Topic: The N64 Thread

@ReaderRagfihs terrible for golden eye but works great for smash.
For us in the uk jap n64 works great and even our uk n64 power plugs work. I still own my original pal n64 which runs mario 64 25fps with borders. Ntsc n64s are the way to go if your starting out new. Pal we were stuck at 50hz

To get the best experience from the Nintendo 64 is to play it on the tube TVs even composite looks great/rgb is the best but needs modding.

And now I wanna get one. Never tried rumble on the 64

The last N64 game I've played was Chameleon Twist, a pretty simple platformer.
Haven't gotten around playing Pilotwings 64 yet.

N64 is the most dated console that actually still holds up. That's my assumption anyway, because other consoles that have mostly games that feel dated are either obscure/irrelevant or the NES (which in hindsight is filled with mediocre and unfair games between the games that get re-released 500 times). But the N64 is such this weird era of gaming where the weird directions games took to try to be 3D either almost immediately work or were novel concepts because people figured out how to 3D by the end of the generation and thus abandoned half the ideas that could work if done anytime after the N64. That's not entirely true, but that's kinda how I look at the N64 in hindsight when 3D gaming nowadays has almost nothing to do with any games from this era, outside of games intentionally going back to this style for nostalgia (most of which only came out in the past 2 years). It's been kinda interesting and sad to see how long it's taken for even Mario and Crash to look back at this era of gaming for inspiration.

I will say though, as someone who grew up with it and also played it somewhat regularly through the next 2 console generations, I missed out on quite a number of its major titles. I either played them once or never. Stuff like Goldeneye/Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Blast Corps, Excitebike 64, F Zero X, Beetle Adventure Racing, the non-podracing Star Wars games among other things. And yet somehow I have played Quest 64 multiple times. Weird.

@MarioLover92 I have heard the name Panel de Pon when I checked the lip's stick item trophy from Smash Melee back in 2002-2003 (when I got the Game Cube), but I never knew that this was the first game of all the puzzle league games. I would like that Nintendo one day make a Pokemon Puzzle League Johto region with new puzzles and ideas. When I played GBA Puzzle League, I find that the puzzles were the same as the ones in Pokemon Puzzle League, which was a wasted opportunity, given how good this games are.

@kkslider5552000 I know that feeling. I regret not trying BK and BK2 when they were available to rent in my local video. I, in my kid mind was always very picky (back then) when it comes to to trying new things. I always stick with what I knew. In fact, I would have never played Ocarina of Time, if my parents didn't have asked me to exchange my Megaman 64 game for a Zelda Ocarina of Time that one of my cousins had. And boy how GLAD I am to have made that exchange. I had a blast with that game and it introduced me to the Zelda franchise, at least the 3D ones as I wasn't interested in in the 2D ones until A Link Between Worlds.

@gcunit There are a bunch of exclusive games that never made it to Europe. I have a PAL system, and there's a few games I can't play because of it. There's a weird adapter I believe, but getting one is either difficult or very expensive; but maybe there are cheap alternatives available. Anyway, just make sure you're not looking for a game that isn't available in Europe.

Other than that... If you care about save data, it's worth looking into how games are saved, because there's no standardised save system. Some require a Controller Pak, others use on cart batteries (which you'll probably need to replace yourself at this point, but don't worry, tinkering with an N64 is super easy); most games come with their own little flash memory built in it, so you don't need to worry about anything; but Ocarina of Time for example requires a battery.

@Vinny Chameleon Twist, the original battle royale!

@ReaderRagfihs The GameCube replacement stick seems an easier solution though. I think I've also seen N64 sticks being sold separately. I'll look into it, because I'd like to replace mine as well. I tried everything from grease to cleaning; but it's still a bit too loose for my tastes. Getting a GameCube stick seems to be the more permanent solution.

Thanks for your input everyone. I had my eye on a particular listing that's been sold now, so I'm putting the idea on hold until I find a particularly tempting package.

As I've got Rare Replay on XB1, Goldeneye on Wii, plus OoT, Majora's, and Star Fox 64 on 3DS, there's only really a few N64 games that I feel I need to experience, so not in a major rush.

Edit: And now I see Turok is coming to Switch so that's another game I needn't worry about on N64.

Honestly, the one game that's really on my mind is Diddy Kong Racing. What am I losing out on if I just go for the DS version?

@ReaderRagfihs Single player mostly I suspect.

@gcunit Diddy Kong racing on DS is not quite in the same league as the original. It's a pretty decent game still, but in my personal opinion, the lack of an analog stick hurts it too much, if you've already played the original. Then again: if you never have, then it's probably more a matter of which version is more readily available and/or cheaper. And then there's personal preference such as wanting to have it on a portable console or not.

But if none of those things are an issue to you, then I'd say go for the N64 version. also more fun just in case you actually DO want to play against somebody else at some point, even if only a couple of times a year. At least you'll have the option readily available, unless you don't have any additional controllers...

@ReaderRagfihs I'm not one of those Smash players that swears by a GameCube controller. Heck, I'm used to the N64 controller itself, so any change is an improvement in my book. If the quality of the stick is as good as the stick on an official GameCube controller, I'll be happy. It's only a few bucks anyway, it doesn't hurt to try it, right? Plus, it gives me an excuse to order a couple of games with the stick.

Thanks for sharing that link. I wondered why some of my 64 games sometimes lose their save files without any reason. It was because their cart batteries was starting to get low.

A team including people like you and me could!

At least, when you grow up playing, loving and understanding what made those games so amazing you at least have an idea about what not to do. I think many of the new talents in, say, Nintendo, didn't get it right in Super Mario Odyssey compared to Super Mario 64 or Sunshine. Yooka-Laylee didn't have Banjo-Kazooie's designer and the result while not bad wasn't amazing. One of my favourite examples although not a 3D game is New Super Mario Bros. 2 which is, in my opinion, the most disappointing Mario game ever. Nintendo said that a new team that knew what made Mario fun made it. Well, they obviously don't have a clue. I think that it's good to hire new people but if the new people don't know how to do something at least as good then you are not hiring the right people... the good talents.

Anyway, I am happy that the 3D platformer genre survived eventually because last generation it was almost dead and this generation seems to be appreciated again. Mario, Sonic (yeah, Sonic Forces is kind of bad but still), Crash (better than I expected), Spyro (same), Yooka-Laylee, Ratchet & Clank (more action than platformer though)... The only one yet to come back is Banjo so Microsoft please do something about it.

My two cents about N64. I had a regular PAL system back in the day. Some PAL (Europe and Australia) games are awful compared to the NTSC version (US and Japan). Super Mario 64 is the best example and I only realised when playing the NTSC version on Wii U (that I soft-modded so I could remove the dark filter of the Virtual Console, Google it if interested). I have to say that other PAL games are good (so it depends on the games that you want to play on N64.

A few years ago I bought a modded French N64 because only a few N64 consoles were RGB-capable natively by soldering a few pins, only the first units made for Europe and that happens to be the first French model. Other models can be modified to output RGB but it's a more complicated process because Nintendo was cheap (as usually) and after these units they cut the RGB capabilities that were originally designed. RGB means sharper image and better colours. I wasn't happy with composite even though I still have a CRT TV just for it but RGB is much better. Of course, the best-looking versions are the Rare Replay versions. If you have the chance look how well the N64 games look on that. Higher resolution, great colour balance and brightness and gorgeous on a newer TV, not to mention the smoother frame rate.

Considering Rare Replay and the excellent 3DS versions of Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask (I really think these two are better than on any N64 or Virtual Console) and even Star Fox 64 3D, the only two games I still play on N64 are Goldeneye 007 and Diddy Kong Racing. Both games have some frame rate issues but the Wii reboot (it's not a remake) of Goldeneye 007 is not nearly as good as Rare's game and the DS version of Diddy Kong Racing is a watered-down port. Besides, Diddy Kong Racing is considered by many people (myself included) the best kart racer ever made and has a great adventure mode.

I agree about the Rumble Pak, it's a must-have if you have a N64 console. I also would like to say that I have save files of Diddy Kong Racing on both the cartridge and a memory pak but if I don't think that you can copy the Goldeneye save files to it. I would love both games to be remade, they are such wonderful games. There is a guy remaking Goldeneye 007 (the campaign has never been remade) so I hope that he finishes it someday. Of course it's unofficial but note that Nintendo's publishing rights of Goldeneye 007 expired in 2017 (the copyright is still owned by MGM and Rare). Diddy Kong Racing is up to Nintendo and Microsoft wanting to cooperate because Rare owns some characters and Nintendo owns others including Diddy. They did it once on DS so I wouldn't rule it out.

I still have two original N64 controllers with tight sticks so I can't comment on fixing them but I have tried a N64 controller with a loose stick and the difference is really noticeable.

@BlueOcean I could also see that with Odyssey. If they had focused more on filling every area of each world with coins, red coins, purple coins, Power Moons and more detailed structures like the mountain of King Bob-Bomb or the hidden area of Hazy Maze Cave, it would have equaled or perhaps surpassed Super Mario 64. I also saw a video from a youtuber called Snowman Gaming that explained many things using Banjo Kazooie as an example of good game design. Each thing that he said was on point.

As for making a team about a 3D platformer, it certainly is something that I would love to do with people like us that understands what makes the 64/PS1 3D platformers so fantastic. 😊

By the way, how are the 64 Turok games that will be released soon on the Nintendo Switch? I heard that they are the remakes of the ones on PC, but I never played them back in the day, so I know almost next to nothing about these games. The only one that I played was the PS2 Turok game and it was in multiplayer.

@SamusLv7 I only played Turok 1 a little while on my friend's N64 but can't remember much except that it looked good (at the time) and the fog. It seems that people loved the setting and the weapons of Turok and Turok 2 but I can't say much else, someone else could. The first and second games, apparently the best ones, are available on Xbox One (as remasters?) but I haven't got them.

The Super Mario Odyssey engine is really smooth, I'm not a fan of the motion controls in a game like this and I hated it in Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 but who would say no to Super Mario 64 remade like that or like Ocarina of Time 3D (a bit late for a 3DS remake, unfortunately) or a true sequel and not Odyssey.

I think that I watched his video comparing Banjo-Kazooie and Yooka-Laylee explaining why Yooka-Laylee isn't that great and the arguments are rock-solid. I'll search the video talking about Odyssey!

@BlueOcean @ReaderRagfihs I haven't yet played Yooka-Laylee, but have watched a few youtube videos about the gameplay, some youtube walkthroughs, ect. to know that I will definitely buy it. I hope that Platonic is either developing a sequel of Yooka-Laylee or miraculously being put in charge of Donkey Kong by Nintendo because currently no one is handling this franchise.

One of the most randomly specific listings I've been told about,
If you would happen to have a Toys 'R Us sign for "NINT NDO 64", this seller can fix that.
Does not seem to have any other letters available, especially not the 4.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nintendo-64-N64-Kiosk-Replacement-Pa...

@ReaderRagfihs If you don't want to play it you need to watch that video, it explains exactly why your belief is wrong. Yooka-Laylee is not bad but Banjo-Kazooie is still much better for many reasons that are well explained in the video... and I would add more.

Video: