Buck Bumble is a game that I have absolutely no history with. Frankly I had never heard of it until long after the Nintendo 64 was retired and I began collecting for it. Apparently this title, developed Argonaut Software, had a fair amount of hype behind it. This company had a pedigree when it came to shooters, and this was their first release on such capable hardware. Unfortunately it also came out at a time when developers were still struggling with how to handle 3D gameplay. So what’s the verdict on this oddball shooter? Let’s dive in and take a look.
I’ll start by saying that Buck Bumble is a weird release. You play as a bee armed with various guns who flies through 3D areas shooting down other bugs. Argonaut definitely gets some points for originality. The developers came up with an equally weird (and totally 90s) story here is told through a well done opening sequence. This tells of a toxic chemical spill in London. This has caused the local insect population to mutate. Many of these have gathered together to form what is known as ‘the herd’ and are bent on destruction and taking over the garden area. This is just one small step for them however as their ultimate goal is to rule the entire world with an iron fist (or stinger, if you will.) Buck Bumble is a bumblee outfitted with cybord technology, and he’s totally rad. He’s part of the resistance force opposing the herd.
As Buck Bumble you can fly through 3D space and perform a limited number of aerial acrobats. The game takes place over several different missions that feature a variety of objectives. Generally you’ll find your goal is to take out all enemies in any given area. Other stages will have you destroying landmarks, and even escorting bombs from one section of a level to another without getting hit. Despite the different objectives you’ll find that Buck Bumble often returns to the age old ‘defeat all enemies to proceed’ style of play. So many areas of the game feature locked doors that open only when you’ve dispatched all foes. I found the game to annoyingly repetitious in this regard. It wouldn’t be so bad except for the fact that the combat mechanics are pretty awkward by today’s standards. The Nintendo 64 controller had only one analog stick which makes aiming difficult.
Controls are too floaty for their own good. Yes, I know, you’re playing as a bumblee here. I was prepared for some slippery controls but not like this. The aiming reticule is too sensitive in my opinion. Turning Buck Bumble and aiming at nearby enemies is an exercise in frustration. This holds especially true when they too fire projectiles at you. Your primary weapon is the blaster pistol and it has unlimited ammunition. I found it disappointing that your shots move so slowly. You have to time your fire just right and lead enemies when they’re further back. The touchy controls make this more difficult than it should already be. The rest of the weapons are easier to use, and obviously more powerful. The problem with them is that your ammunition is limited so you can’t rely on them throughout all of the missions.
Weapon variety is pretty impressive however. You have eleven different weapons, but in each level you’ll only have specific ones at your disposal. My favorites include the guided missiles (when you’re hit though you lose control of it), homing shots, and even a grenade launcher. The latter of the bunch is only really useful against ground foes of which you’ll encounter many. Because of how useful these items are I found myself exploring the stages more thoroughly than I otherwise would have. I just wish your default weapon was more useful, or that ammunition was so plentiful that using the other shots didn’t require so much management. The fact that you play as a bee and lack a stinger attack is a criminal. Why even make Buck Bumble about bugs if you can’t, you know, fight like one.
Like most Nintendo 64 titles Argonaut threw in a multiplayer mode. You can only play with one other play, but at least it’s something. There’s even two modes of play. The first is a typical deathmatch mode. Gameplay is too frenetic and slippery for this mode to be any real fun. The split screen set up does it no favors, and to be honest you’re better off skipping it. Next up is a quasi soccer mode called buzz ball. There’s a large ball in the center of the arena, and a goal on each side. As you may be able to guess the two players compete by scoring goals on one another by shooting or ramming into it. This is actually pretty neat in my opinion. Argonaut was thinking out of the box with this, and I found it to be fairly fun even now.
Buck Bumble’s worst offense is the level design. The freedom of flight sounds amazing, but not when the stages consist mostly of canyons. What’s more is the fact that you can only fly to a certain elevation in every area and this feels too limiting in my opinion. I know that the developers had to implement some restrictions but it’s disappointing. It puts a real damper on a game where free flight is one of the major selling points of the title. Buck Bumble is also heavily restricted by fog. This was a common issue with many Nintendo 64 titles, but this is one of the worst examples I’ve seen. It never feels like you can see far enough ahead, and enemies and your field of view is pretty disappointing to be honest. The developers clearly didn’t want to have to explain the fog issue.
The fog is a major detriment to the game’s graphical engine, but it’s not the only graphical issue Buck Bumble faces. Let’s start out with what’s good. The model for Buck Bumble himself looks great. It’s very competently designed and animated. He’s not nearly as blocky as the enemies you’ll encounter, but to be fair, you’re not supposed to get close enough to them to notice. The scenery looks okay from a distance but the textures here are really blurry and simple. Normally I’m a fan of the smooth look of Nintendo 64 titles, but in this case it just feels like the grass and everything else is covered in Vaseline. The framerate also suffers from some pretty noticeable drops. When things get chaotic it can be tough to tell what’s actually going on. The soundtrack is pretty disappointing with some very forgettable music.
