Tantalus

NHL Blades of Steel 99. You were right, @Nugfish, this is the worst of the N64 hockey games.

Not sure if this counts for Top Gear or not. I played through it on the easiest (amateur) difficulty.

I looked at a playthrough of it on Youtube on the highest difficulty (championship) and it gives the same ending screen, just obviously without the "But can you win" part of the message.

2 hours ago, Nugfish said:

I thought Blades of Steel and Olympic Hockey were definitely the worst. Ice Hockey on NES and the n64 titles are really the only Hockey games I've actually put time into so I don't have much else to pull from. My clear favorites would have been the Wayne Gretzkys if it weren't for midway's need to put rubberband AI in every sports title they've ever made

I owned and played a lot of NHL 2001 and NHL Hitz 2002 on the Playstation 2. I should really hook up the PS2 again sometime and see how they hold up, as they were kind of the sweet spot for me. 2001 felt like it had ironed out some of the kinks in the gameplay while later EA games became way too complicated for me (I eventually bought 2008 and 2012, but was never as into either of them). NHL Hitz was more of a spiritual successor to the Wayne Gretzky games - published by Midway, 3v3, very arcadey - although I don't remember the rubberbanding to be as bad as the Gretzky games.

I'll probably play Blades of Steel at some point, maybe this year if no one else gets to it. I could never get into the other sports games (football, soccer, basketball), but hockey has always been the exception. Must be the Canadian in me.

7 minutes ago, Nugfish said:

I played through all the sports games a few years ago and quickly learned which ones were trash and which ones acceptable. I prefer the Breakaway series of all the hockey simulation games on the console, but I had breakaway 98 as a kid so I may be biased. Would you prefer any of the others over breakaway?

Hmm, good question. I didn't own any of the hockey games growing up, but I do remember renting most of them (I don't think I rented Breakaway 99, but definitely 98). NHL 99 was the one I rented most often and I think I still prefer it over the rest.

Over the last couple of years, thanks to this thread, I've gone back and played NHL 99, the Breakaway games, Olympic Hockey, and Gretzky 98 (I dabbled a bit with the original Gretzky a year or two ago, but quickly moved on after someone else beat it). I've found some enjoyment with each of them, but I do find all of the N64 hockey games more mediocre than I remember.

The only one I can't comment on is Blades of Steel, as I have never played it as a kid or as an adult.

NHL Breakaway 99 is done. This didn't feel much (any?) different than the prior year's game. Neither one is all that good.

NHL Breakaway 98.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. Despite playing the PlayStation version to death back in the day, this was my first time playing the N64 version of this game. I'd rather play the PS version. The controls in this version don't feel nearly as tight (as I remember...) and the music is butchered in comparison (missing most of my favourite tracks). Still a good game, but not the best version of it - especially now with the modern THPS 1+2 remakes.

Banjo-Kazooie. I have fond memories of playing this the summer it was released and it's still a great game today. It's been a few years since I last played it, but I think this is the quickest playthrough I've had, despite a few deaths in Rusty Bucket Bay (I hate that engine room) and a few more on the final boss.

I took a break from Banjo-Kazooie (just need to finish the final boss) and knocked out MRC: Multi-Racing Championship. I felt like I was just getting into it, and then it was over.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is done. I've also been working on Banjo-Kazooie and should have that wrapped up in the next couple of days.

The first Donkey Kong Land is all done. The other two games are certainly more polished in terms of controls, hit detection, etc., but this is certainly the most creative of the DKL titles. I always felt like the other two borrow much too heavily from their console counterparts (especially the second game). I also really appreciated the Analogue Pocket's bigger screen for this one - I could actually see some of the hints for where the secret areas are. It's been a few years since I last played this game, and I ended up enjoying more than I was expecting.

It's been a while since I made it through any N64 games. Unfortunately it will probably be a while before the next one can happen, too.

But for now, Mario Kart 64 is done. I haven't played this one much since the 90s. I certainly didn't remember how bad the rubber banding is for the AI. I still enjoyed my time with it though.

After owning it for over 20 years, I'm happy to report that I've finally beat Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko. It was a mixed bag. I enjoyed some levels, hated others and fought with the camera much of the time. Glad to have it done. Don't think I'll ever bother going back for 100%.

On another note, it looks like my completion of Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey '98 is missing. Not sure what the next game will be just yet.

After a bunch of practice and with a bunch of luck, I made it through a loop of Clu Clu Land.

Rather than play through one of the Donkey Kong Country games for the umpteenth time, I decided to play through Donkey Kong Land 2 instead. Not the first time through this game for me, but it has been a few years. Of the three Land games, I feel like this one is the closest adaptation to it's Country counterpart - for better and for worse. While it certainly plays better than the first, I have to give the first one points for at least being an all original adventure. DKL3 is a little more hazy in my memory, so maybe I should take that one for a spin soon too.

Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey 98 is done. This one was frustrating at times. Had a few freezes at the ends of periods (not sure if that was from emulating or if the game itself had those issues). There were also times when the computer AI could do whatever it wanted. I lost game 3 in every series, usually by a significant margin, like in the Finals when I could only muster 5 shots on goal. Most other games I had few issues winning, so I still managed to go 16-4 in total.

Not a terrible game, but definitely flawed.

Currently working on Wayne Gretzky 98. Should have that one done in the next day or two. Also think I'll put in a soft dibs on Gex 3. It's been on my list for years. Maybe this is the motivation I need to finally stick with it.

NHL 99 is all done.

My goodness. You all have been busy. I come back from a week of vacation and ~20% of the library is finished.

Anyway, I knocked out another quick one. Pilotwings is finished.

Wanted a Cruis'n fix, but since  @Jeevanhas claimed all of those, I went for the next best thing. California Speed is finished.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is done. Feeling pretty rusty with this one. I used to be able to get all the tapes and all gold medals in maybe 25 minutes? Took at least 45 minutes tonight just to get the credits, leaving out a few tapes and settling for bronze medals.

46:57

Claymates is all done

After a busy summer with very little video game time, I've finally knocked out another one. All three cups of Hot Wheels have been conquered.

Looks like you have all been busy. Hopefully I can knock a few more out in the next few weeks.

On 6/11/2021 at 4:45 PM, LeatherRebel5150 said:

Im surprised you didn’t like it. I remember really enjoying this one a few years ago when I played it

I feel like I definitely should have liked it more than I did. I appreciate that they tried to make some changes to the Cruis'n USA formula so that it wasn't just Cruis'n USA: Off Road Edition, but I never really felt like I was in control and getting through some of the races seemed to take more luck than skill. Overall, I just found it more frustrating than fun. Maybe I'm just getting a bit burned-out on N64 racers and need to play some other types of games for a bit