Author Topic: A Decade of PGC/NWR: 1999 (Read 20269 times)

Justin Nation · « **Reply #25 on:** March 09, 2009, 11:04:56 AM »

Hehe, if people are getting on what he deemed "GoTY" for 1999 I can only imagine the $#!tstorm when my 2000 one gets posted. Consider that for 1999 and 2000 it was before we had a formal decision about these things on the site so you're left instead to look at what other people picked and go from there... I called mine the "Consensus Game of 2000" but even with that there is a matter of interpretation. I actually picked a game I disliked (and tried to politely say so) as what people seemed to consider the best game at the time and then instead complimented one that was highly regarded but at the time seemed to have more caveats around.

Though DK64 represented the beginning of the end of my love affair with all things Rare I think on a mainstream level a lot of people liked it. If you aren't looking to beat the game but just run around and have a good time it was a more impressive title to a degree. Though having to revisit the same level as 2 - 3 different characters got highly annoying to probably everyone. Still, you could do a hell of a lot in the game and there were moments where it was really fun. I think the start of the bad taste then has gotten to full funk these days since you can see the full evolution of the "Collect-a-Thon" genre that it was a major player in... but you now see it much more clearly and have more disdain for it.

But just throwing a word out there that before we had real staff consensus all we have is what is out there and rather than guess what "staff" would think it was easier just to get a feel for what seemed to qualify.

GoldenPhoenix · « **Reply #26 on:** March 09, 2009, 04:59:47 PM »

I've always though DK64 was considered less then stellar by quite a few people even back in 1999.

Pale · « **Reply #27 on:** March 09, 2009, 05:09:45 PM »

Do you think it's less than stellar GP?

GoldenPhoenix · « **Reply #28 on:** March 09, 2009, 05:12:09 PM »

Quote from: Pale on March 09, 2009, 05:09:45 PM

Do you think it's less than stellar GP?

Yes, I found it extremely dissapointing actually considering I was a huge Rare fan.

Justin Nation · « **Reply #29 on:** March 09, 2009, 05:22:48 PM »

Hehe, not to poke the bear but I recall people defending successful "casual" games like Carnival Games though many would consider it "less than stellar" as well.

I actually probably knew many more people that liked DK64 than despised it by a good margin, though for all of my love of Banjo-Kazooie I was annoyed with it by about the 6 hour mark. That said I also tired pretty quickly with Jet Force Gemini though I see a lot of praise for it here. Rare really lost their luster for me that year. This is from the guy who finished the entirety (including a few impossibly hard platinum medals) of Blast Corps in a single weekend in a crack-induced state and who re-played Banjo-Kazooie probably 3 times (I loved the Grunty challenge ending, so sue me).

Anyway, I look forward to all scorn once my 2000 highlights go up tonight! *puts on flame-proof boxers*

BeautifulShy · « **Reply #30 on:** March 09, 2009, 06:18:00 PM »

Great! Can't wait till tonight. I suspect Majora's Mask will win some awards.

NWR_pap64 · « **Reply #31 on:** March 09, 2009, 06:45:37 PM »

Quote from: Pale on March 09, 2009, 05:09:45 PM

Do you think it's less than stellar GP?

Let's give the game some credit now...

While I am one of those people that thought the collecting was too much I did enjoy DK 64. The graphics were stellar (a trademark for Rare). The mini games were also fun and the boss fights were enjoyable.

Had it been just one or two characters people wouldn't have minded the collecting. But since this was 5 different characters with different techniques and different areas it got quite bothersome.

I also didn't like the music. I LOVED it in the DKC games, but in DK 64 it sounds too much like left overs from Banjo-Kazooie.

Justin Nation · « **Reply #32 on:** March 09, 2009, 06:50:31 PM »

As long as your criticisms of the music don't include... the DK Rap. For whatever reason that sucker can't get out of my head once it starts... it is evil. Loved playing it in Donkey Konga. Hysterically bad like a train wreck but a classic.

ThePerm · « **Reply #33 on:** March 09, 2009, 06:56:46 PM »

DKRap sounds like runDMC

NWR_pap64 · « **Reply #34 on:** March 09, 2009, 07:00:58 PM »

Quote from: Justin Nation on March 09, 2009, 06:50:31 PM

As long as your criticisms of the music don't include... the DK Rap. For whatever reason that sucker can't get out of my head once it starts... it is evil. Loved playing it in Donkey Konga. Hysterically bad like a train wreck but a classic.

Heh, I think the intro and the song are classic. Fans have bashed it to hell and back, but I thought it was MEANT to be bad. That's what makes it so funny!

I am just talking about the musical score. Maybe its unfair to compare it to the DKC songs, but even then it just sounds too much like B-K.

GoldenPhoenix · « **Reply #35 on:** March 09, 2009, 07:09:34 PM »

Quote from: Justin Nation on March 09, 2009, 05:22:48 PM

Hehe, not to poke the bear but I recall people defending successful "casual" games like Carnival Games though many would consider it "less than stellar" as well.

Carnival Games shouldn't be game of the year either. It wasn't a stellar title but it was a solid title, a category I'd probably put DK64 in (OK it is probably a better game then Carnival Games but you should see my point).

Jonnyboy117 · « **Reply #36 on:** March 09, 2009, 10:27:46 PM »

I love the DK rap. It's definitely bad on purpose. The remix in Melee is even better/worse!

Mop it up · « **Reply #37 on:** March 09, 2009, 10:33:18 PM »

Super Smash Brothers... Bought it the month it was released, still have the lovely box and manual. This game really left an impression on me, I found it to be very imaginative, creative, and enjoyable. To this day I still pop this game into the N64 every now and then, despite that I can't get anyone to play N64 games anymore. It is quite a bit different than Melee and especially Brawl, it is like the purest form of Smash and would be the best if it had more content.

I got pretty far into Donkey Kong 64 but got to a point where I just couldn't stand it anymore. It's a real shame just how much the abundance of collecting ruins the game, because it would be an ABSOLUTELY AWESOMETASTIC game otherwise. A game which I'd have probably played through a few times by now has become a game I switch off in disgust.

TheYoungerPlumber · « **Reply #38 on:** March 09, 2009, 10:50:03 PM »

I got 100% (101%?) in DK64, but I believe it's because I played DK64 before Banjo-Kazooie.

Stratos · « **Reply #39 on:** March 09, 2009, 11:29:14 PM »

"C'mon Cranky, take it to the fridge!"

NWR_Lindy · « **Reply #40 on:** March 09, 2009, 11:29:48 PM »

For 1999 and 2000, Justin and I tried to kind of "project" what we thought the games of the year would have been back then. Then, we went back and polled the staff to determine what we all thought were the REAL games of the year, retrospectively.

I figured it would make for some interesting discussion, because games like Super Smash Bros. and Majora's Mask are universally loved through the lens of nostalgia, but at the time they may not have been such cut'n'dry GOTY picks as they seem today.

Stratos · « **Reply #41 on:** March 09, 2009, 11:35:12 PM »

Quote from: Lindy on March 09, 2009, 11:29:48 PM

For 1999 and 2000, Justin and I tried to kind of "project" what we thought the games of the year would have been back then. Then, we went back and polled the staff to determine what we all thought were the REAL games of the year, retrospectively.

I figured it would make for some interesting discussion, because games like Super Smash Bros. and Majora's Mask are universally loved through the lens of nostalgia, but at the time they may not have been such cut'n'dry GOTY picks as they seem today.

I think Majora was frowned upon back then for being too short. Now not as many people seem to ding it quite as much for that feature.

vudu · « **Reply #42 on:** March 13, 2009, 02:10:40 PM »

Quote from: Lindy on March 09, 2009, 11:29:48 PM

For 1999 and 2000, Justin and I tried to kind of "project" what we thought the games of the year would have been back then. Then, we went back and polled the staff to determine what we all thought were the REAL games of the year, retrospectively.

Any specific method to your madness, or did you just take a shot in the dark?

Justin Nation · « **Reply #43 on:** March 13, 2009, 04:58:30 PM »

For me I literally did searches looking for sites that listed top 10 games on those consoles those years. There weren't all that many out there actually. Once I got into those I then went through the reviews to see what the vibe was around the game beyond the scores since you would have several in the same score range. In the end for me it was probably easier, people uniformly salivated over PD and Pokemon Gold/Silver and then with Majora's Mask people liked it but showed reservations more commonly over it. Simple for the most part but now I and others I talked to on staff saw it as a mistake looking back now at the two games.

NWR_Lindy · « **Reply #44 on:** March 14, 2009, 08:09:26 PM »

Quote from: vudu on March 13, 2009, 02:10:40 PM

Any specific method to your madness, or did you just take a shot in the dark?

Old age.

But seriously folks, like Justin I definitely researched the Games of the Year for 1999, and came to the same conclusion - there just isn't much information out there. I looked at Metacritic and a few other sources, pretty much anywhere that had even a whiff of a review or recommendation. You have no idea how much coverage of the video game industry has changed since 1999 until you actually go back and try to find some online information from that year. There isn't any.

That's why I ended up digging up my own photos and transferring them to digital format...there aren't any photos of E3 1999 available! It's the same with year-end awards. They didn't really kick in until 2000, and that was for only a few sites like IGN and maybe Gamespot. In 1999, video game coverage on the internet was still an uncharted frontier.

MegaByte · « **Reply #45 on:** March 14, 2009, 10:59:32 PM »

Nintendo's own website (through Nintendo Power) used to have a lot of good stuff, but you have to use the Wayback Machine to even have a glimpse. It's too bad they didn't keep their site going like NCL, where they've never deleted any content, still having web pages up for Game Boy and Super Famicom games.

NWR_Lindy · « **Reply #46 on:** March 15, 2009, 09:08:54 PM »

What really disappoints me is that even their press site doesn't have anything. It only goes back to the GameCube and that's it. Here we are trying to give retrospectives on their games and we can't even go to their own website for screenshots to PROMOTE THEIR PRODUCTS.

/director rant

MegaByte · « **Reply #47 on:** March 15, 2009, 09:11:34 PM »

GameCube? What's that?

NEW PLAY CONTROL!

Mop it up · « **Reply #48 on:** March 15, 2009, 09:48:16 PM »

The solution? Buy old issues of Nintendo Power magazine from eBay! Printed content can't be deleted!

MegaByte · « **Reply #49 on:** March 15, 2009, 10:14:53 PM »

Printed content can't be animated (cost effectively, yet).

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Author Topic: A Decade of PGC/NWR: 1999 (Read 20269 times)