Wave Race 64 – Nintendo 64

This may sound like marketing speak, but if you want some help in getting passed the soon to come winter blues, then look no further than Wave Race 64.  I never played this game until I picked it up recently, and what a great find it was.  Originally it was a launch title for the Nintendo 64 released by Nintendo in 1996.  This must have been quite the looker back then, because even 18 years later it remains very playable, fun, and nice to look at.

Wave Race 64 is an arcade style jet-ski racing game.  You weave your way around buoys, and race against three other opponents.  Some buoys have to be passed on the left side, and others on the right side.  If you pass a buoy on the correct side, then a bar will be added to your maximum speed up to a maximum of five.  If you miss a buoy, then you will lose some of your maximum speed.  If you miss five buoys in a race, then you are disqualified.  Luckily the buoys are very clearly marked, and it is a lot of fun weaving your way through them.  I was very impressed at how Wave Race 64 handled waves.  Not only do they look really good, but the physics behind them is very impressive, especially for a game released in 1996.  You can skip across small waves, and the larger waves will make your jet-ski catch air.  Courses are relatively realistic.  Some courses such as Marine Base are dark and stormy, and have a lot of waves.  Others such as Sunny Beach are set in a sunny tropical environment, and have smaller waves.  Obstacles include small islands, wharfs, and the occasional ship wreck.  In addition to the races, there is a stunt mode where you go through rings, and perform stunts off of jumps.  Luckily it’s a completely optional mode, and doesn’t have any affect on the races themselves.

Not only do the waves look impressive, but the course designs all look great.  It’s a very colourful game, but yet somehow it still looks realistic enough to really suck you into the environments.  It also sounds good too with a mellow soundtrack, nice splashing sounds, and a nice roar of the jet-ski engine.  There is an announcer, but they don’t say a whole lot except to update you on the how you’re doing in the race.  It controls well too, as it’s easy to make subtle adjustments as it is to make sharp turns.  About the only negative comment I can make about the game is that I wish there were more than eight courses.  Unlike a lot of newer games, the majority of them are unlocked from the start, and the other two are there if you want to tackle the harder game modes.  Besides that, I can’t think of anything that could make this game better.  Definitely a must have for the Nintendo 64.

Rating – 9 / 10