Driving Strikers 64

Driving Strikers 64 is a homebrew port by Spooky Iluha and initially released on 12 May 2025. It’s a port of Driving Strikers, which is a commercial game with online multiplayer for the Sega Dreamcast by Reality Jump.

You can get the ROM from its download page by using the password jumpingreality, or by visiting the releases page on Github. You can also get the Dreamcast version from itch.io, or get a PC-compatible from steam (controller required).

You can compile it yourself with instructions from the github repository if you have the assets from the game.

About Driving Strikers 64

This port of Driving Strikers follows the same basic structure. It’s set like a sports game where you can choose between a quick exhibition match or a league that follows multiple matches.

Once you get into the game itself, it plays like an old-school version of Rocket League. It’s a 2v2 game where each player is a car, and the objective is to smash into a football (soccer) ball to get it into the opponent’s goal. Basically, it’s football with cars.

The controls are on paper very simple. You move around with the analogue stick, boost with Z and jump with L/R. The ball always moves away from you as you collide with, so approaching it at the correct angle is key when trying to win.

Each match lasts two minutes. Every time someone scores a goal, the ball and players’ positions rest to their default state. There is a league mode where you accumulate points over the course of several matches.

Teams

There are eight teams to choose from:

Each team has their own stats for how well the vehicles handle and how difficult the AI is. It’s a bit much to post here, but play the game and you’ll get a handle of who’s who.

Stadiums

There are five arenas where you can play, and one that was excluded for the N64 port:

Review and conclusion

Driving Strikers 64 does take a lot from its Dreamcast roots and it shows – in a good way. The gameplay is fast-paced and chaotic with everyone always running towards the ball trying to make their way to the goal.

There are a few differences from the original. The menus are all done in 2D instead of the rotating 3D panels that the original one had, and the gameplay stages are all top-down and not third-person “behind the player”. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing since the Dreamcast version is meant to be an online game and the N64 port is more of a couch-multiplayer game.

When you hit the ball, it tends to fly off at an angle from the direction you’re moving so you normally have to circle back around a hit it again before your opponents can get to it. On the rare occasion you can ‘carry’ the ball for a few seconds if you hit it at the right speed and angle but it’s quite unreliable.

It sometimes feels like the challenge is in the controls rather than a battle of wits with your opponent. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but it can get frustrating since it feels more like a game of chance than one of skill. Or maybe I’m just really bad at it.

The Dreamcast game sells for $10 digital and $30 physical for good reason. Driving Strikers 64 feels like an unfinished retail game from the Nintendo 64’s heyday that was unearthed and published. It’s not completely feature-full and a little rough around the edges, but is still an excellent a 4-player game that shows off what the console’s homebrew scene is capable of.