Reminiscing upon the Nintendo 64
Sept 14, 2022 18:54:25 GMT -5
Post by Ex on Sept 14, 2022 18:54:25 GMT -5
>So what was your first experience(s) with the N64?
It was 1996, I was 17, and an older friend of mine bought an N64 and Mario 64 on release day. So I spent the weekend at his place playing Mario 64 incessantly. M64 was not the first 3D platformer, but it was the first 3D platformer that felt fluid, intuitive, and most importantly FUN. M64 blew my mind at the time, it felt like a legitimate new precedent in gaming. I was in awe the entire time I played it. Especially the parts where you dive underwater and swam in a 3D space. Seems quaint now but this was revolutionary for console gaming at the time.
>If you ever owned one, when did you get it?
>Do you still own a N64? Do you still play N64?
I never owned an N64 during its heyday, because I had multiple friends that owned the console. I got to play it often at their houses. I played most of the N64 big hitters when they released as a result. Although that restricted me to the multiplayer games. I spent dozens if not hundreds of hours playing N64 multiplayer games, back in the late '90s and early '00s. I haven't done much single player N64 gaming however. In years since I just emulate N64 whenever I feel like playing it. I've never personally owned a legit N64 console.
>If so what was the most recent game?
According to my HLTB, the most recently I finished an N64 game was Paper Mario back in 2009. Yeah, it's been since 2009 that I've beaten a single player N64 game... clearly I don't give the N64 enough love.
>Are there N64 games you'd still like to play?
There's quite a few actually, top 10 most intrigued by would be:
Battlezone - Rise of the Black Dogs
Body Harvest
Castlevania - Legacy of Darkness
GoldenEye 007 (I played loads of multiplayer but never did the solo campaign)
Hybrid Heaven
Jet Force Gemini
Ogre Battle 64 - Person of Lordly Caliber
Shadowgate 64 - Trials of the Four Towers
WinBack - Covert Operations
Wonder Project J2
>What was the best N64 game ever?
It's got to be Mario 64. For it to be a launch title and pull off inventing 3D platforming so amazing well, is nothing short of a miracle. Every 3D platforming game since owes M64 a debt of gratitude, as M64 had to figure out and solve SO many problems. And it did so in style, you can even back-flip and grab ledges in the game. Mario 64 is the most impressive game Nintendo ever made technically (for its time of release).
>What was the worst N64 game ever?
Speaking personally I gotta go with Dark Rift. Not that the game is terrible, I don't know. I don't know, because when I rented it, the game wouldn't go passed the title screen. Turned out there was a bad run of Dark Rift cartridges, and the Blockbuster I rented the game from had one of them. So a game that won't even boot passed its own title screen is even worse than Superman 64 in my book. At least that game would play.
>Is the N64 truly a 64-bit console?
I'm going to say yes, yes it is. The 9-bit data bus is debatable, but the processor/GPU are 64-bit legit.
>What N64 game has the most impressive graphics?
I remember being wowed by the solar lens flare in Turok, but overall I'd have to say Perfect Dark. Rare really squeezed every last smidgen of power from the N64 with that game.
>Which N64 game have you put the most time into?
Mario Kart 64 by a mile. Back in the late '90s, my friends and I would spend entire weekends playing that one. We became insanely good at it. One friend of mine and I spent about 8 straight hours battling in the block fort alone. Those were far, far simpler days.
>Did you do much multiplayer with the N64?
As said above, that's about all I did with the N64. I think having the four ports built into the console was the genius move by Nintendo with the N64. So many games took advantage of that, as a result you could have parties all about playing N64 games all night. We had many nights of Smash Bros., Turok: Rage Wars, Mario Kart 64, GoldenEye 007, Mario Party, and all the other multiplayer hits. Pure unadulterated fun. (Although we never had any wrestling games.)
>What was the N64's greatest weakness?
Losing Square as a third party developer.
>How do you think the N64 compares to the PS1?
Technically the N64 trounces the PS1, but it was also apparently much more difficult to program for than the PS1. That's a big negative when trying to attract third party developers.
www.thegamer.com/n64-vs-ps1-console-more-powerful-tech-specs/
>Can you tell us about some N64 hidden gems?
There's a Japan-only fighter called Rakuga Kids that's pretty cool. People swear Space Station Silicon Valley is great but I've never played it. The original Sin And Punishment is well worth playing and has an English fan translation now. Dezaemon 3D is supposedly a decent 3D shmup. Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth is also supposed to be a good shmup. But probably the one nobody's played but me is SD Hiryu no Ken Densetsu, a Japan-only N64 exclusive fighter:
It's got a very robust story mode, hopefully that will get English fan translated someday.
>Any there any untranslated (meaning not even fan translated) Japanese N64 games worth playing?
That is something I'll have to research and report back on...
It was 1996, I was 17, and an older friend of mine bought an N64 and Mario 64 on release day. So I spent the weekend at his place playing Mario 64 incessantly. M64 was not the first 3D platformer, but it was the first 3D platformer that felt fluid, intuitive, and most importantly FUN. M64 blew my mind at the time, it felt like a legitimate new precedent in gaming. I was in awe the entire time I played it. Especially the parts where you dive underwater and swam in a 3D space. Seems quaint now but this was revolutionary for console gaming at the time.
>If you ever owned one, when did you get it?
>Do you still own a N64? Do you still play N64?
I never owned an N64 during its heyday, because I had multiple friends that owned the console. I got to play it often at their houses. I played most of the N64 big hitters when they released as a result. Although that restricted me to the multiplayer games. I spent dozens if not hundreds of hours playing N64 multiplayer games, back in the late '90s and early '00s. I haven't done much single player N64 gaming however. In years since I just emulate N64 whenever I feel like playing it. I've never personally owned a legit N64 console.
>If so what was the most recent game?
According to my HLTB, the most recently I finished an N64 game was Paper Mario back in 2009. Yeah, it's been since 2009 that I've beaten a single player N64 game... clearly I don't give the N64 enough love.
>Are there N64 games you'd still like to play?
There's quite a few actually, top 10 most intrigued by would be:
Battlezone - Rise of the Black Dogs
Body Harvest
Castlevania - Legacy of Darkness
GoldenEye 007 (I played loads of multiplayer but never did the solo campaign)
Hybrid Heaven
Jet Force Gemini
Ogre Battle 64 - Person of Lordly Caliber
Shadowgate 64 - Trials of the Four Towers
WinBack - Covert Operations
Wonder Project J2
>What was the best N64 game ever?
It's got to be Mario 64. For it to be a launch title and pull off inventing 3D platforming so amazing well, is nothing short of a miracle. Every 3D platforming game since owes M64 a debt of gratitude, as M64 had to figure out and solve SO many problems. And it did so in style, you can even back-flip and grab ledges in the game. Mario 64 is the most impressive game Nintendo ever made technically (for its time of release).
>What was the worst N64 game ever?
Speaking personally I gotta go with Dark Rift. Not that the game is terrible, I don't know. I don't know, because when I rented it, the game wouldn't go passed the title screen. Turned out there was a bad run of Dark Rift cartridges, and the Blockbuster I rented the game from had one of them. So a game that won't even boot passed its own title screen is even worse than Superman 64 in my book. At least that game would play.
>Is the N64 truly a 64-bit console?
I'm going to say yes, yes it is. The 9-bit data bus is debatable, but the processor/GPU are 64-bit legit.
>What N64 game has the most impressive graphics?
I remember being wowed by the solar lens flare in Turok, but overall I'd have to say Perfect Dark. Rare really squeezed every last smidgen of power from the N64 with that game.
>Which N64 game have you put the most time into?
Mario Kart 64 by a mile. Back in the late '90s, my friends and I would spend entire weekends playing that one. We became insanely good at it. One friend of mine and I spent about 8 straight hours battling in the block fort alone. Those were far, far simpler days.
>Did you do much multiplayer with the N64?
As said above, that's about all I did with the N64. I think having the four ports built into the console was the genius move by Nintendo with the N64. So many games took advantage of that, as a result you could have parties all about playing N64 games all night. We had many nights of Smash Bros., Turok: Rage Wars, Mario Kart 64, GoldenEye 007, Mario Party, and all the other multiplayer hits. Pure unadulterated fun. (Although we never had any wrestling games.)
>What was the N64's greatest weakness?
Losing Square as a third party developer.
>How do you think the N64 compares to the PS1?
Technically the N64 trounces the PS1, but it was also apparently much more difficult to program for than the PS1. That's a big negative when trying to attract third party developers.
www.thegamer.com/n64-vs-ps1-console-more-powerful-tech-specs/
>Can you tell us about some N64 hidden gems?
There's a Japan-only fighter called Rakuga Kids that's pretty cool. People swear Space Station Silicon Valley is great but I've never played it. The original Sin And Punishment is well worth playing and has an English fan translation now. Dezaemon 3D is supposedly a decent 3D shmup. Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth is also supposed to be a good shmup. But probably the one nobody's played but me is SD Hiryu no Ken Densetsu, a Japan-only N64 exclusive fighter:
It's got a very robust story mode, hopefully that will get English fan translated someday.
>Any there any untranslated (meaning not even fan translated) Japanese N64 games worth playing?
That is something I'll have to research and report back on...