

Battlezone: Rise of the Black Dogs (Nintendo 64)

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Developed by
100 point score based on reviews from various critics.
5 point score based on user ratings.

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Our Users Say

Category Description MobyScore
Overall MobyScore (5 votes) 4.1

The Press Says

Game Revolution
I really enjoyed Battlezone, but it isn't without its share of problems. To begin with, the controls have a pretty steep learning curve. Could be worse, I suppose - like being in the cockpit of a real hover tank - but it still takes a while to get the hang of things.

The sound effects present more of a problem. While the explosions and gunfire are decent, occasional bugs mar the overall experience. Every once in a while it sounds like a train wreck. Sounds become garbled or missing, and once the bug starts, it stays for at least the rest of the scene.

There are also a couple of graphical problems. Most notably, there are certain situations where you wind up seeing through the scenery. Also, when viewing planets between scenes, it's obvious that the planets are anything but round.

Overall, though, this game is well worth the purchase price. With three modes of play for the single player and several levels of play within each of them, it should keep your interest for a good long time.
The year is 1969, and humankind has landed on the moon. In a startling development, US astronauts stumble across a cache of alien weaponry, leading to the largest cover-up in human history. While people at home are led to believe that the trip was uneventful, joint Soviet and US forces amass for military occupation of the moon. Thus follows the plot of Battlezone: Rise of the Black Dogs, the N64 port of a PC game that only vaguely resembles the Battlezone of yore.
Most likely, you won't stick with Battlezone long enough to ever beat these missions, and there's no proof that these missions are even beatable. The thick haze of Mars will eventually swallow you before you ever have chance. In a last-ditch attempt to gain your friends' approval, if not yours, the game does offer a multiplayer mode in which you can race (snooze) or battle, with or without the strategy features. Your friend probably won't like it that much, at which point you'll note how good Battlezone was for the computer. But despite what your friends might say, this game is worth a try. Give it five days. I mean, what do you have to lose? Maybe you'll even learn to get past looks and grow as a person.
Digital Press - Classic Video Games
There's also a few four player co-op and competitive games included, but the graphics and speed suffer somewhat. Lets' just say that your eyes will jump out of your skull and bite you if you grab more than one other player and attempt a few rounds. Overall, the bad and the ugly just about do in any good Battlezone: Rise of the Black Dogs has as a quality game. But it's definitely worth the money if you're willing to cope with all the bumps it'll throw your way.
All Game Guide
This game is good for a rental and can be fun for about an hour. The only real interest in the game is the sim aspect, but even that can get old too.
Daily Radar
With its good depth, it's disappointing that the loose controls and muddy graphics make Battlezone so frustrating to play and the learning curve so steep. Still, the number of missions, the chance to play from the point of view of three different factions, and the good use of plot to drive the missions mean that if you enjoy tank games -- or 3D shooters -- and are willing to put up with the learning curve, you may want to check this out. But probably not.
Total! (Germany)
Als Pilot erhaltet ihr Missionsaufräge, die so simpel ausfallen, dass das Ergebnis im Prinzip mit dem Arcade-Modus identisch ist. Der anspruchsvollere Commander-Modus soll euch in die Lage versetzen, Basen zu gründen, Ressourcen zu verwalten, Einheiten aufzustellen und selbige zu kommandieren. Leider erlauben weder die komplizierte Steuerung noch die unkomfortable Menüführung, dass der vielversprechende Echtzeit-Strategie-Ansatz Battlezone: Rise of the Black Dofs ein verlockendes Spielmoment verleiht.
A good idea gone bad in execution. While controlling super-sized space-mechs of sorts through a variety of galactic environments with a mix of real-time strategy and action elements sounds great, none of it it comes together as planned. The end result is really just a colossal waste. You have to wonder whether the developers had any familiarity with the platform at all -- everything is numbingly monotonous and repetitive, no matter how the designers tried to dress it up. Plus, the game is so full of gameplay bugs and graphical glitches that it's hard to believe it's actually a finished product and not some beta version -- and this is based on the final, boxed copy of the title. The sad part is that there were some good ideas in the Battlezonee, like the real-time strategy based Commander mode. Too bad they're buried under so much junk. Do yourself a favor and take a pass on this one.
Game Informer Magazine
Crave must not have done any focus testing with this title, because I find it hard to believe that a group of people, let alone just one, would find the game even remotely entertaining.