N64

You decide

Many of us know The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's Hyrule like the back of our hands, but did you ever stop to consider what the Great Deku Tree might look like Link to the Past-style? Zelda Fan Game Central member MaJoRa has spent the past two years recreating Hyrule with sprites and tiles from Link's SNES adventure, wrapping up the...

Secret agent

Of all the cheats and secrets tucked away in GoldenEye 007, we never suspected Rare's N64 classic harboured a fully functioning ZX Spectrum 48k emulator. Rare began a coding experiment to see if the N64 could support a Spectrum emulator, even embedding old-school Rare games Sabre Wulf, Jetpac and more in the code. Clearly the experiment...

One cartridge, infinite possibilities

They may not find much favour with purists, but flash carts are becoming increasingly popular these days. The rapid march of technology combined with the low cost of flash-based storage has generated a wide selection of different options, almost all of which are produced in limited quantities and to very crude...

Do the buggy boogie

Back in the day, Rockstar San Diego — best known for Red Dead Redemption of course — was Angel Studios, a work-for-hire developer responsible for the N64 port of Resident Evil 2 among other games. What you may not know was the studio had an internal division known as Dream Team that once worked on an unreleased N64 game with...

It'll cry if it wants to

North America, your Club Nintendo rewards have been updated today, with two download games available to buy with your hard-earned coins. Art Academy: First Semester (3DS, DSiWare) — 150 Coins Mario Party 2 (N64, Wii Virtual Console) — 150 Coins These rewards are available until 29th February. Remember if you want to get...

Population: glowing

Here's a fun game next time you're at a boring social occasion: try explaining the point of Animal Crossing to an elderly family member. Nintendo's genre-defying life series first appeared in Japan in April 2001 as Dobutsu no Mori ("Animal Forest") on Nintendo 64, but it was the enhanced Animal Forest+ for GameCube — released in Japan on 14th December 2001 — that..

Yet here they are

It's always fascinating to see what gets left out of games before they make it to players, and while these two cut scenes from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask aren't the most exciting we've ever seen they do show Link doing press-ups, so that's something. The clips below come from a beta version of the game, but we won't spoil things by telling you what relevance they have to..

The wonderful world of Hyrule, and beyond

The Legend of Zelda is one of the best loved Nintendo franchises, over 25 years old and still finding new ways to thrill gamers. The significant number of Zelda releases means it boasts an incredible history and reputation, with each new entry’s adventure contributing its part to the lore of the series. The recent launch of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward..

Wasn't always a classic

We now know that Super Mario 64 is one of the most important genre leaps in gaming history, taking Nintendo's mascot from 2D into 3D with enormous skill and craftsmanship. However, creating the game wasn't plain sailing, as a new Iwata Asks reveals. The discussion — which comes in at a colossal 26 pages — reveals that during development, Shigeru Miyamoto felt the game..

Undead on the big N, past, present and future

The claustrophobic darkness. The creeping undead. The hideous monsters. The Resident Evil series has brought such thrills and chills to our TVs since 1996, and it’s taken quite a unique path when it comes to Nintendo consoles. With the month of All Hallows’ Eve upon us, we decided to take a look at...

The sequel that never was

N64 platformer Glover may have been lost in the sea of other 3D platformers that flooded the system, but it's got nothing on its sequel. Glover 2 was never finished, but in 2010 a prototype version of the game made its way to eBay, allowing the world to see Interactive Studios' unreleased sequel. Check out the video below...

Check out the polygons!

This week we have been celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the Nintendo 64, looking at memorable games, the revolutionary aspects of the system, the let-downs and disappointments, as well as the possible 3D future for N64 titles. Now it’s time to relax and get into some good old retro reminiscences, scouring our aging...

Classic games for a new audience

It's no secret that Nintendo has been having something of a tough time of it in regards to the 3DS. Since its launch in late March of this year, Nintendo's newest handheld has battled through a significant price drop, a shaky start as far as its online functionality is concerned, complaints about poor battery life and relatively low sales, that can arguably be..

The Big N’s gift to modern gaming

Looking back on the Nintendo 64, there are plenty of subject areas that warrant exploration. As a console, the N64 was a trend-setter that pushed the boundaries and expectations of gaming experiences. This status as a technologically advanced and experimental console was both a blessing and a curse, as it enjoyed...

Get N, to the Nintendo Life Poll

It seems like the year of major anniversaries in all things Nintendo, as this week we celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the Nintendo 64. The good old N64 was released on 29th September 1996 in North America and introduced 3D polygon graphics at a level that hadn’t been seen before. Throughout the course of this...

Samus got lost

As a week of Metroid Anniversary celebrations draws to a close, we thought we’d look back at a Metroid game that never was. We’re not talking about Metroid Dread, which could still happen, but Metroid 64, which will obviously never see the light of day. We’ve made the title up, but in light of the trend of adding ‘64’ after 99% of game titles on the N64, we think it’s a..

Surprise, a control port!

Custom consoles are all the rage these days, and the Nintendo 64 is particularly ripe for fan-made hardware revisions. The portable machine below might look oddly familiar to those who've seen the iNto64, but it's got an ace up its sleeve: a controller port. The combination of N64, screen and control port means split-screen action on the machine's flagship multiplayer..

But keeps quiet on just what

While plenty of gamers are looking forward to revisiting Link's first 64-bit outing when it comes to 3DS in the form of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has hinted the title will still have plenty of new and interesting things to offer gamers this year. Speaking to Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, Iwata remained tight-lipped about..

64-bit baby in depth

With Bomberman Hero arriving on Virtual Console today in Europe, the N64 is firmly back in many gamers' minds, while for some it never went away. This month's issue of Retro Gamer magazine is ideal for both, as it's a special collector's edition detailing Nintendo's 64-bit beauty in all its glory. Taking a look through the system's most collectible games as well as its..

North America, you have to wait

As we reported last week, Hudson's 64-bit single-player Bomberman Hero was recently rated by the ESRB, but the title will make its first appearance in Europe this week for the price of 1000 Points. The game was originally released in 1998 and is most well-known for being a totally single-player adventure, with not even a sniff of Bomberman's famous multiplayer..

The rotund plumber is faster than he looks thanks to an emulator-assisted speedrun

Video games are a wonderful way to show off best times and high scores after spending countless hours in attempting to achieve them, but when orthodox methods aren't enough to impress, gamers (and obsessives) must think outside of the box. A group of speedrunners have completed Super Mario 64 in a little over five..

Not that close, actually

There was no Metroid game on Nintendo 64, Samus Aran skipping the console altogether save for a cameo appearance in Super Smash Bros. Series creator Yoshio Sakamoto has revealed in an interview with UK magazine GamesTM that the heroine's history could have been very different, as Nintendo approached a third-party to develop an Aran adventure, but the developer declined..

Care to share your rose-tinted memories of the fabulous GoldenEye and become a video star?

Do you remember playing Goldeneye on the N64? Were you the sharpest shooter among your friends? Do you still think playing as Oddjob is cheating? Kream London is filming a new media project and is looking for outgoing groups of friends to talk about one of the best shooters of all time. For more information..

The console "didn't work at all"

The paradigm shift from 2D to 3D that game developers faced in the 32/64-bit era was so drastic that not only did developers have to grapple with new tech but also figuring out how on earth their games would work in a new dimension. It didn't always work out so well, but when it did it was magical. Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata sat down with members of Treasure's..