N64 Racing Double Header: Re-Volt vs Wave Race 64

Game: Re-Volt
Console: Nintendo 64
Developer: Acclaim Studios London
Release Date: 31st July 1999

While Micro Machines pioneered the genre of tiny cars racing around huge everyday household environments, there were more than a few challengers and imitators in that field also. Re-Volt seems to me to be somewhere inbetween the two labels, with enough differences to have merely been influenced by earlier games and with enough similarities to land it in the same pile as other R/C racers and toy car games.

In the Bronze Grand Prix players race around the streets of a neighbourhood, a supermarket, a museum and a botanical centre. While there's not much detail in any of the environments it's pretty obvious as to where the races are meant to be taking place, and really the slightly confusing directional nature of some of the tracks is far more of a concern. This is compounded by the fact that there are 2 or 3 different variants of each track featured in the game, and each of them feature many crossroads at which players must remember which is the right direction (though there are arrows to direct players, there's enough going on elsewhere on screen to make them easy to miss).

There's a fairly big selection of cars to choose from which increases as players beat each grand prix, but the variety between cars is limited as most simply look like remote control vehicles, with slightly different handling and acceleration stats. This being said, the handling of all vehicles feels pretty much the same; they stick to the floor and turn in the way you'd expect a remote control car to. The racing action can be hard fought at times, but as players get better at the game, there is a tendency to leave the AI cars behind.

Also included in the game alongside the Grand Prix mode is a track editor, as well as some other racing modes that are fairly similar to Grand Prix. There's a good amount of variety and things that can be done with the track editor, and it's fairly easy to use. The only downside is that a memory pak is required to save any tracks that are created, and any progress in the game as a whole.

Graphically the game isn't the best; this is evident both before and after comparison with the Dreamcast version of the game. As a late N64 game, I'd have expected better from it, but many issues including fuzzy textures and a poor draw distance tend to hinder the enjoyability somewhat. Soundwise, there's electronic music playing behind the racing, but nothing that really stands out or contributes to the overall experience of the game.

As a game, Re-Volt on the Nintendo 64 has the bare bones of a fun title; the racing can be competitive at times, and the tracks have interesting real world inspirations, but there's always a sense that it could be better. I'd like to check out the Dreamcast version at some point, because it seems as if it holds more promise, but for now I'd steer clear of this average title.

Rating: 61/100
Grade: D

Game: Wave Race 64
Console: Nintendo 64
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 1st November 1996

Unlike most conventional racing games, Wave Race 64 takes place on water and sees players riding jetskis around preset courses, on the correct side of buoys against 3 other AI competitors to score points and eventually win the championship. There are 4 difficulty modes, Normal, Difficult, Expert and Reverse, Normal mode has 6 races, with one added for each difficulty up to Expert which has 8, as does reverse, though all courses are backwards.

One of the most annoying aspects of the game is that whilst there's a choice of 4 jetski riders to choose from, one of them is undoubtedly better than any of the others, and must be tuned to his optimum setting via fiddling with the tightness of his grip. There's honestly no reason to use any of the other riders, unless you're playing in stunt mode where there's another clear favourite from the four.

Racing action is fun, and arcade like; players are allowed 5 mistakes before they're disqualified for going the wrong side of buoys. The power meter builds up for each buoy players go the correct side of, and other than this it's all out racing action. There's a danger of falling off the jet ski, with too harsh of a collision with anything but for the most part, hitting objects and scenery is avoidable.

There's a good variety of tracks, and with each increase in difficulty level, slight changes are made to each track layout, to keep things fresh and interesting. The stunt mode offered by the game isn't as good; players ride their jetski through hoops in order to earn points, and can do various stunts with combinations of buttons. Unfortunately there's not very many stunts available to do, and overall the whole experience feels like an add on, rather than a fun and alternative mode to try.

Graphically the game looks great for the time of its release, and there's some nicely rendered scenery and water effects. With the fast pace of the game, and the high intensity of the racing action, the visuals hold up well. Musically the game's funky 90s soundtrack adds to the experience and fun loving extreme sports vibe, fitting the action well.

Overall Wave Race 64 is a fun and refreshingly different racing game that despite its flaws manages to embody the era of gaming that it came from, both in visuals and audio. Multiplayer is obviously another advantage, with the ability to fight it out with up to 3 other friends for the title of jet skiing champion.

Rating: 75/100
Grade: B