Wave Race Ultra 64 [Prototype]

Wave Race Ultra 64 [Prototype]

Wave race is one of the most interesting beta for the nintendo 64, because they changed completely the original concept. In fact,The Shoshinkai 95 build, that we can see in the screenshots in this page, featured motor boats instead of jet skies, unlike the original wave race for the gameboy. The track design is very early, even though we can see some resemblances with the final versions, such as the stage with the houses that looks like a beta of the secret track of Venice.

The number of competitors was greater, perhaps because the advanced physics of the sea had not yet been implemented in its entirety and thus the engine allowed more polygonal models on the screen at the same time. Of course, the main gameplay (pass on the side of the buoys) wasn’t created yet, but the motorbots were capable of real-time morphing, as you can see in the video linked in this page. At E3 1996 Nintendo finally presented the version of the game that we all played all these years

[English translation by yota]

italian_flag.jpg [spoiler /Clicca qui per la versione in Italiano/ /Nascondi la versione in Italiano/]

>Wave race 64 è una della beta più interessanti per gli appassionati, visto che si tratta uno dei titoli per Nintendo 64 che hanno subito più cambiamenti rispetto al concept originale. La versione presentata allo Shoshinkai 95, infatti, come potete vedere dagli screenshots presenti in questa pagina, utlizzava motoscafi piuttosto che jet-sky, a differenza dell’originale Wave Race per Game Boy. Il track design era inevitabilmente diverso, sebbene si possano notare elementi riutilizzati nel titolo definitivo, come il percorso con le case che sembra una beta del track segreto di Venezia.

Anche il numero di concorrenti era superiore, forse perchè l’avanzata fisica del mare non era ancora stata implementata nella sua totalità e permetteva un quantitativo di modelli poligonali maggiore. Non sono poi ovviamente ancora presenti le caratteristiche più interessanti di Wave race, come le boe da seguire, le varie evoluzioni con i personaggi, o anche solo l’intensa sponsorizzazione di diversi brand, che rappresenta qualcosa di decisamente inusuale per Nintendo 64. All’e3 1996, a poche settimane dal lancio del Nintendo 64, venne comunque presentata la versione definitiva, quella che abbiamo giocato e apprezzato in tutti questi anni[/spoiler]

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2 thoughts on “Wave Race Ultra 64 [Prototype]

  1. AVPerth

    According to page 96 of Gamefan Volume 4 Issue 08 (August 1996), Miyamoto talked to the press at E3 ’96 about upcoming releases for the N64 and explained that a sequel to 1991’s F-Zero for the Super NES, known as either F-Zero 2 or F-Zero 64 at the time, would be using the previously seen engine for Wave Race (aka Wave Racer) and would be released for the upcoming Nintendo 64 Disk Drive (64DD).

    The newly titled Wave Race 64 would now be using a new “jet-ski” engine. This key change, possibly due to either a potential licensing deal with Kawasaki or the suggestion to change the power-boat styled vehicles to jet-skis from Rare Ltd’s Tim Stamper, wound up making the final game more of a true follow-up to 1992’s Wave Race for the Game Boy.

    This turn of events can be seen as somewhat ironic as early previews for Wave Race (aka Wave Racer) across 1995-96 described the game as “F-Zero on water” with the eventual Wave Race 64 becoming one of the first games released for the Nintendo 64 in 1996. Meanwhile, due to catastrophic delays in 64DD development, F-Zero X eventually shed its 64DD exclusivity and released in 1998 for the N64.

    1. monokoma

      Interesting details, thanks a lot AVPerth! I did not know about Nintendo’s plan to use the same engine for F-Zero :O I really hope one day we could see a leaked ROM for this Wave Ware prototype, it was quite different from its final version and it would be quite awesome to play it

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