Y'know, back in the N64 days, I was a Nintendo faithful. While it felt that everyone (here in Europe) had jumped ship to PlayStation. I was like Bart Simpson sticking with Krusty when Gabbo, the new kid on the block, was all the rage.
@Zuljaras Hey, Zuljaras, I was gifted by friends Command & Conquer for the 64. I forgot, the game has 3d terrain. To my surprise reviews said the controls were done quite well (RTS on console isn't the most straightforward thing). Units aren't the easiest to make out, but the game does support the expansion pack. I heard on reddit Starcraft runs pretty badly on the 64. Like that the framerate will start crawling to a halt once you're over 20-30 units. We need a souped up N64. An 'Ultra 64' 😎
My current N64 game collection, cartridge storage solution & Fzero X shrine
The games standing up are PAL, the ones on their back NTSC. I'm in Europe but bought an RGB modded NTSC N64 a number of years back, specifically for Fzero X, which runs at 60hz, compared to 50hz for PAL. Meaning the game can run at the full 60 fps velocity as intended (translation: NTSC Fzero X is faster).
I have two NTSC JP Mario 64 games. One of them is the rare shindou version of which I included the box. It was released at a later date and contains some small adjustments, amongst which getting rid of the backwards long jump (BLJ).
The Japanese baseball game is the long running Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyu series (aka powa puro), the best baseball games imo (though Griffey's Slugfest on the 64 was fun too). I bought it in Japan. The cartridge doesn't work unfortunately.
Most recent additions are Forsaken, Doom 64, Command & Conquer 64, Blast Corps and International Superstar Soccer 64. Wayne Gretzky's 3D hockey is fun and fast paced, though scoring is a bit of a gamble. I recently had my first fight in it (and won hehe, though barely). NBA hang time is the follow up to NBA Jam, cult hit on the super nintendo. Forsaken's OST has two excellent tracks imo: pure power and cyclotron.
The game in the plastic casing is Fzero X's expansion kit, which contains two new cups with harder tracks, new ships and famously, the track editor (which is said to be nearly identical to the software the developers used). I do not own a 64DD to play it. I should have bought it years ago when they were around 600-700 USD. Now they go for 2000 USD and beyond. I believe only about 10 000 units were ever made and only in Japan.
One game I used to own is Perfect Dark, but that's a title I prefer to emulate because of the poor framerate on original hardware. It was a beast of a game though with excellent local multiplayer for up to 4 players and 8 bots I believe.
Since this is where I post most, I'm gonna go and wish you all a merry Christmas. Enjoy the holidays and your time with loved ones (which may include your self). Regarding the situation in the world and the tragedy unfolding in Palestine, I pray for peace on earth and for those subject to violence, the strenght to endure.
Feel free to share your N64 related thoughts, stories, pics etc. Best
Tweaking my collection a bit. Getting rid of NBA Hang Time, I have no real interest in it. Added 2 PAL games:
Mario Tennis 64: An essential N64 and Nintendo game in general imo. I tried all the subsequent Mario tennis games (except for Switch if it has one), this is still the best one (the Wii U one was really disappointing). It's just a solid game through and through, and a truly excellent local multiplayer game. Very fun to play and highly competitive.
Diddy Kong Racing: Never liked the feel of Mario Kart 64 and instead played this a lot. Rare left quite the legacy on the 64. Not one I feel eager to replay, but nice to have in my collection.
I think I'm done now for a while. I'd rather keep a tight collection of quality and peculiar games. Plenty of games to replay and discover with my son. We've been playing some Smash 64 and first steps into Mario 64. Next one up will be Lylat Wars/ Star Fox 64. Also looking forward to trying out Yoshi's Story.
@NeonPizza have much of the same thoughts as you. I was 10 in 97, but I still fully remember the golden eye parties, or mario party-parties. No cell phones, great shows, good music, and no one was worried about how much sugar was in your cereal! Great times man, great times. I'm old now.
I was only 5 years old in 1997, so I didn't have exposure to game parties back in the Nintendo 64 era. But I definitely played the heck out of my N64 at the time. Got mine for Christmas that same year I've mentioned. Games like Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie were fantastic, I rented the latter many times before I eventually got to own it. And while Donkey Kong 64 had some... frustrating parts, I do kind of have a soft spot for it. I also liked Yoshi's Story despite its mixed reception, and not gonna lie, I still kinda like it. Partially because I played it as a kid, lol. Kirby 64 was the first Kirby game that I've played, and it already started to turn me into a Kirby fan.
I had quite a few racing games, too... I've had Mario Kart 64 and Diddy Kong racing like everyone else, and those were great. But I also had F-Zero X, San Francisco Rush (and its sequel, Rush 2) and the Cruis'n games, those were also a blast to play for kid me... just speeding through all these courses! It's no wonder I liked cars when I was a kid, lol. It did help that my dad had the original F-Zero for the SNES, too. I do like Wave Race 64 as well.
A few more games I had include Star Fox 64 and Super Smash Bros., those were great. I didn't have the Zelda games back then, unfortunately... I wish I at least had Ocarina of Time back in those days! I didn't try it until I got it the Wii Virtual Console, and I played more of the game via the 3DS remake. Took me a good while for me to get into Zelda as a result, but better late than never. OoT is fantastic, of course. I did also play Majora's Mask via the 3DS remake, but I didn't get into it. It's a shame because I know a lot of people put MM in a very high regard. As for Mario Party, the first one I've played was Mario Party 5 for the GameCube, so I didn't play the N64 ones until much later.
Outside of some Mario Party, I didn't do a ton of multiplayer, just enough that I didn't ignore it either. Smash Melee and the first 2 Halos were far more the peak of playing with various friends and classmates for me. Which was also funny because it felt like PS2 had no presence in my town despite it selling so much more than the competition.
N64 was the first console we had that was still relevant when we got it and outside of Pokemon Snap, we were a bit slow to get into any of the classics. Started with more B-tier games and sports games and the like, only playing a lot of the games everyone remembers from then either from renting or a friend. I distinctly remember getting Glover because Mario 64 was still full price while (I learned decades later) a really stupid thing caused Glover to become super cheap, but then thankfully it was at the local video rental place so I could at least play Mario 64 for the weekend. But I think of the games we actually owned were from the last 2 years because of that and wanting to focus on new games when out parents would buy them for us. Eventually Mario 64 and Diddy Kong Racing would be the exceptions and I'd only finally own a copy of games like Banjo Kazooie and Ocarina of Time and Star Fox 64 a while after the Gamecube was out. And thanks to the magic of...divorce, N64 became my secondary console to play every other weekend for the next 10+ years, which often meant slowly going through whatever games I was able to find for cheap, mostly games I had fond memories of from when I rented or borrowed them.
Despite being a huge fan of N64, to this day I do not own Mario Kart or Yoshi's Story, and I only played F-Zero X when it came out on NSO. Which is not the biggest deal in the grand scheme of things (that moment when Yoshi's Story is my favorite of those three), but it is funny with how much time I've spent not owning them when I likely could have. It's funny to think how much time I spent on it but haven't played quite a few games or played them very little, and not just because I couldn't find a copy. So many of these games can be deceptively time consuming, especially when doing 100% runs, and enough of the rest are really easy games to justify replaying.
After too long I am making good progress on Mario 64 thanks to NSO. For some reason I never had this one. I have no idea why, as I rented it plenty. I think it was because basically most of my N64 games HAD to be multiplayer, and Co-op if possible, because if you could only get 2 or so a year, I wanted things I could play with my brother. There were exceptions - Paper Mario, Yoshi's Story, Mystical Ninja, Mischief Makers....but never Mario 64! I can't be sure why.
Anyway, it holds up remarkably well to me. I love the N64 app.
Oh, I forgot to mention one thing. Does anyone remember the promo tapes that Nintendo would make back in the 90s? I actually had three of those, all from the N64 era... ones for Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo-Kazooie, and Donkey Kong 64 (that one also featured Jet Force Gemini). I think they would've been made before the games I've mentioned each came out. They were pretty much the precursor to the Nintendo Directs of today.
I also wish I had Paper Mario back when it came out. At first I thought it was kind of a silly title for a game... gosh I was missing out. I did play Thousand-Year Door back in the GameCube days though, and I eventually got to play the N64 original when it came out on the Wii VC. I'm normally not into RPGs, but I do love the first two Paper Mario games.
@Mana_Knight Sounds like me with Banjo-Kazooie in that I've rented it plenty of times, but not owning it as a kid. That promo tape I've mentioned in this post was the next best thing for me if I wasn't able to play the actual game!
@MarioVillager92
Are you talking about the promo vhs tapes like "feel everything" and "the new dimension of fun" ? If so, I saw them last year and I was amazed and felt like a little kid again. Easily better than a Nintendo direct. Simply more soul. And it made me want to play the games again. Seriously, the 90s were ALIVE.
Jhena
Switch Friend Code: SW-2361-9475-8611 | Nintendo Network ID: Traumwanderer
@MarioVillager92 I think I remember one tape, but not as vividly as I remember a Gamecube one that came with CUBE magazine before the launch of the system.
Paper Mario was just so special. Still is!
@Jhena Yep! That's cool, the ones I grew up with make me feel like a kid again as well. I'm from the US so I didn't have those tapes you've mentioned. Agreed on the 90s... makes me glad I was born in that same decade.
@Mana_Knight Nice, that's cool. The last Nintendo promo tape I had was the one for Jet Force Gemini and Donkey Kong 64, I didn't have any GameCube promo tapes/DVDs. Agreed on Paper Mario... just talking about it makes me wanna play it again!
Back in the N64 days we still had video game rentals and I rented quite a number of games. It was a great way to explore the catalogue. N64 were expensive so I reserved my purchases for the best games and those were worth every penny!
@NeonPizza GoldenEye was one of those killer titles on the 64. As was Mario 64. I also got into Perfect Dark which really expanded the local multiplayer with bots, lots of option, great weapon variety, fast movement. Amazing game. I think the time I spent on F-Zero X may rival that of Goldeneye. It's one of the few games I have an enduring love for.
Some N64 games still hold up incredibly well, but a lot don't. The first 3D gen was an incredible leap at the time, but now comes off as crude and rudimentary, especially in the graphics department. A lot can be done though with unofficial emulation (better framerate, sharper graphics, increased draw distance). I'm also keen to check out the Star Fox remaster on 3DS. They really polished up the graphics and with that added 3D effect... But yeah, gone-by days. Just cherish the memories and live and appreciate the present is what I would say.
@MarioVillager92 Yeah the 64 had a broad selection of racing games and some really good ones too. F-Zero X is still a master class imo.
@kkslider5552000 You missed out on F-Zero X. Nintendo has never been able to accurately replicate the analog stick sensitivity with emulation. Crucial for full appreciation and mastery of the game imo. The Wii version with a Gamecube controller comes closest, but it's still not the same. I never played any Mario Party. Heard the second one on the N64 is the best, but it's not going cheaply on second hand sites.
Currently 50% off, only 1.50€. This review got me over the fence:
Super Kiwi 64 is an excellently crafted bite-sized 3D platformer with a very simple gameplay foundation that is the quintessence of making a lot out of very little. The mechanics and level structure strongly resemble arcade-style game design from the late 90s and early 2000s, and are terrific for a short, relaxing casual experience and for hardcore speedrunning both.
My thoughts below are from having blind raced the game with 3 other friends, and it took under an hour to 100%.
Pros
there are simple, well-contained mechanics that are built upon steadily through thoughtful level design, and offer approachable depth for those seeking fast traversal and platforming mastery
the game's objectives are free of bloat and clutter, while remaining clear and consistent; it eliminates the need for explicit tutorials or demonstrations, but leaves room for occasional curveballs and gimmicks per different levels
the music provides quaint repose and keeps the game's ambience stress-free
the aesthetic of the game as it pertains to the designs, the textures, and the environments, is extraordinary, and showcases a tremendous amount of attention to detail with regards to the engine
Cons
the lack of customization options, despite the game having an unapologetic "indie" air, is not inconspicuous. specifically, the game could benefit from having in-menu graphics options, adjustable control layouts, or even alternate color palettes.
while the game's short length in no way takes away from its charm, it could have used additional levels with a higher difficulty to iterate upon the solid foundation. a custom level editor could have also made up for this.
Overall, for the low price of 3 USD, this game packs a superb amount of fun in its short gameplay time. Super Kiwi 64 has a lot of potential to be expanded into a further matured gameplay experience, but even in its present offering, it is a top-class 3D platformer, and a great time no matter whether it is to be messed around with casually, blind raced with friends, or speedran to its very precipice.
I liked Banjo Kazooie back in the day, but then Donkey Kong 64 got me burnt out on the genre. Never finished it. Game really took things too far. Super Kiwi looks interesting because it's a much more condensed experience.
@F-ZeroX It definitely did. I recall that it had a lot of sports games as well, with Nintendo branding them as "N64 Sports," at least here in the US. Never was into sports games though, the more realistic ones to be more precise. Of course F-Zero X is your favorite one... your username gives it away, lol! I like your N64 collection pictures, by the way.
@MarioVillager92 Thanks man. Yeah I don't see the appeal of sport sims. Has to be fast paced and arcade-y for me. Generally not that big on sports games but the N64 had some really good ones like Mario Tennis 64, MLB ft Ken Griffey Jr, Wayne Gretzky 3D Hockey and International Superstar Soccer.
Never saw those VHS tapes that are being mentioned, but I did read my fair share of gaming mags in the 90's. Fun times. I agree with you all, the 90's were pretty rad. Happy I was there and lived it. 🙏
@F-ZeroX Ah yeah Mario Tennis is a really good one. Mario Power Tennis on the GameCube was also a good time. My dad was a huge baseball guy and he did have that same MLB game with Ken Griffey Jr. I think I played that once or twice as a kid? I don't remember. Surprisingly, I didn't have Nintendo Power magazine until 2002. It was cool reading what was coming out for the GameCube and GBA at the time though.
@MarioVillager92 I live in Belgium. I read UK magazines back in the day and also a dutch, multi platform mag called Power Unlimited, which I read quite religiously every month. I remember a big 3D Mario rendition on the cover when the N64 launched with the word 'Finally!'.
The Gamecube Mario Tennis was also good yes. It did have some broken mechanics unfortunately. More recently I bought the Wii U one but found it disappointing. Crazy how the 64 one is still the most solid and fun to me.
I am a passionate baseball fan myself. Griffey was one of those few good US MLB games. Arcade-y as well. Other than that I like the old simple nes-like baseball games and the Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu series (yakyuu means baseball in Japanese) with the bobble/big head figures. They're Japan market only but they did release the English language MLB Power Pros on Wii back in 2008 I believe. Great series imo.
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