#n64games

PAL release: 7th December 1998

NA release: 31st August 1999

JP release: 14th October 1999

Developer: Eden

Publisher: Infogrames (PAL/NA), Spike (JP)

N64 Magazine Score: 90%

As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, the more realistic racing games have not as aged as well as arcade ones, as car physics in games have become more accurate and the graphics more detailed. Plus it’s not a racing genre that I’m particularly into. That said, I can see why N64 Magazine would this game an impressive 90%, even if it not for me.

The graphics are very impressive for the N64, with the road itself having a lot of detail, cars that don’t look like boxes and good trackside detail. The weather is impressive as well, with one of the England tracks having fog, the alps having snow and some tracks (including one of the other England tracks) having some very impressive rain.

N64 games usually show rain by having a texture in front of the camera, but the rain in V-Rally moves towards the camera, making it look like you really are driving into it, so the effect is unlike what has been seen on the N64 prior to V-Rally. And on top of that, it offers its own native widescreen.

There are three main modes. Arcade is a race with a checkpoint (which can be turned off with a cheat), but it’s a proper race with racers that start alongside you. This takes place on full circuits, doing multiple laps.

Championship mode is a more rally-like “A to B” race format, with the default option here being racing on your own, but against the times of other racers. If you want a bit more action, though, you can chance the setting to “V-rally”, you can do this races, but at the same time as the other racers.

The tracks themselves are also very impressive. They take place across various countries, each providing a different kind of road surface and background design, making each area look very distinct. On top of that, each area has multiple tracks so even if you’re going back to the same location, there’s still variants of them.

I can see why N64 gamers would be very impressed by V-Rally. It produces some great visuals from the N64, has way more than the usual 5 or 6 tracks and provides a surprising amount of variety in terms of how the tracks look.

How long has the N64 waited for a top quality car game? Too long – even in Wil’s book and he’s not a driving fan (in fact, he’s still playing Wonder Project J2 on the quiet). And make no mistake about it, V-Rally is a top-quality driver.

- James Ashton, N64 Magazine #22

Remake or remaster?

As it’s a simulation game, current games (like the DiRT series) do a better job.

Official Ways to get the game

After doing a few franchise playthroughs (Sonic, Star Trek and James Bond), I decided to pick something that would be a bit more varied by focusing on a console. I picked the N64 as I remember loving it, and I read about so many games in N64 Magazine that I never got to play. The number of games (419, including some prototypes) also makes it a reasonable endevour.

For playing the games, I'll be using different ways to play. I'll mainly be emulating (using different emulators, as some work better in particular ones), plus using some ports/remasters. The ports/remasters are on a case-by-case basis and the game as a whole needs to have the same vibes as the N64 version, as sometimes the N64 versions had different level designs (and features) to other versions that remasters are based on. That said, some of those do kindly include the N64 mode as well. Some ports will be fan made and I will be allowing some graphical and QoL enhancements (mainly widescreen, textures that keep the right vibe and camera control). There was one game where I felt I went a bit too far on the graphical department, but a bit too late for that (it wasn't a big N64-specific one anyway).

In the case of sports games, I'll be mainly getting a feel for them by playing a few matches rather than going insane while playing an entire season of each one. I also won't be shy in using cheats, mainly extra lives (they were pointless in most games of this era and losing them just wasted time as you walk back to where you were) and for games of genres I completely suck at - such as 1-on-1 fighters (I had no idea the N64 had so many).

Some games only came out in Japan. I don't read or speak Japanese and I'm dreadful at understanding Japanese. For some games, there are fan-made translations that I will be using, for others, I'm relying on Google Lens (which, while some results are a big mangles, has been fairly successful and I get the gist of what things mean) .

My reasoning for all of this is that this is for fun, not a serious challenge. 

For ordering the games, I've gone by the first release in any region, it seemed like the most logical way to do things. I've also inserted a few prototypes of games into the mix for checking out unfinished (or in a few cases, completely finished but unreleased) games. 

1. Super Mario 64 (1996)

2. Ocarina of Time (1998)

3. Donkey Kong 64 (1999)

4. Majora’s Mask (2000)