Wave Race 64

Wave Race 64 is a racing video game in which players race on personal watercrafts in different weather conditions and on a variety of courses. The game features three single-player modes (Championship, Time Trials, and Stunt Mode) as well as a multiplayer mode for competitive play. In the Championship mode, the player must race opponents through a series of courses and win the first place. Up to four levels of difficulty can be chosen: Normal, Hard, Expert and Reverse, the latter being Expert with the tracks oriented backwards.

Hard, Expert, and Reverse must be unlocked by completing an earlier difficulty. The difficulty also determines the number of courses played: six in Normal, seven in Hard, and eight in Expert/Reverse. When the player completes a course, points are awarded based on the rank they finished. If the required quantity is not met, the player will be disqualified and the game will be over.

Wave Race 64 was developed by Nintendo EAD and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto as one of the first Nintendo 64 games. Development of the game was led by Shinya Takahashi, who had been working with Nintendo since 1989. Takahashi, along with Yoshiaki Koizumi, who worked with Miyamoto on Super Mario 64, are credited for helping the company effectively make its paradigmatic leap from the 16-bit 2D graphics of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System to the Nintendo 64's 3D capabilities. Since the game's engineers only had experience with the 2D graphics of earlier Nintendo consoles, Takahashi had to guide them through the first stages of development.

While experimenting with the Nintendo 64's Silicon Graphics technology, one of the programmers created a tech demo that served as an example of the game's wave programming. The tech demo caught the attention of Miyamoto, and soon the team began to figure out a way to create "something fun" from it.

Wave Race 64 was a critical and commercial success, selling more than 154,000 units in Japan by December 1996 and more than one million units in the United States by December 1997. As of December 2007, the game had sold 1.95 million copies in the United States. Globally, the game sold 2.95 million units, making it the best selling Wave Race game of all time, and 14th best selling Nintendo 64 game. At the time of its release, some reviewers considered it to be one of the greatest racing games of all time on a home console. GamePro described Wave Race 64 as a "phenomenally fun" racing game that captivates players with its deep and challenging gameplay, while Next Generation regarded it as one of the first quality titles released for the Nintendo 64, along with Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64.

Graphically, Wave Race 64 was praised for its fluid animations, realistic physics, clean waters, and textured polygons. IGN's Doug Perry commented that the jetskis in the game provide believable and spectacular experience. Writing for The Electric Playground, Victor Lucas highlighted the game's distinct environments, saying that each course offers players something to get excited about. He also gave high marks to the game's satisfying sound effects, particularly when players submerge under the waves, but felt the music was shallow.

After its release on the Nintendo 64, Wave Race 64 has been included in several top lists. In 1997, EGM ranked the game 68th on its list of 100 Best Games of All Time. In 1999, Next Generation ranked it 20th on a similar list, commenting that Wave Race 64, along with Mario 64, demonstrated more graphical power for the system. IGN editors ranked it 33rd on their 2003 list of Top 100 Games of All Time, and 37th on another list published in 2005.

They remarked that Wave Race 64 incorporated water physics into racing unlike any game before it, or any since. The simple concept of racing on jet skis was complicated by changing wave patterns, swells, and rising tides, and Nintendo added its trademark depth to broaden and deepen the unique racer. In 2006, Nintendo Power placed Wave Race 64 at 127th in its "Top 200" games list. In 2009, Official Nintendo Magazine ranked the game 49th on a list of greatest Nintendo games of all time.