Obscure N64 games on the Revolution

by Blake Snow { Feb 13th 2006 at 2:00AM }

Game Daily has posted their pics for the nine most obscure N64 games they feel should grace the download service on Nintendo's forthcoming Revolution console. From the article: "Some of [N64's] games actually changed the entire industry which is why we're more than willing to sit down with our shiny new Revolution consoles and download lots of great N64 titles, and while we're pretty sure that Nintendo will give us the goods when it comes to Star Fox 64 and Mario Kart, there [are] plenty of obscure games that we'd like to play... These games may not be as popular as Ocarina, but they deserve their spot amongst the greats."

Jet Force Gemini
Space Station Silicon Valley
Beetle Adventure Racing
Blast Corps
Sin and Punishment
Pilotwings 64
The New Tetris
Wetrix
Midway's Cruis'n games

Image courtesy of Game Daily.

[Thanks, beastiecube]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

AX @ Feb 13th 2006 2:17AM

Sin And Punishment..

phez @ Feb 13th 2006 2:17AM

jet force gemini was anything but obscure.

TheThreeLawsofPants @ Feb 13th 2006 2:18AM

Good list, one major problem though. Two of those games were made by Rare, which is now owned by Microsoft. So their appearance on the Virtual Console may be a bit iffy.

circuitfive @ Feb 13th 2006 2:19AM

Don't forget Tetrisphere. Most under-appreciated game for N64, imo.

AX @ Feb 13th 2006 2:20AM

If they included rare oddities like Sin And Punishement and it was moderately cheap, like $10 or less, I'd be on the Revolution like a robot in a corn field.

Louis @ Feb 13th 2006 2:22AM

I less then three Jet Force Gemini Colon close parenthesis period

CoolPoochie @ Feb 13th 2006 2:24AM

haha, i never thought i would hear anyone menction Space Station Silicon Valley, again. that was one weird game, but it was still great.
anyhow, The New Tetris is defiantly the greatest Tetris to date. it�s the one game that still gets regular play on my N64. i would love to see it available on my Revolution. :-D

Tushar Dayal @ Feb 13th 2006 2:33AM

oh man, i love those good old Cruis'n games.

Glitched @ Feb 13th 2006 2:47AM

Blast Corps..... OMG.... that game was absolutely nuts, and would drive me nuts to...

i remember renting pilot wings and wave race (not on the list but should be) over and over again when i first got my 64

Joe @ Feb 13th 2006 2:47AM

The new tetris, my friends and I spent 3/4ths of a year beating the game. It was really hard since the save battery was shot. (It gave them this problem for the past 3 years before I met them)
Best Tetris Game I've ever played.

Jamesology @ Feb 13th 2006 2:49AM

When is the Revolution coming out?

Ooooh can't wait to get both PS3 and Revolution! Good thing I didnt waste my money on the 360. I have so much to look forward to.

mercatfat @ Feb 13th 2006 3:12AM

er, a bunch of these titles were confirmed a while ago. not all of them, but more than half, I think.

http://www.dsrevolution.com/article.php?articleid=368

i thought there was a joystiq article, but i can't locate it.

ill trooper @ Feb 13th 2006 3:14AM

BlastCorps, GoldenEye and WaveRace64 made me very happy back in the day. Who knows how these old games will hold up, but I'm looking forward to giving 'em a shot.

mercatfat @ Feb 13th 2006 3:15AM

bad html break there, so here's another shot.

http://www.dsrevolution.com/article.php?articleid=368

Online Video Games @ Feb 13th 2006 3:35AM

This list is incomplete without Snowboard Kids...

Spiza @ Feb 13th 2006 3:48AM

Space Station Silicon valley is made by the makers of the GTA series. Its a very open game where you can control several different creatures (in the same level) to complete tasks. There is usually more than 1 way to do everything as well. IMO, its a much better and challenging game than GTA and I wish rockstar would make a sequel.

I would add another game to the list: Mischief Makers. This was a 2d Side Scroller made by treasure (Sin and punishment, Ikaruga, gunstar heroes games). I thought it was an excellent 2D game myself, and it was not that popular either.

sergei nester @ Feb 13th 2006 3:50AM

Ok - Great list - brought a tinge of nostalgia to me..a mere tear fell from my eye. Jet Force Gemini was one of the most underrated games on the N64 - I was completely enraptured. Space Station Silicon Valley - come on folks where is your sense of history....It is a homage to Paradroid on the Commodore 64 (By ANdrew BRaybrook who also did Uridium, Fire and Ice and the Rainbow Islands conversion). The N64 more than any other system before of after as had the greatest experiences. I played the Goemon and initially thought crap, Mario Rip OFf - crap frame rate etc...Once i finished it I went WOW!!! what an experience the first time i went into the warlords fortress i have never heard funkier console music anywhere..N64 Games were like a drug..Anyone who has never owned a n64 would never understand how much the lack of loading times improves the game experience....And Pilot wings - the game world was so big and detailed.....the waves rolling in the small details.

Jago @ Feb 13th 2006 4:02AM

Jet Force Gemini, Pilotwings 64 and the Crusin' games are from obsure.

I played Crusin' USA to death...front to back...loved the game!

I killed many a hours playing Pilotwings 64 and the new controller for the Revolution would be perfect for that system.

Never played Jet Force Gemini but the only reason I can think of why they might consider it "obscure" is b/c "I think" it came out towards the end of the N64 lifecycle.

Scott @ Feb 13th 2006 4:43AM

OMG I need The New Tetris. It took me ages to finish that game, it got to the stage i could pull 9000+ before carkin it (never hit 10k). Could anyone else get 10k or even close. Jet Force Gemini is a classic that i need. Blast Corps was too hard for me to bother. The one game they are missing is Shadowman, i loved that game. I would say Turok 2, but i own that for PC and i still play it even today. I purchased Wetrix and played it for 3 hours before returning to the store to exchange it. It was well done, but one of thos game you either love or hate. I just wish Rare, since they still make GBA games, would convert Killer Instinct Gold to DS.

epobirs @ Feb 13th 2006 4:52AM

Calling a game published by Nintendo obscure is defying the definition. Sin and Punishment qualifies for not having a US version, along with several other good N64 titles.

The Rare title aren't necessarily off the table. The publishing contract probably give Nintendo the right to keep publishing the N64 versions forever and that allow for their use in a N64 emulator on the Revolution. Rare would receive royalties so Microsoft would hardly have any reason to complain. It isn't as if Nintendo is going to let them have N64 emulation on XBLA. OTOH, Rare could likely produce native enhanced version of those same titles (except for those that tapped existing Nintendo characters like Donkey Kong) for XBLA or even as full retail titles ala Conker.

As for truly obscure N64 games deserving resurrection, I'd vote for Rocket: Robot on Wheels http://ign64.ign.com/articles/161/161736p1.html
This got rave reviews but a very small production run and no marketing, so most N64 owners never saw it. The Developer, Sucker Punch, went on to create the great Sly Cooper series for Sony.

Sockatume @ Feb 13th 2006 4:53AM

FYI, many games created by DMA became the property of Psygnosis, and thus property of Sony. GTA didn't go that way, but Lemmings did, so it's up in the air as to whether Space Station Silicon Valley or Body Harvest are likely to appear on the Revolution.

Sean @ Feb 13th 2006 5:04AM

TETRISPHERE - that game had awesome music

Blast Corps would be awesome if it was remade with better graphics (instead of knocking down 10-12 polygon boxes called buildings, knocking down physics simulated structures!)

F-Zero X is a great game cause of the sense of speed but now TrackMania Nations (which is free) is so much more intense on the right tracks.

epobirs @ Feb 13th 2006 5:05AM

Didn't Wetrix get sequels/ports to Dreamcast and PS2? It isn't so much obscure as unsuccessful with the mainstream audience.

Third party games are a strong probability even if the current owner is a competing company like Sony. If Nintendo offers them them, say, $2 for each sale, that is a very nice bit of revenue for code that has long been off the market. If the games do well in their old form on the Revolution it can be an indication a new version for newer platforms may be worth pursuing. The title owners have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Sean @ Feb 13th 2006 5:06AM

PS. I don't think Tetrisphere was a good as a puzzle game but it looked hella cool when you played it right

quickie @ Feb 13th 2006 5:41AM

killer instinct. the background and the graphics were crappy, but the gameplay was just awesome.

Dark_Jedi @ Feb 13th 2006 5:46AM

Body Harvest FTW.

kizza @ Feb 13th 2006 7:19AM

The console itself looks very nice. I still like the foreman grille look of the PS3 better, but ninty little wonder is a whisker hair close 2nd.
As for those games.... pilotwings & blastcorps are ok...

But gee nintendo need to get back with the program that had them leading in the 16bit days. They need all the great developers back in their corner, instead of relying on old games on an old console that had one of the weakest lineup of games in console history.

Comon nintendo, give us some next gen news, otherwise we may as well get n64 from cash converters or ebay for $20 & some games, instead of forking out $299-$399 for the rev.

azzik @ Feb 13th 2006 7:59AM

kizza, as usual you are an idiot. The price of the Revolution has already been confirmed by Nintendo officials to be "less than $300," so take your fanboyness and keep it to yourself.

DG @ Feb 13th 2006 8:18AM

"pics"? Nice.

I don't really consider Pilotwings 64 to be obscure. In the months leading to the release of the N64, there was only that game and Mario 64 to look at. I certainly remember it vividly. It would be like calling Kameo, PGR4, or any other Xbox 360 trash available now "obscure" in a few years.

By the way, I just realized the N64 came out ten years ago, and I feel very old about the whole thing.

Blast Corps was a lot of fun. I enjoyed Bomberman 64 too, but I may have been the only one. My favorite N64 game of all time was Banjo-Kazooie, somehow overlooked as the classic it certainly was. Better than Mario 64, in my opinion.

Ryan Williams @ Feb 13th 2006 9:17AM

God, Blast Corps was a fantastic game. It shocks me to realise that quite a lot of people haven't played it - it's so fun and ace.

What Rare clearly need to do is get a sequel sorted out. I'm not sure if they still have rights over it though, although saying that they *do* seem to have control over Banjo-Kazooie since their move to Microsoft.

Aleu @ Feb 13th 2006 9:18AM

Hey! Pilotwings was an awesome game. xD

Paul @ Feb 13th 2006 9:48AM

Blast Corps was amazing, but Jet Force Gemeni kind of sucked. The first half of the game was fun, but after that it all went to hell, what with the game telling you "Ok now go back through every level multiple times with each character to collect every little fucking item before you can progress and face the real boss."

It was at this point I said "Fuck you Rare."

hibiscusroto @ Feb 13th 2006 9:51AM

jet force gemini!

KilgoreTrout XL @ Feb 13th 2006 10:03AM

Blast corps was a Blas- I mean, it was fun. I never got into Jet force, but my brother always swore to me that it was a fine game.

TravistyOJ @ Feb 13th 2006 10:13AM

Yeah I remember the hardcore underground scene for Cruis'n USA. That game was awesome, and nobody knew about it....... Oh wait.

Brian @ Feb 13th 2006 10:21AM

Hybrid Heaven

thispaceforsale @ Feb 13th 2006 10:47AM

Obscurity aside some of those games would be awesome if reworked to support the rev's controller. Jet Force Gemini and Pilot Wings have strong potential, but a Sin and Punishment could be amazing, I wonder if it would still be two player?

Tomoki @ Feb 13th 2006 11:06AM

Rawr, Jet Force Jemini has my vote for best game evar. Right after NiGHTS. :3

KnightRicer @ Feb 13th 2006 11:10AM

I just wanna say that tetrisphere was one of the greatest games ever. Me and my friends used to play that non stop, the two player was very addictive and intense.

John H. @ Feb 13th 2006 11:36AM

Lots of good comments here, I agree that Tetrisphere needs inclusion from the music alone. Ogre Battle 64 was also cool, although easier than the previous games in the series. Rocket: Robot on Wheels also deserves better than its gotten.

No one's else has mentioned Beetle Adventure Racing yet, but it indeed was very cool and so easy to forget about now because of its license. Alas, that license is also likely to torpedo a rerelease, although I think other territories got a version without the Beetle trademark.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see so much love for Space Station Silicon Valley, even though it's easy to forget that game had a major bug: it's actually impossible to get all the trophies, because one level's is impossible to get, making it impossible to reach the game's true ending. That was what disillusioned me with the game, ultimately -- any rerelease would have to fix that bug. It's easy to forget that, before becoming known as Rockstar and developing the GTA series, that DMA Designs was responsible for many of the quirkiest and most engaging game designs we've seen: they also gave us Lemmings and Uniracers, after all.

Blast Corps was cool, although trying in places. The game is especially interesting because every level has an absurdly-difficult "platinum" score for the player to try to achieve, a goal that, judging from the info on the game on GameFAQs, kept some people playing it long after the expiration date. I agree that it's likely that Nintendo owns the rights to the Rare games released on the N64, which is probably why we won't see a Banjo-Kazooie game for X-box 360. Nintendo is also guilty of a bit of prejudice towards its in-house titles and self-created properties though, making it less likely that we'll see a BK game than others.

New Tetris is indeed the best version of the game to date, mainly because none of its improvements upon the original game altered its play. No special pieces or blasphemous play mechanics in this one, no sir. Some of its enhancements (like multiple Next blocks and a temporary holding spot for one block) seem to be making their way into the upcoming DS Tetris. Alas, developer H2O only ever made two games: this and Tetrisphere. Both have excellent music, causing me to wonder where the heck Neil Voss is these days.

Wetrix is *highly* underrated, although it tends to be unforgivingly frantic at higher levels. It also has some extremely difficult to achieve unlockables, like a block set that's unlocked when the player makes it to Master level, achieved by getting a score of one billion points. (Which has actually been *done* by a handful of people....)

Midway's Cruis'n games, however, I have to say, I wonder about. I never thought much of them myself, especially when compared with the San Francisco Rush games. And while we're on the subject of Logg-involved Midway releases, the N64 version of Gauntlet Legends, btw, is one of the best of that game.

Nin10dude @ Feb 13th 2006 12:06PM

I STILL play Beetle Adventure Racing sometimes wirh my cousin... Great game, I'd love to see another one, but, since it's made by EA, and they suck now, so... meh.

Kevout @ Feb 13th 2006 12:11PM

Um hello Diddy Kong Racing

Lee @ Feb 13th 2006 12:46PM

Yes, I second Blast Corps. Never have I had so much fun with a game that made me so mad.
(Breaks out N64).

mdxi @ Feb 13th 2006 1:33PM

1) Jet Force Gemini: all the annoying collecting crap of Banjo-Kazooie, none of the fun.

2) The Cruisin' games? WTF?

3) New Tetris, no. Tetrisphere, yes.

4) How about some Mystical Ninja Goemon action (and fix the camera and framerate while you're at it)?

solios @ Feb 13th 2006 1:52PM

Still waiting for a decent sequel to the original SNES Actraiser (I liked the sim elements as well as the action), and can we get some F-Zero in the hizzy?!

I'm with mdxi on the wtf Cruisin'. The thing that made those games even remotely palatable was cutting loose with a friend in a full-sized sit-down arcade cabinet.

Samuel McConnell @ Feb 13th 2006 2:03PM

Mystical Ninja Goemon and Mischief Makers were two of my favorite N64 games.

master x 24 @ Feb 13th 2006 2:14PM

Rare owns the rights to Banjo-Kazooie fyi why do you think alot of mags are talking about it coming to the 360 but rare has said anything about it and as for Jet Force Gemini that would be great to see that on the xbox live arcade i would love that or a new one on the 360 better yet why not both

RadarScope1 @ Feb 13th 2006 2:37PM

This is certainly not an obscure game but ... I'm looking forward to playing LoZ Majora's Mask. I've played, beaten and of course loved Ocarina of Time, but by the time MM came out, I'd long given up on the N64, and have never played this game at all.

I guess I could get it super-cheap now, but I'm not gonna buy all that junk to play a single game.