The Nintendo 64 had a good run, and luckily for those who own the system, the system will die off with some of the sweetest games that will ever come out on the system. Perfect Dark will disappoint many, but with games like Banjo-Tooie (hopefully this doesn't turn out like the original), Mario Adventure, Kirby 64, Conker 64, and if we get lucky--Mario 2. Hell, if these sell well enough the Nintendo 64 may still be around well after these games are released. Providing that they don't though, I'd like to reflect on some games that haven't hit the web site yet for the N64, such as DD64. Let's get down to business, shall we?

Destruction Derby 64 is the sequel to the car crunching games on both the Playstation and the PC. You go around, collecting points for collisions into other cars or wiping out other cars. You also get some awesome multiplayer modes which I'll go into later. It's much like Carmageddon without running over people and without the foul language. The thing is though, this plays almost like a totally different game. The physics engine has dropped, whether for better or worse. I like the previous engine better, but my friends who have played have no problem with the cars. There are much less bowl-shaped courses, which is sad really because those are the best courses. Onto the specifics.

Graphics:

DD64's graphics are a mixed bag. The cars look like crap and there isn't very much detail in the courses, not to mention the trademark "N64 blur". I can forgive this though because you need to have smooth frame-rate (about 30 fps) in this game otherwise it becomes way too easy and ruins the flow of the action. If you really like eye-candy, you're in for an eye sore, but if you're more interested in gameplay, you can probably forgive this.

Cars do show damage when hit, but not very often. In the case of the taxi cab though, as soon as you get hit it looks like both your right wheels are going to fall off. Needless to say, the cars could use some better modeling and detail. The tracks aren't really that big and don't have shortcuts, just alternate routes. They are reasonably detailed, but nothing compared to what other tracks the system has to offer (Beetle Adventure Racing, Ridge Racer 64). Simply said, the graphics are average with what the system has to offer today.

Gameplay:

The object of DD64 is to eliminate all your opponents racking up points for collisions, checkpoints and car wrecks. Needless to say, much like a side-scrolling beat-em'-up, this gets very repetitive. After about the third race, you will get tired of the single-player game. That being said, the tracks, while nothing revolutionary, are definitely diverse in it's content (you'll go from a curvy circle to a figure eight with about eight different routes). The difficulty also isn't very well put together, and once you get a sturdy car like the taxi cab, you will breeze through all the circuits racking up all the secret cars and courses.

Aside from the championship mode mentioned above, there is a deathmatch mode, time trial and bomb tag mode. Deathmatch is much like what I described above with no checkpoints, a different point system, only one race and only played on oval tracks. By far this is the best one-player mode, compared to time trial and championship. Bomb Tag is something new and actually is fun for the first little while, but it really only plays well with two people. The object of the game is to rack up the most points by holding the bomb the longest without blowing up. You earn three points for every second with the bomb and pass it off by colliding into another car. Had this only have been one round instead of three for every play, this mode would be much more enjoyable. It's also a lot more satisfying when you hand the bomb off to your friend with three seconds left on the timer....

Multiplayer is what this game has going for it. Not only is there the bomb tag mentioned above, there is a deathmatch (with twelve cars even if you have four people playing) and one of the sweetest Capture-the-Flag modes on any console. in CTF you and a partner (or two CPU partners if it is one versus one) race in one of the four oval tracks trying to get your opponents flag and then driving it into your "base', a yellow or blue spot of fire. You gain ten points for a capture and five points for a block. A block is when you run into an opponent with your flag, sending it back to it's original place. I would've liked it better if the courses were bigger with more obstacles, but that can be forgiven. If you have friends, this is definitely the mode to play.

Sound:

Nothing about DD64's sound is all that great. The announcer is barley understandable and extremely annoying and the noises such as explosions and squealing tires are sub-par. The MIDI music is actually very good considering it being MIDI on the N64. As in most racing games, sound isn't that much of an element, but even for the genre, this is pretty bad when compared to others in the genre or even the system.

Wrap-Up:

As a multiplayer game, this is average. As a racing game on the whole, this is about as useful as a CD-cleaner for your Nintendo 64. Give this a rent if you have friends and are interested in either the great CTF mode or the interesting and welcome bomb tag. Considering this is one of the Nintendo 64's stronger genres, it's really sad this sequel is nowhere near as good as its brothers before it. Avoid if you hate carmageddon, and void unless you REALLY enjoy CTF.

Overall: 3.5

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