Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Review – This is Ubisoft’s first stab at a 3D platformer. They specifically made it so they could get some practice in so they could make Rayman 2 in 3D. I was expecting a poor game, but to be fair, they nailed it on their first try. Not on the same level as Mario 64 on Nintendo’s first try (as that is almost impossibly good for a first attempt), but a mid-tier N64 3D platformer, which is high tier in comparison to any other console at the time.
The game gives you a hub world to explore which gives you access to levels once you power yourself up. There are quite a few abilities that you unlock that can be quite useful and fun. You don’t start with any abilities except for jump, so you need to unlock a basic hit and then shot, but they start getting more interesting like being able to transmogrify into other enemies or objects, or jump on a pogo stick over death paths or break underground.
The ability to fly is particularly troublesome as the controls are terrible at first and I really struggled to pass the tutorial of flying through rings like Superman 64 but somehow even worse.
Once I got familiar with the move to hover in the air to adjust my next direction, things got a lot easier. I still had to put up with some annoying moments, but it never got as bad as I was dreading after the tutorial stage.
The game is filled with puzzles, and to 100% the game, even though it’s not very big, you really do have to try everything. Most of the puzzles are great, but there are a few which were very dated and made me do the same thing over and over again which took a massive amount of the total runtime of the game. Some of them were because I was trying things that I didn’t need to do and then found out later there was a much simpler solution. Something that in modern games, you don’t come across. But the worst part of trying to collect everything were on the slide levels of which there are 2, and a flying level. These levels scatter the collectables as you slide through multiple paths so not only do you need to play the levels over and over to ensure you take every path, due to the controls, the collectables are very easy to miss even when you know exactly where they are and they are right in front of you. The first slide and flying level you are at least allowed to restart from the last checkpoint, but the last slide level, you have to do from start to finish, which took me multiple attempts just to get the last item where I knew exactly where it was but I kept missing it on every try for ages. These sections stink of their age. The first 2 levels of this type also have time limits. It doesn’t tell you why you need to beat the time because you finish the level anyway, but it rewards you with 5 more items that aren’t dotted around to collect.
There are other parts to this game that feel very dated. Such as the camera. It’s not terrible, but there are loads of sections where you can’t move the camera around because it’s too close to a wall. Fortunately, pressing the Z button toggles the camera exactly behind the avatar so this fixes any potential camera issues.
The save system is also buggered. It asks you to make some space on the memory card when you turn the console on, but it doesn’t confirm at any point when a save had been made. There is no indicator in the game, the instructions don’t say anything and I couldn’t find any save spots. Even online the information was scarce. So, I was too afraid to lose my progress and kept my N64 on until the game was finished. I wasn’t taking the risk. But at some point, I hit a bug and the game crashed. I was forced to reset the console. Fortunately, the game saved at the last point that I entered a room. So, it turns out that the save system is actually very good for it’s age as it autosaves very often. I can’t recall any N64 game saving like this as usually you see it happening and you have to wait a few seconds until it is done.
Another dated part is that the enemies re-appear if you drop down a hole so you have to defeat them again. Which is annoying because it doesn’t reset the items that you have collected. They are able to be remembered instantly – which is definitely a good thing.
The back of the box proudly boasts “over 60 hours of fun and excitement”. This is the most blatant false advertising I’ve ever seen because I did the game 100% in 12 hours on my first go. There is nothing left to do. No multiplayer either. Not that I’m complaining. The runtime for this game is spot on. I wouldn’t expect, or want it to be any longer.
It’s a solid N64 platformer and a great start for Ubisoft’s first attempt at a 3D platformer.
Rating – 8/10
Difficulty – 4/10
Original game played on PAL Nintendo 64
Picture split between CRT TV for my own viewing and OSCC scan converter with 2x line doubler, upscaled to HDMI for recording
PAL version
No Cheats
Box art from thumbnail is taken from my own collection
#tonictrouble #n64 #nintendo64
Review – This is Ubisoft’s first stab at a 3D platformer. They specifically made it so they could get some practice in so they could make Rayman 2 in 3D. I was expecting a poor game, but to be fair, they nailed it on their first try. Not on the same level as Mario 64 on Nintendo’s first try (as that is almost impossibly good for a first attempt), but a mid-tier N64 3D platformer, which is high tier in comparison to any other console at the time.
The game gives you a hub world to explore which gives you access to levels once you power yourself up. There are quite a few abilities that you unlock that can be quite useful and fun. You don’t start with any abilities except for jump, so you need to unlock a basic hit and then shot, but they start getting more interesting like being able to transmogrify into other enemies or objects, or jump on a pogo stick over death paths or break underground.
The ability to fly is particularly troublesome as the controls are terrible at first and I really struggled to pass the tutorial of flying through rings like Superman 64 but somehow even worse.
Once I got familiar with the move to hover in the air to adjust my next direction, things got a lot easier. I still had to put up with some annoying moments, but it never got as bad as I was dreading after the tutorial stage.
The game is filled with puzzles, and to 100% the game, even though it’s not very big, you really do have to try everything. Most of the puzzles are great, but there are a few which were very dated and made me do the same thing over and over again which took a massive amount of the total runtime of the game. Some of them were because I was trying things that I didn’t need to do and then found out later there was a much simpler solution. Something that in modern games, you don’t come across. But the worst part of trying to collect everything were on the slide levels of which there are 2, and a flying level. These levels scatter the collectables as you slide through multiple paths so not only do you need to play the levels over and over to ensure you take every path, due to the controls, the collectables are very easy to miss even when you know exactly where they are and they are right in front of you. The first slide and flying level you are at least allowed to restart from the last checkpoint, but the last slide level, you have to do from start to finish, which took me multiple attempts just to get the last item where I knew exactly where it was but I kept missing it on every try for ages. These sections stink of their age. The first 2 levels of this type also have time limits. It doesn’t tell you why you need to beat the time because you finish the level anyway, but it rewards you with 5 more items that aren’t dotted around to collect.
There are other parts to this game that feel very dated. Such as the camera. It’s not terrible, but there are loads of sections where you can’t move the camera around because it’s too close to a wall. Fortunately, pressing the Z button toggles the camera exactly behind the avatar so this fixes any potential camera issues.
The save system is also buggered. It asks you to make some space on the memory card when you turn the console on, but it doesn’t confirm at any point when a save had been made. There is no indicator in the game, the instructions don’t say anything and I couldn’t find any save spots. Even online the information was scarce. So, I was too afraid to lose my progress and kept my N64 on until the game was finished. I wasn’t taking the risk. But at some point, I hit a bug and the game crashed. I was forced to reset the console. Fortunately, the game saved at the last point that I entered a room. So, it turns out that the save system is actually very good for it’s age as it autosaves very often. I can’t recall any N64 game saving like this as usually you see it happening and you have to wait a few seconds until it is done.
Another dated part is that the enemies re-appear if you drop down a hole so you have to defeat them again. Which is annoying because it doesn’t reset the items that you have collected. They are able to be remembered instantly – which is definitely a good thing.
The back of the box proudly boasts “over 60 hours of fun and excitement”. This is the most blatant false advertising I’ve ever seen because I did the game 100% in 12 hours on my first go. There is nothing left to do. No multiplayer either. Not that I’m complaining. The runtime for this game is spot on. I wouldn’t expect, or want it to be any longer.
It’s a solid N64 platformer and a great start for Ubisoft’s first attempt at a 3D platformer.
Rating – 8/10
Difficulty – 4/10
Original game played on PAL Nintendo 64
Picture split between CRT TV for my own viewing and OSCC scan converter with 2x line doubler, upscaled to HDMI for recording
PAL version
No Cheats
Box art from thumbnail is taken from my own collection
#tonictrouble #n64 #nintendo64
