I don’t know when I am getting my Analogue 3D Nintendo 64 player. I hope it’s soon. Because of a curse, I cannot stop buying N64 games until I can finally play them, on that. I could play them on my actual N64, but it’s really not the best on modern monitors.
It’s apparently starting to ship. I haven’t got any news about mine, and then Retro World Expo happened; my curse forced me to go. It’s hard to struggle beneath a video game curse, but it will only become worse once I get the A-3D. I’ll be forced to actually play these games. And blog about them.
Horrors.
Some of these are Kasul’s — all the Japanese ones, all the PS Vita ones. I once knew a little Japanese, but nowadays I’m happy if I can just slowly sound out kana. And ignore the prices on the games; we haggled down most of them. The vendors were there to deal. So we Phil Wang’d them.
Okay, let’s have a look at these games.
Star Castle
For a home videogame console that promised the real arcade experience, Vectrex had surprisingly few licensed arcade games. It shipped with “Asteroids-compatible” game Minestorm, but hits like Battlezone and Omega Race were nowhere to be found. The Star Trek licensed game is nothing like its arcade version. One game that did make it? Star Castle.
Star Castle puts you into a little spaceship in an arena with a boss spaceship in the center. It is surrounded by constantly rotating ring walls that you must shoot to destroy. Occasionally the boss will charge up a wall with little sparks; if you don’t destroy them there, they will be fired at you and you’ll lose a life if they hit you. The walls regen if you clear an entire ring, so don’t do that. The goal is to clear enough walls and have them line up just right so that you can go Luke Skywalker on the boss and blow it up.
As a port, Star Castle has a lot going for it. The arcade version was monochrome vector graphics with an overlay providing color — exactly how the Vectrex works. The joystick allows fine control over your position, and the buttons mimic the arcade exactly.
This is one of the rarer Vectrex games. I was really happy to find it in pretty much the last booth we visited before we left. It was a little overpriced, given there was water damage to the box, so we did bargain down a bit. It’s an awesome addition to my collection.
When I got home, I immediately ordered clear plastic sleeves for my Vectrex boxes. Water’s not going to damage my games.
Hybrid Heaven
My goal is to play all the best RPGs made for the Nintendo 64. I’ve already played Ogre Battle: Knight of Lordly Virtue, so the best one of them all is done and out of the way. I’m buying the rest of them and we’ll see how they all measure up.
I hadn’t heard of Hybrid Heaven before. An RPG meant to appeal to fans of Metal Gear Solid, it’s a turn-based affair with your party sent to infiltrate a secret military base where a kidnapped president is stored. Secrets upon secrets and plans within plans make things a little complicated.
Pokémon Puzzle League
Last year, I bought Puyo Puyo Sun, Japanese version, at Retro World Expo. This year, I bought Pokémon Puzzle League. Who knows, maybe next year I’ll find some N64 version of Super Puzzle Fighter.
If I did, I’d have three copies of essentially the same game. In all three games, pairs of colored gems drop down from the top of the field. Your goal is to have them fall onto like-colored gems in order to clear them. In head-to-head modes, clearing gems from your side adds unclearable gems to your opponent’s board.
Of these, it’s Puyo Puyo Sun I’ll be playing the most. It’s just happy and goofy. But I’ll check in on the Pokémon, for sure. How else can I be the best that ever was?
Diddy Kong Racing
I absolutely love the pointlessness of this game. Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo was a groundbreaking game that sparked a genre. Every video game mascot was required to have a kart racing game of their own. Every. Single. One of them.
If your console wasn’t a Nintendo console, and you didn’t have to compete against the Mario Kart series on your own console, you’d be stupid to not encourage one.
Problem is, the N64 had Mario Kart 64. And it was really good. There was no need for Diddy Kong Racing to even exist. Especially since the best example of the genre, Beetle Adventure Racing, was also on the N64.
I love underdogs. So I bought it. We’ll compare all of them when I get the Analogue.
Paper Mario
I loved the Mario games on the SNES, but I fell away from the series on later consoles. I intend to fix that with Paper Mario. Especially since this is an RPG, and I want to play RPGs on the N64.
The visual conceit is that Mario himself, and everyone he meets, are two-sided, two-dimensional animated stickers. I don’t know if the characters ever discover the mysterious third dimension, but this doesn’t look like a game that really delves deeply into existential ideologies. But maybe it does! I haven’t played it!
Gameplay-wise, the princess has been captured, and Mario must rescue her. Helping him in his quest are three friends, only one of whom can be active at a time, each with specific powers that can help in specific battles. So, Mario explores and solves puzzles, and when battles happen, he invites the appropriate companion to help out, and off he goes.
I got this mint, but unboxed, copy along with Megaman 64 by trading an extra copy of Ogre Battle 64 I had.
Mega Man 64
I’ve never played any of the Mega Man games, and I’m not sure this is the right one to start with. For one, it’s in 3D, when the series has largely been known for its 2D gameplay. What’s worse, Mega Man 64 is a port of the original PlayStation version, considered the superior version by most reviewers.
So, it’s an inferior port of another game, of a series I’ve never played. What could possibly go wrong?
Maybe… everything? We’ll see!
Onto the PS/2 games.
The Legend of Alon D’ar
Reviewers generally disliked this PS/2 RPG. But I have a metric: does it look better or worse than Ever Grace, a PS/2 RPG I actually finished?
Better, it looks better.
Drakan: The Ancients’ Gates
An action/adventure title that gives me real Champions of Arms vibes, and I’m down for it. The game has a mix of ground and mounted air combat that depends upon fighting game-like stick motions to cast spells. I’m looking forward to giving it a shot.
I don’t have to wait on any console deliveries for these; my PCSX2 emulator is ready and waiting for these to be ripped and played.
More about this when (and if, I suppose) I play them!
