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[phosphor112]

Holy shit.

By the way, 145+ games is almost half of the whole catalog of games on the 64.

Impressive.

 

[stuminus3]

Well a line up filled with more shit than chocolate, yes.

But the top N64 games smocked everything else in the other consoles at the time. Most of those games are the blue print for modern gaming today. Stuff on the PSX edged the N64 in stuff related so sound quality and space to dump pre rendered cinematics. A game like FF7 was the rage but something like Ocarina of Time stands the test of time better in terms of gameplay.

Oh I agree, don't get me wrong; I loved my N64 for the exact reason you're describing. It was just never more to me than the Gamecube and Wii have been, which is why I always find it odd that many people think differently about it. Actually I probably consider the NES and SNES in the same way even though the situation with those systems was clearly different - probably the result of growing up in Britain, where Nintendo weren't nearly the same force to be reckoned with (especially with the severely lacking PAL library), even back then Nintendo were never my only/primary source of gaming. Their systems to me are always for Nintendo games + the occasional third-party breakout + the occasional hidden gem. Maybe that's why I enjoy the Wii more than most seem to around here - no false pretenses over why I bought it.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

This better nab a tag. Way too many games to cover, if you ask me, but I'm less fit for this kind of project than you are, ABF. Good work!

 

[Satchel]

I'm actually surprised by some of the games you don't have given you have 145 of them.

goldeneye, perfect dark and wwf no mercy are those games that you know, everyone with a 64 has.

I have around 30 games, but I consider them to be the must haves. Basically all the major 1st and 2nd party games plus a few third party classics thrown in.

But as I said before, great effort on the op.

 

[A Black Falcon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDoZBnkdvOU

N64 console review. Just seems like it fits in this topic.

I mostly like CGR, but he's an old Sega fanboy...not going to get nearly enough N64 praise from him, for me.

Cool topic, read a few of them.


Some weird stuff though,

Kirby 64 - why do you care if there's no infinite hovering? Playing Kirby like that would be ultra boring. But I agree this game is not that good.

What do you mean? Every other Kirby platformer has infinite hover, I think it's quite fair to complain about the one that does not...

Sometimes there's some limits to it, like how in Kirby 2 or 3 while you're with some of the animal friends you can't fly, but having Kirby himself have a flight time limit? That's just wrong...

Mischief Makers - I don't like this game much (played it a couple years ago and gave up halfway), but to say it has no variety is objectively wrong. Like every level plays different to the last.

What I mean by that is that the game's really all about the shake-shake mechanic. Yes, there is some variety in the levels, but it always comes down to shaking things. I don't know, I thought that made it a bit repetitive. It is a pretty good game though certainly.

And Yoshi Story sucks. Why? The only way the game makes sense is if you're going for the melons. But many are tied to incredibly difficult mini-games (you have to restart the level if you fail) or hidden in really obscure places. Add to that the incredibly slippery and imprecise controls (why no d-pad support?) and the game can turns into frustration-land quickly. I played it trying to get as much melons as possible, but rarely did I manage to get all. Would have gone mad if I kept replaying until I achieved ithat.

That is true, trying to get all the melons probably is one of the N64's most annoying collection quests. I haven't done it myself, just too tedious. If you don't mind that it can be a decent game, but if you do... yeah, it does suffer.

As for sidescrollers, yes, Goemon is the best by far and an excellent game. Sadly it doesn't have much competition. Kirby 64 is just ok, Mischief Makers I couldn't like, and Yoshi Story is the worst Nintendo-developed game I've ever played. Back then I didn't care much, since I was more into 3D games; nowadays I much prefer 2D games. Which is actually why the N64 is my favorite console, it has to do with the period I played it since objectively it's lacking in many respects.

Yeah, the N64 doesn't have many 2d or 2.5d platformers because of exactly that, most people wanted 3d games then. But the few it has are decent. Oh, have you tried Tarzan, for PS1 or N64?

Great Op(s)! This thread reminds me to buy a N64 again - with Bomberman 64.
Its sad that Hudson never tried the 3D Platformer formula again and never will again. I had fun with game as a kid, even if I never managed to play through the whole game. The art-style was good and the customizable multiplayer characters where even better.
I have no idea why its not on the VC though. It is different enough from the other Bomberman games there to sell.

I don't think it's entirely fair to say that Hudson never did another 3d platformer Bomberman game after Bomberman 64, actually. They did... just not one like that one, and not one quite as good.

Bomberman Hero - Linear-path 3d platformer, quite unique gameplay for a Bomberman game. It's okay. Bomberman 64: The Second Attack - More linear than the original Bomberman 64 again, but it has some 3d platformer elements. Bomberman Generation and Bomberman Jetters (both are for GC/PS2) - Both of these have 3d platformer single player modes, but in both cases, it's drastically scaled down from Bomberman 64 -- you go around a stage trying to find the way through it, killing enemies and stuff along the way. They ARE 3d platformers of sorts, they just aren't very good ones -- I found both games really disappointing and mediocre. The Mario 64-style open-world elements of Bomberman 64 do not appear, of course (as I think I said in my review, Bomberman 64 is the only Mario 64 style 3d platformer in the franchise), but it does have 3d-ish worlds for you to run around in and blow stuff up in. Both games do play sort of top-down-ish, though, too, so they don't have quite the same feel as Bomberman 64... but still, they are 3d, even if they aren't that good.

But yeah, even so, it's certainly disappointing that Hudson never again tried for a full-scale, open-world 3d platformer in the Bomberman franchise, like the first Bomberman 64 is.

Lode Runner 64 is one of the more overlooked GREAT games on the system. Lots of content, still functional; it's worth a Virtual Console update (I'd buy the rights!)

Certainly true, yes. Highly under-rated, little known title that should be more popular.

No Harvest Moon 64? You missed the best of the series.. but you had Jet Force Gemini on there, so I'll stick around.

Next week on 1up.com - "Nintendo 64 Retrospective Throwback - We do mini reviews on 150 games!"

I've never played a Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game, actually. Never been sure if I'd find them interesting at all.

As for the latter... heh.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 was such a random out of no where late (to say the least) release lol. Did they get a deal on left-over carts from Nintendo or something?

I bought it just out of historical sense so I guess they had that going for them.

It is funny when stuff like that happens, but Tony Hawk 3's not the only case of it. For instance, Majesco released Frogger for both the SNES and Genesis in 1998, and it was the only game released in the US for either platform that year. At least you can kind of understand why the Genesis one happened, because Majesco launched the Genesis 3 that year and wanted some stuff to go with it (the other titles they sold were re-releases), but it's interesting that they released it on SNES too.

 

[A Black Falcon]

The greatest console ever made and you sir have great taste (i'll just pretend that you didn't say the rush series was better than beetle adventure racing ).

But the Rush games are better, though. BAR is certainly a very good game however.

I adored Mischief Makers. I still think the game deserves a sequel. I'm surprised you didn't get Quest 64, but maybe I shouldn't be too surprised. Star Fox 64 is probably one of the best games ever made, that game is perfection.

I wouldn't be surprised if the first menu-based JRPG I ever actually owned was Paper Mario... I was not an old JRPG fan, so why would I have gotten Quest 64?

But yeah, Star Fox 64 is just about as close to perfect as rail shooters get. Sin & Punishment is a very good game, but I'd rank it second for N64 rail shooters, it's not quite Star Fox's equal.

The only game I have a strong opinion about. Super Mario Kart (SNES) is WAY better than Mario Kart 64. The handling went totally to shit, and while there is a lot more variety and production quality, the raw simplicity of the SNES version shines through, particularly in battle mode. Mario Kart Wii was even worse than MK64.

When I got a SNES in '05, SMK was one of my first games, and I was hoping it'd be good in part because of all the praise like this it receives... but I was disappointed, I don't think it's anywhere near as good as MK64, not even close. MK64 has better handling, more fun, four player, fullscreen in single player, great course designs... as for SMK though, I found it more frustrating and less fun. The n64 game has far better handling.

Oh, and my favorite SNES racing game is, without question, F-Zero. That game's near perfect.

So many games. I have 20 games and I thought that I have all necessary games, but looking through your list made me realize that I don't have the following games that I should buy:
GoldenEye
Perfect Dark
Blast Corps
Space Station Silicon Valley
Rocket Robot On Wheels
Bomberman 64 (Only rented)
Waverace
Sin and Punishment (Because never released for the N64 in Europe, but it is on VC now)
Ogre Battle 64 (Same as above)
Paper Mario (Rented it once, Too expensive for orginal, guess I take it for the VC)

And that's quite a lot.

In 2002 I had 26 N64 games, and I thought I had all of the ones worth having...

But then a few years later I realized that I was quite thoroughly wrong.

Outstanding thread A Black Falcon.

It was time to pay some respect to the console that basically invetnted modern gaming: The Nintendo 64.

Thanks, it deserves it.

Surprised by your take on this game. As far as i remember it had the best graphics of any base game at the time. I might be mistaken but i thing it supported 640*480 visuals without expansion pack or at least the "mid resolution" mode at 512*240. The engine had a nice texture warping trick that made the characters look more curved, instead of the blocky visuals most sport games featured in the generation.

The analog cursor batting felt great. The big shortcoming with the game was that it wasn't as feature rich as some of the other baseball games you had in PSX or Saturn.

I don't actually own any other console baseball games for any 5th gen consoles, which is probably part of why I don't praise the visuals as much as you'd like here... don't have much to compare it to. It does look nice though, sure, and the gameplay's good.

ABF is a Ken Griffey Jr. Slugfest fanboy.

I played one of those N64 Ken Griffey games once, but I have no memory what I thought of it. My main memory of the Ken Griffey games is that I got the first GB Ken Griffey game in the mid '90s, but hated it so much I actually sold the game, something I only ever did for a very small number of my worst games... I was used to Hardball III (PC then, but the Genesis version's great too), and just couldn't adjust well to the Ken Griffey games' more common style of only being able to see a small patch of the field at a time, and having to catch balls based on the radar pretty much. Hardball III uses a behind-the-plate camera all the time, so you can always see the ball in the air and where it's headed...

Also, baseball games take a while, and I found it annoying that Griffey didn't have a "save game in progress" feature like Hardball did. That's something which you still rarely see, for some weird reason, but even the Genesis version of Hardball III has it! (Not the SNES game though, that's actually a version of Hardball '94 from the Genesis, not Hardball III, and has no saving -- it's passwords only. HB'94 on Genesis does have battery save, though. The only Genesis Hardball game with password save is the first Hardball for the system.)

The graphics of 007: The World Is Not Enough are amazing for the N64, never seen that game before, I'm always up for more GoldenEye, even if it's a clone done by another studio.

Yeah, TWINE looks fantastic, and it plays well too. Anyone who liked GE or PD in their single player modes should certainly play TWINE.

I'll never stop saying this, Blast Corps needs a sequel, one of the most original and fun game I've ever played, I love to drift at maximun speed while combo destroying buildings with a bulldozer, such great mindless fun. No clones of this game either, you would imagine someone would have copy it by now. I would buy a 3DS for a VC entry in 3D.

I agree, Rare really should get on it sometime. It's such a unique, brilliant game, it's really unfortunate that nothing else is quite like it!

I forgot about a few of those that I've owned. One that really sticks out is Top Gear Rally. I think I got that solely off of my addiction to Top Gears 1 & 2 on the SNES. I spent a lot of damn time painting my cars in that game. Great feature. I also remember being quite impressed with the replays and the effect of driving through water/mud. I'm sure it would look ugly to me today, but a neat rooster tail would shoot up from the wheels that hit slop. Pretty cool game.

Top Gear Rally certainly is a great game, but as I say in my reviews, I do think it's unfortunate that it gets all the attention, while the three other N64 Top Gear games, all of which are also pretty good, are somewhat ignored...

PD > GE. I used to waste hours setting up challenge maps with my sister and her boyfriend. We'd get those zippy sims and give them good aim and see how long we'd last.

I also loved the Rush games. Something about being able to put a good crunch on your car and still limp across the finish line. This was my Burnout of that generation. I think I had California Speed too, don't remember owning it for long though. It had pickup trucks in it I think.

Great post.

I like the first Rush and California Speed a whole lot, but yeah, 2049's the one I think is the most special... all of them are so outstanding though, one of the worst things about the last two gens is that racing games like Rush died off. Not one new game (ie, not counting ports) like them on any newer system, I think. Really tragic.

Loved Fighters Destiny. Not only the scoring system was great, but all the characters felt different. From the amouint of health to the weight to the different attribute and to the ease of doing specials.

Yeah, it's a unique game for sure. They did a good job coming up with a new concept for a 3d fighting game, and pulling it off fairly well.

That game was the one me and my brothers have been playing for ages. It was really fun.

Also, no Goldeneye or ISS64?

I gave my mixed-feelings review of Goldeneye earlier in the thread, on pg. 2 I think. I agree it's a good game, but don't love it anywhere near as much as some people, basically. As for ISS64, soccer games? Eh...

Awesome thread, ABF! I own about 80 NTSC N64 titles and genuinely love the platform. I should also mention that I've been using the same main controller for close to a decade now. The bad reputation these things have has surely more to do with people not taking care of their possessions as opposed to cheap parts.

On a side note, are the NTSC N64 owners in this thread connecting to their televisions through S-video? The cables are quite cheap and the third-party ones work well in my opinion. The S-video support is also the main reason I moved from the PAL version to the NTSC version.

I got several of my controllers' analog sticks replaced back in the mid '00s, because they were fading badly. Several are in bad shape again, if I can find any like the ones that were put in that last time I've thought of maybe getting a new one or two... that is, replacements exactly like the original N64 analog sticks. I don't want something else, the N64's analog sticks are amazing in every way other than their durability. Oh, and yeah, I absolutely love the N64 controller, it's one of my favorites for sure.

Hey, I liked MRC and Nightmare Creatures.

I think I said that some people do, in my reviews of those games, but yeah, I don't much at all...

I really suggest adding Duke Nukem 64 to your collection. The whole campaign can be played in splitscreen co-op with 2 players, and there's 4 player deathmatch with bots.

I have the PC version of Duke Nukem 3D, though, is there really a good reason to get the N64 port? I'd ask the same question about Quake 1 for N64. (As for Hexen, that one was a favorite of mine on the PC back in the '90s, as far as FPSes go, so I couldn't resist when I saw a cheap copy of that one.)

So very true. Best FPS controls ever devised.

Yeah, for a console gamepad, absolutely. I know that being a skeptic of dual-analog FPS controls is a quite niche position, but it is my opinion on console FPS controls.... the N64's layout works perfectly.

Loved the N64.

Blast Corps, Pilot Wings, Mario Kart 64, and Mario 64 were all I needed. I love to replay those games.

Only comment about your reviews, I tried to read a couple of them, but you didn't mention anything about the actual game until half way through sometimes. You gave too much background information for example on Cruis n USA. I had this game, but never got around to playing it, so I was curious about your thoughts. I had to force myself through that small wall of text and you didn't say anything about the game until about half way through.

Otherwise, awesome post!

What, so you think I should reorganize some of the reviews? I might look at that, sure.

Interesting stuff. I remember it coming out to bad reviews and I think I was gearing up for a Dreamcast at the time. I'll see if I can track down a copy


Like your thoughts on Starshit. Played it on an emulator and found it rather unique.

I have found that just because a game got bad reviews, it doesn't mean that it's actually a bad game... it can, but not always. The reverse goes for games with good scores, too, of course.

Amazing thread OP. But I'm reminded of the fact that outwith Nintendo's games and a select handful of top-tier third party games (a recurring theme, yes) the N64 library consisted of masses of complete shit that for some reason was popular in North America. I don't know if I was older than most of you during the N64 years or something but the N64 library isn't really any different to me than the GC or Wii if you're putting titles that are actually worth playing up next to each other.

About two thirds of the 32 million N64s sold worldwide sold in North America, so I would expect the system's library to be dominated by North American-market-focused titles, you know. And yeah, it is.

Basically, the N64 had both the Nintendo fan market, and a good part of the console FPS fan market too. However, Microsoft took away that older part of Nintendo's audience for good with the Xbox, so the Gamecube was left with just kids and Nintendo fans, which is why it crashed so hard in the US... (remember, 24 something million SNESes in the US, 21 million N64s, 12.4 million GCs...)

In Japan of course it was the N64 where they saw the severe collapse, which is why the Japanese third party N64 library is mostly really low-budget or low-profile stuff.

Well a line up filled with more shit than chocolate, yes.

But the top N64 games smocked everything else in the other consoles at the time. Most of those games are the blue print for modern gaming today. Stuff on the PSX edged the N64 in stuff related so sound quality and space to dump pre rendered cinematics. A game like FF7 was the rage but something like Ocarina of Time stands the test of time better in terms of gameplay.

One of my reasons for doing these reviews is to show that the N64's second-tier games are actually better than many people give them credit for, in my opinion.

No World Driver Championship?!

Given my general antipathy for sim-style racers, I've always doubted that i'd like WDC very much, which is why I haven't bought it yet.

I love your praise for Rush 2049. Loved that game too. Played days with my brother in Stuntmode. So awesome to pull off more than 1 Mio Points.

The DC port from the Arcade greatest Hits was totally shit

For the latter part, I assume you mean the GC/PS2/XBox versions, in Midway Arcade Treasures 3? Because Rush 2049 for the DC's a fine version, as I explain in my review (I go through all the version differences).

But yeah, Rush 2049 really is my favorite racing game ever, and my most played N64 game too.

Good write up, Falcon.

This had me think of a couple of things.

First: I've only sold 2 N64 games out of my collection. Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and StarCraft. This kid actually offered me $100 each for them.

Second: Its a crime that you don't have Rayman 2 for the N64. It's different from the Dreamcast version, which is different from the PS1 version.

I do have Rayman 2 for the PC, that's the version I bought back in '99 or so. It's basically exactly the same thing as the N64 version, just with better visuals, I'm pretty sure... and yeah, it's my second favorite 3d platformer of the generation, between Mario 64 and DK64.

I'm actually surprised by some of the games you don't have given you have 145 of them.

goldeneye, perfect dark and wwf no mercy are those games that you know, everyone with a 64 has.

I have around 30 games, but I consider them to be the must haves. Basically all the major 1st and 2nd party games plus a few third party classics thrown in.

But as I said before, great effort on the op.

I have Perfect Dark... as for more wrestling games, as I say in the review of the one I have, I never had any interest in wrestling, either games or on TV, and I don't usually buy things I have no intention of playing.

 

[Run_64bit]

Such a good write-up.

I personally own over 50 N64 games, and it's also my favorite console of all time, so I love to see it get some love.

The main thing I disagreed with you on: I prefer Diddy Kong Racing as a standalone game to Mario Kart 64. No, it's not as good for parties or nostalgia trips, but I do feel DKR is a superior game.

Definitely need to check out some of these games; thanks for the recommendations!

 

[impact]

One of my favorite systems for Star Fox, SM64 and the wrasslin games alone. It's really hard to play now because of the awkward controller so I'll just keep it in the past. N64 <3

 

[vixlar]

WOW!! First, congratulations for this fantastic thread. Some memories came to my head. Some tears... sniff...

I'm glad to see another person who apreciate rare games I liked.

Top Gear Overdrive is an amazing game for its era. Many cars, fantastic driving and settings: not too arcade, not too sim. My jaw dropped when I saw how the lights in the cars ahead of me affected the view. And I learned to love the first person view in racing games thanks to this.

Goemon's Greatest Adventure: I know Mystical Ninja 64 is a fantastic game. But this game has 2 player coop!!! And the 2.5D is fantastic. It is amazing how you can see the alternate paths in the background. My little brother and me learned how to play the first two worlds perfectly.

WCW/NWO Revenge: It is sad you don't enjoy wretling games, as this is one of the best. You know, No Mercy and all of that (I had No Mercy, one of my N64 jewels) but before it, it was WCW!!! I liked this game because there are some that are famous in Mexico. Conan, Ultimo Dragon, La Parka, Eddie Guerrero, and I think Juventud Guerrera was in this game too.

And as a bonus. Maybe you don't like soccer games, as you didn't mention any soccer game, but International Superstar Soccer series, from Konami, was fantastic. My favorite is the 98. Still, my favorite soccer game of all time.

 

[Andrea23]

Instantly bookmarked.
Kudos@OP.

 

[Apenheul]

I have the PC version of Duke Nukem 3D, though, is there really a good reason to get the N64 port? I'd ask the same question about Quake 1 for N64. (As for Hexen, that one was a favorite of mine on the PC back in the '90s, as far as FPSes go, so I couldn't resist when I saw a cheap copy of that one.)

Duke Nukem on the Nintendo 64 added co-op campaign and deathmatch multiplayer which the PC version didn't have. The levels are pretty much identical (albeit heavily censored) but there are some nice weapon changes. I personally spent more time with the PC version because I was much much into modding but I think for players the N64 version would be superior because of the awesome multiplayer additions.

Quake is a different matter IMO, although it's certainly a very good port it doesn't add anything new or interesting like Duke Nukem 64 did. There is a 2 player deathmatch mode which I personally had some fun with but it doesn't hold a candle to what happened on PC in that space.

 

[a posh hammer]

N64 is the best, you are the best.

Banjo Tooie is my favourite game, scratches that hoarder itch.

 

[Refreshment.01]

I don't actually own any other console baseball games for any 5th gen consoles, which is probably part of why I don't praise the visuals as much as you'd like here... don't have much to compare it to. It does look nice though, sure, and the gameplay's good.

That explains why you are indifferent to the game's visuals. One could easily notice the graphic advantage AB 99 had over it's contemporaries back in the day.

One of my reasons for doing these reviews is to show that the N64's second-tier games are actually better than many people give them credit for, in my opinion.

It has to do with the spirit of the times more than anything. People were heavily invested in prerendered cinematics and by extension of this, more plot focused games, which weren't as friendly to the cartridge format. But for the multi player focused gaming the N64 didn't have an equal in that generation, it totally dominated that aspect of gaming.

 

[A Black Falcon]

Duke Nukem on the Nintendo 64 added co-op campaign and deathmatch multiplayer which the PC version didn't have. The levels are pretty much identical (albeit heavily censored) but there are some nice weapon changes. I personally spent more time with the PC version because I was much much into modding but I think for players the N64 version would be superior because of the awesome multiplayer additions.

Quake is a different matter IMO, although it's certainly a very good port it doesn't add anything new or interesting like Duke Nukem 64 did. There is a 2 player deathmatch mode which I personally had some fun with but it doesn't hold a candle to what happened on PC in that space.

Eh, I might get Duke 64 sometime, but it's not too high a priority. I had more interest in getting the exclusive N64 Duke game, Zero Hour, and that one is pretty fun...

That explains why you are indifferent to the game's visuals. One could easily notice the graphic advantage AB 99 had over it's contemporaries back in the day.

I remember playing the demos of the PC versions of the High Heat games, back in the late '90s/early '00s, but yeah, I never actually bought a new baseball game... when I wanted to play one, I just went back to the PC version of Hardball III again. But yeah, ASB'99 is a good game. I like the pitching/hitting mechanics reasonably well as well. That's important in a baseball game of course.

It has to do with the spirit of the times more than anything. People were heavily invested in prerendered cinematics and by extension of this, more plot focused games, which weren't as friendly to the cartridge format. But for the multi player focused gaming the N64 didn't have an equal in that generation, it totally dominated that aspect of gaming.

Only a relative few N64 games try to be cinematic, though... unless you mean that too many people (who weren't N64 fans) were paying attention to that stuff, and not what the N64 was doing? Despite that the N64 did have some success in North America though, I think it's in the last couple of gens that its reputation has really gone down... and I understand that N64 games don't have the resolution, framerate, or polygon count of newer stuff, but I think many of them hold up reasonably well anyway, if you can tolerate earlier 3d at all of course (you get used to it). And of earlier 3d systems, the N64 has the best quality visuals by far. No texture warping, no jaggies, filtering, etc.

One of my favorite systems for Star Fox, SM64 and the wrasslin games alone. It's really hard to play now because of the awkward controller so I'll just keep it in the past. N64 <3

The controller isn't awkward.

 

[Veal]

I laughed out loud when I go to the Rush 2049 review. Dat text!

Love your posts and it makes me immensely happy that there are more like-minded Goemon fans out there. We suffer together, forever

 

[-KRS-]

Wow dude, I'm seriously impressed. I haven't read most of these yet but you can bet I will!

I recently bought a flashcart for my N64 and have been reliving the glory days of the system, and trying out games I wouldn't have tried out otherwise like Doom 64. It really made me realise that there are way more great games for that system than people give it credit for.

Spoiler

and for anyone who wondered, the flashcart I got was the "64drive". Yeah it's expensive and I had to wait like 4 months for it but man was it worth it when I finally got it

 

[patrickthehedgehog]

I never thought the N64 was one of those systems I'd look back on with any degree of nostalgia, but this thread had me playing Rush, Crusin and F-Zero X last night. Hoping to play some more today! Thanks for the awesome thread!

Oh, and also the two best (worst) songs in any racing game!

Crusin USA - House Special

San Francisco Rush - Rave Rush

 

[Refreshment.01]

I have the PC version of Duke Nukem 3D, though, is there really a good reason to get the N64 port? I'd ask the same question about Quake 1 for N64. (As for Hexen, that one was a favorite of mine on the PC back in the '90s, as far as FPSes go, so I couldn't resist when I saw a cheap copy of that one.)

Well at the time it was the Co Op mode which was a rarity in console FPS. The 4 player head to head was really well done. I think it was a bit underrated considering how much fun this port end up being.

Did i miss it or you didn't review NBA: Hang Time? Excellent multi player game that was really easy to learn.

The thread makes one put things into perspective, 4 player local multi was more fun than any on line game i've played this generation. It has some sort of intangible quality that online can't beat. Most fun with an online game i had was with PSO, yet the GameCube version local mode was equally if not more amazing.

 

[Slappers Only]

So many incredible games. Still my favorite controller of all time. Thanks for all the evocative write-ups, OP.

 

[MicH]

I never thought the N64 was one of those systems I'd look back on with any degree of nostalgia, but this thread had me playing Rush, Crusin and F-Zero X last night. Hoping to play some more today! Thanks for the awesome thread!

Oh, and also the two best (worst) songs in any racing game!

Crusin USA - House Special

San Francisco Rush - Rave Rush

Changing the radiostation in Cruisin USA was one of my favorite things. The music was so awesome!

Also flies being crushed on your windshield

 

[BruiserBear]

Wave Race 64 - Wave Race 64 is one of the N64's early releases from Nintendo, and like some others like Mario 64, it stands out as one of the system's best. There are a lot of racing games on the N64, and I don't think Wave Race 64 is the system's very best racing game, but it is an extremely, extremely good game, the best water racing game of its generation, and still one of the greats of the field. While the character models are only average, the environments are top class. Indeed, Wave Race 64 has beautiful environments to race through on your jetskis, and the waves, wave effects, and changing water (and in some tracks even water level) from lap to lap is extremely impressive for the time; indeed, even many much newer jetski games don't compare in water effects or wave physics. Every track in this game is memorable and so well thought through compared to most other racing games of the time. The game's music is good, fitting stuff as well, and each track has audio that fits its nature well. The game is somewhat short, but what it lacks in length it makes up for with great gameplay and fun. This is one you'll return to, and is not just the generation's best jetski racing game, it's arguably the best one ever. Two player multiplayer, on-cart saving. Can back up your save file to a controller pak.

No, it's not the N64's best racing game. It's one of the best racing games ever made for any console.

 

[Ramblin]

No screen shots?

 

[cnet128]

Kudos for an incredibly impressive thread. There's one small piece of misinformation that I'd like to call you out from your Majora's Mask review, though. (Yes, it's the Majora's Mask defence squad on your tail! =p)

Most of your negative comments come down entirely to personal preference, so while I'd rate the game much more highly than you, I won't argue with most of your points. There's one statement that is actually inaccurate, though:

For instance, if you run out of time in a dungeon, you'll have to go back to the start and start the whole thing over. I don't think I should even have to say how awful that is. Also, after you beat each dungeon, it changes the world -- so beating the ice dungeon melts a lot of the snow in that area, etc. The problem is, these changes reset when you go back in time, so if you want to see it without snow, you'll have go to through the dungeon AGAIN and beat the boss again too! Why would they do it that way? It's annoying!

First of all, if you run out of time in a dungeon, you won't usually have to go all the way back to the start. While the game gives you plenty of time to defeat a dungeon within the three-day period, so it's rare that you'll ever be forced to do this at all, there are failsafes to make sure you never have to do the whole dungeon over again.

For starters, the dungeon map and compass stay with you when you rewind time, so there's no need to re-obtain those and you'll have a much better overview the second time around. But more importantly, the dungeon item also stays with you, which basically means you can skip over the entire first half of the dungeon that leads to obtaining it. Sadly, the Boss Key (along with all other keys) doesn't stay with you; I agree that it would have been more user-friendly if that could be retained as a final "checkpoint" of sorts.

However, that brings me to the second and more telling mistake here - you most certainly don't have to go through the dungeon over again to reactivate the environment changes in the outside world. After completing each dungeon, a permanent warp appears at the dungeon entrance that takes you straight to the boss, so to reactivate the environment changes, all you need to do is defeat the boss again. The only environment change I remember being particularly important is the de-icing of the Snowhead region that you mentioned, so all it boils down to is an excuse to play the extremely fun and barely challenging Goht boss battle more than once. Hardly a negative in my books!

 

[The_eJoker]

I vividly remember the day that i got my n64. Such a great console. Goldeneye multiplayer was a BLAST, and Super Mario 64 is probably the most important game in the last 20 years. I only played OOT several years later, though.

 

[Seik]

Overwhelmingly good OP, bravo!

I'm gonna play some good old N64 tonight! I wanted to do this all week but I ain't got no time. Tonight is the night.

For anyone interested, I made a thread about a replacement joystick I bought today on Ebay and received this week, which is a really good/perfect replacement for any loose stick. I recommend it for anyone searching for a better N64 experience.

 

[The Lamonster]

Great thread. Nostalgia...

 

[thomaser]

GREAT posts. I have most of these games, and it was nice reading your reviews for the nostalgia. I really should play those games more often.

But I do have one complaint. You wrote this:

San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing[/B] [...] Similarly, the music's alright, but not the best.

Is that all you have to say about the music? I mean, this is the game that gave us Rave Rush. How can you fail to mention such a masterpiece? Sure, one reviewer likened the composer to a tone-deaf llama, but in my experience tone-deaf llamas can churn out pretty good tunes. And this one's nothing short of amazing.

Edit: Does anyone know who the composer was? I've tried to find out, but can find no trace of a name. Perhaps it really WAS a llama.

 

[EvilDick34]

- Shadows of the Empire was an early N64 game, and was one that Nintendo hyped up before the system's release. It was also on PC, but not other consoles. Shadows of the Empire has several different gameplay styles, from level to level, but it's essentially one half third person shooter, one half miscelaneous vehicular stages. The vehicular stages include one where you fly a snowspeeder on Hoth, which helped inspire the better Rogue Squadron series, one where you drive through Tatooine on a speeder bike, and some rail-shooter or cockpit-gunner style levels. The vehicular levels are all at least moderately fun, and sometimes are pretty good, but the third person shooter side of the game struggles more. SotE simply is a very early game, and it shows. The controls aren't very good, first -- this is far from Turok's level of great controls, that's for sure, and there's not much that can be done to improve them. The graphics are repetitive, too -- most of that first snow base level looks pretty similar. Sure, I'm not a FPS/TPS fan, but I like some of these games for sure... this isn't one of the better ones. I like it because it's Star Wars, and for the vehicular stages, but this is the weakest of the N64 Star Wars games for sure (It's still better than several of the PS1 ones, though!). One player, on-cart saving.
.

I don't get it, why do people always bag on Shadows of the Empire? Am i the only one who was blown away by this game? I literally bought my N64 for this game. All the set pieces we're quite awesome and fun to traverse. The train level was a blast btw, especially the boss .

 

[RPG_Fanatic]

Awesome topic. So many memories.
Glad to see someone else who loved Aidyn Chronicles: The First Mage.
The character growth and battle systems were so well done. I really wish there was another game like it.

 

[A Black Falcon]

Did i miss it or you didn't review NBA: Hang Time? Excellent multi player game that was really easy to learn.

I don't have Hangtime... it is one I'd like to get eventually, though. From what I've seen of it I don't think I'd like it more than NBA Jam T.E., but it looks similar in quality to Showtime at least... I loved the NBA Jam games back in the '90s, and TE was my favorite. I find it pretty disappointing that some of TE's best features, like player injury ratings, being able to switch players between each quarter, 2x through 4x turbo speed options in the menu, and Hot Spots also in the menu, all only make an appearance in TE and its engine-clone title College Slam... those were some of the best things about TE!

I know that Hangtime and Showtime add player creation (and I do have Showtime for DC; that's why I don't have that one for N64), but still...

The thread makes one put things into perspective, 4 player local multi was more fun than any on line game i've played this generation. It has some sort of intangible quality that online can't beat. Most fun with an online game i had was with PSO, yet the GameCube version local mode was equally if not more amazing.

That's probably true, yeah... online play is great, but there's something about local multiplayer, particularly with 3-4 people, that it just can't match.

I never thought the N64 was one of those systems I'd look back on with any degree of nostalgia, but this thread had me playing Rush, Crusin and F-Zero X last night. Hoping to play some more today! Thanks for the awesome thread!

Oh, and also the two best (worst) songs in any racing game!

Crusin USA - House Special

San Francisco Rush - Rave Rush

Yeah, Midway's music in the Cruis'n games and the first two Rush titles was a little odd. Interesting, but a little odd (Not worst though for sure). LIke the games themselves, Rush's soundtrack is probably better than Cruis'n's.

So many incredible games. Still my favorite controller of all time. Thanks for all the evocative write-ups, OP.

I don't think I mention it in the reviews, but it's my favorite controller too.

No, it's not the N64's best racing game. It's one of the best racing games ever made for any console.

It might be the best jetski racing game ever, but it's not my favorite racing game overall. But in the jetski/water racing genre though... yeah, probably is the best ever.

No screen shots?

I find it much more interesting to write reviews and stuff than collect screenshots... anyway, pictures of any of these games aren't hard to find if you're interested. Maybe eventually I'll add some screenshots to the reviews though.

Kudos for an incredibly impressive thread. There's one small piece of misinformation that I'd like to call you out from your Majora's Mask review, though. (Yes, it's the Majora's Mask defence squad on your tail! =p)

I know there is one, this is one of those games I've been disagreeing with people about ever since its release, sort of like DK64 but kind of in reverse.

Most of your negative comments come down entirely to personal preference, so while I'd rate the game much more highly than you, I won't argue with most of your points. There's one statement that is actually inaccurate, though:


First of all, if you run out of time in a dungeon, you won't usually have to go all the way back to the start. While the game gives you plenty of time to defeat a dungeon within the three-day period, so it's rare that you'll ever be forced to do this at all, there are failsafes to make sure you never have to do the whole dungeon over again.

For starters, the dungeon map and compass stay with you when you rewind time, so there's no need to re-obtain those and you'll have a much better overview the second time around. But more importantly, the dungeon item also stays with you, which basically means you can skip over the entire first half of the dungeon that leads to obtaining it. Sadly, the Boss Key (along with all other keys) doesn't stay with you; I agree that it would have been more user-friendly if that could be retained as a final "checkpoint" of sorts.

Ah. I badly wanted to avoid having to redo dungeons back when I first played the game in 2000-2001, so I remember using walkthroughs sometimes in the dungeons, so as to not run out of time... I certainly would have otherwise. I also didn't finish the game, dropping it before, or in, the Stone Tower Temple... actually, last time I played I remember being halfway through that dungeon. Never could quite get myself to care enough to go back and finish the game (or get all the masks).

So yeah, I don't remember if I've actually run out of time in a dungeon sometime or not, so I didn't remember the details of what you have to redo. So you do lose all the keys and stuff? That's a complete pain, I think I did the right thing back then. I don't know if the text of my review needs to change, you do need to redo the dungeons... maybe I could mention that you do keep the dungeon item, but have to redo everything else.

Of course though, given that you lose all consumable items every reset, it's no surprise that you lose keys too... "user-friendly" wasn't exactly one of the things they were going for with MM.

However, that brings me to the second and more telling mistake here - you most certainly don't have to go through the dungeon over again to reactivate the environment changes in the outside world. After completing each dungeon, a permanent warp appears at the dungeon entrance that takes you straight to the boss, so to reactivate the environment changes, all you need to do is defeat the boss again. The only environment change I remember being particularly important is the de-icing of the Snowhead region that you mentioned, so all it boils down to is an excuse to play the extremely fun and barely challenging Goht boss battle more than once. Hardly a negative in my books!

This I probably should change, I obviously forgot that detail when writing the review -- that's true, you do only need to refight the bosses and are given a warp. Still though, seriously, you have to go all the way to the dungeons again and re-fight the bosses if you want to change the areas? Oh come on, that's such a pain...

GREAT posts. I have most of these games, and it was nice reading your reviews for the nostalgia. I really should play those games more often.

But I do have one complaint. You wrote this:



Is that all you have to say about the music? I mean, this is the game that gave us Rave Rush. How can you fail to mention such a masterpiece? Sure, one reviewer likened the composer to a tone-deaf llama, but in my experience tone-deaf llamas can churn out pretty good tunes. And this one's nothing short of amazing.

Edit: Does anyone know who the composer was? I've tried to find out, but can find no trace of a name. Perhaps it really WAS a llama.

I do actually like the soundtracks to the first two Rush games, but what's going on there is that I love the soundtrack to Rush 2049 so, so much that I downgrade the first two games' soundtracks in comparison... 2049's is just near-perfect, and I really do like N64 Rush 2049's soundtrack better than the Dreamcast version's similar but slightly different one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmKnuh_J_EM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWn2L4DQ_zQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3qFeLtM07k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEGVzY_dtts
etc.

... gah, so great.

I don't get it, why do people always bag on Shadows of the Empire? Am i the only one who was blown away by this game? I literally bought my N64 for this game. All the set pieces we're quite awesome and fun to traverse. The train level was a blast btw, especially the boss .

The game was impressive when it came out, sure, but then better first/third person action games came out on the system like Turok, and then better flying games came out on the system like Rogue Squadron too... SotE is basically a hybrid of various game types that other things did better later on.

I remember some comments about Rogue Squadron at the time, about how it was a game based off of the first and best level of SotE... and yeah, that is sort of true. SotE isn't a bad game though, sure. It's good, in part. But it's certainly flawed, particularly in the third-person shooter parts, and they make up a lot of the game.

 

[Shikamaru Ninja]

The Nintendo 64 had a lot of very interesting fresh exclusive games. It may not have had 500 games, but a great deal of the franchises were "new" and "exclusive" experiences. I will always have a fond place in my memories for that system.

 

[illadelph]

Is that all you have to say about the music? I mean, this is the game that gave us Rave Rush. How can you fail to mention such a masterpiece? Sure, one reviewer likened the composer to a tone-deaf llama, but in my experience tone-deaf llamas can churn out pretty good tunes. And this one's nothing short of amazing.

Edit: Does anyone know who the composer was? I've tried to find out, but can find no trace of a name. Perhaps it really WAS a llama.

HAHAHA I just rememberedWhat's Your Name, a quality composition if there ever was one.

SFR was awesome, finding all of the secrets, hidden keys, and shortcuts was nuts. Remember the hidden halfpipe in that one level? Crazy shit man.

 

[Riggs]

Holy shit OP, undercore!!

 

[thomaser]

I do actually like the soundtracks to the first two Rush games, but what's going on there is that I love the soundtrack to Rush 2049 so, so much that I downgrade the first two games' soundtracks in comparison...

You know, I was kidding. SF Rush has the most godawful mess of music known to mankind. Rave Rush is so horrible that it burns its way into your brain out of sheer malice, and stays in there, forever, eating your happy memories. The What's Your Name song isn't far behind...

And I found the name of the composer! Our tone-deaf llama is named Doug Brandon. He also made the music for The Great Waldo Search (NES/SNES/GEN), Awesome Possum (GEN), Brutal: Paws of Fury (GEN/SNES), Mace: The Dark Age (N64) and a few others. After SF Rush, he only composed the music for Star Trek: New Worlds (PC) back in 2000. Who knows what on earth a musician of his awesome talent can be working on right now.

 

[BigDug13]

You kinda had to try Goldeneye at the time of release to truly appreciate it. Bond had taken a long hiatus from movie screens. A new Bond with Pierce Brosnan who just "looks" like Bond in every way was cast, and Martin Campbell (who also did Casino Royale) directed a really fun return to the series with an excellent villain set in Famke Janssen and Sean Bean.

The movie had so many great settings throughout and the game did a really great job of sending you through all those locations. It was also possibly the first console FPS that offered stealth play with silenced weapons as well as 4 player split screen (I know hexen64 did it first but not the same kind of deathmatch fun).

It was also the first time in an FPS (that i know of) the difficultly settings added objectives to complete. It really was the whole package with tons of things to unlock and a livingroom party game for the ages.

It was the greatest movie licensed video game ever released at its time and still holds up as one of the best of all time.

 

[Degen]

shoutouts to Fighter's Destiny! My family and I put a ton of time into that game. Its system of earning points makes it stand out to this day

 

[mariosbrother]

You kinda had to try Goldeneye at the time of release to truly appreciate it. Bond had taken a long hiatus from movie screens. A new Bond with Pierce Brosnan who just "looks" like Bond in every way was cast, and Martin Campbell (who also did Casino Royale) directed a really fun return to the series with an excellent villain set in Famke Janssen and Sean Bean.

The movie had so many great settings throughout and the game did a really great job of sending you through all those locations. It was also possibly the first console FPS that offered stealth play with silenced weapons as well as 4 player split screen (I know hexen64 did it first but not the same kind of deathmatch fun).

It was also the first time in an FPS (that i know of) the difficultly settings added objectives to complete. It really was the whole package with tons of things to unlock and a livingroom party game for the ages.

It was the greatest movie licensed video game ever released at its time and still holds up as one of the best of all time.

Not to mention witnessing the missile silo and other locations that were just graphically mind-blowing at the time.

 

[Shikamaru Ninja]

shoutouts to Fighter's Destiny! My family and I put a ton of time into that game. Its system of earning points makes it stand out to this day

That game should be a FRANCHISE we are playing right now. The character design was horrid, but the mechanics were the greatest thing to ever happen to fighting gamers. The grappling mechanics were just awesome.

 

[MisterLuffy]

Nice job reviewing 145 games, Conker's Bad Fur Day is one of my favorite games in N64. I especially enjoyed playing multiplayer.

 

[A Black Falcon]

HAHAHA I just rememberedWhat's Your Name, a quality composition if there ever was one.

SFR was awesome, finding all of the secrets, hidden keys, and shortcuts was nuts. Remember the hidden halfpipe in that one level? Crazy shit man.

That's definitely a really odd song.

You know, I was kidding. SF Rush has the most godawful mess of music known to mankind. Rave Rush is so horrible that it burns its way into your brain out of sheer malice, and stays in there, forever, eating your happy memories. The What's Your Name song isn't far behind...

And I found the name of the composer! Our tone-deaf llama is named Doug Brandon. He also made the music for The Great Waldo Search (NES/SNES/GEN), Awesome Possum (GEN), Brutal: Paws of Fury (GEN/SNES), Mace: The Dark Age (N64) and a few others. After SF Rush, he only composed the music for Star Trek: New Worlds (PC) back in 2000. Who knows what on earth a musician of his awesome talent can be working on right now.

I don't know, Rush/Rush 2's music isn't so much terrible as just really strange...

As for those other games, I don't remember their soundtracks too much (I think Mace's was decent?), but I do know Brutal and Awesome Possum were pretty terrible gameplay-wise, at least. Awesome Possum has to be one of Tengen/Atari Games' lowlights...

 

[Persona7]

Thanks for the effort, I am using your reviews to great effect.

I just ordered 7 N64 games.

 

[The Albatross]

Great post(s) that's all I have to say.

 

[SlipperySlope]

Great OP! Now buy Goldeneye

 

[A Black Falcon]

You kinda had to try Goldeneye at the time of release to truly appreciate it. Bond had taken a long hiatus from movie screens. A new Bond with Pierce Brosnan who just "looks" like Bond in every way was cast, and Martin Campbell (who also did Casino Royale) directed a really fun return to the series with an excellent villain set in Famke Janssen and Sean Bean.

The movie had so many great settings throughout and the game did a really great job of sending you through all those locations. It was also possibly the first console FPS that offered stealth play with silenced weapons as well as 4 player split screen (I know hexen64 did it first but not the same kind of deathmatch fun).

It was also the first time in an FPS (that i know of) the difficultly settings added objectives to complete. It really was the whole package with tons of things to unlock and a livingroom party game for the ages.

It was the greatest movie licensed video game ever released at its time and still holds up as one of the best of all time.

Maybe, but yeah, I'd rather play Turok, now. (I know, I love the N64 but I don't love Goldeneye, somewhat uncommon...)

I mean, sure, it's a pretty good game, but there's better on the N64, too.

Great OP! Now buy Goldeneye

It's somewhat low on my list unless I find a copy for like a dollar or something somewhere. As I said about the game earlier in the thread:

I borrowed Goldeneye from a friend back in 2000 and finished it on Agent, and then returned it after a few weeks. Haven't been able to force myself to spend money to buy a copy, since I started buying N64 games again in about '05 (I had gotten 26 games up to the early '00s, but then stopped getting new N64 games for a while during the 6th gen)... I think PD's a much better game. I'm actually not a huge Goldeneye fan. I mean, it was fun to play through once, it is a good game, but the story's pretty badly done, for one thing... I'd never seen a Bond movie before, you see, when I first played it (I know, but it's true), and I had no idea who any of the characters were. The game starts out with some random person giving you a mission, but no one is introduced... they assume you know the characters. It continues like that, they basically assume you've seen the movie before, I'd say. Once I watched the movie, only then did the game make sense, story-wise.

Also, PD has better graphics, more options, bots in multiplayer (without them, GE007 is somewhat limited), more maps, and more.

So yeah, for people who say that Goldeneye is the best N64 FPS... how many of the other ones have you actually played? I know that it's good, but the best? No.

 

[apana]

Nintendo 64 is the greatest console, if it had sold as much as the PS1 the world would be a better place right now.

Spoiler

Not really but I like to pretend.

 

[Bringer Of Bacon]

good work on the reviews tho. e-props

 

[illadelph]

gonna play some N64 today, I'm going with either Goemon's Great Adventure, Wave Race 64, or Rogue Squadron. choose one GAF.

 

[Boney]

gonna play some N64 today, I'm going with either Goemon's Great Adventure, Wave Race 64, or Rogue Squadron. choose one GAF.

I love Goemon, but Wave Race 64 is the best N64 game so you should be playing that.

 

[revolverjgw]

gonna play some N64 today, I'm going with either Goemon's Great Adventure, Wave Race 64, or Rogue Squadron. choose one GAF.

Wave Race seems like a timely game to play

 

[illadelph]

Wave Race it is then