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Glover

This is one of those games that I was really excited to talk about because not only is it one of my favorite games on the system, but it is also just a really good game with a lot to offer in terms of originality and uniqueness. If you've played Glover you already understand what I'm talking about. It's a really interesting twist on 3D platformers and actually fits nicely in that genre if not its own specific genre that I don't know about. But we'll just call it a 3D adventure platformer.

The game starts you off with a cutscene with a wizard who has two gloves on, and with his experimenting going wrong, one of the gloves falls into the bowl of evil liquid and...well you guessed it, turns evil. While the other glove proceeds to fall out the window falling down to the surface below. This is where your game starts and right from the get go you see what this game is going for. You may think that everything is bright and cheery and wonderful, but due to the evil glove taking over and bringing everything into darkness, your left in this depressing desolate world that once thrived and its your job to get it back to its original state. But, it's also not just that. It's also an excellent twist on platforming due solely to the fact that your partner in crime in this game is a ball. A bouncy ball that has the power to transform into multiple different forms be it glass, bowling ball, and one other one that I don't remember. Basically, you have to learn to traverse each level with the ball and do some insane trick shots to get you to where you need to go. And the level design just further compliments this even more. The whole game is built around the idea that you are trying to maintain the integrity of the ball in your hand throughout the whole thing. You'll have to jump from platform to platform while also figuring out how to get your ball to higher or lower elevations without either rolling it off a cliff or breaking it when its in glass form. As you progress, you will learn many different tricks to get through the platforming elements easier and easier, but of course as you progress, the game gets harder and harder.

It's not the most difficult game in the world though especially if you like figuring out puzzles and learning how to maneuver yourself and the ball to do some really sick stuff. The game allows a lot of creativity and problem solving while also maintaining its uniqueness with each level bringing some light heartedness and joy to the game. But then you go back to the hub world and realize that the world is still in darkness and you just need to continue pushing forward.

Glover is just another shining example as to why the Nintendo 64 is beloved by everyone. It's games like this that really set the bar for where you can go with a game and it seems like we had a lot of games where developers were just trying out new things and seeing where they could go with their respective franchises. It's truly fascinating to see how many great games came to life because of the existence of this system. I would be surprised if I didn't enjoy Glover if I decided to play it today. I have watched playthroughs of it on Youtube over the years but I want to play it again for myself.