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Originally released shortly after the Nintendo 64 in 1997, Wave Race 64 stands out as a true classic in gaming history, and notably one to feature hyper-realistic water for its day, a benchmark standard that never appeared again on the '64 and is still rarely reproduced today. Here's our review for this gold release of times past.
Hear a few short notes of the intro theme and you'll know straight away which game you're playing. Wave Race 64 opens out with its memorable intro music, the camera zooms under a rocky outcrop and up into the sky and we cut to a few jetskis whizzing past. You press the A button, an announcer declares "Wave Race!" and you're away into (still) one of the best water sports games around. Whilst the game was never known for its huge variety of modes or characters, Wave Race 64 is undoubtedly one of the most polished games on the Nintendo 64 and, dare we say, of all time. The whole package exudes quality despite its ageing graphics, and it really gives some of these shoddy, mass-produced modern games a run for their money. Getting into the gameplay, then, select the Championship mode and choose a difficulty level and you'll be presented with the character select screen (accompanied with a classic, subtle yet very memorable tune), which consists of all of four characters - an unimpressive number, admittedly, but this is quite forgiveable considering the date and overall superb quality of the game. 
Select your watercraft, please! (No difficulty here)
Whilst longtime Wave Racers might be able to recite the characters' names from memory, to me it's just Mr. Green, Mr. Chunky, Mrs. Pink and Mr. Otherguy - I never can remember that other one. This is of course irrelevant regardless, since the only natural, and sane, course of action is to proceed with Mrs. Pink on the default settings. Seasoned players don't make use of the very innovative jet ski tuning options. You may then marvel at the fancy screen wipe before proceeding to the first race - Sunny Beach. It's here, in the core gameplay of Wave Race 64, that you really begin to realise what a quality production this game is. There's no messing around - the announcer rapidly counts 3 - 2 - 1, and you zoom straight into the race. The first thing you'll note is that the water, as mentioned, is superbly programmed and modelled. It's just so realistic for its day that it really reaches out and overcomes the primitive graphics to produce a very, very enjoyable water racing experience. Touches like the announcer's voice spurring you on really add to the overall polish. Frankly, at this stage you'll probably wonder why this game isn't more recognised than it has been so far - it's that good. 
Doing good (so far)
Come in first place - naturally - and you'll be met with a shout of joy from the announcer, and then that classic Wave Race victory theme that by now we should all know and love. Pure joy. Move on to the next race! Wave Race 64 may have been a rather short and - pardon the pun - shallow game, with only 4 characters and a handful of courses, but it was quite notorious for its overall difficulty and general unfriendliness to unseasoned racers. But, ironically, that's where another of the game's defining features comes in: crash your jetski and your player will go hurtling off and have to scramble back on. Or, try doing a trick in mid-air, or ducking underwater, or... the list goes on. The amount of overall effort and mass of features packed into this game really are quite amazing for the day. And we truly tip our hats to anyone that could unlock that blasted dolphin as a jetski after following his every move in Dolphin Park. That's no small feat. But one of the greatest features of Wave Race was its unique, pleasant and memorable music. As we've already suggested, each section of the game has with it a suitable accompanying piece, and if you played the game back in '97 you should have no problem recalling some of these catchy old tunes. It was musical bliss for 1997, and it's still good as ever today! 
MAXIMUM POWER!!! (Uh, what's that - I'm 4th?!)
Wave Race 64 is a superb classic title that really deserves more attention today for its quality, presentation, super-realistic water for its day and classic music. It must tap a huge amount of the N64's power, and it really set several benchmarks that were never quite reproduced throughout the history of the console. If you played it back in the day, fish it out, blow the dust off the cartridge and give it another go. If you've never played it - track it down at all costs, whether on the 'Net, Virtual Console or anywhere you can get your hands on it. Classic racing fun. Highly recommended. P.S. Since you've read all this far, take a listen to that classic original main theme, right here. Go on - you won't regret it. Wave Race 64 - Main Theme Agree? Disagree?
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