Nintendo’s Switch Online N64 service adds one of the best – but perhaps somewhat underappreciated – racing games on the system this week. Released in the N64’s launch window, Wave Race 64 was as much of a tech demo for Nintendo’s new 64-bit system as Super Mario 64, with the beautiful transparent ocean and realistic waves wowing any gamer who saw it, much like F-Zero’s Mode 7 tour-de-force did a generation before it. Shigeru Miyamoto himself maintains that Wave Race 64’s water uses ‘80% of the N64’s power’ but despite this, the game is more than just a fancy tech demo.
As an N64 first party exclusive, Wave Race 64 was designed to work tightly with the hardware – not just in regards to the obvious visual and technical feats, but how it took full advantage of the then fairly new concept of analog control.
One of the best sensations in any racing game is when you pull the stick down towards you, either slightly left or right, and have the jet ski carve through the water and turn back on itself. It’s almost impossible to describe accurately, but it is so intuitive and instinctive. It just feels right. You can jump into the Dolphin Park training course with zero knowledge of the controls and within minutes of just experimenting and playing aroun, you’ll know exactly what you can and can’t get away with when it comes to the handling and begin to start tearing across the water.
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