Vigilante 8

by Nintendo

Product Features

• N64

Product Details

• ASIN: B00003E4GK
• Item Weight: 5 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,508 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

GameSpot Review

Vigilante 8 was one of the most celebrated car combat games on the PlayStation, and I'm pleased to say that with new multiplayer options and improved graphics the N64 version is even better. For those of you unfamiliar with the premise of the game, let me explain it. The basics of gameplay are simple: You drive around a 3D landscape in one of 12 vehicles that you can outfit with various weapons you find in the level. Within each level there are other vehicles you must destroy so you can advance. You ultimately want to get through all of the levels to see the happy little ending for each of the characters. Each level in the single-player game has a specific mission that you must complete. The missions are simple: You do things like protect a specific structure - like a bank or gas station - within the level. However, depending on which character you pick, you may be asked to destroy a specific building. Either way, it always seems to end up with you seeking out the competition and blowing it to smithereens. Right off the bat, the most important things to note about the N64 version of Vigilante 8 is that it has a new level that wasn’t in the PlayStation version, and that it supports four-player simultaneous play, compared with the original PlayStation version, which only supported two. Equally important in both versions, though, is that it's really enjoyable how alive the environments are. For instance, when you're battling the other vehicles in the aircraft graveyard, huge planes are trying to take off. When you find yourself on the canyon level you’ll find a locomotive going about its way. What’s even better is that all this extra stuff within the levels can be blown up. Sure, there’s no good reason to do so, but it’s hella fun. My favorite thing to do is blow up the supports of the train bridge and watch the whole thing come tumbling down. And, actually, some good can come out of blowing things up, as you may, for instance, find a hidden weapon or other power-up, like a shield, behind a building. Controlling the vehicles in Vigilante 8 is extremely easy and intuitive. You steer the cars using the analog stick, and fire rockets, machine guns, and other various weapons with the buttons. The physics used for the cars makes them fun to drive since they’re an exaggerated version of real-world physics. For example, if a big explosion or a special weapon goes off near your car, it's likely that you’ll go flying - and far, at that. Visually, Vigilante 8 on the N64 is quite impressive, a bit more so than the PlayStation version. The lighting effects used for the explosions and laser blasts are really extraordinary. The polygonal vehicle models look even more detailed and move more realistically than before. Even the environments look a little more defined, making it easier to see secrets and things not noticed before in the PlayStation version. The pop-up or level fill-in is probably the only thing you could complain about if you had to; however, it doesn’t affect the gameplay in any way. Vigilante 8 on the PlayStation had incredible music, thanks to the CD that carried it. The N64 version, of course, doesn’t use the CD medium, so the music has been watered down a bit and turned into fairly decent midi renditions of the original music. The sound effects and character taunts you hear throughout the battle really add to the games free-for-all feel. In the end, Vigilante 8 for the N64 is not only the best car-combat game for the system by default (there aren't any others), but with its great multiplayer options, it even has a bit of an edge over its PlayStation counterpart. I'd recommend Vigilante 8 to anyone, especially to people who play a lot of multiplayer games with friends. The only negative thing about the game is its brief single-player mode, which literally takes less than an hour to beat per character.--Ryan Mac Donald--Copyright © 1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cool Game, February 13, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Vigilante 8 (Video Game)

OKay let me just say this game is not the reatest it has 5 corses and vigalante 8 secone offense has 50 and it is only 2 dollasr more. this game is fun but if you want someting that takes more than 5 minutes to beat get the second offense

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interstate '76 for Consoles, February 22, 2009

By 

DryvBy (Knoxville, TN USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Vigilante 8 (Video Game)

Okay, maybe it's not exactly Interstate '76 but it's obviously a spin-off from the game. The game features the same 70's soundtrack, almost the same characters (with some huge introductions), and the same style of car combat. However, they replaced the huge story with more of a traditional car-combat system, which is really fun.

This game is arena/action based, so don't expect to look for hidden blue keys or anything like that. Most of the time, you travel through map after map, annihilating each opponent until you're declared winner. Each character has a different ending, so it's fun to go through all of the characters.

There's a good variety of maps in the selection but the kicker is the maps are all pretty good. Maybe one or two won't be to your preference but there's not one that you're going to want to skip, like most maps in todays games. The character selection is pretty good too. Every vehicle has it's own strenth and weakness, just like every other game, but the specials on this game are just incredible. For instance, one of my favorite vehicles is the camper truck with it's bee attack. It's completely silly to think bees could harm a metal 2-ton rolling machine, but hey, it's a video game!

The graphics in this game, are pretty good, given they're Nintendo 64 graphics. The one thing that stands out over the PSOne is the extra map, which is sometimes tagged 'Nintendo Land', although it has nothing to do with Nintendo rather than it's a reason to buy it on their system other than the PlayStation.

The controls are really easy to use. It's one of the good games that makes the N64 tooth-controller great to use. It really feels like you're driving with one hand on the wheel and one hand on a weapon selector.

I'd say if you love car combat, you're going to love this game. It's really fun and will keep you busy for a good while. You can also pick this up on Xbox Live Arcade as a 800 MS point download. It's fun, but I still think the original is a bit better, mainly because it has more features.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ..., May 5, 2005

By 

Alex "47" (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Vigilante 8 (Video Game)

This game is probably the best car-arena-fighting game next to Destruction Derby 64. This game is amazing, but since the graphics are 64ish, it is to me hard to see whats going on at times... but for a 64 game, this game should be an auto buy for someone who can find it.