Game:

Stunt Racer 64 (2000)

Duration: 10:00

38,688 views

0

Original Air Date: January 02nd, 2010

Stunt Racer 64 is a relatively nice racing game for the N64, and it's one of the rarest of all U.S. N64 titles (which isn't saying tooooo much, but it is). The reason being is that Midway, the publishers, originally pulled the plug on the game but later decided to release it to select dealers as a "rental-only" title. Why this is so is beyond me as it is certainly one of the more competent N64 titles in general and actually does more than simply pose as a me-too racer on the system. One possible reason is that the game was released pretty late into the N64's life and Midway didn't see much of a market for it.

The game has your standard nitro pick-ups, but you can also gain money multipliers and do stunts to earn cash, which can be used to upgrade your car and get new stuff. The game stands out from much of its N64 peers for its distinct style and particularly excellent visuals. The game is not plagued with lots of fog, clipping, and constant framerate changes that exist in most other N64 racers both great and terrible. The game has very crisp visuals with large background elements that animate and a greater than average draw distance as opposed to some other N64 racers, which makes the racing look and feel really great.

The game handles relatively well and has one or two unusual characteristics for a game like this, such as the starting grid, where you can start in a better position by signing up your character before the others chime in. The game also starts fairly easy, but can provide a decent challenge during later races. My only gripe is the music, which I feel is largely mediocre. If this game had a memorable soundtrack, I could easily see this being one of my top N64 racers, probably within my top five. As is, it's still a very nice, "showy" N64 title. The game is difficult to emulate, which is probably part of the reason very few videos exist for the game. Enjoy.

NOTE: This is not related to Stunt Race FX for the SNES in any way other than name similarities. The added "64" really makes it seem like some sort of follow-up.