Wave Race 64

Pros: Superb graphics – Great use of the analog stick- Good Soundtrack and sound effects - Nice sense of speed – It’s just plain fun

Cons:  Only two player multiplayer
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Wave Race is one of Nintendo's best and unfortunately underrated series, it made its debut back in the Gameboy in 1992 and the sequel was released for the N64 in November 1996, it was extremely fun back then and its extremely fun right now.

The Premise of the game is simple: Jet Ski water racing in various locations. Its fairly simple but there's a twist to this awesome racing game: Each course has a set of buoys, red and yellow; reds are meant to be passed right and yellows left, if you miss five buoys you're disqualified from the race; there are also smaller buoys around the course which mark the boundaries, if you leave the course for more than five seconds you'll also be disqualified. At first it's really hard and frustrating, but after you master the excellent control scheme it’s a breeze. This game makes the best use of the N64 controller's analog stick, because it’s intuitive and makes racing fun.

The racing is done in a set of around nine different courses, each with their own shortcuts and obstacles, as soon as you choose one of the four different players you'll find yourself splashing and bouncing around in the water, its really fun and the realistic wave physics give the game a visceral feel to it, there’s also a small set of tricks to perform, ramps that will send you flying, and sometimes (depending on the weather) aggressive waves that make the courses unpredictable. The game's excellent sense of speed and framerate will also make you feel like you're actually in the race.

The modes include the usual suspects in racing games: Championship mode, which can be beaten in two or less hours, but it's so fun it'll keep you coming back for more every time. Multiplayer for up to two players, yes only two players, it gives you a break from championship but it’s not nearly as good. Time Trial, where you can break your time records and save ghost data (Ghost saving is not available in the Virtual Console version) and a Stunt mode where you'll perform a series of tricks that will give you more points. It doesn’t sound like too much, but each of them is really great and will keep you coming back.

Now where Wave Race really shines is in the graphics, they're superb, It looks incredibly detailed (for an N64 game), the water looks realistic and beautiful with some of the best wave effects ever created in a videogame, characters and animation also look good and fluid. The backgrounds also look great, you'll see the shorelines, dolphins, whales and such while you race. There are also superb lighting effects, especially in . Overall they do their job magnificently and really make you feel like you're in a tropical island.