The N64 turns 20 this year, as does Super Mario 64 - one of the most notable launch titles in the history of video games. Those of us who were lucky enough to own this console at the time of release were rewarded with one of the most riveting gaming experiences of all time, but iretrogamer.com boss Tyler Esposito was even more privliedged as he got his hands on the Japanese version of the console before its official western launch.
Aged 10 at the time, Esposito's early access to the machine was thanks to the efforts of his father, who rented it from a local game store along with Super Mario 64, Pilotwings 64 and Saikyō Habu Shōgi - the three Japanese launch titles.
The footage below shows Esposito putting Mario through his paces and reflecting on how Nintendo's mascot has matured alongside the players who enjoy his adventures. What memories do you have of playing the N64 two decades ago? Let us know by posting a comment.
Comments 80
Isn't the answer already in the subtitle?
The first time I saw it was amazing. That was one neat thing about upgrading to the N64 was seeing all the characters that I grew up with in 3D for the first time. I can't play Mario 64 much these days as it feels a little too dated to me for some reason, but back in the day, that game stayed in my system for a few months straight.
Wasn't quite the "NINTENDO SIXTY-FOOOOOOOOOOOUUUURRR" reaction I was hoping for, but still cool.
The first time I saw Nintendo 64 was through the promo VHS that Nintendo Power mailed out to subscribers. I just remember being transfixed on the graphics and mesmerized by the possibilities of playing with Mario, Star Wars, or handgliding in a 3D space. I'd seen the PlayStation, but it didn't look like anything special to me (I think the game the guy was playing was Demolition Derby). Nintendo had that "special something" with the N64 and eleven year old me wanted in on it badly.
I remember playing it in a store demo display first and being in total awe to see mario in 3d.
This and banjo kazooie are the epitome of the golden era of 3d platforming and anyone who got to experience the n64's heyday knows how magical it was.
I had to have it so bad I imported a Japanese system and it came with Mario and Pilotwings. Never regretted that purchase. Was also working at Funcoland at the time and took it to work and set it up on the back tv. Some people thought it had already released lol.
Christmas Day, 1996 - I went to my cousin's house to see what games and stuff he got for Christmas. Turns out he got an N64 and when he showed me Super Mario 64, I knew I had to have it. The next day, despite having a terrible fever and feeling like bantha poodoo, I made the 45 minute drive to the nearest Toys R Us and got my very own N64 console and picked up a copy of SM64. Wahoo~!!!! It's still awesome. The music, especially in the sunken ship/underwater level REALLY takes me back to that Christmas every time.
Somewhere on YouTube there is an old British gaming TV show with footage of a female reporter at a gaming convention reviewing the beta of SM64. The priceless moment is when she clarifies, "This is not a trailer, but the actual game play." Minds blown.
I was 18 years old when I saw SM64 and I was SHOCKED to see those amazing 3D graphics. Then I played the game and was dissapointed at how tedious the gameply and frustrating the camera was.
I don't remember playing it again some years later and it was an improved experience but I still felt that it wasn't as fun as the 2D ones. I was still mesmerized for the graphics though.
@Minotaurgamer i never played the 64 version it looked horrible for me even back then ... but i enjoyed mario 64 DS it was way much better graphics and camera for me and i almost own all starts ... great game ... try it on 3ds the control are much better
I got it at end of 64s life enjoyed it but preferred banjo, although I've just recently purchased it on wiiu eshop and I'm enjoying it more now than ever!starting to love it 😂
Fun video! Also, that family definitely has different finger nail length standards than mine does. Clip those talons.
I had gotten Ocarina of Time before I got Mario 64, which meant I never really played the latter back then apart from a few hours. Zelda was simply too good to put on hold. When I finished it Majora's Mask was out. I played a lot of other games as well. Mostly multiplayer games like Mario Kart 64, Mario Party and Lylat Wars (Star Fox 64). So when I finally had the time to play another 3D platformer I ended up playing Conker and Rayman. It wasn't until last month, that I actually gave Mario 64 another chance.
...and I'm glad I did. I sat for hours and hours until I completed the game with as many stars as possible. After the credits I realized Zelda caused me to diss Sunshine on the Gamecube as well. I had to give that one another chance as well.
When Sunshine was defeated I only had Galaxy 2 left as the last Mario game I had abandoned before completion. It was a tough but satisfying month, but now the show is finally over. I wonder what NX has in store on the Mario front and if Zelda once again will leave too little time available for Mario in my personal calender. It wasn't the case on the Wii U due to a limited number of games to play. (3D World released soon enough before Xenoblade would have done it in).
Only Nintendo console I never had much fun with. Only game I spent a decent amount of time with was Pokemon Stadium. It was pretty cool getting to see my Pokemon in 3D.
THIS was the biggest advancement in gaming history
@Minotaurgamer total lie.
You had camera control complaints!?
What were you basing them on? The camera control previously offered by the SNES? Or by the Amazing 3D available on Saturn and PlayStation?
Don't make me laugh.
Ouch ouch ouch.
LOL for Mario.
64 version looks ridiculous worse than NDS version.
@peeks hahaha were you too busy getting your mind blown by the graphical power of PlayStation and the worlds created in destruction derby and tekken 2?
@Anti-Matter it will do, it's ancient by comparison on a 50hz tube screen
@DESS-M-8 i didn't like that era of games ... even for playstation i think N64 is my least fav nintendo console so far but i loved mario paper 64 for sure
I literally prayed to God for a N64, in 1997. Back there in Brazil everything was about Playstation (the mostly easily pirateable console back in the days), but my brother and I just wanted to play Mario.
I still have that baby in the house of a dear friend of mine.
Seriously I love that console. So many good memories are represented by it.
For me, no game release will ever be as exciting as Mario 64. I didn't get to own the system for a few years, so I went to stores ALL THE TIME to play the demo. And there were always lines. It was so magical.
My fave Nintendo machine :
Console > Start from Wii, well with some Gamecubes games
Portable > NDS and 3DS. Before NDS, I have no good choices for GBA games.
So, when talking about console wars this is my opinions :
PS1 vs N64, I choose PS1. Reasons : OMG FF VIII, Amazing DDR games, Very Unique Bishi Bashi.Some out of the box and unique games started from PS1. And SONY used to be still want to embrace all players from young until adult. N64 doesn't even have magnificant titles like that.
PS2 vs Gamecube. I choose PS2, BUT Japan version. Reasons : Once again, OMG there is a BEST DDR games ever, Amazing BEMANI games, K-1, many more. I think PS2 has the best game library ever. It has wide variety game genre and there are some kid friendly games. Gamecube for me have very poor library games. The 3rd paties maybe awesome for some people but not impressed me so much. But i still want to play a few of them on my Wii.
PS3 vs Wii. Wii absolutely wins my heart. It has at least 20 games that makes me want to play. Completely mind blowing, Absolutely fun even have limited disc capability. Well, some of Wii games are shovelware like Parties game. I admitted that. PS3 starting despair and destroy my trust about SONY. Too much Violence games, Too much Sadistic games, Too much Dark themes, Too much Evil Western games, Too much Lousy games and blah blah blah. Even PS3 Moves for me is like a jealousy of SONY about Wiimote. SONY started make me Extremely disappointed. I even doesn't like the library games AT ALL. The worse part, like there is almost no kid friendly games at all, so how to play any fun games if the library fullfilled with adult games too much?. PS3 started become Adult machine and i hate that. HD graphic is awesome but with adult content, it makes me sick.
PS4 vs Wii U. Definetely Wii U, even Wii U for me still worse than Wii. I use my Wii U for play both Wii U and Wii and I enjoy them so much. PS4 will NEVER impressed me, i'm done with SONY starting from PS3. I don't care anymore, even dominating the world but in my heart Nintendo has already dominating the world despite the flaws. PS4 is become even sinister and diabolic than PS3. I play for appropriate games, i want games that safe for watch to everyone, not by sadistic and diabolic stupid adult games. I'm sick with that trends. REALY REALY sick. SONY now don't want kids friendly games like on PS1 or PS2 before. My concern is now PS4 will become an Immoral video game console. Just only sins, crime, bad things, satanic dogma, no fun at all, no safe for watch at all, just completely a box of sins. Sorry for my harsh comments. I just want to be honest about my feeling between those Sony and Nintendo.
I was in grade school when it came out. Got it Christmas 1996 with Mario and loved it. Easily one of my most special gaming moments. My dad and I spent a lot of time on that game. The 120th star we got was the 100 coin Tick Tock Clock star.
What a heartwarming little video. I almost cried in the end. His father was a nice guy.
Remarkable how much this impressed at the time, and how it still tops so many lists despite all that's come since.
I got my N64 a couple days early, thanks to the Electronics Boutique that disregarded the release day, and played through it multiple times.
It's a shame that when we jump forward in time to 3D World, it didn't get nearly the reaction that this got. It actually has SM64 beat on nearly every front (except for 3D environment immersion) yet it still feels like blasphemy to say it's a better game.
SM64 came at the right place and time to cement it's place in history, but gawd is it a jaggedy mess of triangles by today's underappreciated standards.
Well, too bad. I don't choose N64 games because my concern about cartridge lifespan. When the battery died, that's the nightmare.
Ahh the memories...
I was 8 years old, and sold my pet ball python snake, "Rex" to have enough money to buy an N64 from Toys 'R Us. I know... I'm a total sellout
It came bundled with Super Mario 64, and it was absolutely MAGICAL at the time. Even my dad (who does NOT play video games) was mezmerized and would watch me play, and try and help me figure out where to go/what to do next.
He did eventually play Goldeneye with me on very few occasions later on. I broke my thumb playing baseball and couldn't play Goldeneye while I was in a cast, so I asked him to play "for me". Hahaa, I remember rooting him on through the missions, and the intense moments of AHHH!!! SHOOT HIM!!! DO THIS!!!! DO THAT!!!! Hahahaaa, what great memories!! Miss those days.
Then came Christmas the following year. I could tell it was Star Fox 64, before I even opened it based on the package size (Rumble Pak packaging). The feeling of experiencing the rumble as the first boss just EXPLODED in my hands was fantastic.
Nintendo really did capture an essence of pure MAGIC in the N64's early years.
Will always feel nostalgic about the console.
@Whopper744 So funny you have similar memories with your dad.
My final star was 100 coins on (????) Can't think of the name right now, but the level with the cruise ship in the sky. By far the hardest level in the game... But Tick Tock Clock is right up there with it
@HeroOfTime32 I think that is Rainbow Cruise. Definitely one of the tougher levels! Such a good game though, and a really cool time to be alive then.
@Whopper744 That's the one!!
But yes, agreed. And unfortunately, I just don't get excited for AAA titles quite like I used to. Maybe it's an age thing.
But.... I'm hoping Zelda U/NX will change that! My internal hype meter is redlining for that title.
I remember in 5th grade someone brought to school pictures they had printed off of the upcoming Zelda game (OoT) and my mind was blown. Coming from a then still primitive online landscape, the images were small, blurry thumnails he has found on some obscure webpage but all the same I remember the feeling of awe seeing Link in amazing 3D and remember thinking the future of gaming was upon me.
@Anti-Matter you can replace them
Super Mario 64 is overrated and outdated.
@Anti-Matter in my opinion you are flat out wrong.
Every title you said has a genre beater on N64.
Final fantasy was good, but not ground breaking. They were SNES games that were turbo charged MegaCD style. Flat backdrops, poor looking characters at very low res and "mind blowing" FMV to distract from the fugly world you were playing in with your digital up/left/down/right control scheme.
The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time single handedly re-wrote what an adventure game is. Gave you a full and living 3D world that you actually felt like surrounded you. The world was huge, the game was huge, in the in-game engine WAS the FMV. You weren't booted out of lush visuals back to your SNES game. You walked into the new land and was welcomed with a sweeping panoramic shot of what awaited you to explore. No up/down/left/right anymore, you were given, for the first time, full 3-Dimensional control over your protagonist and a wealth of weapon mechanics that all worked differently with varying control schemes that were relevant.
Goldeneye gave you the home console FPS and multiplayer FPS, no Goldeneye, no Halo, no time splitters, no CoD no Battlefield. It was that important. Pre-goldeneye, it was PC gamers on Doom.
Banjo Kazooie, Turok 2, Wave Race 64, 1080, Excitebike, MarioKart 64, Super Smash Bros, Pokemon Stadium, Sin & Punishment, Mario Party, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Perfect Dark, WWF No Mercy, F-Zero X, Pilotwings, Star Wars Rogue Squadron, Paper Mario, Zelda: Majora's Mask......
All go on to be the best in their respective genres across all formats in their generation of release.
Flashy FMV outsold the N64. Solid mechanics and substance was what people missed out on by passing on the N64, literally the most important console in the evolution of gaming; there was no bigger generational leap than that between playing a Mario world/crash bandicoot or secret of mana/final fantasy VII and then playing super Mario 64 or Zelda: ocarina of time
As a freshmen in high school when this came out, my grandparents got a n64 before we did. My bro and I bought goldeneye to play when we went to there house every couple weeks to play that and Mario. We broke down and bought the console a few months after. Best system I owned, some of the best games still today.
@Nintendude789
point 1 - you are massively and flat out just 100%. Fact.
Point 2 - of course it's outdated, it's 20 years old.
I don't normally comment, but I do have a special relationship to this console. My father created it. Nintendo, like any other gaming company at the time, was looking for a partner to design the hardware, and decided to partner up with one of the biggest producers of graphics focused supercomputers : Silicon Graphics (SGI for short), which built the computers that Jurassic Park was created on. So my dad, Jim Foran, was put in charge of "project reality". I got to visit the office during development, and I'm one of the few people that got to see the "Ultra Nintendo" logo (the project name before they decided on N64). I also got to see alpha versions of pilot wings 64 that the engineers were using for hardware testing.
One of the things he's most proud of on that project is that every single N64 was produced simultaneously in the first batch, tens of thousands of "buns in the oven" as he called them, with no way to check for defects and no test runs. And despite all of this, every N64 passed, first time, no recalls and no defects. Considering the debacle that was the Xbox 360 launch years later, that flawless launch with no error checking became much more impressive to me.
You can find pictures of my dad shaking hands with Shigeru Miyamoto over the N64 at... I want to say E3? And there was an interview with him in next Gen magazine at the time of launch.
I got my N64 a couple of weeks early because of this, though I didn't have any friends at the time so I didn't really have anyone to share that fact with.
I hope you liked that little bit of history, I haven't gotten to share that much.
@amishpyrate same here. It's the camera that drives me crazy in that game now. It was revolutionary at the time, but has not aged well IMO.
I was 12 at the time in 96 and mom bought my brother and I an N64 for Christmas. We knew it was in the house a few weeks before Christmas and we asked if we could just feel the controller. So she opened it and brought out the controller for her creepy children to feeeeeeel. We loved it. My brother promptly made Mario run in a 360 the first time we played it Christmas morning, just like the promotional VHS tape from Nintendo Power told him to do!
Surely the perfect question to end on for me! My earliest memory was going to a Toys R Us after school (year 8) and seeing the N64 in action. Crowding round its N64 station and watching someone playing Super Mario 64, being absolutely mesmerised by what I was seeing. I was sold on it and have loved it ever since.
@Ignus3 Wow! Sounds amazing.
@DESS-M-8 I love you're a big N64 fan seen my blog? Think you'd like it.
I was 16 when "Super Mario 64" hit shelves, but didn't play it extensively until maybe two years later. That said, its still a great game for the most part...though some stages still drive me completely nuts. I hate swinging Bowser around, because it can easily be 30 minutes before I get him to hit all the mines. More often, he simply goes over the edge and comes back...plus, the camera didn't always self-adjust so you could see what to aim for. I also have a severe "love-hate" relationship with the Clock Tower stage; it truly stresses my patience.
I remember getting the Nintendo 64 for Holiday 1997! Almost every game Rareware developed for the console was an instant classic! There were so many betas and concepts for the Nintendo 64 that I wish had finished or had been realised such as Conker 64: Twelve Tales (original version of Conker's Bad Fur Day), Final Fantasy VII as a Nintendo game, and most importantly Dinosaur Planet as its own independent IP, I'll even show some love for the Nintendo 64 DD. I would have love to seen what Nintendo could have done with it to get its full potential.
@Ignus3 Wow. That is so cool. Seriously, your dad is the freakin' man!!
Neat piece of history there about the pre-release production.
Also...the comment section here is awesome.
So cool to hear/FEEL everyone's attachment to the console and their respective stories. Great stories.
Playing Super Mario 64 for the first time is the only time in my life I can recall where I've had literal tears of joy. Even though I had seen videos on TV before and obsessively stared at screenshots of the game for months prior, there was something to the music, the ambiance, control, Mario's voice, everything together was simply magical. No other game has done that for me since, and I'll never get tired of playing it.
The N64 is the only console I've ever went to get on launch day, and I had to go to the store for a special opening at like two in morning or something as I recall. Getting home and then playing Super Mario 64 was one of those rare truly magical moments in life. What a treat. I still don't think it's ultimately up there with the best 2D Mario platformers (SMB3, SMW, Yoshi's Island) but it was still a genuinely amazing moment playing it for the first time and just running around in circles in the opening area outside the Peach's castle. Great times.
@bluedogrulez I know the exact episode you're talking about:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2leUBlelhUE (from the 7:08 mark)
And this was back when the N64 was still known as the Ultra 64.
@DESS-M-8 I pretty much agree with everything you just said, although I would have to say that the PlayStation was a genuine revelation in its day too, and is host to some truly great games (PlayStation Doom is still my fav version of Doom to this day, and WipEout was amazing and genre defining at the time). PlayStation changed the entire perception of video games forever, taking it from something that most people thought of as a pastime only for kids and making it something that even the "cool" grownups could appreciate and not be slightly ashamed of, and it really brought gaming to the mainstream. The N64, however, basically revolutionised gaming as we know it for ever more, giving us not just the best realisation of 3D gaming we'd ever seen up to that point (in its launch title no less) but also the first proper example of 3D control to actually take full advantage of that new dimension, and it gave us a bunch of the all-time greats and most impacting and paradigm shifting moments in gaming.
I think the next big leap that will be like the one from 2D to 3D will be the jump to VR. It's just a shame Nintendo apparently isn't onboard with VR because if it were we might have had a game available at the birth of VR that was as genre defining and groundbreaking as Super Mario 64 was in its day. Instead we have a technology that is absolutely set to revolutionise gaming, entertainment, and more besides, unlike anything that has come before it imo, but without a truly paradigm shifting game to actually show everyone unequivocally how mind boggling this new technology is and how it's going to change everything.
Shame on Nintendo for missing that opportunity.
But, the N64 absolutely had its games that showed us all that 3D was without any doubt the future of gaming; I just hope VR has a couple of equivalent examples soon. There's so much potential with VR for creating experiences the likes of which none of us have ever witnessed. And that's why I'm more excited about gaming right now than I've been in the last twenty years. We are, right now, on the cusp of another one of those seminal moments in the history of video games.
I was no longer a kid by 1996, but I did help my little brother find an N64 on day one by going to a game store in the airport mall. It was a clever tactic as the store was stocked just the same as anywhere else, but not many people are looking for Mario 64 on their connecting flight to Cleveland!
Christmas of 1996 was amazing. Played it throughout the following game drought in the spring, lol.
But, summer of 1997 made up for it with the releases of blastcorp, banjo kazooie, and star fox 64.
I remember renting the 64 in the US with Mario 64 and some other games I can't recall. Mario just blew my mind, kept it extra time until eventually owning a 64 myself. Ahh, to go back in time....
The graphics were all I ever wanted back then and better than anything else. I remember the promo tape I got in Dec 96 and I watched SM64 over and over and over again, blowing my mind that it was real. Of course I was first in line to get that thing when it launched here in March 97.
@Kirk : that's the one. Nice find!
@peeks I did. I still don't like it that much. Mario at least for me is action platforming, not looking for stars and doing boring chores (like the penguin one or catching a rabbit)
@DESS-M-8 I am talking about the annoying camera moving in a way that obstructs your view and doesn't tell you where you are going unless you keep pressing the c buttons. I am talking about losing a life because you though there was a floor but the camera never cared to tell you and end up falling down.
In 2D marios, if you lose is your fault. In 3D marios, if you lose is because some BS reason "thanks" to the game.
@bluedogrulez I was actually just watching a bunch of these old episodes a couple of weeks ago. lol
@DESS-M-8
Thanks for your comments and critiques.
Back on 20 years ago, i have never realized about N64 existence.
Used to be knew PS1 when my siblings asked to our parents to bought one. At that time, it was my first time to know what is called RPG from FF VIII, excited puzzle games from Magical Drop 3, DDR 3rd mix after my cousin introduced us and many more. It was my first chidhood to recognize such a genre like that. So, when my trust with Nintendo even better, I realized the gap that i never kew before and it was N64. I even didn't realized. When i looked N64 game library, there were almost no fave titles for me compared with PS1. When I compared Mario Kart 64 with Chocobo Racing, it clearly looks different for me. Chocobo Racing looks better than Mario Kart 64 on that time.
Oh, my fave genre is Life Simulation, Rhythm, Party games, RPG, Misc genre, anything that looks cute and adorable for rated E until E10. I adore very few Teens games like Final Fantay games, Street Fighter series, The Sims series, etc. Basically, i'm not really fond with Teen games. Unfortunately, for Nintendo stuffs, i don't like Zelda games because I don't like Link that have Elf ear. Elf or any kind of that are not my taste at all. And i hate FPS, Dark adult themes, Ultra violence games, Crime games, Satan worshipper games like Persona. So, I will never pick any games that not in my criterias. Basically, I'm not male player that like to play games like adult men or too manly side. I'm young adult man but like some girlie games like Cooking Mama, DDR, The Sims, ACNL, any games that adorable, cute, colorful, kiddie, fun for everyone. Very contrary with male gamer that more serious, less kiddie, less colorful, etc.
I saw this game about a week from launch. Back in those days I had never bought any games, just rented them. When I saw the graphics my jaw was hung open, just amazed — and a little frightened — at the possibilities.
I'm sure Super Mario 64 looks quaint to many people now that we've had 20 more years of 3D game development, but seeing and playing that game for the first time remains the most blown away I've ever been with a video game. Super Mario 64 is not a perfect game, but none of the new gameplay mechanics, compelling narratives and graphical wizardry that have been developed since then have been able to match what a monumental leap forward that game felt like, at least to me. Video games have gone in many interesting directions since 1996 and the medium is still growing and maturing (even if it sometimes feels like it happens in fits and starts), but at that specific moment in time, the possibilities felt truly limitless.
@Kirk @Kirk I LOVED bad influence. Thanks for digging up the link.
Religiously watched this show in the 90's. The episode where they went to Rare and did a special on Donkey Kong Country blew my mind the first time I saw it.
That and the special on Killer Instinct Arcade, I wanted that game after 2 seconds of seeing it running
While it had its moments, N64 was my least favorite Nintendo console by far. I can count the number of games I enjoyed on it on one hand. And in general, games from this era have aged horribly; they look like piles of garbage.
@bluedogrulez Violet Berlin?
The Sears at our local mall had kiosks for Virtual Boy, the SNES, and a brand new N64 - with Mario 64 - in the Fall of 96. My brother and I asked Mom to take us to the mall three days in a row to play and she, somehow, agreed. I stood there watching a girl play the N64 and kept smelling something awful. I thought she must live on a farm or something because she smelled like a horse. But then, when she left, I started playing Mario 64 and kept smelling the farm. I sniffed around and realized I had stepped in dog crap sometime earlier and probably forced that girl to leave the N64 kiosk because, as she is probably writing on some other website somewhere right now, "I had to get away from this weird N64 kid who was watching me play because he smelled like a horse. He probably lived on a farm!"
Still play to this day.
The N64 definitely retains a special place in my memory and my heart. It's such an awesome console.
I really enjoyed this I used to rent mine from Blockbuster — came in a big black clam shell'd case. Then I got mine for Christmas that year along with Super Mario 64 and Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. Star Wars is still one of my favorite games EVER. I wish they'd make that playable somewhere... Emulators just don't cut it and it never seems to work properly. Or I can just find a used N64 but most of the analog sticks are SHOT.
@peeks It's a personal preference when debating Super Mario 64 v DS - I much prefer Super Mario 64 as the DS lost all the awesome effects and the graphics were intelligently simplified. As for it 'looking' horrible back then...I call BS.
Every magazine in the world, multiformats were lavishing Super Mario 64 with 10/10 for graphics...interactive cartoon. There is a big hole in your argument.
@Minotaurgamer Minotaur I would argue that you just don't have the skills to enjoy 3D platform gaming. Many gamers don't and like you frustratingly blame mechanics when the issue is solely on the person. You are one of a minority who did not enjoy Super Mario 64. As for the camera - I had little issue as a young lad navigating the world's, Infact the game was lavished with praise for technical triumph in graphics, gameplay and was the first game to do 3D control RIGHT. Speed runners seem to have no problems so this is purely a skill issue - not a game issue. Naturally like the minority if you don't have the skill you won't enjoy the game. Those you had skill found incredible enjoyment and replay value.
I remember jumping from Nes, to SNES to N64 - Super Mario 64 for me was breathtaking in every way, completely astounded just about comes close - by then 2D games were incredibly boring, people had enough.
Even now I still yawn playing 2D platformers. I guess I just played 2D games to death.
@Anti-Matter Every game looked better than Mario Kart 64 when it was released. It runs on a heavily modified Super Mario Kart SNES engine - hence why it was codenamed Mario Kart R, Nintendo were never known for being technically skilled for pushing graphics, they have always been gameplay first. Their 3D graphics efforts on N64 dont come close to the best on N64. Hell their best attempts on Wii don't come close to Factor 5 on Gamecube!
MK64 was scoring 5/10 in N64 mags for graphics and 9/10 for gameplay and multiplayer which was what MK64 was about.
Diddy Kong Racing released in 1997 and blew MK64 out of the park and remained the best looking and most technically astounding kart racer for its generation. Not only was it showing off gigantic world's and amazing cartoon graphics, but you could be racing on tracks against planes, hovercraft and karts, replete with awesome physics and effects - pretty intense in 1997!
I pined for a Playstation, for more than a year. I watched the hyper funky VHS promo videos they gave away with magazines and begged my parents for one. One day, my dad agreed, and we went from shop to shop to shop. The playstation was completely sold out everywhere, was a total phenomenon. We were just about to buy Tekken 1 and Battle Arena Toshinden (with no playstation) when my dad pointed out the N64- about £200 more expensive, so dear in fact, I'd never considered it.
On a blazing hot summer day, we drove back home, me with a huge N64 box on my lap, reading all about the games on the back, dreaming about the passports to other wonderful worlds my dad had given me.
I plugged in Mario 64, and 20 years later, I remember that day SO CLEARLY. Like a dream state. Like heaven. And Mario 64 is still one of my favourite games ever. That whole era was wonderful- Banjo, DKR, Turok 1,2 and Rage Wars....
Anyone who denies the N64's brilliance is a wannabe hipster moron. It was bloody glorious.
Mario: "Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaa!"
My first play of an N64 was actually when my friends brought their's over to play a game called Smash Brothers they spoke highly of. Well we played that for hundreds of hours throughout high school. Easily my favorite multiplayer console game. I will always be grateful for the great times it gave me with my friends.
@Damo: Yes! How did you know that?!?
@Ignus3 Do you think your dad would like to talk about it in an interview for the site?
@bluedogrulez I was a big fan of Bad Influence and even got to interview her and co-host Andy Crane a while back
You nintendolife'rs get to meet some really cool people. Can you post a link to your interview?
@Damo I can ask, can't promise anything though. If you PM me the details of what you were thinking (length, text vs. Phone, etc) I'll definitely run it by him.
@Ignus3 An email interview would be best, is that cool? Get in touch via the contact form and we can take it from there
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