Golden Nugget 64

Golden Nugget 64
North American Nintendo 64 cover art
Developer(s)	Westwood Studios
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Series	Golden Nugget
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64
Release date(s)	NA December 1, 1998
Genre(s)	Casino
Mode(s)	Single-player Multiplayer
Distribution	Cartridge

Golden Nugget 64 is a multi-player virtual casino video game for the Nintendo 64. It was developed by Westwood Studios, published by Electronic Arts, and was released on December 1, 1998 in North America. Golden Nugget 64 is unique because it is the only gambling/casino game released in North America for the Nintendo 64.^[1] The game starts off by having the player create an account with $1000 which is saved on the controller pack. Players have the choice from one of ten different popular casino games. Each game has its own set of rules and a guide to learn how to play.

Games

The famed Golden Nugget Las Vegas hotel and casino is the setting for the following games:

• Blackjack: The goal of blackjack is to get the total point value of your cards to 21 without going over.
• Craps: The objective of craps is to bet on the outcome of dice rolls.
• Five-card draw: Like most poker games, the point of five card draw is to have the best hand after the final betting round.
• Roulette: The goal of roulette is to correctly guess which slot the ball will stop on.
• Seven-card stud: The goal is have the best hand over other opponents.
• Video poker: The goal of video poker is to make the best possible hand. Unlike other poker games, there are no opponents. You win a certain multiplier of your bet based on your hand.
• Texas hold 'em: To objective is to have a better hand than your opponents.
• Big Six wheel: Similar to roulette, this game has players try to successfully predict what symbol the wheel will stop on.
• Mini-Baccarat: The goal of mini-baccarat is to guess which hand is closer to 9 without going over.
• Slot machines: In order to win in slots, players must match a winning combination of symbols. These symbols vary from slot machine to slot machine. There are six different slot machines in this game.

Audio

The audio in this game is a mixture of “people in the background of the casino, dice rolling, cards flipping, chips stacking, tokens entering slots, the dealer talking to you and a variety of other things.”^[2] The background music is a laid back piano score while the sound effects all ring true. The male dealer is voiced by Chris Rausch and the female dealer by Donna Rawlins. They have very few standard dealer lines.

Features

Some things that make the game unique include:

• Big Winners this is a type of “high score” list which shows things like:Best Single Win and Best Session for each of the ten different games. It has three different lists for the casual, novice, and veteran levels.
• Slide-show this feature shows real life pictures of the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas.
• Winning Stats for each profile this feature shows stats for each game. Along with your current bankroll, it shows statistics such as: success rate, the number of wagers placed, and average wagers.

Other releases

Prior to “Golden Nugget 64” being released, “Golden Nugget” for the PC was released in 1996^[3] and for the PlayStation 1 in 1997.^[4] Years later Golden Nugget Casino was released in 2004^[5] for the Game Boy Advance. The newest installment titled “Golden Nugget Casino DS” was released in 2006 for the Nintendo DS.^[6]

Reception

IGN gave Golden Nugget 64 a good 7.8 out of 10 overall praising the game play and the graphics despite little criticism about the sound stating "the theme music is nasty".^[7] Gamespot users gave Golden Nugget 64 a good to fair score of 6.9 out of 10 with a total of 28 reviews.^[8]

References

External links

• Golden Nugget 64 at MobyGames
• Golden Nugget 64 at GameFAQs