Summary
Despite having one of the worst-imaginable controllers for first-person shooters, theNintendo 64actually had a suprisingly-large catalog ofFPS games. Considering it’s one ofthe best video game consoles ever made, it’s not that surprising that publishers wanted to port their shiny new shooters to Nintendo’s smash-hit device, even with the hardware challenges.
Some of these games were iconic.GoldenEye 007andPerfect Darkhave gone down in history as some of the best FPS games ever made. The N64 was also home to some impressive ports of famous shooters likeDoom,Quake,and evenRainbow Six. As fondly remembered as these games are, not every FPS on the N64 was a hit, with many of them left to rot in the great big bargain bin in the sky and forgotten by the masses.
The only time theSouth Parkgame for the N64 comes up in conversation is when people are discussing bad tie-in video games. Everyone who actually played it back in 1998 has either forgotten it completely, or wishes they could.
Certainly not one ofthe best FPS games on the N64,theSouth Parkgame was widely panned on release for being boring to play, having bad sound quality, and, worst of all, being unfunny compared to the show. The N64 version, at least, was praised for having decent graphics for its time. The success of bothSouth Park: The Stick Of TruthandThe Fractured but Wholehas driven the originalSouth Parkgame from most people’s minds.
Hexenwas originally released on PC in 1995 but was ported to the PlayStation, N64, and Sega Saturn two years later.Hexenwas a sequel toHeretic, agreat fantasy-inspired shooter, but unlike the original, it came out to mixed reviews. Unfortunately, the console ports were even less impressive.
The N64 version took a hit graphically as the console struggled to handle the game’s DOOM engine. Even worse, the console’s controller was a poor match for the game, with some critics dubbing it almost unplayable. WhileHereticis often regarded as a classic, theHereticsequels are largely forgotten. On the bright side, the N64 version was one of the first FPS games to feature four player split-screen multiplayer. Unfortunately,GoldenEye 007blew it out of the water shortly afterward.
To be forgettable, a game doesn’t have to be bad. In fact, being mediocre is almost better.Forsaken 64was thoroughly mediocre. The1990s were full of great FPS gamesandForsakenlacked the secret sauce that made those games special. The nicest thing critics had to say about it on the N64 was that it had impressive lighting effects.
Set in a dystopian future,Forsakentasks players on with flying around maze-like structures, hunting down “looters”. Without waypoints, the maps were easy to get lost in, and some reviewers felt the game was difficult to the point of being unenjoyable. With so many FPS games releasing around 1998,Forsakenfell through the cracks, doomed to be forgotten.
InArmorines,players take control of one of two marines who’ve been tasked with battling giant insects, both on Earth and in space. The premise and gameplay were unoriginal, with some critics describing it as a worse version ofTurokwith bugs instead of dinosaurs.
As unremarkable as the game was, its name may ring a bell among Valiant Comics fans. It was based on the comic of the same name, which followed a group of superhero marines tasked with doing the U.S. government’s dirty work. Since the comic only ran for 12 issues and ended in 1995, it’s of little surprise the 1999 video game tie-in was quickly forgotten.
Developer: Acclaim
Platform: N64
Obviously, theTurokseries is anything but forgotten. It’s fondly remembered for giving gamers some ofthe best dinosaur gamesever made. The N64 was home to three numbered entries in the series, plusRage Wars. While the main games are known for their exciting, dinosaur-hunting single-player campaigns,Rage Warswas “multiplayer focused.”
What that actually means is thatRage Warswas a collection of average multiplayer modes packaged with an almost non-existent single-player campaign that obviously recycled the multiplayer modes' content. It wasTurokwithout the dinosaurs, basically. While the mutliplayer mode was fun, it’s easy to see why so few people rememberTurok: Rage Wars.
Daikatanawas an early video-gaming lesson about why one should never jump on the hype train. The brainchild of John Romero, father of some ofthe bestDoomgames, everyone expectedDaikatanato be awesome. It wasn’t.
Thanks to several massive delays, by the timeDaikatanawas released, it was massively behind the other FPS competition on the market, technologically-speaking. While the PC version was bad, the N64 version was virtually unplayable. Comically bad AI, tons of fog, lousy graphics, sickening motion blur, and unusable controls killed the game upon arrival. These days, the only timeDaikatanagets mentioned is during online debates about the worst games ever made.
The N64 had twoJames Bondgames. One of them is remembered as one ofthe best split-screen games ever made, the other one is barely remembered at all. That’s unfair, becauseThe World Is Not Enoughwas a worthy successor toGoldenEye 007.
Developed by Eurocom, the game had a great single-player campaign and good multiplayer. For the time, the graphics were impressive, and upon release, the N64 version drew favorable comparisons to bothGoldenEyeandPerfect Darkfrom some critics. Unfortunately,The World Is Not Enoughalways had the odds stacked against it. Its multiplayer simply wasn’t as good asGoldenEye’s. However good the single-player campaign was, that fact alone was enough to doom it.
