Originally posted on Classic Game Room.
Before Call of Duty held the crowns for multiplayer shooters, the Quake series dominated the online scene. Created by Id Software, the series revolutionized the industry, shaping the future of online shooters. The Quake series has always called the PC home, but many titles in the franchise also found their way onto consoles. Quake II, specifically, found its way over to the Nintendo 64. Quake II’s name on the Nintendo 64 is a bit deceiving. Outside of reusing assets and weaponry, the 64 entry is essentially an entirely different game complete with original missions and custom built multiplayer maps.
You are a space marine whose mission is to fill aliens with bullets… at least that is what I assumed. The only narrative the game actually has is putting a gun in your hand and having aliens shoot at you. In between shooting aliens, you will complete objectives with little variety. Most of the objectives simply boil down to pressing switches and going from point A to B until the end of the level. It is an incredibly linear experience with few branching paths. Hidden secrets can be found in clever hiding spots, but the reward of ammo and health usually are not enough to justify searching for them. Enemy spawn placements are changed between each difficulty, so each time you tackle a mission with a different difficulty, it isn’t entirely the same.
Unfortunately, the PC version’s controls do not convert well to the 64. There are multiple control configurations, but each one is just as bad as the next. The only choice you have is to choose your poison. Nintendo 64 only has one analog stick, forcing players to choose between analog or digital aiming. Using the analog stick to aim seems most effective, but is still overly sensitive. Digital aiming with the C-buttons is just plain clunky. Most of the time, you will shoot everything but the enemies, no matter which configuration you choose.
Obviously, Quake II on the Nintendo 64 does not have the online multiplayer the series is famous for, but it does support local multiplayer for up to four players. The multiplayer mode includes your standard Death Match, Team Death Match, and Capture the Flag. The maps made specifically for the Nintendo 64 are well designed and offer a good bit of variety. They are small in size to accommodate the limited number of players, but occasionally it can feel like there is too much downtime between the action. Don’t expect to get too competitive with this version. The clumsy controls ensure that the winner is determined more by luck rather than skill.
Visually, Quake II looks good on the Nintendo 64 when using the expansion slot’s RAM add-on. There is no doubt the PC version looks better, but the Nintendo 64 version does a great job of translating the visual style from the PC to the console. The only exception are the animations, which are extremely choppy. Quake II’s single player has excellent sound design that really creates a scary lonesome atmosphere. At times, the sound design can have you on the edge of your seat ready to blast whatever low polygon alien decides to pop out from around the corner.
While quite a different game from the PC version, Quake II on the Nintendo 64 successfully brings the original’s visual and sound design to the console. On its own, it is an interesting take on Quake II, but the borderline broken controls almost ruin the package. If you are looking to dive into this title, it is fairly affordable nowadays falling well under $10, but be prepared for some frustration.
