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Turok: Rage Wars was very different from the rest of the games in the Turok series. This Turok game was multiplayer focused, and was similar in ways to Quake III
Arena, and Unreal Tournament. Up to 4 players could battle out in a series of team based objective or simply death match games. There was a two-player cooperative
mode, many new weapons, plenty of characters, and it had Bots that could be used and completely customized.
The game was an excellent addition to the N64 library having had great sales and many positive reviews when it came out. But there was one major problem with the game that no one seemed to notice. The North American version of Turok: Rage Wars shipped with a major glitch.
And by major I mean this was a huge screw-up. One of the many modes in the Two-Player cooperative trials is the Frag Tag mode. In it, one player is randomly "it". They will become an animal, such as a monkey, and other players who kill them will get a point. The player who is "it" can step on an active platform to return to normal and another player will then become "it". The team with the most points wins. This is where the glitch lies.
It doesn't matter how many points you have, you will always fail the Frag Tag levels. It always says "mission failed". Because of this, the 2 player Co-op medal cannot
be earned at all. This isn't a minor bug or anything, gamers playing the co-op trials will quickly notice that the game isn't working right. The game's manual lists
exactly what needs to be done to complete this game mode, so gamers wouldn't have any idea what they were doing wrong. You might be wondering, "How the heck didn't the
developers or testers notice this?" That is an excellent question that I cannot answer.
Now if this was a PC game, or a game from this current generation, the developers would just release a patch for download and the problem would be solved quickly. But
this was N64 and the only way Acclaim could fix this would be replacing the game cartridges with a working one. This would be expensive of course so Acclaim kept quiet
about it. Gamers who discovered this glitch and complained to Acclaim received this e-mail:
From: Consolesupport
To:
Subject: Turok Rage Wars:
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 15:34:08 -0500
Thank you for contacting Acclaim's Consumer Service Department. Please send your game UPS, Certified mail, or Federal Express to the below address and we will replace
your game for a new copy.
Consumer Services
Acclaim Entertainment, Inc.
One Acclaim Plaza
Glen Cove, NY 11542
Hotline:(516)-759-7800
So you would mail your black-coloured Turok: Rage Wars cart to Acclaim, and they would send you a new copy. The replacement copies with the glitch fixed were gray
instead of black. From what I've seen this glitch was not in the PAL version, so it's just the black NTSC Turok: Rage Wars carts that are glitched. Unfortunately not
many people complained about this. Black carts are very common and the gray ones are quite rare hitting ridiculous prices on eBay. Here are pictures of both versions:
Although this gray variant of Turok Rage Wars cart existed, it was never really acknowledged until a certain eBay listing was created. On February 18th 2012, 120 brand
new gray Turok: Rage Wars carts were listed for $12.99 each. Word of the new gray variant spread fast and all 120 carts sold in 5 days. Unfortunately many gamers ended
up missing out as two different re-sellers each bought 25.
I was there when the listing was up. It was past midnight on February 23rd. I found the listing on some forums and noticed how quickly it was selling. I ended buying
one. When I woke up the next morning I found that they were all sold. I'm glad I was able to get one.
If you'd like to see the original eBay listing click here. eBay does delete old listings so that link may be broken. If it is, click here for a screen cap of the
listing.
When it comes to N64 cartridge colour variants, this is the big one. If you ever see a gray Turok: Rage Wars cart for cheap, be sure to buy it!
Written by Kevin Ames
June 7 2012
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