- JP release: 28th November 1997
- NA release: N/A
- PAL release: N/A
- Developer: Namco
- Publisher: Namco
- Original Name: Famista 64
- N64 Magazine Score: 68%
Yet another Japanese only baseball game, this time from Namco. This one, however, features a different style of batting and some other fun features – such as a Namco-themed stadium.
Instead of very specifically aiming the bat, batting in this game is focused far more on timing, with you just moving slightly to the side and swinging at the right time. I was able to get to grips with this a lot more, and even scored some runs.
Once the ball has been hit, the game switches to a completely different 2D visual style. This works surprisingly well, with your players running and diving for the ball. I felt more in control of the game and based on that, I was able to enjoy this one.
Family Stadium also has a bunch of minigames, which serve as great practice and training for each individual part of the game – one for hitting far, one for hitting specific targets, one for catching balls and so on. They’re fun and can be played solo or with others.
There are also a couple of minigames which aren’t really related to baseball (or practicing one element of it), but are still fun. There’s one where you have to pump up a balloon before an opponent, one where you have to trace a picture and, what seems the most random, a 2D snowball fight minigame.
Family Stadium is the first baseball game that I’ve had some fun with – although I’m not sure if those fully into baseball would agree that it’s better.
Fine
Remake or remaster?
Sports games evolve over time – although minigames should be brought back for them.
It gives you an incentive to play rather than having you punished every time for the faintest whiff of an error. And despite its pudgy performers and hyper-cute surroundings (including Pac-Man’s Castle Stadium), it’s actually quite a serious baseball sim.
Tim Weaver, N64 Magazine #11
Official ways to get the game.
There is no official way to get Family Stadium 64
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
I can only imagine that this game’s release must’ve been the result of some sort of legal gordian knot contractual obligation, because Nintendo were Namco’s sworn enemy by this point.
Namco were basically a first-party Sony studio from the moment that Kutaragi approached them in 1993, to the point that they moved most of their arcade division (their main breadwinner of the early-mid 90s) over to PS1 based arcade hardware. They had a very public feud with Nintendo and Yamauchi after Nintendo refused to renew their existing sweetheart Famicom licensing deal; which is why Namco largely chose the PC Engine and Megadrive over the SNES during the 16 bit era. That plus Namco always resented Nintendo for displacing them from their perch as undisputed kings of the video game industry back in the early-mid 80s. Hell, if that’s not enough, Tengen (the company that tried to take down Nintendo’s monopoly with bootleg unlicensed releases) was actually a joint Atari/Namco venture! Namco were out for blood.
This game and Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness (another game that Namco do not fully own the rights to) were the only internally developed Namco games ever released for the N64; which again, indicates that these two games only reached the N64 thanks to Namco’s hands being tied by some sort of blood pact contract. Even this info is of dubious reliability however, because it’s far more likely that both Famista 64 and the N64 port of MPMMM were developed by Tose than by Namco themselves. Both are very minor releases, with the only truly significant Namco property ever hitting the platform (Ridge Racer 64) actually being developed by Nintendo themselves! (Or rather, their newly formed American development division; NST).
Funnily enough, not much has changed in the proceeding years. You have had some brief moments of peace and uneasy alliance (most notably during the GCN and Wii U years), but Namco still largely hate Nintendo to this day, and only work with them when they basically have to :laughing: