Shooting

Game Description: Prepare to send the undead back to the afterlife in this sequel to the arcade hit The House of the Dead, featuring all new gameplay modes and detailed graphics. Blast your way through six levels of intense action. Tons of branching paths offer the ultimate in replayability.

I'll say one thing for House Of The Dead 2, it's easy to get into. Who needs a training mode in a game where you just point and shoot? I will argue for the addictiveness of the game because I think it is more so than Chi did.

Winback may lack the team strategy elements of Rainbow Six, but what it does have is an innovative control scheme that maximizes the Nintendo 64 controller capabilities and allows for what I consider, for the first-time, the ability to manipulate a videogame character with real-world stealth techniques that are practically accurate.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Animated Violence, Mild Language

All in all, Winback surprised me, it's faults like the graphics and music (Chi and I agree here) and AI (I think it needs some work) take it down a bit but they certainly don't ruin it. Often, I was able to do things, like a duck and roll for a sweet shot of an unsuspecting guard that looked real and certainly felt rewarding once I did it.

Game Description: In the role of Jean-Luc, players navigate through detailed 3D environments. The main character is diplayed from a thrid-person perspective that is perfect to show off Couger's 350 different actions. Next to the usual camera control, players can fire their weapons by pressing A or open doors, pick up items and press buttons. The B-button lets you reload your gun at any time, Z is for crouching, and C-Down locks you in your current position to let you roll or jump. The game covers four main stages, each of which is broken down into smaller areas that players may explore for additional weapons and items.

Game Description: After seeing his parents murdered by space pirates, Juno swore to fight evil in all its manifestations. Displaying lightning-quick reflexes and extraordinary self-possession, Juno is known throughout the Union for keeping calm in the midst of the most ferocious firefight. When drones stealthily board the Jet Force's scout craft, Juno provides cover so his comrades can escape. Juno is one of three characters you can play as in Jet Force Gemini. The other two are Lupus the doggie, and Vela the pretty-but-tough space adventuress.

Almost from the beginning, people who saw the character designs were scratching their heads. Jet Force Gemini was supposed to be a juxtaposition of cute mascot-like characters and violent, gory action, but it never worked out. Even after they were redone to be more mainstream, they still looked unnatural and downright creepy. I was grateful that I spent most of the game looking at their backs but when it came to Vela (in her too-short skirt), I couldn't shake this uneasy feeling I had while playing as her.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Animated Violence

Yet the thing that singly bugged me the most was the graphics or, rather, the overall art direction that Rare took. Yes, like Dale mentioned, the graphics are technically amazing and push the N64 to likes of which the system has never seen. But stylistically, the game is a mess.