Siegfried_Noir

Do not be deceived by the early levels, Kirby 64 can be quite creative when completing the crystal´s quest, which will leave you scratching your head from time to time. Graphically beautiful and humbly fun, this is a good game for the kids, or if you wanna lower the stress gathered from a hard day´s work.

"The Tribal quest... O God Why!" Now that that´s aside, one has to wonder why Is Jet Force Gemini not seen with better eyes. Huge areas, an impressive array of weaponry, intense smart shooting, and possibly the best soundtrack on the n64, the game is mad fun! Sure, there is details here and there with the graphics, a little bit of slowdown and some weird effects on the cutscenes, but it´s not enough to detriment the gameplay. If anything, the game feels sometimes like a rushed effort, but it is not buggy, nor ill planed. There is a HUGE cast of enemies, lots of tasks and the boss battles are thigh! There is even racing minigames inside the game!!! (I also want a sequel, curses!) Just... don´t bother with the multiplayer, pop in Golden Eye instead for multiplayer goodness!

Turok 2 looks like an early PS2 title, plays like a refined Doom and has the arsenal of a whole army. Casual gamers beware, this quest is "Nintendo-Hard". It takes time to stack up from the starting bow and claw, to learn how to platform and to use the map properly in the vast, enormous labyrinths. The game will push you to the limits of your skills, patience and serenity. You WILL pray to get an extra life, specially after level 3, where you´ll die time after time, both cheap and honest, difficult demises. What I mean is that this game is punishing, so much that many cannot beat it without cheats even today. Fans of Metroid Prime should definitely play it though, as T2 has a lot of basework for the "action adventure" that would develop later on the gamecube. It will also push the n64 to it´s limits, so be warned that IF your console is not in top shape, the jumper/expansion pack may overheat and Reset the game (for real, look it up. It´s a common problem). In the end, this game is proof of why oldschool gamers look at "Halo-generation" gamers with disdain. While overlooked by many in favour of the popular Goldeneye, the cognossieurs know it! It´s long, it´s though, it´s manly!!! It´s "Turok 2: Seeds of evil".

For today´s standards Oot may look a little dated, and granted... a little too simple. But one has to understand the context of the time when it was released. Before Ocarina of time no character in videogame history had riden a horse that in god´s honest truth moved like a horse. The game was massive with lots of sidequesting and a degree of freedom that would not be exploided until the arrival of Grand Theft Auto III a few years later. This is the building blueprint of the modern action rpg game. Before it there was none, and though my personal favorite will always be Majora´s mask, I cannot feel but love for the craft and passion implemented into the game as a refinement constructed upon it´s predecesors, specially the excellent "A Link To the Past". There is just so much to do, from collecting items, to fishing to hunting Poes, many games nowadays wish they could play as simple, as intuitive and refined as Zelda Ocarina Of Time, the game that rightfully deserves the title of "Best game of all time" because of ONE thing... Innovation. (Also, it introduced the whole 1 button everything mechanic, now that I remember).

While Ocarina of time was regarded as revolutionary for molding what would become the action rpg adventure game, Majora´s Mask feels more as an independant story filled with a more mature, depressing and creepy world. It is true that you have to rush against time... but there are plenty of ways around for the players who have the brains to work the game´s mechanics. One has to praise Nintendo to give each character in Termina their own story, because for three days, they are fully alive.