Battle Tanx is one of the few N64 games that I have fond memories of. While I don’t remember if my friends and I played the story mode, we played the hell out of the multiplayer mode. This is one of the party games that my friends and I played on the weekends.
This game was released in 1998 on the N64, and a year later, it got a sequel. It was a console exclusive, so if you wanted to play it in 1998, you needed an N64. I’m not too sure the PS1 fans really noticed or cared much. If it wasn’t for my friends, then I’d never have known the game existed.
I can’t remember exactly when my friends rented this game, or if it was the sequel that I’m remembering. The game did leave an impression on me, especially after I learned about the game’s story. It is something right out of an Italian post-apocalyptic movie. Specifically, the movie 2019, After the Fall of New York. I’ll explain that later.
I’m really looking forward to the reviews for this game. For some reason, I have a feeling that they won’t be good. This is a game that I remember enjoying with my friends, but I don’t think they rented it too often. We spent way more time playing Golden Eye when we played N64 games. Anyway, let’s get into it.
TLDR: A great party game. It has solid controls and decent graphics.
Narrative
So, Battle Tanx is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a virus killed 99% of women on Earth. There are a lot of books, movies, and comics that have this kind of story. Now, the countries of the world had a totally normal and rational response to this; they started shooting nuclear weapons at each other, which further destroyed civilization. I mean, what else were they supposed to do?
Unsurprisingly, the game’s main character happens to be engaged to one of the few surviving women on the planet. But the U.S. government kidnaps her right before New York City is destroyed. So, he takes a tank and travels around the country to gather an army. Eventually, he gets his wife back.
The plot about most of the fertile women being killed is very similar to the plot of 2019, After the Fall of New York. The big differences are that the main character in the movie isn’t rampaging around the country in a tank, and the game doesn’t have a creepy ape-man who wants to sleep with one of the only women who can still have children. Also, there’s a much larger government presence in the movies, even if they are fictional ones.
For what this game is, the story is fine. It really comes across like a rejected script for a low budget movie from the 1980s. If you’re a fan of the weird post-apocalyptic movies, then you might like the story here. If you don’t care about the story, then it isn’t all that necessary to enjoy the game.
Gameplay
Battle Tanx has decent gameplay. If you just look at the single-player mode, then you’ll probably hate the game, or give it a lower score. If you just play the multiplayer game, then you’ll probably love it.
The gameplay isn’t really anything to write home about. It is just driving around and blowing up enemy tanks. The single-player mode gets a little boring after a while. Even though it is short and easy, it isn’t all that entertaining.
There are a lot of multiplayer modes, which is the real draw for this game. As a four player game, Battle Tanx really shines. It is the mode that my friends and I spent all of our time with. After playing the single-player campaign, I don’t think I really missed anything.
Battle Tanx has pretty good controls. It is easy to move around the map and shoot enemies. The game has plenty of power ups, which is what you should expect from a game like this.
I do like the exploding barrels and the mini map. Stuff like this helps you deal with enemies and figure out where you need to go. You can also destroy much of the game’s environment, which is pretty cool.
Overall, this is a pretty mediocre game if you’re playing by yourself. It really shines in multiplayer mode. This really is a party game at its core, and doesn’t need to have a story or campaign mode. Those things are nice to have in this game, but I’m not sure how many people played them once their friends came over.
Visuals
Battle Tanx looks like a lot of mid-to-late 1990s PS1 or N64 game. Nothing really stands out to me. The explosions are fun, the cutscenes are okay, but the game is a little dark at times. It is easy to see what is going on, and the darker colors help the explosions stand out.
There are a few cutscenes that try to explain things. They look decent. It is a mix of still images and in game graphics. The images look pretty good, but don’t make up for how the in-game graphics look. Everything just explodes while text appears at the bottom half of the screen.
Everything looks okay. The explosions are nice, and the city is destructible. Nothing really stood out to me as I was playing this. All the graphics look decent and don’t really stand out as much as I thought they might.
Overall, I don’t really see anything terrible or anything that is great. Battle Tanx is just a mediocre looking game. I don’t have any complaints about how the game looks, which is probably the best thing I can say about it.
Reviews for Battle Tanx at the Time
Battle Tanks received average to good reviews for the time. Most of the scores fell between a 5.5 and an 8/10. There weren’t any outliers that I could find from the late 1990s. I looked at five publications for this.
GameSpot gave the game a 5.5/10, which was considered mediocre for the time. The reviewer was rather critical of the single-player mode, specifically saying it had a “short length,” and it was redundant. They ended it by calling this a rental game.
EGM had four people review this game, and their scores were 5, two 6s, and a 6.5/10. They also called the game a rental and praised the multiplayer mode. One of them had more fun “blowing stuff up,” instead of “trying to win the game.”
Game Informer gave the game a 6.75/10. They spent a lot of time praising the multiplayer modes. The reviewer also called the campaign mode a “miserable and exhausting experience.”
IGN gave the game an 8/10. This is an odd review and comes across as a reaction to the other reviews of the game. They praise the multiplayer, but added that “if you primarily play your games alone, don’t buy Battle Tanx.”
Nintendo Power gave the game a 7.7/10. They had five people review it, and all enjoyed the game. The reviewers praised the gameplay and said that it wins out “over polished graphics.”
The reviews were higher than I was expecting. I wasn’t all that surprised that they focused on the multiplayer side of the game and didn’t mention the single-player game much. I would tend to agree with them in saying that this game is a rental.
6.5/10. Battle Tanx is a pretty average game. If the single-player mode were better, then it would’ve been great. This game has a wonderful multiplayer mode with a bunch of different party games to play. It really benefits from having four-player options.
Pros
- Fun story
- Great party game
- Decent Graphics when you can see them
Cons
- A little dark
- Not too good of a single player game
Conclusion
Battle Tanx is one of those games that was designed to be a party game. It has a single-player mode, but that isn’t the main draw of this game. It is a fun tank battle game that has some similarities to a bunch of combat games from the 1970s and 1980s. It really feels like an updated version of Combat on the Atari 2600.
I’m pretty sure that my friends and I played this for a few weekends, and then dropped it for Golden Eye. There were a bunch of party games on the N64, and this was one of them. It doesn’t really stand out in terms of gameplay or graphics. It is a fun multiplayer game, though.
When I came back to play this game, I thought it was okay. The single player mode is a nice distraction from the better games on the system. It sold well enough to get a sequel, which is always fun to see.
As I was playing this, I kept thinking I should be playing one of the Armored Core games. Those have better single player modes, some fun customization options, and are fun party games. While I have some good memories of Battle Tanx, it reminds me of other games I would rather play.
If you liked this post, check out some of my others on N64 games. Such as Nightmare Creatures or Space Invaders.