret areas to find in some of them;
and there are some cool multiplayer additions like being able to play
the campaign coop with a friend, and a deathmatch mode that even lets
you fight against bots.
I only have two
small complaints against this port, the first is the default
controller setup forces you to use the d-pad to swap out weapons
which requires you to move one hand off of the controller in order to
change weapons. That being said, I have not played around with the
control setups, so scratch that complaint if just swapping the
controller layout in the options remedies that one. And My biggest
complaint of all is “What Happened to the music.” That's right,
upon booting the game up, you a treated to an awesome rendition of
the Duke Nukem theme, but that's where the music begins and ends with
this game. All the levels are silent, hearing only Duke and the
enemies. Small annoyance for what is still a great shooter to add to
your library.
Goldeneye: 007
If you own an N64,
you obviously do no need to be told about this one. I had so many
great memories of playing this one multiplayer against my brother and
another friend, we could not find a fourth player, as we got so good,
and so cut-throat in this game, no one wanted to play against us.
There is so much I could go into about Goldeneye, but it is one of
those games that so many people have so many great memories playing
as well. Even though I can admit that it was overrated in hindsight,
I still love this game, and the fond memories of playing it.
Parts of the game
may feel dated, mostly the control scheme, and the bot-less
multiplayer, meaning, in my opinion, you need at least three people
playing to make it fun, because one-on one bores me, but the single
player and the feel of the game are still really fun to this day.
I think part of it
is that you can tell that Rare had a lot of fun making this game. It
is a serious game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. For
starters, everything in the game blows up when shot; shoot a chair,
shoot a desk, it doesn't matter, everything blows up; the enemies,
also, have such a goofy and awkward charm to them, that you almost
feel bad for killing them...almost, as they certainly don't have the
same problem with killing you, especially on the harder difficulties.
They don't say anything, this is akin to killing a bunch of mimes,
but they still have tons of character in their animations. Even their
death animations are goofy.
Aside from the
humor, the game has some serious gameplay. Previous shooters on other
consoles did have multiplayer through system link, but Goldeneye
showed off the power of the N64 by setting the standard for
split-screen multiplayer being as much of a must in it's day as
online deathmatch is currently. As I mentioned earlier, the gunplay
is thrilling, and other hardcore additions like the ability to unlock
new cheats by completing each lever on a certain difficulty within a
certain time-limit turning every level in the game into it's own
challenge mode, and adding a ton of replay value. There is no cheat
menu in this game, no codes, you have to ear your cheats, which you
can then use in multiplayer. I can go on and on, about this game.
Even if you were not a fan of this game, you still have to admit that
Goldeneye has left it's mark on gaming, and, in my opinion is a
timeless classic.
Hexen
I guess that Hexen
does sort-of qualify as a first person shooter. It does have certain
RPG elements, but Ultima Underworld this ain't. Hexen is a part of
the Heretic series...which means little to me as Hexen is the only
game in the series I have played. I remember renting Hexen for the
Nintendo 64 back in the day, and hating it. I remember thinking it
was kind of cool that my brother and I could play it coop, in fact,
up to four players can which is really cool. There is also a
deathmatch mode for kicks.
If you asked me,
for the longest time, I would tell you this was an awful game. I saw
little value in it for the longest time, however, years of hearing
it's fans defend it, and realizing that I certainly did not play it
enough to give it a fair shot back in the 90's has caused me to
acquire it myself. I have had it for years, and still haven't played
it much since. In playing this footage, this is probably the furthest
I have gotten in the game since I rented it 19-20 years ago, and,
sure enough, it clicked this time, and I actually enjoyed what I
played. It might be another decade before I ever play it again, but
now I see the appeal, and why people like it. This will never be my
favorite Shooter/rpg hybrid, but it definitely has it's appeal. I
can't recommend this to every N64 owner, but more for those with open
minds, and are more forgiving in their gaming.
Perfect Dark
I probably do not
have to tell anyone about this game either. Rare did a bang-up job in
following up Goldeneye with a game that improved on the formula in
almost every way. After Goldeneye, EA acquired the rights to the
James Bond License, leaving Rare to start a completely original IP as
the true sequel. The end product was the ever-delayed Perfect Dark.
If you were stuck
on a desert Island, and only an N64 to play, this is definitely the
game you want to have on that island. It has so many modes of play,
and thanks to the bot-multiplayer, almost endless replay value. The
graphics, thanks to the expansion pack, are high-rez; the single
player mode now sports a storyline as well as voice over work, and
allows for two player coop; bots have now been added to the
multiplayer meaning that even if you have no one to play with, you
can still enjoy the multiplayer; all kinds of challenge modes have
been added, even the firing range at the carrington institute has
it's own challenge modes; and overall, Rare went out of their way to
improve over Goldeneye in every way.
I only really have
two small complaints about this game. The biggest is the addition of
an incredibly annoying blur effect whenever you get hit. This is
especially annoying in multiplayer, because not only does it lead to
the computer opponents slapping you to death as your entire screen
turns into a blurred mess of annoyance, but not even dying clears
this effect from your screen. You respawn with a screen that is just
as blurry as when you died, and you have to wait until it clears on
it's own. I know this seems like a nitpick on what is otherwise an
exemplary game, but it sometimes ruins the experience in multiplayer
for me.
My other small
complaint is, well, not really a complaint, but just the fact that
even with so many improvements over Goldeneye, I still like Goldeneye
better. For me, it will always be the more memorable of the two
games. Every level in Goldeneye is a lot more memorable than the ones
in Perfect Dark. In order to remember a level in Perfect Dark, I
generally have to play it again, whereas, I can remember most of the
levels in Goldeneye off the top of my head.
This could be
chocked up to the different stage of life I was in at the time of
Perfect Dark's release, or maybe the vastly different gaming climate
in the year 2000 when Perfect Dark hit verses the one in 1997 when
Goldeneye hit. I don't fully remember when I picked this game up, I
do remember that it was when it was dropped to a 10 dollar price tag,
and I bought it with Donkey Kong Country, because It came with the
expansion pack.
So, when I bought
it, I either already owned a Sega Dreamcast, or was very close to
owning one, meaning, though Perfect Dark was a great game, and I did
put many hours into it, between being hyped for the PS2, owning a
Dreamcast, as well as collecting for the PS1, my gaming focus had
shifted away from the Nintendo 64. I had also moved away from my home
town, and ended up moving again after a year to another new high
school in arizona meaning that, by the time I had made friends that
were trustworthy enough to come over and play games, we were already
playing PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube games, and any itching we had for bot
deathmatches went to Timesplitters.
So, for me
Goldeneye will always be king, even if, objectively, Perfect Dark is
the better of the two, I just spent more time with Goldeneye, and
have better memories of playing it. However, if you own an N64, this
game needs to be in your collection. I don't even know if it is
debatable.
Quake II
Like Doom 64, this
was the only version of Quake II I had played, or, eventually, owned,
and like Doom 64, I had no idea till much later that this version of
Quake II was a completely different version of the game. I did not
even own a copy of the PC version until 2005, and not even the gaming
magazines at the time bothered to mention the fact that N64 version
of Quake II was a completely different game from the PC version, so I
just figured that Quake II had ambient music in the backgrounds, and
straight forward sequential levels. I had rented the original Quake
for the N64 previously, so I figured quake II used the same moody
style soundtrack. Boy was I wrong about that one.
The N64 version
of Quake II would probably be more like a mission pack for the PC
version, and scores points for being a completely different game. All
the levels are new, and different from the PC version, there is no
hub-level setup where each level felt like one giant seamless level
with different areas to explore in the PC original, and the rocking
Sonic Mayhem soundtrack has been replaced with ambient music. The N64
version still has all the baddies, and hard-hitting beefy weapons
(minus the throwing grenades, but who misses them) of the PC version.
While, obviously,
the speed of shifting to a mouse setup to an analog stick has slowed
the game down quite a bit, the game still has it's own sense of
intensity, and there is always something so satisfying about blasting
an enemy in the face with the Quake II Super-shotgun. My favorite
shotgun in all of gaming. This is a well designed, well made, great
shooter, that is a great addition to any shooter fan's library. There
is even a solid deathmatch in this one for up to four players, but no
bots to frag. This is one of my favorites.
Turok Dinosaur Hunter
This was,
actually, my introduction to first person shooters. This was the
first one I ever played. Looking back, I remember this game seeming
very disorienting. I never got motion sickness from games, but being
new to 3D gaming, and having Turok as on of the first polygonal games
I played, this game, at the time, seemed a lot more magical, and
mystical to me. There was something surreal about playing this game,
and I still really like it.
In hindsight,
there are issues that may turn some gamers off to this game. I liken
it to platformer elements added to the design. The biggest one being
that in order to unlock new levels in the game, you have to find
level keys hidden throughout each of the massive levels in the game.
Many of them are obvious, and easy to find, but others require
exploring every inch of each level to find hidden areas. Turok does
have a very goo map function, but this means that the reward for
beating a level, is not always going to the next level in the game.
If you missed some of the keys hidden throughout the map, you have to
backtrack to search every inch of the previous levels in order to
find the keys. Basically, if you don't get them all on your first
try, you will be replaying many of the levels multiple times.
Luckily, there is a list in the menu of all the keys on each level,
so you can find out how many you still need to find in each level.
The level are
huge, and replaying many of them can lead to frustration, especially
the ones that require a lot of platform jumping, and that is anoter
thing that may turn many gamers off, there is a ton of platform
jumping in Turok. Many of them can be annoying when you miss the
jump, and have to constantly climb back up to the beginning to start
the platform sequence again. This sometimes feels like Trial and
error, but in other places, it is do or die. Meaning missing the
platform treats you to a quick cutscene of Turok plummeting to his
death, and using up a life.
That is another
platformer-esk design choice that will seem out of place, while there
are mid-level save-points, Turok gains lives be collecting 100 of
these triangle things. I am not sure if I have just forgotten their
official names, or if I never knew their names to begin with. So,
triangle things. When you collect 100, Turok usually announces the
fact that you just gained an extra life by proclaiming I am Turok,
and generally scaring the ever living crap out of you in the process.
When you run out of lives, it is game over, and there is no
continuing. I guess you could consider the lives system as retry
system where you get to start back over where you left off without
loading your game, but, even then, it does seem like a strange system
in a shooter.
That being said, I
still love this game. I have never actually beaten it by playing
straight through, but that's because this is one of those games where
the cheat codes were just so fun to play around with that I have
spent more time playing the game with cheats over the years than I
have trying to play it in a serious manner. Playing around in the
game can be just as fun as playing it seriously which adds a new
dimension of fun to the game. Overall, despite some awkward design
choices that may turn some gamers off, this is still a worthy title
for First Person Shooter fans, and it has impeccable atmosphere, and
yes, a lot of fog too.
Turok 2: Seeds of Evil
If I remember
correctly, the developers of this game were quoted as saying that
every level in Turok 2 is the equivalent of walking six virtual
miles. Turok 2 improved over the original in many ways. Better
graphics thanks to the expansion pack, bigger levels, an actual
storyline, split screen multiplayer, and cooler weapons like the
cerebral bore.
To be honest, I
still have yet to fully play through this one either. Not only have I
had fun playing around with the cheats as I did with the original,
there is one incredibly demotivating design choice that has always
kept me from fully playing this game. I don't even remember how far I
have played into it over the years, as I tend to delete my save in
order to make room on my N64 memory card for other games. What has
kept me from being motivated from seeing this one all the way through
is simply that, in each level, Adon starts out by giving you the
level objectives you have to complete. Taking a que from Goldeneye,
Turok 2 switched to objective-based missions. What demotivates me
every time I decide, “This time I'm going to do it. I will see it
though this time!” is the simple fact that, if you miss one of the
objectives in the level, you get knocked right back to the beginning
of the level and have to start again. The objectives you have already
completed are still completed, but you have to retread to find, say,
that one missing child you did not rescue.
So you just walked
through six virtual miles of gameplay, and if you missed even one
thing, you have to do it all over again. Whereas in the original
Turok, even if you did not find every key in each level, you would
usually still find enough keys to unlock a new level, so you did not
have to replay the level you just played right then, in Turok 2, you
are basically stuck in limbo until you complete the level. This kind
of kills all my motivation to see this game all the way through, and
it does it every time. I know this can be remedied by not sucking at
the game, but if you miss one thing, no mercy shall be applied, you
have to start right from the beginning of the level again. There is
no grace
My only other
slight quip about this game is that, while the game does look great
running in the high-rez mode, and even the high-rez leterbox mode,
thanks to the expansion pack, if you want it to be playable, and not
sluggish, you still have to play it in low-rez mode as the high-rez
mode make the game chug. The fog doesn't bother me as much as it
bothers others.
I don't mean to
sound overly critical, because I still really like this game, and do
suggest it to all N64 fist person gamers, just be warned, there are
some frustrating design choices. That being said, I am totally going
to see this game through one of these days.
Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion
One of the last
big shooter releases for the N64, Turok 3 definietly has a Half-Life
inspired single player mode, and in my, probably unpopular opinion,
has the best single player in the original Turok series. I have
actually played through this game all the way, but it has been years,
and I only vaguely remember it. The only complaint I remember having
is that the weapons in the game did not feel as though they had as
much omph to them as in previous games.
The beginning
sequence sees the current Turok dying, thus leaving the role of Turok
open for two new characters to fill. The player can choose to play
the game as either Danielle or Joseph. Danielle is capable of jumping
higher, and can reach different paths in each level that Joseph
cannot, however, Joesph is smaller, and can slip into smaller areas
that Danielle cannot. This gives the player the incentive to play
though the game twice, once with each character, in order to see all
the game has to offer.
Thanks to their
work on the previous Turok Rage Wars, the multiplayer is much
imporved with the addition of bots. These bots aren't as smart as
those found in perfect Dark, and they have the tendency to team up on
you, even when teams are turned off, but it is still a nice addition
to the game.
Overall, I would
have to say this is my favorite Turok on the N64, and it is different
enough from the previous games that, even if you could not get into
the original or Turok 2, Turok 3 is still worth a look. And, hey, you
can actually play this one in high-rez mode as it doesn't go into
slug mode when you do.
Turok: Rage Wars
1999 was the year
of the tournament shooter. Id software and Epic Megagames released
two huge bombs on PC gamers that year known as Quake III and Unreal
Tournament.
Rage wars follows
suit with the simple question, “Who needs a single player mode?”
Like Quake III and Unreal Tournament, what consists of a single
player campaign in Rage was is just a series a bot matches with
multiplayer objectives added. Multiplayer arenas have replaced large,
intricately designed levels, and there is no story to speak of. After
every few levels, you get a boss level, but in the end, the single
player mode is just training for the multiplayer mode, and the only
reason to bother is because playing it unlocks things in multiplayer.
I have one really
big caution for this game. The single player mode alloys for coop
play with a friend, however, if you own the black cartridge version
of this game, you will never be able to complete the game with two
player coop. There is a glitch in the black cartridge version in one
of the monkey-tag modes that no matter what you do, you will always
lose the match. It is a game, ending glitch. Luckily, Acclaim later
released a Grey version of the cart with where this glitch is fixed.
So, if you are buying this game off of amazon, or ebay, make sure you
buy the gray version of the cart.
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