N64 Racing Games

[Gabriel]

I'm on a N64 kick. I don't really know why. I think it's because I got Kirby's Dream Collection and really liked the N64 Kirby game on it. One thing which I've realized is that I really miss mid to late 90s racing games. I played quite a bit of Cruisin' USA when I hooked the N64 back up to reminisce about the old days.

 

But I like a very specific kind of racing game. I like the ones where you are NOT on a round track. I don't like doing laps. I like doing course segments. The first Need For Speed (3DO, PS1) is definitely my favorite racing game. I don't even care if I can race against other people. I just like going fast down the road with nice scenery and some traffic. Cruisin' USA is similar, but it's a bit too ARCADEY for my tastes. I like arcadey, but I prefer it dialed down a notch.

 

So, are there any other similar racing games on the N64? Preferably with "realistic" cars? Not necessarily licensed, but not kart racers and not cartoony bizzarro-mobiles.

[SoulBlazer]

Sorry, it's been a while since I played these, so forgive me if these don't meet your terms for what you're looking for. BITD with my N64 I recall having a lot of fun with these racers -- Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer, F-Zero (or was that GameCube?), and Cruisin' World (rather different then USA).

[sqoon]

N64 is a good system for racers, especially if you have a steering wheel/pedals controller.

 

Try Beetle Adventure Racing, Ridge Racer 64, F-1 World Grand Prix, Top Gear Rally, California Speed, GT64, and Automobili Lamborghini for some good times. Lots more I am forgetting at the moment too.

[+atari2600land]

Wipeout 64 is good. I know you said no kart racing, but you must try Mario Kart 64. It is one of the best games I have ever played.

[+LS650]

Beetle Adventure Racing!

[Austin]

Sounds like you are out of luck. The majority of the racing games on the 64 (minus the Cruis 'n series, which there are three of on the system) are lap-oriented racing games.

[GrizzLee]

Beetle Adventure Racing!

 

What he said... that and the RUSH series. Yes, Rush is on a track.. but ...

[sqoon]

He said he likes the ones where you are not on a round track. Nothing was said against tracks in general, so games where you traverse an irregular track are in the mix.

[Austin]

He said he likes the ones where you are not on a round track. Nothing was said against tracks in general, so games where you traverse an irregular track are in the mix.

 

Maybe Gabriel needs to further specify then. I can tell you for sure he will not enjoy games like Top Gear Rally or F1 World Grand Prix. He may however enjoy Beetle Adventure Racing or Star Wars Episode 1 racer since they feature more expansive tracks with interesting scenery that are less likely to get repetitive. They are still lap driven though, which he needs to specify on. Laps are laps, regardless whether you are driving in circles or navigating a maze of twists and turns.

 

Going strictly by what he actually typed in his post, he wants something along the lines of the Need For Speed, which consisted of the player driving down a road similar to the older Test Drive games that came before it. There are very few if any games like that on the N64 outside of the Cruis'n series.

[Gabriel]

Going strictly by what he actually typed in his post, he wants something along the lines of the Need For Speed, which consisted of the player driving down a road similar to the older Test Drive games that came before it. There are very few if any games like that on the N64 outside of the Cruis'n series.

 

This is correct. For the moment, racing games where you do laps are something of a deal killer for me. That said, I'm looking at all suggestions and filing them for future reference. It looks to be a safe bet that I'll check out Beetle Adventure Racing someday.

[+save2600]

San Francisco Rush and Rush 2049 are both great as well.

[Christophero Sly]

World Driver Championship and F-1 World Grand Prix are the best racers on the N64.

[Atariboy]

Sadly the game that probably would've been perfect to suggest here was never released. Rally Masters, later rebranded as Test Drive Rally, was from Digital Illusions. They went on shortly afterwards to create two excellent point to point arcade rally racers on the Xbox (Wth a tiny bit of circuit racing tossed in) with the RalliSport Challenge series before being bought by EA and being placed full-time on the Battlefield series.

 

Test Drive Rally was finished, looked great, previewed well, and was sadly never released as the N64 started to die. Judging by previews like this one from IGN, many of the faults that N64 racers tended to share were being successfully addressed with this game. And with how nice the RalliSport Challenge series subsequently turned out, it makes it all the worse.

 

 

 

And they're not vehicles, but Wave Race 64 is a must have racing game for the system. It's circuit based but well worth a look and the tracks are dynamic and will be different from lap to lap. One of the best games of any genre on the Nintendo 64.

 

World Driver Championship is circuit based but a favorite of mine. Great graphics, great control, a lot of track variety, and very challenging AI. The cars aren't real but they're all obviously based off real-life vehicles and it was a pioneer in career modes for racing games and did it far better than many modern racing games have. Physics are like if they took a simcade such as Gran Turismo and dialed it back a bit so it leaned towards the arcade end of the spectrum inside of being 50/50 in-between arcade and simulation.

 

As I recall, Top Gear Rally 2 is a fun point to point arcade racer and isn't circuit based like its predecessor. I had fun with it back when it was new but eventually got stuck and was unable to finish it. And V-Rally is a decent rally simcade for the era and is all point to point and by far has the most track variety of any N64 racer.

 

As for Formula One games, Monaco Grand Prix is a far better game than F1 World Grand Prix. Superior graphics, superior physics, and a far better control mechanism than that bizarre steering system that they used on F1 World Grand Prix. The only downside was that there was no official F1 license but one can edit the team and driver names to match and save them to onboard memory (Which wasn't difficult to figure out when you had a names like M. Schumaker to go off of). And all the real tracks from the prior season are there and are just named for the country they're located in to get around licensing issues. The only downsides are the paint schemes and vehicle shapes are all generic but the primary color for each team from real-life was carried over as I recall so the generic Ferrari team is still in red and so on.

 

And if someone is from Europe, the best Formula One racer was F1 Racing Championship. It was a souped up Monaco Grand Prix sequel but this time had a official license so all the proper team names, driver names, and so on are present. And Europeans also got a F1 World Grand Prix II.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Atariboy

[+Gemintronic]

Re-volt on the Dreamcast was a BLAST. Not sure how the N64 version stacks up.

[famicommander]

F-Zero X is the end all, be all of racing games on the Nintendo 64. 60fps, fastest pace, best track design, precision controls, excellent music.

[SoulBlazer]

F-Zero X is the end all, be all of racing games on the Nintendo 64. 60fps, fastest pace, best track design, precision controls, excellent music.

Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes! Even more fun the F-Zero on the SNES, and THAT was a great game.

[famicommander]

Every F-Zero game is great. All three on GBA, the original, X, and of course GX. GX (Gamecube's F-Zero) is without a doubt the greatest racing game of all time.

 

The Wipeout series is like the store brand soda version of F-Zero. I like all the Wipeout games but nothing comes close to F-Zero. I would buy five copies of a hypothetical Wii U or 3DS game in the series.

[icemanxp300]

Yea I have many hours clocked in F-Zero, but not nearly as many as Mario Kart 64. Those are my types of games though. I personally don't like real racing stuff. I prefer the go karts, hover stuff. Laps don't mater to me. I understand pickyness though as I only like turn based RPG's.

[Atariboy]

Yea I have many hours clocked in F-Zero, but not nearly as many as Mario Kart 64. Those are my types of games though. I personally don't like real racing stuff. I prefer the go karts, hover stuff. Laps don't mater to me. I understand pickyness though as I only like turn based RPG's.

 

Have you ever tried Ridge Racer 64? Despite being vehicles on asphalt, there's nothing real about the racing action. It's easily my favorite traditional Ridge Racer game.

 

The only problem I had with it was that I ran out of skill 3 or 4 races away from the end. I'll have to return someday and see if 12 years away or so has improved my chances any of finally finishing.

 

And the developers of World Driver Championship programmed a great arcade racer called Stunt Racer 64 that was 100% arcade racer with absolutely no hint of realism anywhere. Sadly it was a rental exclusive very late in the life of the console so few have ever played it.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Atariboy

[Gabriel]

Beetle Adventure Racing turned out to be a good match. It was only $3. I picked it up, and it's pretty good. I like the visuals. Sometimes they're a bit bland, but the game tries to keep things interesting. The tracks are round, but they're really long and they change during laps, so that offsets the tedium of doing laps.

 

The music sucks. I've turned it off. As long as I can turn bad music off, I don't consider it a strike against the game. It gives me an excuse to play my own soundtrack while I drive, and I like that.

 

The control feels slightly strange, but it's not hard to get used to. It doesn't feel floaty like a lot of modern racers do, and it doesn't seem overly responsive as say Cruisin does.

 

So yeah, it's a good one. It's not exactly to spec, but it's scratching that 90s racer itch that I was wanting to scratch.

[Dripfree]

I highly recommend rush 2049 I still play the crap out of that game on my Dreamcast. Game play is just as good on N64 just toned down graphics. I really love that game It's got a great multiplayer too. If your into realistic racers probably not for you. Your car has retractable wings so you can control crazy jumps. There are tons of crazy shortcuts it will take forever to learn them all. That game really is tons of fun.

[Atariboy]

If you ever see Top Gear Rally 2, I think you might like it.

 

It seems to be cheap, it has realistic cars although I think they're not licensed, attractive graphics for the time, arcade physics but not to the extreme of something like Cruis'n USA (IGN's review describes them as Beatle Adventure Racing on dirt), varied point to point tracks, weather, a novel damage model (I think I've even had my gauges die on me after having electrical damage for splashing through water), and a high level of difficulty later in the game.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Atariboy

[BONEMAN]

Off Road Challenge is pretty cool.

[Greg2600]

Most of the Midway games are fun (Cal. Speed, Rush Series, Cruisin'). Rush 2049 had a stunt mode that was insane!! Never seen anything like it, but requires additional players.

[sqoon]

Any of the rally games are going to be linear driving, not around tracks. I don't know why OP wouldn't have picked up one of those before Beetle Adventure Racing, considering his stated dislike for track based racers.