BoxTrick: A Retro Gaming Podcast · Video Games

BoxTrick: Ep 106 - Super Mario 64, Star Fox 64, Wave Race 64 and more with Age_of_Retro

·1 hr 17 min·5 clips

Matt calls Donkey Kong 'probably the best platformer I've ever played.'

Matt welcomes Kyle back for another run through Box Trick. They start with the N64, the delayed Analog N64 Retro, and the 8BitDo controller Matt is keeping an eye on, which naturally pulls them into the old conversation about the console's stick placement and the ways modern pads keep trying to solve it. The discussion stays loose and drifts by association, moving from hardware delays into the kind of memory-sharing that only happens when two people have lived with the same system for years. Wave Race 64 becomes the main anchor. They talk through its stunt mode, its course variety, and the way each track shifts as the tides change from lap to lap, which gives the game a feel they do not think has really been matched. The mood stays relaxed, but they keep circling back to how sharp it is as a multiplayer competition game, the sort that can turn a quiet couch into something louder fast. The soundtrack comes up too. They call the music beautiful and use that to underline how well the game captures a chilled-out but still competitive vibe. The N64 library itself becomes the next stop. Matt and Kyle note how small the system's catalog is, how thin its RPG lineup feels, and how quickly the talk turns into a short roll call of what the console actually did best. Racing dominates. Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Wave Race 64, F-Zero X, Star Wars Episode I Racer, San Francisco Rush, Cruis'n USA, and Extreme-G all get name-checked as proof that the system was quietly stacked in that genre. Wave Race gets the edge. They settle on it as the best racer on the system, while leaving room for Extreme-G to stay in the mix as a close contender. The conversation keeps drifting, and that works because it sounds like two people thinking out loud, checking memories against each other, and admitting when a game is not a perfect fit while still giving it credit. More games are still on the table. They close by pointing out that the N64 library is deep enough to support more visits, which fits the show's habit of coming back to a system whenever the conversation has another lane to take.

As heard by us

N64 nostalgia, controller talk, and a strong case for Wave Race 64.

Box Trick settles into an easy N64 hangout, with Matt and Kyle moving through controllers, clone pads, and the console's unusually strong racing lineup.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Want a laid-back N64 hangout that lands on Wave Race 64 and multiplayer memories?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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