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  • Jet Force Gemini (Nintendo 64)

    Source: Girls of Gaming – Volume 1



    While I had a PlayStation at the time, there can be no doubt that Rare and the Nintendo 64 made a great combination. Jet Force Gemini is one of Rare’s games for the N64 and it’s a good demonstration of what they could do. Jet Force Gemini, released in 1999, is a combination third-person shooter/action adventure game in which you play the role of a member of a galactic law enforcement team.

    While this isn’t a game in which the story is too terribly important, it involves saving a race (Tribals) that have been enslaved by a large insect named Mizar and his drones. At least that is the story in the 1-player game. In a 2-4 player match, you can compete in a typical deathmatch style game.

    Featuring tons of enemies and lots of shooting, influences include everything from 80’s arcade games to Aliens to Super Mario 64 and more. The control system is somewhat unique. While wandering around, this game plays like other action platformers of the time. However, when enemies appear you have the option for manual, precise aiming in which case your character becomes translucent and a crosshair appears for aiming. With 15 worlds to explore, each with various stages, there is plenty to do. Fortunately, you have unlimited ammo..you are going to need it.

    Jet Force Gemini received generally good reviews and also seems to be a fan favorite (as are many Rare games). The criticism that exists is mostly directed towards the complicated control scheme. It was re-released as part of the Rare Replay compilation for the Xbox One otherwise you’ll have to track down an original cartridge or play it via emulation. Fortunately, unlike some Rare games, this one is fairly common and a cartridge will only set you back $10 or so on eBay.


  • Expert Gamer (April 1999)

    Source: Expert Gamer – Issue Number 58 – April 1999

    The video game magazine Expert Gamer was the successor to EGM2 (or EGM^2 or EGM squared or however you want to say it) and continued the same numbering scheme. The first issue of Expert Gamer was numbered issue 50 and it was published from August 1998 to October 2001 for a total of 39 issues. The April 1999 issue includes:

    Expert’s Choice

    • Mario Party – Everything you wanted to know and more on Mario Party is covered in this 16-page strategy guide – from tips on all the games and puzzles to stats, maps and items prizes.

    Tricks of the Trade

    • 16 New Games This Month – Buck Bumble, BattleTanx, Body Harvest, Fox Sports College Hoops ’99, Legend of Zelda, Magical Tetris, NBA Jam 99, Bust-A-Move 4, Contender, Knockout Kings, Moto Racer 2, Abe’s Exodus, Rogue Trip and many more!

    Feature Strategies

    • Vigilante 8 – Pinpoints the differences in the N64 version, plus shows the exclusive level.
    • Legacy of Legaia – A complete walkthrough and a list of all the game’s spells and secret seru.
    • Guardian’s Crusade – Provides a town map, a shop list and stats on how each monster can be defeated.
    • Shadow Madness – A complete character breakdown, all items revealed and a detailed dungeon map.
    • Pokemon – All the Pokemon locations plus which TMs and HMs each one can learn.

    Quick Hits

    • Shadowgate – Detailed walkthrough, answers to the Sphinx’s riddles and instant deaths.
    • T’ai Fu – Boss techniques, world map, enemy stats and T’ai Fu’s many cool fighting styles.
    • In the Zone ’99 – Coaching and goalie tips, plus everybody’s favorite: cheap tricks to help you win.
    • Blades of Steel – Describes new modes of play, and how to manage a championship team.

    Departments

    • Editorial – Four RPGs dominate this issue. Plus, why Mario party can be competitive.
    • Gamers’ Forum – Subbing or dubbing: Which is the lesser of two evils in games today?
    • Game Over – How to beat the Elite Four and your archnemesis Gary to be the best in Pokemon.
    • Coming Soon – Discover what will be in the May issue of Expert Gamer, EGM and OPM.

    …and more!


  • NBA Showtime


    https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/190031241521/n64thstreet-the-razzle-dazzle-ad-for-nba


    NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC is an NBA Basketball video game released in 1999. It appeared first in arcades and then later in the year for the Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation. It was also released the following year on the Game Boy Color. NBA Showtime was produced by Midway and is really a continuation of NBA Jam and NBA Hangtime. In fact, game play is much like NBA Hangtime and features many other of the same characteristics.

    While this game is nothing spectacular, if you like basketball games than this was a pretty good one for that era. It features a number of real players and allows up to four players to play. One of the potentially more disappointing aspects is that games only feature two players on each team as opposed to five. Entertaining for multiplayer I suppose but less interesting for single player.

    Aside from the reduction in the number of players on a team, game play is mostly realistic. The exception is that when a player is “on fire”. This is accomplished by a player making three shots in a row. The “on fire” feature acts as a sort of power-up. The player who is “on fire” can easily make shots from almost anywhere, commit fouls without repercussions and also goal-tend without any penalties. This feature is a carry over from the previous NBA Hangtime.

    The Dreamcast and Nintendo 64 versions are definitely the ones to chose from if you want to give this game a try. The Nintendo 64 one will be more expensive to acquire but it makes up for it in the lack of significant loading times. Of course, there is always emulation. The PlayStation version is not as good and while you might want to try the Game Boy Color version if you are a fan of that system, it’s really not much like the others.

    Screen shots above are from the PlayStation version of the game.