That opening song will never not spark joy in my brain. This is literally my favorite video game of all time.

The lake stage is a memorable moment for me. Initially it looks like a foggy mess intended to hide draw distance: “ugh”. Then the fog recedes as the sun warms everything up and you realize it’s an intentional effect. I’m sorry I doubted.

The water graphics and physics of this game were truly something to behold, not just for the time, but also today!

I still remember when I first played this game. At the time I was hanging out with a group of friends who would meet at this one girl's house every Sunday to play games and watch anime. She had gotten an N64 at launch and we were loving both Mario 64 and Pilotwings. In order to get to her house, I had to take a bus from one end of town all the way to the other end, and then I had to walk uphill quite a ways. On this day it was particularly hard because of the cold and the fresh snow that I had to trudge through. When I got there, everyone was already playing Wave Race. As soon as I heard the music, saw the graphics, and felt what it was like to bounce around on the water, I felt like I was there with the sun and the waves and everything. I spent the day in this tropical paradise, but eventually it came time to go home, and that meant bundling up in my coat, gloves, toque and scarf to trudge back down the hill through the snow to wait for the bus to take me home. That sense of being so thoroughly transported to another time and place, so different from where I really was at the time, has always made me think of Wave Race fondly, even though I generally don't like racing games at all.

This is one of the four n64 games that I still play today. Love the colorful visuals, water physics and music.

I hope you mean "super cheesy music" in a good way, because WaveRace 64's music is AWESOME (dude)

This was one of the few sports games I really respected as a kid growing up in Florida. The aesthetics of the game and its music frequently hit a hard nostalgic chord for me, and often remind me of the summer trips my family would make to St. Petersburg where we'd spend lots of beach time, and I'd bring my N64 along (not to the beach itself, of course)

It took me half of my life to realize this is one of my all time favorite games. It’s so charming.

25 jears later...still the best water effects and feelings.

Way to make me excited for a 24-year-old wet racing game, a genre and sensation which I loathe.

Considering some of the junk that often shows up near a console's launch, at the time it felt like the N64's lineup had simply trimmed the fat. There were less games but it was like the filler titles had been removed and only the hits remained. Though after a year of that it was clear that, nope, this system just has lousy third party support. But it was a convincing illusion when the first three games were all excellent.

I remember when this was a boat racing game as shown in the 1995 Shoshinkai Ultra Nintendo 64 presentation.

I absolutely loved Wave Race 64. The controls have such a great feel to them. Still holds up but man would I love a good sequal.

Such an unforgettable game that actually holds up. I wonder if there is a term for "games that shouldnt have been as fun and memorable as they actually were"? Showed it to a younger (mid-20s) gaming fan last year and he agreed that this game is actually really fun and unique, and we raced for an hour! Proven: It's not just the nostalgia of us older gamers!

This is why I love Nintendo.

absolutely loved this when it came out. I was just a kid, and the graphics struck me as being unlike anything i'd ever seen. I still remember how it felt to fly off of a ramp and then splash int the water.

I rediscovered this game recently and it has become one of my favorite N64 games ever. The mechanics, the visuals, the soundtrack, the amazing wave effects and how it impacts your race.

Wave Race 64 is STILL the best water based racing game. Even the sequel couldn't top it.

Nintendo really did go all-out for a while with realistic sports titles on N64: this, the NBA Courtside games, Excitebike 64, 1080° Snowboarding, the Ken Griffey games. They tried it one more time on GameCube but it wasn't a success and they kinda gave up. It's been only Mario Sports and Wii Sports from then since.

The water effects still looks awesome. Nothing blew me away graphically like seeing Mario 64 in person for the first time. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Haven’t has that feeling since.