Topic: My Personal Review of Rareware N64 titles

[Kytim89]

I just bought Jet Force Gemini, Golden Eye 007, Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark. What I thought I would do is to provide a review of my take on the video games and allow any you to chime in about your opinions.
 
First is Jet Force Gemini. I played this game for about an hour and was not impressed by it at all. This game is might be the low point of Rareware for the N64. The game play was hindered bu haynous targeting and control issues. The graphics are well passed its time and it almost looks like a DS game. Lastly, this game gave off a very Avatar-like vibe when I played it. The enemies were blue creatures and the main character was a soldier battling them on a jungle planet(Cameron may have played this game in the past ). Overall, I would give this game a three out of five.
 
I have not had a chance to buy Conker or Banjo-Tooie yet, nor have I had chance to play 007, Banjo-kazooie,  or perfect dark. I will respond once I do play them enough to give a solid impression.   

[Guitar Smasher]

May I suggest that your next reviews critique the games in the context in which they were released?  Nobody expects the graphics to be anything but poor, but if you compare them to other N64 era games, that might be worth discussing.

[Kytim89]

I have never done a video game review before.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

You don't have to start.  It changes your world view and how you look at life.

[Mop it up]

I've barely played Jet Force Gemini so I can't really comment, though I do recall not liking it. So it may really be not that great of a game.

However, if you weren't alive during the Nintendo 64 era then you may have some real trouble enjoying its games today. Especially if you compare the graphics to today's capabilities and actually care about such things.

[Dasmos]

Pity that Jet Force Gemini is the best game Rare have ever made (very slightly pushing out Blast Corps and GoldenEye). My opinion of Kytim89 has dipped from "who the hell is Kytim89?" to "I will never take one of Kytim89's posts seriously again."

[Peachylala]

"I will never take one of Kytim89's posts seriously again."

Would you rather take IGNorance seriously?
 
Gamespot?
 
Game Spy?
 
GAME INFORMER?
 
And no, Jet Force Gemini isn't Rare's best N64 game. That belongs to Perfect Dark.

[Dasmos]

Perfect Dark is an overrated trainwreck.

[Stratos]

I loved this game. It was pretty and had a lot of hidden stuff to find and explore. Music was fun as well.

[that Baby guy]

I've barely played Jet Force Gemini so I can't really comment, though I do recall not liking it. So it may really be not that great of a game.

However, if you weren't alive during the Nintendo 64 era then you may have some real trouble enjoying its games today. Especially if you compare the graphics to today's capabilities and actually care about such things.

The sad thing?  I think this statement is going to apply more to games made today, especially some of the higher budget ones, than it did for the Nintendo 64.  Some big budget titles made this generation are incredibly shallow.

[Halbred]

You don't have to start.  It changes your world view and how you look at life.

It actually does, no joke.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Serious.  I used to do previews/reviews a decade ago.  Messed me up good.  Look at me now.

[Peachylala]

Pro reviews are better then plain IGNorance.

[ThePerm]

i owned most Rareware games on n64

Diddy Kong Racing 8/10 - i had this instead of mario kart 64 at the time, and i have to say this is more ambitious than any mk released so far.
Banjo Kazooie 9/10 - awesome damn game from start to finish
Banjo Tooie 7/10 - i never beat it, frame rate made me sick, but what i did play i liked
Goldeneye 9/10 - classic awesome game
Perfect Dark 8/10 - probably better than goldeneye, but it has framerate issues, and because everyone i know was too stupid to realize it was the same thing as goldeneye it never got the same multiplayer treatment
Donkey Kong 64 8/10 - not as good as Banjo, not as good as mario  64, but still pretty good
Conkers BFD 9/10- a great experience
Blast Corps 7/10 im not giving it a fair review because i could have played more of it
Jet Force Gemini 6/10 I didn't play it for very long, in fact im not sure if i bought it, lol i will for the right price still heheh

[DAaaMan64]

First is Jet Force Gemini. I played this game for about an hour and was not impressed by it at all. This game is might be the low point of Rareware for the N64. The game play was hindered bu haynous targeting and control issues. The graphics are well passed its time and it almost looks like a DS game. Lastly, this game gave off a very Avatar-like vibe when I played it. The enemies were blue creatures and the main character was a soldier battling them on a jungle planet(Cameron may have played this game in the past ). Overall, I would give this game a three out of five.

WHAT? Your completely insane, in fact, I wanna punch you right now. JFG might possibly be Rare's best game ever, if only edged out by Conker. JFG has an amazing sound track, excellent characters, lots of extras, great graphics, and really fun shooting action, fun co-op and multi. Variety up the ass and only one low point (collecting the tribals). This is seriously one of my most memorable n64 experiences, and at least its a unique one.

[Dasmos]

This is a thread bump I can agree with.

[TJ Spyke]

I have to agree with Kytim, I did not like Jet Force Gemini. I got it for about $15 from GameStop and instantly regretted it, one of my least favorite Nintendo 64 games. I really question Dasmo's taste in games if he thought it was Rare's best game (it wouldn't even be in their top 10 IMO).

[Dasmos]

And I in turn question your taste in games for not thinking JFG is one of Rare's best games.

[Stratos]

Thinking of how awesome a JFG game on Wii would be makes me a sad panda since Rare is gone. Pointer controls would be perfect for it. Wii us already a proven  3rd person shooter king control wise.

[Mop it up]

Battalion Wars II is the only third-person shooter on Wii that I can think of, and the controls in that game do work very well. Are there any others?

[NWR_insanolord]

Resident Evil 4, which also controls phenomenally.

[Stratos]

 

[Sarail]

I think my signature and avatar says it all.  But I digress...

Jet Force Gemini is THE absolute best game Rare has ever made.. hands down. As Dasmos mentioned, it has a fantastic soundtrack which created some very intense moments in the game, some of the best 3rd-person shooting I've ever played (and I LOVE 3rd person shooters -- my fav genre, actually), and characters (including the Tribals) that are easy to fall in love with.  I'll even go so far as to admit that I slightly teared up at the end when Floyd bites the dust to save the world. Crazy!

Did I mention the gun variety yet? THE GUNS! Holy smokes... the guns! Tri-rocket launcher is still one of my favorite video game weapons of all time, and the other guns just add to the fun of the game. I love how exaggerated the machine gun gets when shooting...  shots fire all over the place. I love it!

And the multiplayer is great, too! It by no means is GoldenEye or Perfect Dark, but it's really fun nonetheless. My brother and I spent countless hours as kids playing the multiplayer. And there's even a little bit of co-op in the single player story, too! There were even unlockable cheats, too! Paintball mode! w00t.

Overall the game has a great atmosphere that I have yet to see replicated to this day. Although, Uncharted 2 came really close. And yes, collecting the Tribals can be a chore, but as long as you get yourself acquainted with the controls, the gun types, and staying defensive... it becomes second nature saving the Tribals (especially the ones that require clutch, last-second saving).

And to end this mini-review on JFG, the game's graphics were astounding for the N64 era. Lots of detail from top to bottom was found no matter what angle you were looking at. The guns all looked incredibly unique, and all had neat animations to go along with them. Graphical textures in the land area were good, too. The game shined with lots of detail during those days.

Besides... how could you not love collecting the head of a fallen bug foe?!

Jet Force Gemini (N64) - 9.1/10

[Mop it up]

I think I missed the opportunity to get into Jet Force Gemini. I just can't get over how terrible the controls feel. If I had played it back in its time then I would have likely overlooked this issue, and had been able to get used to it. But I don't think I can push past it now to enjoy it.

[Sarail]

I'll admit that the character movement controls are a bit loose feeling.  The aiming controls are just fine.  It's super easy to move the cursor around to aim.  But yeah, Juno, Vela, and Lupus all feel a bit floaty when walking/running around.  But as I said, once you adjust yourself to this control set, it becomes second nature.  You learn to make small presses of the stick to move them a bit more intricately.

Oh, I forgot to mention how FREAKING incredibly awesome the boss fights are!  Some of the best I've ever fought!

[ThePerm]

yeah, sometimes though it takes a while to get into a game. I still haven't gotten into JFG(i still have to check my box to see if i bought it), but Castlevania 64 II  started off shitty, then it got really fun about 25% through the game. I'm pretty sure it being a Rare game it really deserves more than my 6/10. We'll see someday.

[King of Twitch]

Jet Force Gemini

Sorry for ruining this thread's fun, but there is so much bad level design, running through open space, retarded fetch quests, collecting, and other pointless detours that I can't forgive. I did forgive it when I was younger, but that's because I was starved. I was a street performer, not even a nickel to my name. I laughed at seeing giant corridors with one or two crates sitting there as some sort of cover or semblance of decoration. Or how about this one: a long corridor with a branching path to a room with a Tribal and some ammo. Or this: a corridor maze with scattered health gemini and multiple doors. Even better: an underwater corridor. A long, spiraling ramp to a door that won't open unless you clear the enemies first. A series of elevator platforms leading to Tribals. Why did N64 games do stuff like this? OOT had the giant empty field, Metroid 64 had the expansive but pointless home base... just to look good in screenshots I guess. Ugh. Like Marina Sirtis a few of the external areas still hold up pretty well but are rarely well-utilized.

I don't know what Kytim was talking about, the controls and targeting are the best parts about it. The shooting itself is a lot of fun, I loved killing ants and nabbing their heads as a trophy, but the jumping is terrible (and a few forced platforming parts just suck). The health gauge is just right, and health/ammo upgrade placement was clearly given careful consideration. It's a shame the rest of it is a total turnoff. I'm at the last pyramid and the door won't open for Lupus, probably because I didn't find enough effing Tribals. If Wikipedia is to be believed, collecting them all is necessary to finish the game. This is where the cartridge slips the surly bonds of my Nintendo 64 to touch the face of the inside of the garbage bin.

Hope it was worth it Microsoft.






007/10