Wave Race 64 is a racing video game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo. It was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1996 and is a follow-up to the 1992 Game Boy title Wave Race. Most of the game involves the player racing on a Jet Ski on a variety of courses while successfully maneuvering the vehicle around various buoys. A multiplayer mode where two players can compete against each other on a chosen course is also included. The game supports the Controller Pak, which allows players to transfer saved data from one game cartridge to another.

Development and release
Wave Race 64 was developed by Nintendo EAD and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto as one of the very first Nintendo 64 games. It is a follow-up to the 1992 Game Boy title Wave Race. Development of the game was led by Shinya Takahashi, who had been working with Nintendo since 1989. Takahashi, along with Yoshiaki Koizumi, who worked with Miyamoto on Super Mario 64, is credited for helping the company effectively make its paradigmatic leap from the 16-bit 2D graphics of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System to the Nintendo 64's 3D capabilities. Since the game's engineers only had experience with the 2D graphics of earlier Nintendo consoles, Takahashi had to guide them through the first stages of development. While experimenting with the Nintendo 64's Silicon Graphics technology, one of the programmers created a tech demo that served as an example of the game's wave programming. The tech demo caught the attention of Miyamoto, and soon the team began to figure out a way to create "something fun" from it.

Originally, the game was referred to as "F-Zero on water" and would feature high-speed boats, as shown in footage from the 1995 Nintendo Shoshinkai show. These boats were expected to have transforming capabilities, allowing players to switch from a stable catamaran-style form to a more streamlined canoe-style version. However, the boats were ultimately replaced with Jet Skis. According to Miyamoto, "Boats looked pretty good at the show, but I didn't think that Wave Race 64 would be unique from similar games on other systems if we used boats. Jet Skis can show many maneuvers that work well in the realistic water of Wave Race 64." The use of Jet Skis was suggested by Rare's Tim Stamper. The game uses the Nintendo 64's alpha blending feature to make the water simultaneously transparent and reflective.

Wave Race 64 was first released in Japan in September 1996 on an 8-MB cartridge. In the United States, Wave Race 64 was released as the third Nintendo 64 game in November 1996, featuring voice changes and renamed levels. It was the first racing game developed for the Nintendo 64 and the first to use the Nintendo 64's hardware capabilities to "create a believable and engaging water environment unmatched by previous games", IGN noted. In the United Kingdom, the game was released in April 1997, shortly after the launch of the Nintendo 64. Like Super Mario 64, Wave Race 64 was re-issued in Japan in July 1997 as WaveRace 64 Shindō Pak Taiō Version (ウエーブレース64 振動パック対応バージョン). This version takes advantage of the Nintendo 64 Rumble Pak and adds ghost functions to the game's time trial mode. Some music and sound effects were altered as well.

Re-releases and sequel
It was re-released for the Wii and Wii U's Virtual Console in 2007 and 2016, respectively. A sequel, Wave Race: Blue Storm, was released in 2001.

Alternate Titles
"Wave Race 64" -- European title "Shindou Wave Race 64" -- Rumble Pack version "ウェーブレース64 振動パック対応版" -- Japanese spelling