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Platform: Nintendo 64 (NTSC/PAL) / (JP) Games Library: 393 Released: 1996
This topic will be for the discussion of the Nintendo 64. Feel free to discuss everything from your favourite games to general discussion around the console!
I can never actually decide on my favourite all time console, but it seems to cycle through the SNES, PS1 & of course the N64. What a banger this was! From Goldeneye to Ocarina of Time, to Perfect Dark & Super Mario 64. This console is jam packed full of classic games that gave me hours of non stop fun (still does).
So what are some of your favourite games? What are your thoughts on the N64?
I love my 64.
I finished my full Pal Australian cib N64 collection last year.
I now have all the games released in Australia on the N64, all complete and mint, all 244+ variants.
I started over 10 years ago when I looked at my collection and realised I had most of the rarest games released for it and decided I would go for a full set.
I have played all of them and found games I would never have even looked at if I hadn't.
I love the speed of playing on my 64, no updates, no downloads, just go.
4 player couch gaming is sorely lacking in today's gaming environment and the N64 has some of the best games for this, so much so my daughter's love playing it with me, so thanks to my love of the 64 I have created 2 more retro gamers.
Great system, the N64. I got one for my 16th birthday back in 1998 and it was the perfect time for me. It was the last two years of high school and with the freedom I was gaining at that age the N64 became the cornerstone of socialising with friends. Nearly every Friday or Saturday night was 4 player Goldeneye/Mario Kart/Perfect Dark, with F Zero X and Diddy Kong Racing thrown in as well. The sound of 4 RCP 90’s in Goldeneye threatening to destroy the speaker on my old tv became a weekly ritual!
Aside from that I had a great time in single player games like Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Mario 64, Shadows of the Empire, Rogue Squadron and Resident Evil 2. It was a system that got me through many a lonely teenage night, the stress of exams and after coming home tired and smelling to high heaven after finishing an exhausting work shift in the local pub!
I still have my old N64 and although it is on a shelf for display it still works fine (the original controller’s stick has finally died but luckily my spare pad for player two, which naturally got less use, is still going strong).
Today my only regret is how hard it is to get a good image out of it. In PAL regions Nintendo cut manufacturing costs by removing RGB out even though the system used the same multi out port as the SNES and GameCube, both of which can output RGB through a SCART cable. The PAL N64 can only output through RF or composite (technically S Video too but S video is rare on British TVs). Even through my CRT it isn’t a brilliant picture, though I played it through RF back in the day so it’s still a step above that.
I’m still discovering N64 games to this day, whether buying the odd game I missed relatively cheaply (1080 Snowboarding and Wave Race come to mind) or the games from the Wii Virtual Console through my modded Wii. Image quality aside it’s still one of my favourite systems alongside the Mega Drive and GameCube.
Get N or get out!
‘You swapped three different N64 games for Pokemon Stadium? Where’s your pride? Your dignity?!?
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My first few seconds playing Mario 64 is the most magical gaming experience I've had. Friends used to come down on school lunch breaks to sit and watch or have a quick go.
Lylat Wars was my first cinematic gaming experience.
Ocarina of Time seemed massive at the time, even just Hyrule Field.
It's been a few years now, but before lockdown we still played Perfect Dark multiplayer now and again.
WWF No Mercy is still arguably the best wrestling game made.
Blast Corps feels a bit clunky these days but was smashing fun at the time. It's the N64 game I'd most like to see get remade.
Mystical Ninja is one the funniest (and funnest) games I've played.
I wasn't a big fan of the RareWare platformers on N64, but Diddy Kong Racing was another great game.
Space Station Silicon Valley and Wetrix were two more I enjoyed.
Top Gear Rally, Waverace 64, Excitebike 64...I've argued before that the N64 was the best of the era for racers and sports games (ISS for the latter).
Did you know know that the N64 has its own audio effects? Just like the SNES, it has a built in Delay and even reverb! In some developer menus of a few N64 games (Smash 64, for example) you can listen to the music tracks without reverb. F-Zero X and Rakuga kids have very special soundtracks that show this off very well. If you've never heard of Rakuga Kids, do yourself the favor of listen to it's ost.
The SNES and the Genesis have their strengths. They both do what they do so well. Nothing beats the echoed SNES sound or the Full-Sounding FM synthesis of the Genesis. Did you know that the N64 had built in audio effects, like delay too?
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.
@Gamecuber I'm ordering the Open Source Scan Converter, to my knowledge the best and cheaper alternative to the expensive Framemeister. And the Koryuu transcoder along with it to hook up my PAL N64 through S-video.
I’ve ordered an EverDrive X5 and anxiously await it’s arrival. I can’t spend money on a collection, but this single cartridge is going to grant me so many childhood wishes that the 100$ price tag doesn’t even sting. My brother is also going crazy waiting so that we can try a bunch of hacks together. I can’t wait to make more memories with friends playing N64 games.
The SNES and the Genesis have their strengths. They both do what they do so well. Nothing beats the echoed SNES sound or the Full-Sounding FM synthesis of the Genesis. Did you know that the N64 had built in audio effects, like delay too?
Ok so I got the OSSC and Koryuu but so far have been unable to get an image on my modern tv. Will have to troubleshoot or look for assistance. To be continued...
@MetaCrystal Yeah, that's the thing, you can play hacks also. There's a lot of em by now, high quality too.
@F-ZeroX it finally came in! There’s so many games I was missing out on that I can play now. Specifically there are two or three F-Zero X hacks that I’m going to play the heck out of.
On that topic, how am I supposed to get good at F-Zero X? There’s some technique or something I’m missing because something feels off.
The SNES and the Genesis have their strengths. They both do what they do so well. Nothing beats the echoed SNES sound or the Full-Sounding FM synthesis of the Genesis. Did you know that the N64 had built in audio effects, like delay too?
The SNES and the Genesis have their strengths. They both do what they do so well. Nothing beats the echoed SNES sound or the Full-Sounding FM synthesis of the Genesis. Did you know that the N64 had built in audio effects, like delay too?
@F-ZeroX that meme is totally on point! When I was 16-18 years old in my last years of school virtually every Friday/Saturday night was ‘Goldeneye Night’ at either my house or a friend’s. We would order pizzas, drink Dr Pepper and play N64 until midnight when parents would turf us out. Goldeneye, Mario Kart 64, Perfect Dark, Fzero X, Diddy Kong Racing were the mainstays. Of course that was 25 years ago now…
@MetaCrystal Sry, been a while. New here, usually over at Nintendo Life and couldn't log in anymore (the 'I forgot my password' option didn't work).
Anyway, some pointers:
Practice taking good lines
Use R and L to drift corner through sharp turns.
You lose a lot of speed when you lose grip. When this happens, quickly let go of the gas and repress it, to regain grip.
Memorize the tracks.
Use manual boosts wisely. Using successive boosts on a straight-ish part of the track is quite effective in my experience, because you really build speed. Try not to bump into other racers when you're going at high speeds, or you'll lose all'of your momentum.
Advanced cornering techniques include using the side attack to adjust your trajectory with little or no speed loss and the slider strategy. The latter involves choosing an E grip machine (either Blood Hawk or Night Thunder) and setting it all the way to max acceleration. Use the shoulder buttons inversely (L for right and R for left) to slide into corners. This will cause a speed increase, especially if you boost while doing so. Takes a while to get the hang of, it's basically a controlled slide.
Some tracks have certain spots where if you go fast enough or dive off the side, you'll get lift and can dive down to get a big increase in speed. Make sure to lift your nose up a bit at the last second to get a softer landing that causes less of a speed decrease.
Taking out your rival at the very start of the race is an effective way of securing the top spot. Taking out 4 or 5 ships will gain you an extra life, but I usually just focus on the racing and getting ahead of the pack and staying there.
Try to complete all of the cups on master difficulty. You'll hone your skills in your pursuit.
Real mastery of the game lies in time attack and beating all of the staff ghosts. You'll continuously shave off seconds and tenths of seconds, perfecting your skills and approach to each track. If you're stuck on a track or have seemingly hit a ceiling, move on to another one.
His strategy compilation videos are worth a watch. He has one for novice, standard, expert and master players, showing his approach to each track of the base game for that particular skill level. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDcn_lBlLt0yx3vEEehi_aSbGL...
Don't forget to have fun!
Had to type this out twice, because when I hit send I apparently wasn't logged in anymore and lost all of the text T_T
@MetaCrystal White Cat. It was my go to machine when I got the game. Also Red Gazelle, Iron Tiger, Big Fang, Hyper Speeder. Grippy ships.
Twin Noritta is the ship used in all of the jumper category (non-sliding) world records. It's the fastest, partly due to its light weight, but vulnerable so beware of that in grand prix races. Also, due to its weight it's more prone to accidental lift on certain parts of tracks, like the twisty part at the end of Silence 1 (the always go straight and catch the boost pads track), where you'll be sent off careening to your death at high speeds, unless you press down on the control stick to force your ship to stay on the track.
I enjoy the sliding turns/strategy as well. My favorite track to practice it is Red Canyon.
64 is a mixed bag for me - i grew up with the 6th gen era but got a tidbit taste of 5th gen & between the PS1 and 64, id be lying if i said i didnt like the 64 more because of how appealing it was. I pretty much hated the controller but damn, compared to the PS1 the 64 just looked so much more fun and it prioritized multiplayer! the ps1 hands down is better and it had games I liked to play on there too, but personally the 64 was way more appealing as a kid.
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Topic: Nintendo 64 Discussion
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