The Nintendo 64 instalment of the Destruction Derby series of games that were popular on the PlayStation, PC and Sega Saturn. The N64 version isn’t a straight port, but rather a spin off title which you would see often with racing games, with the N64 getting specialized ports of Ridge Racer and Wipeout.
Destruction Derby 64 is played as a vehicular combat racer where you pilot one of 24 cars (stock cars, hot rods, ambulances, taxis, etc.—12 start unlocked, others via progression/Time Trials) across 8 tracks and 4 circular bowls (arenas). The core loop is to race to checkpoints/finish while ramming opponents to rack up destruction points, wreck them (explode/disable), and survive as damage affects your handling/speed, so balance aggression with caution.
Single-player in Destruction Derby 64 (World Championship mode, plus Arcade and Time Trial) revolves around scoring the highest points via destruction + racing progression, not just pure placement. Races end when all opponents are wrecked, your damage meter fills (you explode), or you miss a timed checkpoint. Up to 12 AI cars split into 2-3 groups for head-on chaos from the start (opposing groups reverse direction), no lapping system.
The multiplayer takes advantage of the four controller ports the N64 provided. You have access to 4 player split screen with has the game modes Deathmatch, Destruction Race, Tomb Tag and Capture The Flag, Unlike the console versions you don’t need to have two consoles linked up via the serial cable, all of this can run on one N64 console.
There is a nice variety of track in the game, Seascape Sprint has a costal/beachside appearance to its and make me thinks it takes some inspiration from the costal track from Rage Racer. Metro Challenge is a more urban environment set in a more built up area, whilst Terminal Impact is set on a Airport terminal with plenty of obstacles that you will need to avoid. Destruction Junction is a figure-8 designed track that can be tricky to navigate as it’s easy to make a wrong turn.
Destruction Derby 64 follows the same soundtrack theme as the PlayStation original with a techno/electronica inspired soundtrack that keeps pace with the games racing theme. However I feel a more industrial/grunge inspired theme would suit the destruction part of the game better.
A third person shooter where you lay as 50 Cent, along with one of his bandmates in a single layer campaign. Players control 50 Cent and a sidekick player as they fight through waves of enemies using a variety of weapons. The game features a cover system (Like Gears Of War), dual-wielding weapons, and unique melee attacks where players can execute finishers on enemies to regain health, all whilst 50 Cent’s music is laying in the background. The game supports co-operative play using either split screen or online over Xbox Live. The second player can choose to be either Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks or DJ Whoo Kid.
The plot of the game revolves around 50 Cent performing at a concert in a Middle Eastern city. However, their diamond get stolen during a coup. The game follows their quest to retrieve these diamonds from various warlords and factions. It’s not to take seriously and is more fun when played co-operatively with friends.
The gameplay itself is very similar to Gears Of War with you controlling 50 Cent in a third person view. The game has an emphasis on high scores, kill combos, and timed challenges set it apart, giving it more of an arcade-style feel compared to other third-person shooters like Army of Two (another console exclusive game to check out) which is used to unlock weapons that can be purchased in later levels of the game via phonebooths. Enemies drop ammo and cash when they are killed and this can also be used to purchase weapons. The game also gives hidden areas that you can loot for more cash, which also contributes to the score at the end of each mission.
There’s also posters you can take down and targets you can shoot for extra points.
Breaking up the gunplay, you can also engage in hand to hand combat when you are near an enemy. By pressing B or Circle, you can beat the enemy to death when following the button prompts. You can also us the environment to take out groups of enemies.
Blood On The Sand was only released on consoles, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, with the latter being made compatible on the Xbox One. Both versions are very similar in terms of performance and gameplay, the 360 version does keep a more stable framerate.
Blood on the Sand isn’t a game that’s going to win awards for innovation or narrative depth, but it delivers a fun, if not slightly repetitive, shooter experience wrapped in the persona of 50 Cent/G-Unit. It’s not perfect, but it’s a solid entry for anyone looking to mix up their gaming library.
Music featured in the game, If HipHop isn’t your genre of music you can mute the music and use the console to play alternative music.
Saints Row is one wild ride. It’s like Grand Theft Auto on steroids, with an added dose of wackiness and humor – the original one that is, not the zoomer version.
You play as the leader of the Third Street Saints gang, trying to take over the city of Stilwater one block at a time. The gameplay is pretty solid. It’s a sandbox game, which means you can go anywhere and do anything you want. You can drive cars, shoot guns, and even fly helicopters. The missions are varied and exciting, ranging from taking out rival gang members to rescuing your homies from prison. There’s always something to do in this game.
The customization options are also a big plus. You can create your own character, from their physical appearance to their clothing and accessories. You can also customize your cars and weapons, making them unique to your playstyle.
But where Saints Row really shines is its humor. This game is hilarious from start to finish. The dialogue is sharp and witty, and the characters are all memorable in their own way. The game never takes itself too seriously, which makes it a refreshing change of pace from other, more serious sandbox games.
Some of the characters in the game
The Protagonist – The player-controlled character and the leader of the Third Street Saints gang.
Julius Little – A founding member of the Third Street Saints who helps the Protagonist take over the city of Stilwater.
Johnny Gat – A charismatic and violent member of the Third Street Saints who becomes a close friend and ally of the Protagonist.
Lin – A tech-savvy member of the Third Street Saints who helps the gang with their computer-related needs.
Aisha – The Protagonist’s girlfriend and a former member of a rival gang, who becomes a strong supporter of the Third Street Saints.
Dex – A member of the Third Street Saints who is known for his business acumen and negotiating skills.
Troy – A high-ranking member of the Los Carnales gang, one of the rival gangs the Third Street Saints must defeat.
Victor Rodriguez – The leader of the Los Carnales gang, who serves as the primary antagonist of the game.
The Gangs
The Third Street Saints – The main gang that the player controls in the first three games of the series. Originally a small-time gang, they become one of the most powerful and influential gangs in Stilwater and later in Steelport.
Los Carnales – A Mexican-American drug cartel that serves as the main antagonist gang in the first game of the series.
Vice Kings – An African-American gang that controls the southern part of Stilwater. They are the main antagonist gang in Saints Row 2.
Westside Rollerz – A gang that specializes in street racing and drug trafficking. They are one of the three gangs that the Third Street Saints must defeat in Saints Row.
Activities
The game features a variety of activities that players can engage in to earn money, gain respect, and improve their skills. These activities range from traditional side missions to more unique and unconventional challenges. Escort where the player must escort a VIP to a destination while protecting them from enemy attacks, Mayhem – The player must cause as much chaos and destruction as possible within a set time limit, Hitman – The player must assassinate a target without being detected by the police or rival gangs and Racing – The player can participate in a variety of street races to earn money and respect. There are other side activities like Insurance Fraud. There are also additional activities like drug trafficking, Insurance fraud and Snatch, many of these reward you with respect that is required to start certain missions, and rewards you with cash.
Like many open-world games set in urban environments, it does touch on some social and political issues, albeit in a somewhat satirical and exaggerated manner. The game prominently explores the world of street gangs and criminal organizations. It depicts the power struggles, violence, and territorial disputes that are often associated with gang culture, which can be seen as a commentary on issues related to urban crime. The game features corrupt law enforcement officials and politicians, which is a common theme in many crime-related narratives. It suggests that the line between criminals and those meant to uphold the law can sometimes blur.
Stilwater, the fictional city where the game is set, is depicted as a city with areas suffering from poverty and decay. This portrayal may reflect issues related to urban blight and inequality in real-world cities.
When the game was originally released in 2006, it was one of the few Xbox 360 exclusive titles, despite later sequels being multiplatform. It was re-released for the Xbox One as part of the backward compatible titles and can be brought digitally or played by using the Xbox 360 discs, though it still remains exclusive to the Xbox family of consoles.
Sequel to the Rugrats :Search for Reptar, released only for the PlayStation in 1999
The game is very similar to Search for Reptar, and even re-uses a lot of the textures, models and sound effects of the first game. Golf makes a return with two themed minigames. A multiplayer mode has now been added that supports up to 4 players (2 at one time)
Characters
Main characters include Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, Phil, Lil and Susie who all appeard in the first game and mostly have their models / textures reused.
The adults Didi, Stu and Grandpa, along with DiIl also appear in the cut scenes but are not directly playable.
Minigames
Each Rugrats character has their own stage, although some stages are split into different levels which feature a different character.
Diapies of Thunder
Play as Phil in a racecar themed levels. These are similar to Mario Kart where you can collect powerups that can either give you a speed boost, grant invulnerability or leave traps for other racers.
Speedway: Race 8 laps round a speedway style track, kind of like Daytona USA.
Bayou Race Scene: You race as Lil in a jungle/swamp themes race track. Probably the best racing track in the game since its quite varied and challenging.
Desert race scene: The final race set in a desert/wild west scene. This one tends to drag on as you play as Angelica who has to race 4 laps on the longest track in the game. You will often manage to overtake the babies within the first lap which means you spend the remaining 3 laps in the lead.
Bonus 1: Only available one you complete the game. There’s noting really special about it, its just set in a large apartment with each lap only taking 9 seconds to complete.
Captain Cookies
You mainly play as Angelica in a pirate themed minigames
Treasure hunt: Win keys by exploring the map and opening the blue treasure chests, once you have 4 blue keys you can open the final treasure chest
Treasure Collecting Area: 4 rounds to collect all the coins in the area before time runs out
Pirate Golf Scene: Win a key by scoring under par for the whole game, there are 9 levels in total
Footrace Scene: Same as the racing games but your racing on foot. This one can be a challenge as some of the babies (Susie) are quite fast, whilst Lil and Chuckie are slow and prone to walking straight into hazards. There are also track hazards like Lobsters, oil spills and bananas falling from the trees.
Tag Scene: tag the babies in order to win, similar to Chuckie’s glasses but you don’t have to race them back to an area.
Lazy Saddles
You play as Susie in a wild west themed studio, with the name being a pun on blazing saddles.
Gold Mine Scene: Collect all the gold in the mine and make It back to the entrance before time runs out. First levels are straightforward but the final on become more difficult since there are multiple floors and you have to navigate back down to the start. The controls are unpredictable since the Minecart will often fail to take turns and jumping is delayed. Also enemy ghosts will appear and will take your gold upon being hit, use your torch to zap them
Milk Squirting Scene: Shoot at the targets within the time limit, there are multiple rounds
Round Up Scene: Round up all the animals to win keys by picking them up and placing them in the correct pen, there are four stages in total
Western Golf Scene: Like the Pirate Golf there are 9 stages, to win you have to be under par for all stages. There are pink keys that, when picked up allow access to hidden areas.
Interestingly these golf levels seems to tell a story.
Hole 1: A western rail station where you enter the town
Hole 2: A town bank where you have access to a vault with money
Hole 3: A blacksmith where you take refuge from whilst on the run, and eventually caught
Hole 4: A western sheriff/jail that you break out from
Hole 5: A graveyard where you hide
Hole 6: A tunnel or a hill? I think
Hole 7: Native American/Indian refuge
Hole 8: Entrance to a mine cave
Hole 9: Tunnel to a mine cave
Then again I’m probably reading too much into it, its a kids’ game afterall.
Outside Space
You play as Chuckie in a sci-fi space studio setting
Loonie Lander: Collect all the aliens in each of the four stages, each stage gets bigger with more aliens to collect. This level could have been used as a race stage.
Zero Gees Scene: Play three levels and navigate the level to the end of the level. Plays like a platform game but can be frustrating to play due to the poor controls. Sometimes there is a delay in the jumping which can cause you to miss a platform.
Lazy Beam Scenes: Shoot lasers at the objects to win, similar to the western milk squirting scene
Final Levels
Shirley Lock Holmes: Play as Angelica and find four of the ghost keys to open the large door at the bottom of the path which will take you to the next area. From here you use the switch to move the platforms to allow for you to progress.
Okey Dokey Jones: Playing as Tommy, this is similar to the Zero Gees Scene activity. Tommy has to navigate to the end in order to locate Dil through a series of platforms and challenges. A homage to the Rugrats Movie which came out around this time.
One thing that stands out about Rugrats Studio Tour is its sense of humor. The game doesn’t take itself too seriously and has a lot of tongue-in-cheek references to Hollywood and the film industry. The character animations are also quite amusing, with the Rugrats getting into all sorts of wacky situations.
That being said, the game does have its flaws. The controls can be a bit clunky at times, and the camera can be frustrating to work with as it was in the original game.
Overall, I’d say Rugrats Studio Tour is a decent game that’s worth checking out if you’re a fan of the show or looking for a fun, lighthearted platformer. It’s not a masterpiece by any means, but it’s a solid effort that’s sure to bring back some fond memories for those who grew up with the Rugrats.
One of my favourite childhood games from the PlayStation, objective of the game is to find Tommy’s Reptar pieces that are scattered all around the house by completing various mini games. Rugrats Search for Reptar was only released for the Sony PlayStation
First we need to talk about the Pickles Home, what has been rendered entirely within the games engine, and servers as a gateway to the mini games that need to be completed. It’s a pretty nice house consisting of 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living area, kitchen and a study room, along with a garage. Its very faithful to the TV show, at least from the episodes I’ve seen, a lot of cartoon shows tent to remodel the house to suit the plot. It’s probably one of my favourite cartoon house alongside the Simpsons house which I got to explore in Virtual Springfield. Whilst rendered in a 3D environment, the art style tries to be faithful to the shows animation.
Some areas of the house are locked out initially, but when you enter a specific level they are available like the garage, I put this down to memory limitations of the PSX because some rooms that were previously explorable are disabled in some levels. An example of this was the Chuckie’s glasses level which opens the garage area, but removes the basement and garden area for that level. Some objects of the house can be interacted with, mainly Tommy’s toys which can be thrown or picked up.
Activities
Easy
Chuckie’s Glasses
Its raining outside and Angelica decided to play Hide & Seek with the babies, volunteering Chuckie’s to find them. However to make it fair, she takes his glasses, using Chuckie, you have to find and tag the babies (Phil, Lil, Tommy) and race them back to the play pen. It’s fairly easy and you get to explore the Rugrats house as you play, there’s no time limit and if one of the babies win you simply have to find that Rugrat again, although its gave over if they beat you three times.
Ice Cream Mountain
Stu wants to go golfing, he take the kids and promises a huge ice cream mountain, based on an episode in the show. There are 10 levels and to play, you walk to the ball, press the triangle button to start the power meter and press triangle again to hit the ball when the meter is in the right spot. Some require a power shot, others only require a small amount.
Grandpa’s teeth
The level starts off in a playground where you and Chuckie can play on one of the slides/rides. When your done, you can progress through the level into some sort of maze where the goose is hiding with grandpas teeth. Once you navigate the maze, a second segment starts where you have to chase the goose that has Chuckie, using Spike to catch up to it. The third stage concluded with you throwing hockey pucks at the goose (Hopefully PETA didn’t play this game), whilst trying to avoid Chuckie.
Cookie Race
You just have to race and beat Angelica to the kitchen. The house has been slightly altered and some areas have been blocked off, meaning you have to go the long way round. This is fairly easy since Angelica is quite slow but the controls can be a hindrance since its easy to run into an object.
Medium
Visitors From Outer Space
You control Angelica in a spaceship where the babies have been abducted. Avoid the TV robots/aliens and navigate to the lower levels (you can still explore the ship) where you will meet an alien fish thing, who will disable the gravity. Angelica can then float through the air vent and navigate to one of the pod escape ships where she meets the babies, somehow? Based on a real Rugrats episode.
Mr Friend
This one sucked, basically you have to throw objects at Mr Friend and destroy it. First you have to deal with one, then three will spawn. Its challenging since the hit detection is very inconsistent and the controls are digital which makes it hard for Tommy to aim, also some of the throwable objects will just clip through Mr Friend.
Let There be Light
Stu overclocks his Amiga and causes a power cut, so its up to Tommy to restore the power. This level has the pickles house in darkness, with the textures being darkened for effect. There are ghost’s that roam around the house that can drain Tommy’s health, use the flash light to zap them away. First part see you navigating the house in near darkness to the kitchen where you find the Pickles fridge, but Tommy is unable to open it by himself so he needs the help of Spike to open it for him, which starts the next segment when you have to find Spike.
Circus Angelica
The Rugrats are tasked with performing with Angelia’s Circus, and have to perform a variety of tricks. This isn’t really difficult but the controls can be a major problem since you have to be accurate when it comes to Chuckie’s part, and if you fail twice the game is over.
Hard
Hard basically means long, as there are multiple objectives that have to be completed for the activity.
Incident on Isle 7
Set in a supermarket, Grandpa takes Tommy shopping for some Reptar cereal, Tommy breaks free and is left to explore the store. First section sees you exploring the different sections of the shop, until to reach the seafood section where a bunch of lobsters get loose. You then have to avoid or kill the lobsters and navigate through the various areas that have spillages that can cause Tommy to fall. Lastly you will reach the boss section where you have to stun the main Lobster in order to hit a switch.
Toy Palace
Set in a toy store, Stu loses Tommy and Chuckie after they decide to go solo. They explore the toy store zone in the hope of finding Reptar. Everything seems to cause damage in the first part, and the last part can be frustrating since you have to collect the blocks in order to reach the switch, some of which are located on shelves. The jumping is inconsistent as there is a delay before Tommy jumps, resulting in him falling a few times. Tommy and Chuckie also have a habit of repeating their dialog endlessly.
7 Voyages of Cynthia
You control Spike (Poorly) in this level as you navigate the sewer, Spike is very vulnerable to damage and will take a hit over every minor collision. The second stage isn’t any better since you have to avoid the mud which will reduce his health. The final stage is easy as you just need to find Cynthia before the time runs out, except she spawns in a random place.
Activities
Cookie Race – Same as the main version
Egg Hunt – Also in the main game, Angelia wants to hog all the easter eggs, so its up to Tommy to find them all before the time runs out, I guess the cookies weren’t enough for Angelica?
Gold Rush – Also available as a bonus game, Phil and Lil need to collect all the coins before time runs out, Same as egg hunt really
Mini golf – Can be played with multiple players, but instead of split screen, its more of a pass the controller for each turn kind of affair. There are 10 courses to play through.
Emulation
Recommended emulator: BeetlePSX or Mednafen, Duckstation works just as well.
One of the issues that occurred when playing this game in Duckstation was some cutscenes not playing, or the ones that did play would end early, and some of the Rugrats would be played randomly around the house, like in the screenshot below where Angelica is present in the kitchen, and cannot be interacted. This would often happen if you start the game in training mode first, then exit via the door which starts the main game. Angelica’s model is in the training map so maybe the game forgot to remove her from the world?
Angelica has seen some deep shit…
The hide and seek game is mainly affected, with the Rugrats randomly appearing around the house once they have been beaten to the playpen
Not a very good hiding place Tommy…
Tommy and Phil have been found, but instead of being in the play-pen, they are in the living room. This issue also occurred with the older builds of ePSXe where rugrats would randomly appear around the house, and issues with cutscenes playing. I’ve not tested it in modern ePSXe (this was around ver1.6)
Rugrats untextured object
An untextured toilet? Found in the cookie race level. I remember something similar occurring on the actual console itself so possibly not an emulator issue. The light above the mirror is also affected in both the cookie race and Chuckie’s glasses.
Navigating the Disc
Opening the SLUS_006.50 in Notepad++ and scrolling to line 168 reveals a few menu name strings, one of which references a Debug Menu, wonder how we activate this?
All the game data is present in the DATA folder, and each of the levels are broken up into different DB folders, with DB00 being the Pickels family home. Inside each folder are multiple BIN folders that follow the name convention. DBxxANM.BIN might refer to the animations for that level. Unfortunately these formats are likely built using proprietary game tool exclusive to N-Space, so there isn’t really much to play about here. Maybe we could rename and swap a few files around and experiment what happens when the game tries to load data intended for another level?
Update: 18/04/2023
There is also a hidden/unused level known as DB19, which appears to have been scrapped during development. By using CDmage to copy and move the files, we can trick the game into loading. Because of the way PlayStation discs are authored, we need to extract and then inject the files specifically into DB04 – the Voyages of Cynthia as that’s the largest levels that we can fit the files into.
The level appears untextured and looks to be an earlier version of the Pickles household. Notable differences is space around the house, and more narrower stairs. As you are controlling Spike for this level, we have a few issues using the stars, with careful precision you can jump up to the second floor which appears mostly the same layout.
Entering the closet causes the countdown timer to start, likely because the game thinks we are on the Cynthia level and Spike as entered into a specific trigger for the countdown timer.
Lastly lets see what’s outside in the level Chuckie’s glasses, by using the cube found in Tommy’s room we can use this to glitch out of the boundaries and into the garden which we normally cannot access. We can see its not raining at all and Spike’s doghouse is missing. Jumping on the buses causes a weird model/prop to come out which spawns shortly after. There’s also a weird square at the edge of the garden which we cannot stand on.
Drew1440: Blog 