[00:00]
Welcome to the Cartridge Archive, the show dedicated to chronicling the complete Nintendo 64
library, one cartridge at a time. I’m Adam. And I’m Jamie. Each episode we pull another game from
the shelf and explore its impact on the Nintendo 64’s history,
[00:30]
from beloved classics and hidden gems to forgotten curiosities and infamous disasters. No cartridge
is left behind. Along the way, we’ll examine each game’s story, development, legacy, collector
value, and the impact it left on the Nintendo 64 library as a whole. And then we will put it through
the rigorous and totally patented 64-point inspection to determine whether it has what it takes to
become Certified 64. So, indeed.
[01:00]
So, welcome back. We are here with another episode. We’re excited to keep this podcast rolling.
Thank you so much for everyone who has downloaded our initial launch episodes and all the awesome
feedback, kind words, and followers we’ve been getting. It’s been terrific. And, obviously, this is
going to be a work in progress and we’re going to learn by doing. But, yeah, the initial reception
has been really great. And, yeah, I just can’t thank you enough for all the kind words. Yeah, and
thanks for, folks, joining us on the Discord.
[01:30]
If you have not joined us yet, we’ll have details in the show notes and at the end of the show as
well. We had a couple of people guess about this one. We had put out a clue that there was some buzz
around this game recently. And we had some pretty good guesses, but no one quite nailed it on this
one. And so we’re going to go ahead and get into this one and let you know what it actually was. If
you didn’t look at the album art or the name of this podcast episode anyway.
[02:00]
That’s true. That’s true. But, yeah, let’s start off this episode with the history lesson and then
we’ll get into it. In the fall of 1998, moviegoers were introduced to two different takes on life in
the insect world almost simultaneously. DreamWorks released Ants, its first ever animated feature,
just seven weeks before Pixar debuted A Bug’s Life. Despite coming from rival studios, both films
told stories of unlikely insect heroes standing against overwhelming odds.
[02:30]
But movies weren’t the only form of insect entertainment that year. Released the very same day as A
Bug’s Life on November 25th, 1998, Buck Bumble offered Nintendo 64 owners a very different vision of
life as a bug. Set in the then-futuristic year of 2010, a chemical accident in London mutates a
faction of insects known as the Herd who set out to eliminate ordinary insects and take over the
world.
[03:00]
Humanity is blissfully unaware of the bug battles unfolding all around them, leaving one unlikely
hero to stop the invasion, Buck Bumble, a cybernetically enhanced bee, armed with rockets, lasers,
and the determination to take on an entire insect army. For Argonaut Software, the British studio
whose technical expertise and Super FX chip helped Nintendo bring the original Star Fox to life on
the Super Nintendo. And whose 1997 title, Croc, Legend of the Gobos, had sold over 3 million copies
on PlayStation, Buck Bumble became their next opportunity to showcase their knack for creating 3D
worlds.
[03:30]
The game was also backed by Ubisoft and was just the second of 13 titles the company would
ultimately go on to publish for the Nintendo 64. Unlike many action games of the era, Buck Bumble
gave players complete freedom in all directions through large, fully 3D environments, turning each
mission into a blend of aerial combat, exploration, and boss encounters.
[04:00]
The game also featured two-player multiplayer, including a standard deathmatch mode and the
surprisingly inventive buzzball mode, a frantic take on soccer, where players attempted to score on
the opposing goal by firing rockets and lasers at the ball and each other. Argonaut also focused
heavily on support for the Nintendo 64’s rumble pack, even partnering with peripheral manufacturer
Joyetech to produce a distinctive black and yellow striped rumble pack, sometimes jokingly called
the Bumble Pack, bundled with the game by some European retailers.
[04:30]
Though it was not an officially licensed accessory, it remains one of the more unusual pieces of
Nintendo 64 memorabilia. Complementing the game’s unusual premise was an equally unconventional
soundtrack. Composer Justin Charvona opted to style the music in the then-emerging UK electronic
genre known as Speed Garage, believing it was a better fit for the futuristic setting and action-
packed gameplay than the more common techno and house music of the day.
[05:00]
The result was one of the Nintendo 64’s most iconic title themes, an energetic opening track that
has arguably become more famous than the game itself. In the decades since release, the soundtrack
has taken on a life of its own. Millions of listeners have discovered it online, introducing an
entirely new generation to Buck Bumble’s unmistakable opening theme. The soundtrack arrived on
streaming services in 2024, where it continues to attract tens of thousands of monthly listeners,
[05:30]
helping transform Buck Bumble from a long-forgotten mid-generation curiosity into one of Nintendo
64’s most enduring cult classics. The renewed interest ultimately culminated in the game receiving a
physical re-release by retro console manufacturer Mod Retro in July of 2026. However, a memorable
theme song can only carry a game so far, so while we bump to the base, it’s time to see if the game
is as enjoyable as the music.
[06:00]
Today, on the Cartridge Archive, Buck Bumble. Terrific. Alright, so yeah, Buck Bumble. I am excited
to dig into this game. What with it getting its new re-release by Mod Retro, coming out on official,
well, officially unofficial cartridge hardware. I think this is going to be a great game to get
into, and a big entry point for a lot of people playing this game for the first time. So, for those
of you who want to know what was on the back of the original box, here’s the back-of-box quote for
Buck Bumble.
[06:30]
The herd, an evil band of vicious mutant insectoids, is attacking and exterminating Earth’s native
insects. Only Buck Bumble, the baddest bee in the hive, and the world’s most advanced cyborg insect,
can save the day. Be prepared. Protect the insect world by blowing away terrifying attack wasps and
killipers in 20 unearthly 3D environments. Use Buck’s cybernetic implants and deadly weapons to
unmask the power behind the herd.
[07:00]
See a wild new world through an insect’s eyes. Discover hidden areas, secret powers, and surprises.
Feel the buzz with Rumble Pak trademark play. Multiplayer deathmatches. Experience complete
360-degree movement in totally real-time 3D. Wow. Quite the selling point, yeah? I gotta tell you.
And I almost laughed when you said baddest bee in the hive.
[07:30]
I’m glad we have separate tracks so that didn’t bleed in. I personally enjoy just the name
Killipers. I’m not entirely sure why that became a thing, but, you know, here we are. Yeah, it’s a
weird game. I do want to say, I do take issue that it says, see a new world through the eyes of an
insect, or through an insect’s eyes, rather, because it’s not a first-person game. You see it
through the eyes of a camera that follows behind an insect for most of the game.
[08:00]
That’s true, that’s true. I mean, you can switch to a first-person mode, but I wouldn’t recommend it
because it’s impossible to fly around. But, as we will get into when we talk about this in the
inspection, being impossible to fly around is kind of a big part of this game. For sure. But, yeah,
interesting storyline on this one with the, I think it’s set, what was it that you said? It’s like
the distant year. Yeah, 2010. So, all the way in the future there.
[08:30]
Set in London, and due to a chemical leak, we’ve got these Killipers and friends running around.
But, Buck Bumble, who seems to be the only bee in the game, conveniently also the toughest bee in
the non-existent hive, is also cybernetically enhanced. So, I don’t know who’s cybernetically
enhancing him. I’m not entirely sure what normal bees look like in this game. I know we’ve got the
wasps, but… I think there actually was a little bit more backstory to it.
[09:00]
He was part of some sort of fighting military syndicate, paramilitary thing. And I think there who
outfitted him, if I remember right, from the… It wasn’t referenced very overtly, but there was
like a very quick blurb, I think, in the manual, that he was like a fighter pilot-type guy. And so,
those folks helped get him prepared for this, or something like that. Gotcha. Yeah. Unfortunately,
with these games, when you don’t have the instruction manual, a lot of the backstory and the setup
does get lost.
[09:30]
Which is a big difference between games that are made nowadays, because obviously manuals are a
thing of the past. Which does make the game developers have to actually incorporate their storyline
into the game regarding any details that otherwise they might have just been able to put in extra
material. Here we go, I found it. It was called Project Buck. Which, you know. And it was a top-
secret insect military project. That’s really all they said. Well, it’s so secret that nobody knows
who the heck this character is.
[10:00]
That’s right. All right. Well, I think we should probably just dive right in and start our 64-point
inspection. It is. It’s time for the 64-point inspection. This is a carefully crafted evaluation
designed to judge every Nintendo 64 game through a series of 10 tests. For each test, we’ll present
evidence, make our cases, and put it to a vote. If the game passes the test, it earns 10 points. If
it fails, it earns none.
[10:30]
And if opinions are split, then the game is awarded 5 points. Any game that earns 64 or more points
passes the inspection and receives our coveted Certified 64 Seal of Approval. So, with that said,
let’s start the inspection. All right. Test number one, the memory pack test. I’m sure there was
something. Ah, yes. Now I remember. Is this game still remembered today? Or has it faded into
obscurity? Would the average gamer recognize it in a modern day?
[11:00]
I think, yeah. I think for the most part. I don’t think it was the most popular game back in the
day. But it’s gotten re-releases. As we’ll talk about here, a couple categories down. I think we’ll
get into the soundtrack being fairly popular. I think this game is remembered pretty well. Yeah, I
think time has been very kind to it. For sure, it does get remembered. I don’t think it gets
remembered for all the reasons that the developers would actually like it to. You know, their game
so much. But, you know, the buzz, har-har, about this game, particularly the soundtrack.
[11:30]
This game is salient. People know this game. They recognize this one. And the fact that it’s a
unique Nintendo 64 title as well, I think it often gets lumped in when you’re talking about the
library as a whole. So I would have to pass this one. All right. That’s a yes and a yes. I’d say
that’s a pass. Moving on to test number two, the Rumble Pack test. This is the Rumble Pack. The
coolest cinematic gaming experience there is.
[12:00]
Does this game really take advantage of what made the Nintendo 64 unique? Four-player multiplayer,
analog controls, accessories, and other signature N64 featured. Yeah, I think this one does. I think
it’s, we talked about in the history lesson that they were so focused on getting the Rumble Pack in
front of people and having that be a highlight of this game that they even had their own Rumble Pack
available in Europe. Yeah, absolutely. So, I mean, they did take advantage of some of the other
things, like the 3D movement was something that they were pushing, and that’s a big part of this
game.
[12:30]
But honestly, yeah, if you have your own Rumble slash Bumble Pack for your game, then you’re pretty
legit as far as this test goes. So I think you have to pass it verbatim. And I’ve only seen pictures
of it, but it looks pretty cool. I guess there were two. One was like a plain yellow. It wasn’t real
exciting, but there was one that was striped, and it’s all about the stripey. It’s pretty cool
looking. I don’t know how many of them are out there that people could seek out, because I’m sure
many of them have gotten lost to time.
[13:00]
But it’s pretty cool. Maybe that’s something that needs to be re-released. So that is, I think,
another pass. Looking good, Buck. All right. Test number three, the expansion pack test. That is one
powerful piece of machinery. Does this game deserve an expansion, sequel, remake, or model
successor? Was there enough here to justify a future beyond the original cartridge? Well, I think
right off the bat, we can say yes, because we know that this game just got a re-release on Nintendo
64 replica cartridge hardware, which is pretty cool, I gotta say.
[13:30]
It’s nice to see this getting the love now and showing back up, especially with that new console
just launching or the new repo console coming out. Yeah, I’d be interested to, or curious to see
kind of how that works. And I guess it’s, you know, supposed to be basically the exact same thing,
but I did pre-order an M64 from Mod Retro. I just talked myself into it, and it has not reached me
yet, but I hope that it does soon. I did not pick up a copy of the game necessarily, but maybe I’ll
get around to it.
[14:00]
But yeah, I think, and I’d be interested to see over time. I don’t know that it gets the buzz. We’re
going to do that way too many times in this episode. Never enough. But that it gets, that it
necessarily gets the buzz to have a modern sequel or remake. But I think it would be something of
note to see how it evolved into something new. Though it’s gotten a re-release, it doesn’t have that
modern successor. I think I’d be interested to see how that worked out. Yeah, I think this is
testing the waters, if anything.
[14:30]
I mean, in the twin stick shooter world that we live in now, you could absolutely apply this IP and
make a pretty killer title out of it. So I think there’s definitely enough to warrant a true sequel.
And the fact that it’s getting this re-release as well, I think this is an absolute pass. I like
that you use the word killer there because I’m thinking Buck Bumble 2 Killer Bees. I mean, somebody
reach out to us and send us like 20 bucks for saying that because, you know, I mean, it writes
itself, but we beat you to it in theory.
[15:00]
But yeah, I agree. That’s a pass. All right. Buck Bumble is racking up the points so far. Test
number four, the barrel roll test. Do a barrel roll. Impressive, Star Fox. How impressive was this
game for its time? Did it push the boundaries of technology, gameplay, graphics, scale, or
innovation? So you mentioned the true 3D, which was certainly something that was a bit of a
revolutionary thing at the time. Not the first game to do it, obviously not the last, but I think it
was something that was, we had a lot of games that were 3D, but true all the way 3D.
[15:30]
You can fly upside down. There’s all kinds of stuff that you can do. So really full freedom in all
directions, I think was a pretty notable thing about this game at the time. Yeah, the environments
were a little lackluster. The more you played, you get to see a little bit of variation, but the
environments didn’t necessarily showcase the coolness of the space. The idea of the small scale in
the gardens initially was pretty great. But, you know, you’ve got to draw distance you’ve got to
worry about, and there are limitations when it comes to what the Nintendo 64 was able to do.
[16:00]
But as far as the 3D space and the flying around, they did accomplish quite a bit with it. I mean,
it’s frustrating in its own regard, and we’ll get to that in later tests. But I think it was
impressive for the time on that regard. But also, they have a multiplayer mode called Buzzball,
where you have to basically shoot a large ball that bounces around. It’s basically Rocket League
before it was Rocket League, as far as multiplayer goes. It’s only two-player, so that’s a bit of a
shot against it as far as, you know, the rumble pack test, you know,
[16:30]
incorporating the four players. But it’s a little gem of a mode, and I absolutely applaud that they
included it. So I’m going to definitely say that this one gets a pass as well, despite the fact that
while the 3D was limited by the technology of its time, it wasn’t necessarily pushing the boundaries
in that regard. I think when it comes to innovation and what they’re doing with the idea of a flying
shooter and then also incorporating that idea,
[17:00]
flipping it on its head and making it a flying shooter soccer game, pretty cool. I’m impressed by
that, and I think that would get a point from me on that. Yeah, and I agree. I feel like you can, I
wouldn’t necessarily say draw a straight line between that mode and Rocket League, but there are a
lot of similarities, and that’s definitely something that was a very bold move that just kind of
comes from out of left field. But to see now this, you know, massive franchise that has evolved from
such an idea or an idea so similar,
[17:30]
it seems like there’s definitely had to be some inspiration there, or at least it was the start of
something. And I think that’s really notable. So that’s 4 for 4 so far. That is 40 points, and
that’s another pass. All right. Well, get ready to pump the brakes on that one, Buck, because test
number 5 is the joystick gymnastics test. Yeah! How well does this game play today?
[18:00]
Are the controls and cameras still enjoyable, or are they working against the player? I mean,
there’s no sugarcoating it. This game plays like a frustrating punishment more than it does as far
as an engaging simulation. Absolutely. You die when the mission starts, and you have to, if you die
during the mission, it completely starts over. There’s no checkpoints. You end up flying into stuff
that you’re having a dogfight with more than actually hitting it. Sometimes that’s actually more
effective than shooting things down. In many cases, the game does not tell you where the fights are,
so oftentimes you’re retracing and flying back through repetitive areas to try and find the one guy
you didn’t kill.
[18:30]
And it’s just, it’s a nuisance. And the controls don’t necessarily make it all that much fun to try
and accomplish. They have power-ups kind of strung throughout the scenes in order to try and guide
you in the right directions. But once you’ve collected them, there’s no real way of knowing, oh,
that’s the hill I’m supposed to go over, or that’s the hole I’m supposed to aim for. And it can get
a little bit confusing if you’re not familiar with the world that you’re in, and or you’re
remembering the one that you were just in before, which looks very similar.
[19:00]
And it’s just, it’s frustrating. And I think that in a modern-day environment, going back and
playing the game, it’s hard to sing its praises in that regard. I think at the time, we would have
given it leniency because we didn’t know better, but now I gotta say, this is a pretty hard fail for
me. I think I’m going to agree. I experienced so much of that, I went back and played the game
recently, and obviously I’m gonna do that for most of these games.
[19:30]
I’m gonna go back and play basically all of them so that I can speak to it from a modern
perspective. And I think I ran into a lot of those same issues. You think you’re done with the
level, but that door hasn’t opened, or it doesn’t say that you’re done and you can leave. And you’re
like, why? And you just fly around until you find something, because there just isn’t any real
indication of where you should be going, what you should be doing. I, for some reason, notice too, a
lot of times if the game involves flight, I do like an inverted stick, more like flight simulator
style.
[20:00]
And a lot of times… Yeah, and I do give you the option on this one. Yeah, and a lot of times with
shooters, I’ll do it upright, just kind of a habit I’ve developed over the years. I tried both, and
they were both bad in this game. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing, no matter which way I
decided to control it. They were both still pretty unresponsive and just not great. And so I’m gonna
have to agree the same way. Camera, same thing too I mentioned earlier. You could go first person or
a more zoomed in mode to try to aim a little bit better, but it worked at very limited capacity.
[20:30]
You kind of would do that, and you’d have to get back because you could not tell what you were doing
outside of that. Yeah, choose your poison, really. Do you want to fly worse or shoot worse? You
can’t do both at the same time, but this is a flying shooting game. But you can be pretty bad at
both too, yeah. Oh yeah, oh yeah. So I’m gonna agree. I think that’s, for both of us, a fail. So
first unsuccessful category for Buck Bumble. That’s all right.
[21:00]
I’m feeling pretty confident that this next test is gonna be a win. That’s test number six. The bum
to the base test. Here, here, here we go. How good is the game’s audio? Does it have memorable
music, iconic sound effects, or the kind of soundtrack that sticks with you long after you’ve put
the controller down? This one, it’s literally where the name for the category originated. It’s based
on the bump to the base, basically theme of the game in general.
[21:30]
Kind of mentioned in the history lesson as well, the game’s soundtrack was composed by Justin
Charvona, and he chose this electronic genre known as speed garage. He said that he felt that techno
and house music was a little too bland, wasn’t really, with the game being set in 2010, which does
not seem like the future anymore. But he felt like it needed that, just something slightly
different. So he wrote the whole thing himself. I even found an article that he’d found a specific
DJ that he wanted to bring in to do some of the vocals on some of the stuff.
[22:00]
And I didn’t find confirmation if that is who actually did it or if that worked out. But he had
mentioned this guy by name, this club DJ from the scene in London at the time. But yeah, and we kind
of mentioned again in the history lesson, it is available now on sites like Spotify, Apple Music.
And I think Spotify shows it is something like 25,000 listeners a month on average. Like people are
listening to this thing because it’s pretty good.
[22:30]
Yeah, it’s catchy as hell. No, it’s huge. It was a remarkable part about the game when playing it
originally, and it’s definitely held up to the test of time. I think, honestly, it’s generated a
fondness more so. And I think the enthusiasm for the game now, enough for it to get a re-release,
is, I don’t think it’s a big stretch to say, because of the theme music. It’s extremely iconic, and
like you said, it’s the name of this category. So there’s no way around it. As far as the rest of
the sound design goes, it’s not too bad.
[23:00]
There’s actually one thing that I thought was particularly good. When you’re shooting down one of
those killer bee enemies or the killer wasps, they do a kind of a spiral down pit fighter kind of
sound. And it really makes a mediocre dogfight sound cool. When you’ve got these guys kind of
zipping off and around, you have to shoot them down. And that made it really satisfying. So when you
pull off one of those moves and you peel off and the guy crashes into the wall, it sounds the part
too.
[23:30]
So that was really cool. The downside is, is obviously that music is at the start menu, and that’s
about it. The rest of the music and the sound effects of the game are pretty, you know, lock and
standard. Not anything too catchy. But it’s well implemented, and it’s competent. So I think this
one gets a pass for that. But it absolutely gets a pass when it comes to that iconic theme song.
Yeah, the rest of the music is kind of in that same sort of style, but it doesn’t, like, hit quite
on the same level. And I hard agree on the, like, plane going down sound when you shoot those wasp
guys.
[24:00]
I had the exact same reaction. Like, when I saw it, I was like, that’s a really good sound. Like, I
had the same exact reaction. And we had not talked about that prior to right now. So that’s kind of
cool that we both sort of honed in on that same thing. So that is another pass so far through six
categories. We’re at 50. We are at 50. So we are pretty, doing pretty good. We got to see if Bunk
Bumble could close this thing out. On the precipice. Okay, so here we are. Test number seven, the
Smash Invite Test.
[24:30]
Will this battler live up to expectations? Does this game have characters, worlds, music, or ideas
worthy of a place in Super Smash Brothers? So the only character that you could really make the cut
as far as getting an invite to be an actual playable character or a trophy or an assist would be
Buck, right? And I’d say that he could make the cut for a cool addition to the lineup. And he kind
of, you know, I mean, he’d have his different moves that would apply to his design
[25:00]
that would probably just be different types of projectiles and whatnot that he has and fly around.
He’d have to control totally differently than he does in his own game in order to fit into the Smash
mold. So I just, I don’t think that nomination would really make too much sense. I did also find, as
reading through the manual, I thought this was pretty funny that they actually were so detailed
about the stats on Buck himself that they actually put in that he is approximately 0.85 inches tall,
[25:30]
which is, I think, about maybe a centimeter and a half or so-ish. He is 0.08 ounces, so not really
got a lot of weight to bring to the table as far as a fighter. Yeah, not a heavyweight contender
there. And he has an 8-mile-per-hour top speed. Interesting, again, being in London using ounces,
inches, and miles,
[26:00]
but, you know, I didn’t make those choices. But it was kind of funny to consider that when there’s
some folks on Reddit who have done extensive math and looking at the grid behind in, like, the
practice mode and determined that, like, King K. Rool is something like 7 feet 7 inches tall. So to
put someone who’s less than an inch tall against a character like that, there’d have to be a lot of
suspending of disbelief to try to make Buck fit in. Yeah. You’d have to Ridley him and play with the
scale an awful lot in order to make him a contender.
[26:30]
But, you know, maybe the storyline could be that he got a little bit more mutated. Maybe in the
distant future of 2011, he grows a couple of feet or something like that. I mean, after being
exposed to all those chemicals, it’s not out of the question. No, no. In fact, it makes too much
sense, to be honest with you. But, yeah, I just don’t see him making it into the game as a
character. I don’t see it really making a lot of sense at all. However, the category does say, does
it have memorable worlds, music, or ideas worthy of a place in Smash Brothers?
[27:00]
And, again, back to that bum to the base, that music could absolutely make the cut as far as being
an iconic N64 track. And I could absolutely see that being the sort of thing that those historians
that like to play Smash Brothers for the collecting and the all-encompassing archive that Smash
Brothers can be for Nintendo games and beyond, that could be in there. And that would be something
really cool. I could totally see people saying, oh, man, that’s in this game?
[27:30]
Sure. Fine. All right. We’re going to play Final Destination, Fox only, no items, Buck Bumble track
on loop. That’s how we’re playing. And I see that being a – that would be killer. Everyone would
love that, and I’m going to pass it just for that. Yeah, I think that’s definitely worth mentioning.
It’s hard to say so many great things about the soundtrack and then say that the soundtrack couldn’t
be included in something like this. I do want to say, again, that I appreciate the effort that they
put in to put his size and speed and stuff out there,
[28:00]
but I don’t think that fits. It is just very humorous to me. But I do think that the music, it’s got
to be included. So I think that’s going to be yet another pass. Wow, Buck Bumble. Wow. So where are
we sitting with Buck Bumble’s score right now? That puts us at a 60. So it is right at the edge, but
we’ve got some pretty tough categories coming up. So let’s see if it can make it across the finish
line. Test number eight, the 101% test. Oh, they are running up the score. Is this game worth fully
completing?
[28:30]
Are the extra challenges, collectibles, and secrets worth the effort? I’ll be honest with you. I had
to cheat to be able to see all of this game when I was replaying it. I played it back in the day. I
rented it, but I never owned it. And I probably cheated back then too, to be perfectly honest with
you, because I just could not see past Jamie putting in the time to see through all the frustrating
and punishing elements of the game in order to get to the end. But so besides the fact that this
game does have a final boss
[29:00]
and an ending cinematic, there’s really no completion perk or reason to play the whole game again,
unless you really enjoy punishing yourself, in my opinion. You do unlock the buzz ball mode, but
that’s not for completing the whole thing. So as far as making you go back and get all of those
missions and getting the best scores you can and taking out all the enemies and playing through
everything without just skipping ahead and cheating, I’m going to have to fail this one, Buck.
[29:30]
Yeah, and I had a very similar experience. I didn’t cheat, okay, geez, but I would have if I had
more time. But I had a similar sort of outcome in the way that I felt about it. I went through it
and I played it, and it’s just, again, we talked about earlier when you’re trying to get through a
level and you’re like, oh, what one random enemy on the ground that I forget to end up destroying
earlier and now I’ve got to circle back and go flying around until I find it to open this door to
get to the next place.
[30:00]
And just the effort to get through all of that to get to the next level for a relatively small
payoff of just sort of an ending cinematic, it just doesn’t seem like if you put in that much time
and that much effort and it gets pretty tough toward the end, I just don’t see necessarily the
payoff. You get to the end and that’s good enough if you get to the end, but I don’t see digging in
even more to make sure you’ve gotten absolutely every little nook and cranny. I just don’t see it.
So I think that’s a fail.
[30:30]
Test number nine, Wario’s Wallet. Oh my God! Is this game worth the price of admission today? If
you’re spending modern collector money, are you getting your money’s worth? So according to price
charting, the loose price for this game is a little steeper. It’s $54.44. And the complete in the
box with manual, that’s looking at $148.87. So for a clean eBay cart find, you’re looking at like
$65 to $70 US.
[31:00]
But I will say, while that is expensive, the Mod Retro cartridge that just came out with 2026
hardware that will work in an original Nintendo 64 is $49.99. So you don’t necessarily need to pay
the premium of the 54 in order to play this game. If you wanted to have a physical cartridge, there
are other options. But yeah, if you’re looking for the original plastic instead of the updated,
you’re looking at a pretty steep price.
[31:30]
I also looked into it, and Google says that you can grab one of the bootleg Bumble Packs, but
they’re looking at over $100. I have never actually seen one in the wild, so I can’t confirm that.
I’ve hunted around. Since I knew that we were going to be doing this episode, I’ve been keeping tabs
on eBay. I have not seen one show up. Maybe they will now that the re-release has come out. But
yeah, so it’s a pretty steep price tag associated with this game. So candidly, if you’re talking
about the original hardware, I just don’t think that a $54 price
[32:00]
being commanded for this is worth the price of the actual game. So I think I’m going to fail this
one. I think that’s fair. On the Bumble Pack, I did see, actually, I saw a picture of one where
someone on Reddit posted a picture, and they said, what the heck is this thing? Like they had
bought, like at a thrift store or something, had bought like a bundle of things, and they were like,
I don’t even know what this thing is. And somebody was like, dude, that’s crazy that you got that in
there. So that’s the only time I’ve seen it. It’s just a photo of one that a person
[32:30]
didn’t even realize what they had just bought. And so that was… Yeah, it’s never shown up in a
marketplace that I’ve been able to see. So I can’t verify what the price goes for. Yeah, and that
one, like they had just bought whatever bundle of stuff for, I don’t know, like 20 bucks or
something. So it was really just an absolute fluke that they ended up with it. Because I did a
little bit of kind of searching around. I didn’t realize it existed until we started kind of looking
into this. And I haven’t seen one anywhere either. So it’s definitely an unusual thing to try to
track down.
[33:00]
I’m a little on the fence as far as the pricing of this one, though, because being able to buy a
brand new one for $50 is kind of interesting. And I think there’s a little bit of a balance between
is it worth the premium for the original? Maybe not, because $54 is pretty steep. And I’m sure a lot
of that is based on soundtrack popularity. Just people are like, oh, that’s that game. I got to go
get it. And it wasn’t terribly popular in its day. And it’s somehow more popular now. Now, I’m a
little, though, conflicted
[33:30]
because a lot of these games, when they came out, were in the $70, $80, $85 range. So to buy it now
for cheaper than it would have been brand new is kind of interesting. So if you have this way of
getting it, it works on original hardware, it works on these reproduction hardware units from Mod
Retro and from Analog. I think maybe it’s a relatively low barrier of entry. I think I might split
this one.
[34:00]
I think I may. I was a little back and forth, but seeing the prices written out like this, I think
maybe I’m going to give this a pass. So I think we’re maybe split on this one. Oh, man. Okay. Yeah.
No, I mean, that’s a fair argument. I didn’t really think about it that way. Honestly, the fact that
you can buy a game now, 30 years later, new, for less than it costs to buy it new back when it
originally launched. That’s an interesting way of looking at it. I’m going to stand by my vote on
that one, but I respect the split on this.
[34:30]
Yeah. I think totally valid. I think really both points do make some amount of sense. If it’s a game
you never played, it’s an economical-ish way to get to it, but if you are really seeking out that
original hardware, it is something you can find. And so it may cost you a little more, but if you
are into the preservation space, it’s not an absolutely unreasonable price, though it could possibly
be a little more fair. So I’ll take the split.
[35:00]
Fair enough. Moving on. Test number 10, the Nostalgia Goggles Test. Does this game genuinely hold up
today, or is its reputation being carried by nostalgia? This is interesting based on all the
discussion we’ve just had and how this game is getting a nostalgia-based revival going on right now.
This is an example, I think, of nostalgia only.
[35:30]
I do not think that the game warrants the nostalgia it has as far as the actual gameplay, the
quality of the game. I just, it wasn’t, it didn’t fly off the shelves back when it was originally
launched. It was respected, but… Pun intended. It didn’t set the world on fire at the time, but
that quirky, catchy soundtrack and a fondness for looking back, I think has given this, done wonders
for this game,
[36:00]
and I think it’s given it the boost and the shot in its arm, and I’m very happy that it’s getting
the love that it’s getting now. But for the rubric of the test, this is the definition of being
carried by nostalgia. So I’m afraid I am going to fail this one. Absolutely. To toss out a couple of
B puns, it did not generate a ton of buzz. It did not fly off the shelves, but it is… That’s got a
sting. Yeah. Sorry, I just wanted to jump in with one. Hey, it’s all good. You got to do it when
it’s there.
[36:30]
We don’t have many opportunities for that. So this is, you really couldn’t have said it much better.
I mean, it really is just nostalgia. People being excited about the soundtrack. It’s not the most
reputable game. It’s not the most well-known game. It’s not a great game, but it is an okay game.
But I think it is definitely something where we have played it recently. It’s not amazing. It plays
well enough. It did some pretty notable things for the time. But it is definitely…
[37:00]
We wouldn’t even be talking about it having gotten a re-release if it weren’t for people’s fondness
of the soundtrack and how weird it was. Yeah, 100%. And I agree, though, that I appreciate that it’s
there. There’s been a lot of… Which is… Maybe it’s just that 30-year milestone that people are
kind of looking back on a lot of these things fondly. But since we started this show, I have seen so
many things where I go, that’s a thing that we’re either getting ready to talk about or we have
talked about,
[37:30]
and it’s getting a re-release where it’s generating some discussion that it wouldn’t have had
otherwise. And it’s kind of just this really… Almost like a renaissance and this sort of revival
around the Nintendo 64 era as a whole. And I’m really kind of excited about that, partially because
we’re doing this right now. I think it adds a lot of context to what we’re doing. And maybe people
will be listening. But I think it’s definitely worth for sure pointing out that this game, if it
weren’t for the nostalgia, people would not be talking about it.
[38:00]
So I definitely agree that’s going to have to be a fail. Yeah, but I mean, a mediocre game from 30
years ago. The fact that it’s still in the conversation now and it’s getting the love. I’m happy for
it. Like I said, I think that’s a good thing. But as far as what we’re talking about with it, what
are we looking at for the score on this one now? Believe it or not, for all of the somewhat down the
middle of the road things that we’ve said about it, it got a 65. It just barely became our first, if
you’ve been listening since the beginning,
[38:30]
Certified 64 title. Congratulations! Whoa, okay. Awesome. That’s, that’s, honestly, I would have bet
against that. Um, knowing what I was going to say about the game, uh, coming into this episode and
sitting down with you about it, I was like, I just, I just don’t see this game making it through.
Uh, but that’s kind of the point of this test, right? To evaluate it in a way where it’s not just
the perfect 10 out of 10 games get told that they’re still perfect 10 out of 10 games 30 years
later.
[39:00]
The idea here is to evaluate the game and take a look at it in a modern lens and whether or not it’s
worth playing now. And I think the conversation about this game with the re-release, with all of the
love that Nintendo 64 is getting at the moment, I think it’s cool that now is a time for people to
potentially give Buck Bumble a go. And in some cases you can just go back and play and see all of
the suffering that we had to go through when we played it back originally. So welcome to the club. I
do think too, it’s worth mentioning
[39:30]
that that re-release is probably one of the things that made it certified 64. Because if it were
just $55 or, or, you know, 60, 75 bucks or so buying it on eBay was the only way you could get it. I
don’t know that I would have gone with the pricing is fair, but being able to grab it for $15, $20
cheaper than that, brand new, basically guaranteed to work, that really kind of swooped in and saved
it. So the nostalgia really did do wonders for this game
[40:00]
and its legacy and its reputation. And so it was very, very close. I am in complete agreement with
you. I was thinking sitting there playing it, I don’t know if this is going to do it, but, and I
leave the collector portion up to you. So when you go look up the prices, that usually is the first
time I’m hearing it. So I was absolutely on the fence. That was just a last minute decision when I
went, you know what, it’s 20 bucks cheaper. Yeah, maybe that is worth it. So shout out to Mod Retro,
I guess,
[40:30]
for that re-release because it just came out in 2026. So that’s pretty, pretty impressive. But yeah,
I was not expecting it, but congrats, Buck Bumble, the first certified 64 title. If you were going
to try and plus on that, what would you add to the game? What would you change about the game to try
and improve it? I think one of the things that we could potentially do after we review these games,
whether they pass or fail, we could potentially just do a little armchair engineering and say, oh,
you know what I would have done actually. What are some things that you think would have been easy
or quote unquote,
[41:00]
easy adds to this game to really secure a more favorable score, not just from us, but just in
general. I think for me, one thing, we talked about some of the struggles around navigation. I think
having some sort of directional indicator or something to kind of show you even a numerical
indicator. There’s this many enemies and there’s only three left. So you at least know what you’re
looking for because I had a couple of levels where I’m kind of just flying around in circles and go,
oh, it’s that thing on the ground.
[41:30]
I didn’t even see that was there and stuff like that really kind of tripped me up. So I think
something to kind of steer you in the right direction when you are getting lost, even if it’s after
a period of being lost, I think would just to speed things along. Yeah, just to try and help you
out. Yeah, there’s been other games that have done different techniques of sort of a radar detector.
Actually, there was a little indie game that I played a couple of years ago. It was a Kickstarter
game actually and I followed along the developer of it. His name’s Rob, shout out to Rob.
[42:00]
It was called Clive and Wrench and they had a really cool feature in that game where you basically
had a magnet detector kind of thing and you would turn it on and it would send an indication in the
direction of the closest collectible. Yeah, that’s kind of cool. So if there was like one or two
things left in the level that you needed to try and scoop up, it would kind of point you in the
right direction and it was elective. So if you didn’t need to use it, just don’t use it. But if you
wanted to, if you’re getting frustrated with trying to find something or if maybe the game put
something in a spot where you’re like, I would have never gone and looked over there,
[42:30]
then it really helps you find some stuff. Now, it can confuse you. Obviously, if you think about,
what was it, the Lego games, finding those golden bricks and the red bricks, sometimes they would be
a little indicated to try and let you know, hey, there’s something that appears here, but it’s
actually in the scene over or the floor above you or whatever and it drives you nuts because you’re
trying to follow this little radar detector thing going around. But with Buck Bumble, you could do
it with his antenna easily. It would have been a cool little in-universe way to try and link things
up
[43:00]
instead of that really crappy radar that seems to be decidedly 2D in a 3D game. It just, you know.
Oh, yeah, sure. Worst case, above you or below you indicators on the menu so that you know to look
up or look down instead of just left and right, right? Little things like that would work. I think
one other thing too because it’s like, oh, isn’t that cheating? But I mean, I think there’s even
been like a Zelda game that had like the moon pearl or moonstone or something where it was like your
rumble pack would vibrate when you got close to certain things. Like, it’s okay to give hints on
some of that stuff if you are looking for some particular item or enemy.
[43:30]
I occasionally like those sort of quality of life improvements that games don’t have to be hard,
especially when you’re older, you’ve got a job, you’ve got kids, sometimes having that little bit of
a thing. I’d rather enjoy the game and get through it than to be like, well, I am the most
impressive man in the world because I beat it without the hints. Let me just have fun. Yeah,
especially when it’s elective though. That’s the thing. You know, don’t use the moonstone or don’t
use the radar detector.
[44:00]
The other thing I was going to say is the menus. So while that funky music is playing, it’s just a
static low resolution image of Buck Bumble. If that was animated in some way, you know, have a
breakdancing bug or something just playing into the fact that you got this really kicking track
going on while you’re at the menu, that would have gone a long way, I think. And just kind of set it
above. We’ll talk about this game down the road, but one of the games that I thought was fantastic
[44:30]
for its just 3D for the sake of it menu, Mystical Ninja. When you died in Mystical Ninja, there was
this dancing guy that would just dance above the game over screen for as far as I’m able to detect,
no reason besides it looked cool and was funny. And it was catchy as hell. And I’m just thinking, if
you apply 10% of that effort to Buck Bumble’s menus, you could have made these things stand the test
of time, and this game would have been re-released a lot sooner than now. I do want to say in their
defense, though, Buck Bumble is only three quarters of an inch tall.
[45:00]
So we may not have had the technology at the time to get a really good picture of him because he was
such a little guy. And I’m just saying this like I don’t understand that he is not real and that it
was an actual image that someone drew. So just go with it and just pretend that he was small and
they had to actually get a picture of it. Okay. That explains the pixelization. Science, yeah. No
argument. Sure. Yeah. All right. So moving on from that very wise insight. Thank you, Adam. Let’s go
into the Lobo learnings.
[45:30]
In this segment, we take a look at today’s game through the eyes of an indie developer or an
aspiring indie developer in this case. What lessons can we learn from it decades later? What ideas
are worth borrowing? What mistakes could have been avoided? What made this game work? And how might
those principles apply to a modern game in development? Lobo learnings is brought to you by Lobo
Destroyo. It’s our own Nintendo 64 inspired 3D platforming adventure that’s currently in
development. As we mentioned before, if you’re enjoying this show and you’d like to follow along on
our own development journey, we’d love to have you join us.
[46:00]
Please visit lobodestroyo.com. That’s L-O-B-O-D-E-S-T-R-O-Y-O.com. And you can find that link and
all of that info in the show notes. So yeah, putting on our developer hats here and looking at Buck
Bumble. I kind of just touched on it with a little bit of armchair engineering, but one of the
things that this game does really well is it commits to its brand and its universe to make its own
identity. It’s what makes this a strong game. There are better shooters out there and better flight
simulators on the Nintendo 64.
[46:30]
But end of the day, Buck Bumble can be identified by a single screenshot. And that’s pretty rare,
right? To be able to look at a shot from pretty much anywhere in the game and be able to identify
it, that means your game was pretty iconic and you did a good job there. Sure, some people might mix
it up with the Mr. Mosquito that came out a few years later on the PlayStation 2. But up until that
point, it was wholly unique and it was committed to that IP. And you’ve got to respect that. I think
that’s something that games can lean into and really push.
[47:00]
Not every game is going to be the most unique thing in the world, but if you stick to your guns as
far as how you’re presenting your game and your spin on the genre, I think you can do an awful lot
with a little. And that’s something this game does really well. We’re attempting to do that with
Lobo. Buck’s moves and world make a lot of sense because of the character that is established,
right? Obviously, unless you have the instruction booklet, you don’t know his birthday and the
reason why he’s a cybernetic, whatever. But it is pretty straightforward.
[47:30]
You can follow along without all of the detail. And the same kind of goes for Lobo Destroyer. We’ve
got Mutt as our character in the world of Costa Lucha. And we try to make sure that everything that
Mutt can do, his reactions, the type of things he says, all make sense for him being a wolf
character in this Lucha Libre-inspired world. So putting those little flavor spins on things that
are standardized tropes can be a really cool way of making something out of your game to make it
stand apart. And Buck Bumble does that in spades.
[48:00]
And I got to give a props to that. Yeah, Buck Bumble’s birthday, actually January 14th. I made that
up. That’s not in the manual. I just wanted to pretend that it was for a minute. But yeah, I
think… Say it out loud enough times, the AI will pick it up and it’ll become fact. Yeah, it’ll
eventually become canon and they’ll just know that that’s it. It’s January 14th. All right. I’m
setting my calendar now. We will put out an official happy birthday tweet on Buck’s birthday. Sounds
good. And we’ll start that off and people will want to know where that originated and they’ll find
us.
[48:30]
Marketing. I think you make a really good point, though. I do agree about the… Not that I’m an
indie developer or anything like that, but I think you make a really great point from a regular
person standpoint of how iconic it is. There are games that you see them and you go, that’s that
game. And it is very true that even though they are billion-dollar franchises, there are a number of
screenshots that you see and you go, that is one of four generic military shooter franchises. I’m
not entirely sure which one.
[49:00]
There’s a lot of gray. It’s very clear what era it came from and it is from one of those three or
four games, but it can be difficult to know which one unless you are very much a fan of that
franchise. So I think it is very true that 30 years on, if you knew that this game existed and you
see it, you go, that’s that game. I know what Buck Bumble is and I think that’s again something to
note for sure. Yeah, so with that, that’s the end of this episode. I think this was a good one.
Again, I’m just chuffed that Buck made it
[49:30]
and we’ve got a so prestigious nomination and a certified 64 game in the library this early on in
the podcast. So cool. I’m really pleased with that. Yeah, I think we’ll definitely see a mix. There
are a lot of those games that were low quality. That’s going to happen with any platform. So it’s
nice to see that so early on that we have gotten one that is certified 64. So again, congratulations
to Buck Bumble. All right. We have our next episode lined up. We’re hoping that you will join.
[50:00]
So please do like and subscribe to the podcast wherever you like to get your podcast feeds or you
can visit us over at the cartridge archive dot com. Give you all that detail in the outro. But I did
want to say stay tuned at the very end. We’re going to try a little thing here. We’re going to do a
little bit of a tease as to what the next game is. And we would love to hear your thoughts and see
what your guesses might be. So jump in on the discord and give us a shout. Good luck with your
guesses. And if you are out
[50:30]
on your platform of choice and you have an opportunity to leave a rating or review, we would really
appreciate that. The cartridge archive was created by Jamie Guy and is produced and hosted by Jamie
Guy and Adam Jones. Our music is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder. Visit the cartridge archive
dot com for more information or join our discord. You can find links to both of those at tap to add
dot me slash TCA pod. That’s tap the number to add dot me slash TCA pod. You’ll find that and all
our other links in the show notes.
[51:00]
More episodes of the cartridge archive are available wherever you get your podcasts. And as always,
thanks for listening.