[I recently discovered that I had missed out a large number of #1 games earlier in the ’90s and plan to catch up on one each Wednesday! For this one I am pleased to welcome Ben Bulbeck, who is on Twitter as @Pixelated_Ben and previously contributed to the Goldeneye 007 post]
Here is a white-knuckle ride to push your reflexes to the limit. Are your racing skills up to scratch when the surface of the track is buffeting you from side-to-side, and a badly timed turn could eject you from your seat? Wave Race 64 will test your allegiance to the N64 controller, but you’ll have a grin on your face throughout.
The racing genre is filled with plenty of potential games to occupy your time, be it on the N64 or any other console. However, where most racers have to limit themselves to the grip of tyres on tarmac, Wave Race 64 offers you the freedom to slice through the waves on your jet ski on race tracks that allude to a real sense of freedom. Don’t get too wayward however: your racing line must ensure that you pass to the right of red buoys, and to the left of yellow buoys. In correctly doing so, your engine gains a rev of additional power. Achieve this with five successive buoys and you will be at maximum speed, but missing a buoy resets the power again.
Championship, Time Trial and Stunt modes offer a generous selection of play options, and different jet ski riders allow you to choose a play style to suit your skills. As you gain in confidence, the temptation is there to flaunt a stunt or two; a hand-stand on your jet ski whilst weaving through the water for example, which can be all the more satisfying in the two-player split-screen mode.
There are few games that manage to fine-tune their in-game voice-overs to the extent that even when the commentator is chastising you for monumentally cocking up an attempted jump from a ramp, you can’t help but laugh at your ineptitude as your jet ski racer takes an impromptu soak in the sea. But Wave Race 64 manages to present itself in such a joyous way, that you can feel there is nowhere you would rather be than with your hands gripped to a jet ski.
Wave Race 64 was not the maiden voyage for the series. The original Wave Race set sail on the Game Boy in 1992 and established the dynamics of racing jet skis on turbulent waters using a top-down viewpoint. The transition of the series to 3D on the Nintendo 64 in 1996 was a truly radical overhaul for fans of Wave Race. On the iconic handheld, the game was a fine showcase of addictive gameplay and authentic water-based movement, but on Nintendo 64 those waves and tidal pulls were amplified with such authenticity that you could almost feel the spray as you accelerated across the water.
The good news is that Wave Race 64 is as magical to play today as it was back in the 90s. Revisiting Sunset Beach, Drake Lake and the Glacier Coast (to name but some of the courses on offer) remains a great deal of fun, and the nuances of a jet ski battling the untamed waves is still a relatively unique concept in video gaming.
When I purchased my Nintendo 64 back in the 90s, it was my first Nintendo home console. I had completely missed the NES/SNES era of console gaming as I had been absorbed in the 8-bit and 16-bit home computer scene, and so the first games I purchased on the N64 were a revelation to me; a real showcase for Nintendo’s unique charm and playability. My first tentative movements in the awe-inspiring landscapes of Super Mario 64, those initial first-person steps in GoldenEye 007, and the sense of fun and escapism at sea in Wave Race 64 are all moments I will never forget. I would certainly rate this game in the same high esteem as other legendary N64 releases.
