N64 Magazine Issue 50

Introduction

The 50th issue of N64 magazine brought with it a bunch of features to celebrate, the first of which was a tribute to the first 50 issues of the magazine. They revisited all the issues from the magazine’s near four year run, as well as chatting to all the dearly departed staff members that made the magazine so memorable, including all the previous Editors, Wil, Jes and Martin. There was also the chance to win one of 50 items of magazine related stuff hanging around the office, including a Majora’s Mask adventure set and several controllers. 

At the back of the mag they predicted what the magazine’s cover would look like next issue, at issue 60 and at 80 and 100, all the way to December 2005 (although this should have been 2004). These mock-ups were full of in-jokes including Eurocom’s take on Perfect Dark and Mario Party 6, although this is one that actually came true! It was a great send off to the 50th issue and a nice prediction of the future.

There was a Lucas Arts preview special as they took a look at both Indiana Jones and Star Wars Battle for Naboo, rating both as games to watch. They once again previewed Banjo-Tooie, with the game just about launched in the UK. They also looked at Mario Party 3 and Aidyn Chronicles.

Planet Game Boy looked at more of the tech demos for the GBA, as well as looking at some of the Game Boy’s potential online capabilities. Pokemon Trading Card Game was the big review, with the card game transformed into a fully fledged pocket videogame, they gave it five stars. Koro Koro Kirby was another five star game, praising the originality of the concept of rolling Kirby around mazes.

Mickey's Speedway USA was the only UK game to be reviewed this issue, starting a Rare game avalanche. Mark praised the upgrades Rare had made since the days of Diddy Kong Racing, although the game lacked innovation generally. Hey You Pikachu finally got an English language release, but only scored 56%, with not really much content and it’s definite aim towards young children. Ogre Battle 64 also got a US release, scoring 87%. 

Guides this month looked at last month's star games WWF No Mercy and The World is Not Enough, whilst Tips Extra was revamped, showcasing tips for the top 10 chart games.