DF Retro Play: WipEout 64, Extreme-G + Aero Gauge on N64Digital
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ต.ค. 2021
- DF Retro Play is back, and the best buds of retro sit down with the brand new N64Digital from PixelFX to test out some nifty futuristic racing action on the Nintendo 64! And surprisingly, the games hold up quite well despite the reputation of the console. We also check out WipEout 64, the entirely exclusive WipEout experience for the Nintendo console, a much requested game from the DF Retro: PlayStation Launch episode.
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Thanks for watching and supporting Digital Foundry! What's your favorite futuristic racer? Are there any other N64 games you really want to us to play in the future?
Wip3out
Ridge Racer 64
Going by generation...
PS1 - Wip3out
GameCube/PS2 - XGIII
PS3 - WipEout Fury
Honorable mention... While I didn't complete the game, I'll also throw in Powerdrome for the OG Xbox/PS2.
Wave Race 64 and 1080 Snowboarding need new iterations.
Wave Race ; ) I also think people are ready to see new Arcade racing games again. Namco, where is my Ridge racer ?
I worked on Extreme-G as a texture artist, I had no idea it was this popular! Over the moon to see it on my favourite TH-cam channel.
Loved that game so much!
Excellent. Thank you :)
If that’s the case, thank you for your contribution! Loved this one and 2. Man... you still in the industry? Game’s development doesn’t seem like it’s a good long term career at least by today’s standards. Hope all is well in your life and you’re doing what you love
Thank you for your work! Seriously, I loved the series. Would love to see it again in some form. One of my favorite futuristic racers growing up. My cousins and I played so much of it back in the day.
One of my most played racing games!
If Extreme-G was ported to modern consoles with 60fps, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
My dream job right there.
Best ever 💟
Extreme-G and any Wipeout game
I can't even imagine how excited I would be if we ever get a proper sequel to F-Zero GX on Switch or Wipeout on PS5.
Being a futuristic racer game fan is though, let alone a retro one 😅
extreme G 2 is on steam
Man, Extreme G was a HUGE favorite for me, catchy music, amazing graphics, such a great game.
Blissful quiet when you broke the speed of sound was so good.
I love the XG soundtrack
Same, I played a lot of Extreme G :)
Ya it was, the sequel was good too.
@@ninjab952 Yeah, that was in the sequel.
AeroGauge was a big part of my childhood. It's almost impossible to beat without learning a core mechanic though. When taking turns, you can drop all speed and do an instant boost to full speed. You can zig zag on straightaways to do this as well.
I thought the closer you get to the ground the faster you go also.
Yeah I think if the boost mechanic was explained in a tutorial this game would've been more popular
The boost noise is like a satisfying BOOM-CRACK and really makes you go fast. Great game when you know how to play it.
@@chillzmonolo yeah I came down to the comments to say that you're supposed to almost graze some the track whenever possible
You also gotta set it on the high difficulty. You hit like 600 mph off the start! That's where the real fun starts!
Wipeout 64 was really underrated. It was sadly very overshadowed by the PlayStation wipeout games but you can tell that Psygnosis actually put a decent amount of effort into making a full Wipeout experience for the N64 players. Nice of you to cover it! It deserves praise!
I couldn't agree more!!
wipeout 64 also had a full-length, licensed soundtrack with full songs just like the playstation versions, which clearly the DF boys are unaware of. the reason wipeout 64 has that load time when switching screens is because psygnosis used some audio compression magic to make this happen, and the game needs that moment to decompress the next song file to play. IGN talked about this in their review of the game back in the day.
@@ActuallySanFrancisco Yeah, that's the first thing I thought of when they started talking about WIpeout 64's music. It was notorious for being one of the few N64 games that had actual music, thanks to compression, which meant it was one of the few games with load times. The music was a highlight of the game for me. Even though it's not exactly CD quality, it suits the game much better than any alternative would have.
@@rars0n more n64 games did this sort of thing once factor 5's "musyx" mp3 compression technology showed up later in the console's life. the entire rush racing game series had full soundtracks too, though it was only rush 2049 that used musyx... though it's really noticeable as that game's soundtrack really is quite close to CD quality.
Yeah, because of the bus and read speeds off cart on the N64, we had to rework Nuclear Strike 64, which was all the excuse I needed to COMPLETELY redo the entire game (I never liked the tuning and how Nuke Strike played on PSX/Saturn). I went and took all the assets, chopped them up, remixed the entire thing. It has probably a 40% overlap with the original Nuke and it's better for it. Yeah, I said it... I can say that... I helped invent the series. ROFL.
To be fair, the MarioKart equivalent to the Wipeout Autopilot, still in use today, would be the Bullet Bill power.
I was searching for this comment.
Wipeout has been my favorite racing game since the day PS 1 was released back i think in 1995. I have the 4k 60fps version on PS4 that fully supports VR and even if they don't make another one I am happy with this. Love the speed of these games.
checkout pacer. it's on all current-gen consoles and made by the original wipeout team. amazing game, horrendously under-marketed.
Extreme-G 3 is still one of my fav racing games. The sense of speed, music and track design are all top notch. Playing the game on Dolphin in HD holds up incredibly well. I like XGRA, has some cool tracks (Saturn Asteroid Dome for example) but I preferred the more sleek, sci-fi look and feel of 3 over the post apocalyptic of XGRA.
I loved XGRA, and the Saturn track was amazing. I also liked the underwater track.
xg3 was where the series peaked imho. but the whole series is excellent.
I still have my Gamecube XG3 copy. It does have a horrible difficult spike at the end however, that ruins the game for me. It also made me wish it didn't have weapons, I found the race mechanics good enough to hold the whole game on its own.
Acclaim where an integral part of the N64, almost as important as Rare and Nintendo. So many great games.
yeah acclaim was always interested in pushing what the console could do graphically too, much like rare in that regard.
The extreme G series is criminally underrated and underappreciated. The incrediblely well paired trance soundtracks lent to an amazing experience
Loved the first 2 never got around the 3rd. Worth it?
@@calebfromblood6915 Was never a fan of the third one because the courses were too wide, the bikes looked all the same and the weapons were boring. Just play the first two again.
@@calebfromblood6915 the 3rd was unique because it was for GameCube and along with better graphics, the audio was way cleaner and it had the trippy breaking the sound barrier mechanic. More of a pure racer vs the 1st 2 I felt had a heavier battle focus. Def worth a try, ymmv :)
The og N64 Xtreme G and XGRA were my favorite games in the series. Great fun
@@calebfromblood6915 yes the third is a great game
Extreme G was one of my favorite games of all time. The music was/is just amazing.
Anyone else played a game called S.C.A.R.S. ?😁
S.C.A.R.S was awesome. such a bonkers concept and there's never been another racing game quite like it.
A lot of late 90's PC games has the same feel as John mentions in Aero Gauge, they got this atmospheric feel, different from other eras.
Acclaim's Forsaken 64 is an overlooked gem, one of the best 4 player split screen games around
Hell YES! Amazing music in Forsaken 64, too!
Couldn't agree more man, incredible game! My friends and I played a LOT.
Still remember the panic seeing a Titan missile come cruising into the room you're in haha
@@hipettyhop the dynamic colored lighting from the weapons blew me away, not sure how they pulled it off
Wipeout 64 is one of my all time favorite games. Introduced me at a young age to a type of music I had never heard before (and I still love that chunky compression on those tracks).
Everything about that game makes me go back from time to time.
Same. Shaped my music tastes. Checkout BallisticNG, it really scratches the WipeOut itch
I was obsessed with lens flare effects in games in the late ‘90s, so it’s gratifying to hear Audi get excited about them too
Fast RMX on the Switch is a really good and beautiful futuristic racer.
What i miss about this era of games in general is the grungy design style, look at the color palettes or the UI design, everything is so unique for each game, nowadays a lot of games UI have become the same with that super clean flat mobile look wich i hate.
Extreme-G was actually the first game I bought with my own money, when I was 12. I was extremely (no pun intended) into Acclaim's games back then. I loved Turok, this, Turok 2, Shadow Man, even Armorines. I played through XG countless times, although I'd say it only shows its true potential, if you unlock everything, or put in the unlock everything cheat code. The last bikes you unlock, Neon and Roach, are where the game gets crazily fast! I liked the sequels, but I think none got ever as good as the first one.
💟
I loved the extreme g multiplayer arena mode. Can't imagine how much time I spent playing that with friends as a kid.
25:06 But autopilot IS an item in Mario Kart! It's the Bullet Bill (or Chain Chomp, in Double Dash).
Of course, if you're winning all the time, you might not know about those items. ;)
I loved Extreme G on N64. Many hours of playing it. Such good times!
23:28 I simply had a second controller plugged into controller port 2 with a memory pak plugged in while my main controller on controller port 1 used the rumble pak. Worked in almost all games, no swap required.
Yep. Same here.
Hey John, for an upcoming episode of DF Retro, would you consider trying to benchmark the frame rates of some of these older titles like Wipeout 64? I think it would be hilarious and informative to use the brutal precision of Digital Foundry performance measures on old games that people were happy to play at 12 frames per second.
that feeling in EG when you break the sound barrier and everything goes quiet was masterful
such a great game
If there's one N64 racing game I'd recommend looking into, it's Ridge Racer 64. Has tracks from 1 and 2 along with original content, lets you pick between the original, Revolution or 64 drift mechanics, like a sorta port and entry all its own as a surprisingly refined game. Was developed in America by a totally different team than the rest of the series.
Great game! One of my favourites on the system.
IMHO (and i know these are fighting words to some people) RR64 is legitimately the best ridge racer game in the whole series. i even like it slightly more than R4, though the two are very close on my list. the later games after the 64/32 bit era were fun and all too but they just got way too easy. RR64 had all the original magic and the steepest difficulty curve, but absolutely flawless controls. i've never felt more satisfied beating a racing game than when i finally completed RR64 in its entirety.
@@ActuallySanFrancisco I haven’t agreed more with a comment yet on TH-cam in my life! RR64 is phenomenal for all the reasons you outline. Brilliant game with great graphics, music, vibe and most importantly, gameplay!
You are right I miss having a selection of future racers. I'm a big fan of Rollcage on PS1. There is s spiritual successor to it called Grip which did a really good job of recreating the feel on modern platforms.
pacer is great too. made by the original wipeout team. who apparently suck at marketing because almost no one talks about that game on youtube, even though it's current gen and amazing.
@@ActuallySanFrancisco Thanks. I will def take a look.
Man its been almost 16 years since I've last played Extreme G. That game was one of my childhood favorites..would love to play again oneday
Fluke 'Absurd', what an absolute banger of a track!! WipEout is such a great series 😍
good night lover was my gateway to electronica
I loved aero gauge back in the day. Shame they missed the best part, the Unlockable playable N64 controler
Isn't it "random" the way you unlock it? Having a 64 at the end of the timer...
@@_SereneMango yes that is indeed how you unlock it. I was lucky and my used cart had it already unlocked.
@@minemariosonic Haha I remember when rented games had some progress saved...
Extreme-G 1&2 where amazing.
Back then playing on my 13" TV with Mono sound I had no idea the play station had so much better audio on wipeout, fairly stark contrast with good headphones now. The music from the play station videos relay sound amazing.
I was obsessed with Extreme-G as a kid, got it the day it came out and unlocked everything including the Neon bike.
Aero Gauge I must have rented at least 3 times, great racing game.
I was going to drive my boring crossover to work today, but in honor of this video I'm going to take the Corvette instead.
I've spent SO MUCH time playing Extreme-G as a kid... So happy to see that video
N64 videos always a pleasure to watch on DFR. Thanks for making!
Japanese imports of aero gauge are in the book off at Lakewood mall. Glad to see this video come up.
Nice shout out to the Lakewood BookOff, love that place. And I was just at the Gardena one yesterday too 👍
My unmodded pal system can output to S-Video. Don’t know why, don’t know how but I’ve been using S-video cables with my N64 for years.
Some do but also most S-Video cables available today are built incorrectly and aren’t true S-Video. They use composite video for Chroma or something and it causes artifacts like grids or checkerboarding in solid areas. It’s much more noticeable on SNES games. It seems all these Retro-Bit cables and such were made to work with the SNS-101 (SNES Jr/SNES2) which did not have S-Video.
Definitely check your cable. If it is wired correctly then you have one of those early PAL consoles with S-Video. :)
I've been using the same S-Video cable that I bought with my launch N64 (North America). It makes an incredible difference on my CRT and my 480p plasma.
@@nathanddrews My official “SNES/N64 S-VHS cable” got mangled over 15 years ago. :(
I actually bought another official S-Video cable 4 years ago while in Japan and found it had a bad chroma connection (sometimes goes black and white unless I mess with it). Oh well. That’s probably why it was only $7. ;)
Now I use my own custom cables or I disassemble the cheap ones and correct the pinout myself.
You could find correctly made ones for around $3.50 a few years ago and I don’t doubt they can still be found for cheap but ordering a bunch without a pilot purchase is just too risky.
Wipeout 64 did indeed have 9 full audio tracks, using some form of compression. That's why there are load times in the game, which are due to sound decompression. I quite liked the music in Wipeout 64. Although the sound quality isn't CD quality, it was refreshing to hear a game with real music on the N64 and I don't think anything else would have suited the game.
I appreciate this episode of DF Retro Play SO much. The first time I ever played a video game, my dad had let me try WipEout and Ridge Racer on the PS1. We don't quite remember which one I played first, but it were those two, and I've been such a mega-fan of both series since. Made me go up to the attic and grab my N64, AeroGauge and WipEout 64. Having a blast tonight!! AeroGauge is so overlooked by the way, I recommend people give it a try if they have the chance.
platinum trophy holder on all 3 vita ps3 and ps4 versions of wipeout :) never could touch the older end of franchise with the different mechanics... but as a kid, Extreme G (1, 2, and 3) was very much ma thang!
Wow. Surprised a little you guys didn't mention Aero Gage has a secret vehicle that is the N64 controller itself. Such a fun nod to the controllers unique design. Such a fun game. All 3 of these.
Man... I so miss this Era. I did have a rumble pak/memory card and here's kicker number 1 not only did it work great it also had 2 pages of memory. So basically 2 memory cards in 1 and kicker number 2 I got it from Blockbusters. Wish I knew the name of it. Paid $35 I remeber getting the last one or two.
1:45 is that Richard as Ronald McDonald? 😆
1:44 Was this Richard before he got into the magazine game? Exceptional work.
Talking about Psygnosis got me thinking about Colony Wars and G-Police, which were super impressive at the time.
Played a ton of Extreme-G and Wipeout 64 back then! Never got into the Extreme G sequels though, not until the recent years! Wipeout 64 holds up very well even today, and it's a pretty great game I think! A real joy to pick up and play!
13 hour video already?
@@fcukugimmeausername He is speed
Indeed!
I really liked Extreme G back in the day. It had a really good go at scratching that futuristic racing itch!
I played Aero Gauge here in the States! Blockbuster video bought a BUNCH of copies in my area, it was much easier to get ahold of than the more popular platformers or big-name racers, and the smooth controls and slick soundtrack hooked me. One of the games I still emulate now and then!
Had so much fun with Extreme-G with my siblings as a child.
You guys absolutely NEED to play XGIII on either the Gamecube or the PS2! Amazingly underrated futuristic racer - looked and handled incredibly.
Also XGRA: Extreme G Racing Association best soundtrack of all the series
XG3 on the GameCube is where it's at. More stable framerate, IIRC.
@@PicksterTG Yes, this is where it got difficult for me.
Loved GameCube XGIII for the buttery smooth frame rate and superb handling, but the PS2 had a trick up its sleeve in the form of an exclusive gut-churning first person viewpoint.
I just couldn't help myself and bought both versions at the time. Never regretted that decision. 😂
XGIII is great! I prefer the GC version, but both play well. XGRA felt like a step back for me. I hated the powerup system, character banter, and missions.
Took away from the racing.
Still a good game, to be sure, and a higher point in the genre, but it's a step back from XGIII, and certainly no WipEout!
Xtreme G 2 has a fantastic jungle soundtrack that has aged nicely.
Extreme G was so amazing. I evne like it more than F-Zero. XG3 on Gamecube/PS2/Xbox was not too great, but the first Game ond N64 and XGRA on Gamecube/PS2/Xbox really were fantastic for me.
We're like polar opposites on this one. 😆
I guess it all boils down to personal taste because I never got tired breaking the sound barrier in XGIII (Particularly with those sound effects running in Dolby Prologic).
XGRA's an interesting one because I loved the visuals and that awesome soundtrack (Xbox version), but something about the handling didn't quite gel for me.
I'd love a 4K/120fps release of Extreme G 3 for modern consoles. Amazing game.
I loved Extreme-G soooo much. I actually just bought it back. If I could I would make a game almost exactly like Extreme-G with a modern engine like UE4.
it's a bit closer to wipeout and f-zero than extreme-g, but check out pacer if you haven't. it's on all current gen consoles, made by the original wipeout team, and is really an excellent current-gen futuristic racer that doesn't get anywhere near enough love on youtube for some reason.
Still my favorite console ever.. so many great and revolutioary games! Extreme G.. man.. this and F-Zero.. magical classics!
Extreme G was my jam back in the day!
ps1 + Wipeout FSOL banging out, still gurning from the club. happier, simpler times. God, I'm Rich level old.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
Cool user pic, Murray Walker was the greatest!
I chased a copy of Wipeout 64 after falling in love with Wip3out. And I wasn't dissapointed!
Have you tried the WipEout Omega Collection in VR on PS4 yet? If not, you're in for a treat!
Check out BallisticNG my dude.
FYI wipeout 64 actually did have a full-length soundtrack with full-length songs; not just looped audio, and it was performed by legit european electronic artists as well as in-house musicians the same as the playstation games. somehow psygnosis managed this with some - possibly proprietary? - fancy audio compression technology. the reason there's actually a short load time before every race is because the game is decompressing the music for playback. IGN talked about this in their review of the game back in the day. also as for current-gen futuristic racers, you guys should really check out pacer - made by the OG wipeout team and on all current-gen consoles. it's sorely underrepresented on youtube.
1:44 Richard McDonald is brilliant. LMAO.
Audi is great
Awesome video! If I'm not totally wrong.. Ridge Racer Revolution (1995) on PlayStation was the first game I remember seeing having lens flare effects.
ExtremeG was like a hidden gem for me. Loved that game.
Love these talks about older games! keep it up guys!
My father worked for Honda in Italy…for christmas gift for the families they once gifted a copy of Extreme G2 but limited edition for Honda…i still have the carboard box of the game 😁
I really miss these amazing racing games! We need to bring them back!!
WipEout 64 is its own game but it’s clearly based on WipEout 2097/XL. I beat this game on the hardest difficulty back in the day and I loved it. The analog control really made this game so great to control. It has aged though and the pop-in is quite nasty. The music though was actually well done for the system but the decompression did mean the game had short “load times”
WipEout 64 is a gem. But I agree with your assessment. I always saw it like an expansion pack to 2097/XL, and canonically, it takes place in 2098.
I'm planning on making a romhack of WO64 to restore the audio clips they changed from 2097/XL, to make it more consistent in the series.
I just don't know where to begin with that project!
Super Combo Level 5. Qirex, Machaon II, weapons is Power Wall only. Rainbow Road tier of difficulty if not harder.
Excellent video! Thanks boys, I'm happy to see Aero Gauge get some love!
I had a third party memory pack with rumble back in the day, you just flipped a switch when the game asked to insert either device. It worked brilliantly.
Extreme G/XG2, F-Zero X and Wipeout 64 were some of my favourite N64 games! Love futuristic racers, they should make more of them.
Nightdive has to do a remaster of extreme G titles!
Regarding timestamp 41:15 , Hey guys. Shinen tried with FAST Racing NEO and FAST RMX. Though I have no idea how well those games sold, I was interested in futuristic racing games enough to have bought both. 😃
Aero Gauge was so dope, I played that so much.
My brother got me Extreme-G for Christmas when it came out and we spent a good couple of days parked in front of the TV downstairs playing it along with Fighting Force co-op. Good times.
I'd love a look back at World Driver Championship. The N64's really good answer to Gran Turismo.
Wonderful games. Thanks for this awesome coverage of these often overlooked games!
extreme g was one of my favorite games growing up
Automobili Lamborghini might have been the first game to heavily use lens flares on N64. I remember it being a HUGE talking point around that specific game.
I'd really love to see more PC titles featured in 'DF Retro'. Checking that playlist and it's almost all console stuff. Come on, boys!
I had two third party Rumble Packs with several built in Memory Pack slots where you could switch by pressing a button. Both lost their data after some weeks and months, so I just used them as battery-less Rumble Packs and used original Memory Packs from Nintendo for saving.
Honsetly it was not such a big deal to swap them in and out. You made it sound more of a hassle than it really was. The bigger problem was the money you had to spend to save all the games without deleting old stuff.
extreme-G... my favorite Racer on the N64 😋👍
Extreme G 2 was one of my favorite N64 racing games. Also, Mario Kart does have an “auto pilot” ability, the Bullet Bill auto pilots and knocks out any racers in the way.
I had a 4x memory card where you pushed a button to cycle through pages and it was constantly losing my saves.
Awesome, I love to play games and listen to you guys.
Finishing up Scarlet Nexus here.
Awesome episode as always
Fantastic video as usual! I m only missing AERO GAUGE out of the games shown in this video
There was one really good rumble / memory pak hybrid, called the "Gamester LX4 Tremor Pak with 1MB memory". I`m still using it.
The last board on Extreme G is really really pretty
When you say board, are you referring to a level or map? I think I've heard that before somewhere
@DuckAlertBeats level I think it's a forest type level
I had a third party rumble/memory solution. You could switch between several memory slots and the rumble didn't use batteries, it was awesome!
Also, love seeing these games again for the first time in 20 odd years!
I rank wipeout 64 joint second in the series with XL and the NTSC-U release of 3 as number 1 and 3 s.e at 4 because no amount of extra content can make up for how much they borked the physics up.
I remember the demo images on the back of the Wipeout 64 box had a UI that wasn't in the game. As a kid I always wondered what cheat I could enter to get that UI. It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized that there was a PS1 Wipeout and the promotional images were from that game.
I never got to play Wipeout 64 or Aero Gauge, but wanted to as I loved futuristic racers. Extreme-G and F-Zero X are 2 of my favorite racers of all time. I never actually got to play Extreme-G 3. At that time I was still young enough that I rarely was able to save money to buy my own games.
I played extreme G loads, great game (at the time)
The first two games shown here i rented back in the day. I own Extreme G on the N64. With practice one can get good at both series of games.
I played the shit out of wipeout 64. It had the best soundtrack ever!
HELL YEAH! I managed to 100% it back in the day. You get gold swirls in the background of the menu screen when you do so.
That Qirex Super Combo Challenge on Machaon II is downright evil! Terafumos forever!!
Id love more N64 DF Plays videos! So many hidden gems to check out. Oddities as well
I like how crisp and clear Aero Gauge looks also the size and detail on the cars! Always nice to find a good N64 game to try
I miss Extreme G and I remember renting Wipeout 64 but I still prefer Wipeout XL on PlayStation
I miss simple arcade racing games, fun is what really matters. There are many ways to make a fun game. Classic arcade games had quite small teams, so although not indy, the vision and experimentation was off the charts.
Actually lens flares were present in games before the N64. Tunnel B1 on PS1 was full of them a year earlier, and even Earthworm Jim on the 16-bit consoles had some present (baked but present). The N64 hardly 'kicked off' the trend. It just picked it up.
Not going to lie was very disappointed to not see the Extreme G effect when you turbo. That was the coolest thing I ever saw as a kid.
I left a second controller plugged in with the memory card in it so I could keep the rumble pack in and that usually worked as far as I can remember. Great video! You guys should cover extreme g 2 sometime.
Having looked this up I can't tell if this was actually possible or not - possible I just left the memory card in p2 to avoid losing it. It was 20+ years ago so my memory could well be failing me