GAMES YOU PROBABLY MISSED A quick run down of some of the great Nintendo 64 games you may have passed by in the discount bin. While sometimes during the N64 lifespan, it has seemed there have been 'dry' spots as far as new releases go, there also have been very exciting times when there were so many releases there was no way you could get them all. This article talks about some of the better games you may have forgotten about, and now could pick up for under a 20 spot. Forsaken 64 Looking for a new 4 player experience? This game is a blast. Taking a hint from Descent, Acclaim put together a great 3D shooter with this one. You fly around on a little bike in full 3D, you can pitch, roll, turn around, upside down, however you like. Not recommended for those prone to motion sickness! Graphics: Very smooth framerate with decent textures and lots of stuff going on at once. Framerates for 4 player dip a little, but nothing drastic. Pretty good explosive effects and gory deaths, bits of your character and his or her vehicle flying all over the place, but this is zero g, right? The effect for underwater gets annoying really quick, and made us quite queasy. Sound: The songs are good, but get repetitive eventually. The sound effects are great, especially in surround sound. The narrator tries so hard to be serious that it is sometimes comical, but he doesn't get annoying. We love to hear him say 'Beard'. Gameplay: Good. The roll and pitch controls take a little getting used to, but you expect that in a fully 3D environment like this. Several options for control setups, and good ones too, so it doesn't hurt too bad that you can't make a custom control setup. Hope you have flexible fingers, or else switching weapons will be tough. They use the N64 controller to the fullest. A minor gripe is the fact that the game will auto-level your character, changing which way is up. This gets a little annoying and I wish it could be turned off, as it is not very consistent. Presentation: Not bad. It is a little clumsy navigating the menus sometimes, but the holograph menu is very nice. I'd like to be able to skip the intro speech the narrator does on the first level every time, though. Single player: The single player mode is excellent, with multiple paths depending on how well you beat each level. The levels are all very different with new objectives all the time. The objectives can be anywhere from 'destroy the boss', 'plant a homing beacon' to 'empty the level of nasties' and 'find the item'. The AI for the enemies can get very evil as they strafe around you in full 3D. Multiplayer: Awesome deathmatch fest. This game allows for 4 player madness with minimal framerate loss. No buddies to frag? No problem, the game also has bots for you to detonate. The weapons are great and well balanced, but be careful of running out of ammo. A match between some good players will get very intense with all the strafing up down left and right. All in all, Fosaken 64 is a very fun game, and well worth the price of digging it out of the discount bin, especially if you are a Descent fan. If you are a still a little wary, rent it and have a game night with a few friends to see whether or not it hooks ya. Robotron 64 This game is as frantic as it gets! This is one of those games that can induce a zen-like state in a human being… The upshot is this: you are stuck in some kind of horrible future where badguy robots™ are trying to eliminate humanity. You, as the hero, run around with your little blaster, avoiding being hit, while blasting seemingly endless hordes of baddies. Gameplay: Each level is a single plane full of evil little robots that rush towards you from all directions, little humans and bigger indestructable robots that walk slowly, and wander the map killing off the little humans. The object of each map is only to kill the baddies, but you get extra points for saving humans. You get hit by a baddie, you die. You beat a level, you get an extra life. Seems simple? It is! And therein is the beauty of the game. There are several types of powerups, and several different types of enemies trying to ruin your day, but the concept is still very basic. The control is great, you use one of several configurations, using one analog stick or digital pad to control your guy and another stick or digital pad to control where you are firing. Also, you can use two controllers to get analog aiming and movement for ultimate control. Graphics: Each individual character is made of basic, flat shaded polygons, but they are so small, it works just fine. The sheer number of badguys on screen at times is overwhelming, yet the engine manages a steady framerate. The colors and effects are a little psychedelic, but that just adds to the total Zen of the game. Sound: This game has a hip, techno soundtrack but it gets a little repetitive. However the various screams for when you fail to save a victim, little blips and explosion sounds fit well with the game's retro feel. Presentation: The designers of this game have a slightly twisted sense of humor which comes through in places such as the attract screen, and the character animation. Menus and such are fairly bland, but straightforward. Lasting Appeal: There is plenty of variance with the different levels and baddies and powerups, but after you have played all 200 levels through, there's not much to keep you playing. It is still fun to just pick up and play, and you can save a game to continue later. But lacking any multiplayer capabilities (perhaps some sort of split screen competitive mode?) keeps you from playing with your buddies, unless one takes directional control and the other aims your blaster… -Paul Gunn