A lot of games I remember fondly end up being borderline unplayable when I boot them up years later. This is all personal opinion but a good example was Cruis's World / Exotica on the N64 which I tried again recently. The car is all over the road, the AI and physics are junk, and the course loves throwing in sharp turns out of nowhere. Some of the N64 car racers that DO hold up IMO: RUSH 2049 Mario Kart 64 Diddy Kong Racing List some others! I've heard Beetle Racing Adventure is good but never tried it.
Not a car game technically but yes forgot this! But to counter I will say Wave Race is another bad one. Not sure how I forgot this but yes! I don't know man, RUSH 2049 is an arcade game as well that imo holds up VERY well where as Cruis'n World was just garbage when I tried it recently. I used to love it as a kid though but now...
I agree with all you guys!!!! RUSH 2049 is still my favorite racing game to this day!!!! I especially love the BATTLE mode for 4 players!!!! Mario Kart 64, Star Wars: Episode 1 RACER, Ridge Racer 64, and Diddy Kong Racing are all spectacular as well!!!!!
If we're going to include racers that don't necessarily have cars, you have to include Extreme-G and Extreme-G 2. I own both of those and they are still fun today. While the speed may be a bit too much at times, the game is incredibly entertaining. Try Beetle Adventure Racing. It was actually supposed to be a Need for Speed title before EA made it a stand-alone game. I always found it entertaining, with its reward system being very satisfactory. Top Gear Overdrive is pretty entertaining. I've never had a problem picking it up after all these years. It actually gave you the option to have high-resolution graphics or not, which only a few N64 games offered, including Duke Nukem: Zero Hour. Top Gear Rally is great. Highly recommend giving that one a shot. Also California Speed is a relatively decent port of an arcade racer. Some mixed-bag ones: MRC, considered to be generic at best. Automobili Lamborghini is also painfully generic. One of Titus Software's (of Superman 64 fame) final game.
MRC: Multi-Racing Championship was a pretty solid car game back in the day, also not a car game but Star Wars Episode I Racer is the best racing game on the N64 in my opinion, it's still one of the best racers I have played to this day.
Cruis'n World is a rail racer, there's no real physics in any of the Cruis'n games actually Beetle Adventure Racing is extremely detailed, it always has looked good. Roadsters is another one, extremely good visuals. Skidmarks never disappear either, which is something you barely saw back then. Avoid the Dreamcast port at all costs though, it's actually worse. Re-Volt although the PC version of it still looks good today, the N64 port for N64 is pretty good - many of the physics are still there.
The Beetle game is still good. And I never played the N64 port of Roadsters, but the Dreamcast port is tttttttttttttteeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiibbbbbbbbbbbblllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeee. Revolt is fun, And I kinda liked the Mickey Speedway game on the N64 (I can't remember the name), I think it was made by Rare.
The Beetle Adventure Racing in Australia was branded to HSV Adventure Racing with Holden cars If I remember right. Although both copies were available for purchase here.
It was just an exclusive release, and a different game. It wasn't replacing Beetle Adventure Racing though.
If only the N64 had CD's. I can imagine something similiar to Gran Turismo on the N64 with a huge amount of cars and real world tracks.
HSV did replace Beetle in Australia it was the same game with a couple of changes. http://www.n64database.tk/n64_beetle-hsv/
I recently played Automobili Lamborghini and I think it is really good. I remember playing it when I was a kid but I didn't like it much. This year I have changed what I thought about the game. The graphics are amazing and the gameplay holds up very well. The music is not that good but the rest of the game compensates for it. I played the Championship mode which consists of 6 races with 6 laps each. What I found interesting was the need to stop in the pit stop to refuel and change tires. With the exception of the first race, I had to change tires every race and in the last one I almost didn't finish the race because I had low fuel.
No it didn't REPLACE it. It was sold together with Beetle Adventure. I bought HSV back in the day, and Beetle was right next to it.
As much as I should like these on paper I could never get into F-Zero or Wipeout. I do have the GX F-Zero though but I like the soundtrack much much more than the actual game. Tried Wave Race 64 recently and it was another one where you are just all over the place. I still have to try the GC wave race. Extreme G & G2 do hold up decently but as the game gets fast it becomes difficult to control, not unplayable though Never got into Re-Volt, always felt like I was going too slow though I guess RC cars are not fast in real life so... I do remember enjoying Toy Commander on the Dreamcast but that's off topic. I never knew that, one thing that kept me from grabbing this back in the day is I always thought the Beetle was a pretty lame car. Didn't know they have a version with Holden cars! RUSH 2049 was amazing. A battle mode like twisted metal, on point racing that still holds up with TONS of shortcuts & secrets. I would spend hours exploring tracks and still didn't find ever secret or switch activated door. With the stunt mode we would set the timer to 30-60 minutes and play 4-player split screen just trying to get the best score in the group. Easily one of my all time favorites, good graphics on the 64 too. Off topic but if you like Rush did you ever get into the Burnout series? I really like Burnout Dominator on the PS2 & Burnout 3 Takedown on the Xbox. Split/Second on the X360 was also good. Probably my list of top arcade racers right there.