- PAL release: 29th May 1998
- NA release: 16th June 1998
- JP release: 27th November 1998
- Developer: Zed Two
- Publisher: Ocean (NA/PAL), Imagineer (JP)
- N64 Magazine Score: 74%
As Tetris set the standard for puzzle video games, other puzzle games try to have names similar to it. A water-based puzzle game? Of course it has to be named Wetrix. Wetrix is all about keeping water from falling off your square “island”, raiding the environment to keep it contained.
Different “blocks” will fall down from the screen. Most of these are upwards arrows which will raise the land in that shape, along with water to fill up the enclosed areas you make. The goal is to keep as much water contained as possible, as if to much falls off the sides, you’ll get Game Over.
There are other kinds of “blocks” as well. Down arrows will reduce the level of the land, bombs will blow up holes in the island that you’ll need to repair (on that note, don’t try to launch a bomb down a hole, the game will punish you for it), ice to freeze water and fireballs to get rid of some water.
I can definitely see the appeal of Wetrix, but I really could not figure out how to do well at the game. There’s a bunch of different modes, including one where you can change settings to make the game even more difficult.
It’s not for me, but it’s a solidly made game.
Fun
Wetrix may not be the best game for the N64, but it’s certainly a better puzzle game than Tetrisphere. Had the developers Zed Two added a little more in the way of variety and incentive – like dancing pandas after 100,000 points and ‘bamboo bonuses’ if you make ’em jive – it would be a far stronger game overall.
James Price, N64 Magazine #15
Remake or remaster?
A new version would be nice, alongside a collection of the various Wetrix games on N64, Game Boy Color, Dreamcast and PlayStation 2.
Official ways to get the game.
Wetrix is available on GoG, however it’s likely the original PC release. The official screenshots on the store page being magazine scans doesn’t give much confidence.
Europe
Japan
North America
N64 Games by Date
1997: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
1998: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
1999: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2000: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
As it turns out, there is a way to get it officially… one way. And it’s a pretty ironic way at that…
Piko Interactive currently hold the rights to the N64 and GBC versions of Wetrix (and presumably the other versions too), and they just so happen to have set up a deal with Krikzz (the creator of the Everdrive line of flash cartridges for various retro systems) and the Stone Age Gamer online shop… If you buy an Everdrive 64 flash cartridge from Stone Age Gamer, you get a free pack of N64 game ROMs licensed officially by Piko Interactive… and wouldn’t you know it! One of those games just so happens to be Wetrix!
So, in a hilarious twist of irony, the only way to officially buy Wetrix on the N64, and not resort to either the second-hand market or piracy, is to buy a piracy device :laughing:
That’s legitmately amazing! It’s an interesting way of getting some money out of games you have no plan on doing any work on.
Their favourite method is just throwing PC versions from the 90s onto Steam with no improvements, no compatibility fixes and no controller support. Sometimes they’ll throw in a PS1 rom and a terribly configured emulator.
Although they did make a new PC version of Glover, but that turned out even worse.
I can remember buying Wetrix from Curries as a child (11 apparently) from Curries for £19.97 with birthday money. I really enjoyed that game
I picked this up just a few days ago from a local game store by me! I had no idea what it was but at £7 I thought I’d give it a try.
I really love it but I’m in the same boat as I can’t figure out how to do well at the game :laughing: I’m LOVING it though so I will endeavour to do better!