N64 Apreciation, Discussion, and collecting Thread

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

The Classic, The Legend, my first game system. The third(or technically fourth if you include the VB) Nintendo console holds a lot of memories for me, and I still love my original Jungle Green transparent console(That my sisters have currently abducted). I don't need to go into a ton of detail, since most of you already know a bit about this. This thread is a place to discuss games, and memories, gives suggestions and advice on games you would suggest. This is a general N64 thread, if you really want to you even talk about Wii/Wii-u VC versions as well.

So I still have my original, and without referring to my actual collection(which my sisters have) off the top of my head I have: Mario Party 2-3, Mario Kart, Banjo-tooie(though I can't seem to find it ) Jet Force Gemini, Pokemon Snap, Charlie Blast, Podracer, Rouge Squadron, Battle for Naboo, Yoshi's Story, Star Fox 64(my GOAT), one of the Hot Wheels games, Blast Corps, Super Mario 64... and a few other I can't remember. That's my long time collection, now for my new one. also Wii-u VC games: SSB64, F-zero X, DK64, PM64 and S&P

Due to my Sister's  having mine, and loving the console, I'm planning to pick up a new colored one this weekend with an Expansion pack(while a little more expensive, it's nice to get it tested). I have the unique position of being close to a really well stocked and priced retro game store, so I'm hoping to build up a secondary collection and get a number of games I don't have, and games that have flown under the radar. Just picked up Pilot Wings, Beetle Racing Adventure, Shadow of the Empire, Perfect Dark, Castlevania, and Beast Wars Transmetals(first time I've even seen a copy). Banjo-Kazooie, Mystical Ninja starring Goemon, and Goemon's Mystic Adventure are on my must get list. So I'm looking for suggestions on additional games, don't care if they are commons or Rare, though I know there's a lot of super commons that are actually really good games that fly under the radar like Cruis'n and Ridge Racer. So go ahead, anyone have any game suggestions? Oh and is Batman Beyond any good?

[Tailikku]

Ohhhhhh!

 

I have so many good memories of the N64

[Metal the Mario]

Before I had my Dreamcast and got into Sonic through the Adventure games, there was my Nintendo 64.

It's still one of my favorite consoles of all time, and one that I have the most fond memories of playing with. Growing up I had a pretty sizable collection of games of all different genres (platformer, racing, shooting, puzzle, etc.), and since the boxes were all stored away, they would all be laid out in a neat row of cartridges next to the console. Many of those days involved me spending hours playing each game for a period of time and then switching to the next cartridge since it was so easy to do. I'm pretty sure I've logged an ungodly amount of hours into games like Star Fox 64, Donkey Kong 64, and California Speed. Even during this past winter break I dug out my N64 again and found that I still have no problem going back to them.

In terms of recommendations, I'll try to talk about a couple games I feel are underrated, yet still pretty good.

----

 

Tetrisphere, as the name implies, is kind of like Tetris... on a sphere. You move pieces around until you have a stack of matching shapes, which you can then destroy. You run the risk of losing one of three lives if you take too long to make a move, but you occasionally have items to help you out. The main mode involves clearing enough space to allow a small robot character to escape, but there are other modes, including multiplayer.

Aesthetically, it's kind of dark, atmospheric, and futuristic while still feeling cartoony, and it's got a pretty good soundtrack to boot.

 

Beetle Adventure Racing is also aptly named-- you race on different themed tracks in a Volkswagen New Beetle. While that's the only car you can use, there's a wide array of different styles and paint jobs to choose from. The game has the standard championship, time trial, and multiplayer modes, but the latter also features a Mario Kart-style Beetle Battle mode where you can hammer each other with wacky items and collect colored ladybugs (yep).

Graphically, the game seemed ahead of its time. The environments are fairly detailed and clear for their size, and the Beetles themselves are rendered surprisingly well, even featuring chrome reflections.

It's the tracks themselves that really separate the game from other racers, though, in my opinion. They're quite long (taking around 8 or more minutes to complete) and filled to the brim with crazy shortcuts and alternate routes that the game all but encourages you to take, such as jumping over a wide expanse of ocean or crashing through a barn. Additionally, something I always liked is that they sort of combine lap-based and "point A to B" racing; instead of completing the last lap at the starting line, something will happen that sends you to a completely new area before finishing the race. It's pretty exciting and a refreshing change.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

1 minute ago, Metal Mario said:

Before I had my Dreamcast and got into Sonic through the Adventure games, there was my Nintendo 64.

It's still one of my favorite consoles of all time, and one that I have the most fond memories of playing with. Growing up I had a pretty sizable collection of games of all different genres (platformer, racing, shooting, puzzle, etc.), and since the boxes were all stored away, they would all be laid out in a neat row of cartridges next to the console. Many of those days involved me spending hours playing each game for a period of time and then switching to the next cartridge since it was so easy to do. I'm pretty sure I've logged an ungodly amount of hours into games like Star Fox 64, Donkey Kong 64, and California Speed. Even during this past winter break I dug out my N64 again and found that I still have no problem going back to them.

In terms of recommendations, I'll try to talk about a couple games I feel are underrated, yet still pretty good.

----

 

Tetrisphere, as the name implies, is kind of like Tetris... on a sphere. You move pieces around until you have a stack of matching shapes, which you can then destroy. You run the risk of losing one of three lives if you take too long to make a move, but you occasionally have items to help you out. The main mode involves clearing enough space to allow a small robot character to escape, but there are other modes, including multiplayer.

Aesthetically, it's kind of dark, atmospheric, and futuristic while still feeling cartoony, and it's got a pretty good soundtrack to boot.

 

Beetle Adventure Racing is also aptly named-- you race on different themed tracks in a Volkswagen New Beetle. While that's the only car you can use, there's a wide array of different styles and paint jobs to choose from. The game has the standard championship, time trial, and multiplayer modes, but the latter also features a Mario Kart-style Beetle Battle mode where you can hammer each other with wacky items and collect colored ladybugs (yep).

Graphically, the game seemed ahead of its time. The environments are fairly detailed and clear for their size, and the Beetles themselves are rendered surprisingly well, even featuring chrome reflections.

It's the tracks themselves that really separate the game from other racers, though, in my opinion. They're quite long (taking around 8 or more minutes to complete) and filled to the brim with crazy shortcuts and alternate routes that the game all but encourages you to take, such as jumping over a wide expanse of ocean or crashing through a barn. Additionally, something I always liked is that they sort of combine lap-based and "point A to B" racing; instead of completing the last lap at the starting line, something will happen that sends you to a completely new area before finishing the race. It's pretty exciting and a refreshing change.

Tetrisphere sounds awesome, and like I said, already grabbed Beetle Adventure racing

Also, I love N64 game boxes/manuals, but I can never bring myself to collect them because they tend to inflate the price... Goemon or BK would be a must do for me though

[Metal the Mario]

10 minutes ago, Mando-Whirl-Wind said:

Tetrisphere sounds awesome, and like I said, already grabbed Beetle Adventure racing

Also, I love N64 game boxes/manuals, but I can never bring myself to collect them because they tend to inflate the price... Goemon or BK would be a must do for me though

Whoops, my bad. I didn't catch that before I posted. I guess it could still be helpful to anyone else who was curious about the game, lol.

I think I still have the manuals to most of my old games lying around, but some of them were bought used many years ago and thus only included the cartridge.

[Speeps]

The last time I touched a real life N64 was when my friend had one over his house when I was 7.

I do remember playing Mario Party in Macdonalds and Mario 64 in a Hospital on one of those console cabinets, though. That was cool.

[Blacklightning]

You know, one thing that always irked me about the N64 is that most of the games off memory - especially the multiplayer ones - had a tendency to run really slowly, sometimes to the point of sub-15fps. What is it with N64 games and really bad optimization? Is there some kind of hardware bottleneck I never heard about?

That's not to say there weren't plenty of great games in spite of it. Some of my more obscure personal picks would be Duke Nukem: Zero Hour and Body Harvest (though I never finished the latter thanks to a crazy strict timed sequence), and Perfect Dark/Conker's Bad Fur Day were always fun romps when you had mates around to play with.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

On 1/19/2016 at 7:12 PM, Blacklightning said:

You know, one thing that always irked me about the N64 is that most of the games off memory - especially the multiplayer ones - had a tendency to run really slowly, sometimes to the point of sub-15fps. What is it with N64 games and really bad optimization? Is there some kind of hardware bottleneck I never heard about?

That's not to say there weren't plenty of great games in spite of it. Some of my more obscure personal picks would be Duke Nukem: Zero Hour and Body Harvest (though I never finished the latter thanks to a crazy strict timed sequence), and Perfect Dark/Conker's Bad Fur Day were always fun romps when you had mates around to play with.

That's a nice perk of the VC, fixes lag issues

[Tails spin]

I hate to be a debbie downer. But in my honest opinion it hasnt aged well. I replayed alot of my games recently and I was either put off by them or completely bored by them.

I got more excitement from playing my super Nintendo than my 64.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

4 minutes ago, Tails spin said:

I hate to be a debbie downer. But in my honest opinion it hasnt aged well. I replayed alot of my games recently and I was either put off by them or completely bored by them.

I got more excitement from playing my super Nintendo than my 64.

I got great tolerance, love going back and playing old games, on my actual N64 or on my wii-u. love my saturn and dreamcast too

[Tails spin]

22 minutes ago, Mando-Whirl-Wind said:

I got great tolerance, love going back and playing old games, on my actual N64 or on my wii-u. love my saturn and dreamcast too

I thought I did too. And I loved my 64 as well. It got me depressed that I got bored with DK 64 and Mario 64 the further I went into them. I had more fun with MK64, Diddy Kong Racing and Mario Tennis than all my other games.

[PC the Hedgehog]

20 years, man. It's been 20 years.

The beginning of 3D Mario, the collectathon platformer, amazing updates to other franchises like Star Fox and Mario Kart, the insane Japanese action that was Mischief Makers.

N64 introduced the world to a lot of greatness. In some instances, that greatness has carried over to Nintendo systems since. In others, it's never come close to being duplicated.

Happy 20th, N64. Thanks for changing the system.

[SinclairStrange]

N64 was my first ever console I personally bought out of my own monies and I still own and love it to this very day. I still think a fair few games have aged well, take any game made by Rareware, Banjo-Tooie or Conkers Bad Fur Day still looks and plays amazingly, (despite perhaps a little lag here and there :P) 

One of my favourite games on the system is oddly Doom 64. I always see it as "Doom 3" in my eyes. It just had everything right, new maps, better quality textures and a real evil atmosphere.

One of my greatest achievements in life is completing Donkey Kong 64 101%. Seriously. 

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Well, I think I'm going to go after Flying Dragon, Excitebike, Mace the dark age, Banjo-Kazooie, and well, depends on what they have , say anyone have any thoughts on the first three?

[Agie]

Oh yeah, the N64. My brother got one, and I played it frequently. Then I got a Pikachu one...that sadly disappeared. I did get a regular model to replace it, though, and it's done me so very well. 

I have so many fond memories, from Super Mario 64, to Donkey Kong 64, to Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo-Kazooie (and Tooie), GoldenEye 007 (which funny enough, was actually my first exposure to James Bond, period) and Rayman 2, even playing Road Rash 64 with my friend. I still think it's a great console.

A couple of years ago, my cousin got hers at a comic-con I went with her on. She asked me for suggestions, knowing I had good memories with the console. Needless to say, I rambled on.

Funny thing is, she has the original Conker's Bad Fur Day cartridge; in fact, she had it from before getting her N64.

But yeah, a great console, and I'm glad many of its notable titles got rereleases...though GoldenEye still requires an N64.

[Dee Dude]

Ahh, the good old N64. First gaming experience ever, sure takes back to my childhood, me and my siblings used to play on my brother's N64 all the time. We owned and played classics like SSB64, Banjo Tooie etc. We sadly lost a few that we loved to play such Mario Party 3 and Pokemon Stadium 2. We also borrowed and kept a fair amount of games from my siblings fellow friends and cousins like the original Banjo Kazooie, Diddy Kong Racing, Mario Kart 64,etc, we were able to keep a fair amount of them. My sister and her friend also had Conker's Bad Fur Day, a which I wasn't allowed to play (but then again,neither were they...).  

Yes, I still have the original N64 console which still works great! Unfortunately, the wires are currently broken so maybe I'll go get a replacement. _{Speaking of wires, I used to chew on the red wire and mess up the sound because you know I was a stupid child.}

N64 was truly a classic you couldn't miss! I still love that thing to this day!

 

[Komodin]

Ah, the Nintendo 64... I have nothing but good memories of it.

Even since my dad bought me Super Mario 64 back in 1996, I became attached to this system like bread and butter. Over the years, I got a myriad of games for it, from platformers like the Banjo games, Chameleon Twist, Mischief Makers and Yoshi's Story, to multiplayer games like Mario Party, Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing and Pokemon, to action games like the 3D Zelda games and Jet Force Gemini, to RPGs like Paper Mario and Quest 64. I loved them all, and I don't regret playing any of them for a second.

Nowadays, my system is unfortunately completely kaputs, with even my game collection now nonexistent due to life choices over the years. Still, though, my fond memories of the N64 will never go away. So, yeah, Komodin and the Nintendo 64 will always be like best bros and stuff.

[Blacklightning]

3 hours ago, Dan-Dude said:

Yes, I still have the original N64 console which still works great! Unfortunately, the wires are currently broken so maybe I'll go get a replacement. 

Which wires? The AV cables? Because most of those are completely interchangable between Nintendo consoles - if you've owned any of them between the SNES and the Wii, you can just plug their cables straight into the N64 and it'll work just fine.

[Dee Dude]

6 minutes ago, Blacklightning said:

Which wires? The AV cables? Because most of those are completely interchangable between Nintendo consoles - if you've owned any of them between the SNES and the Wii, you can just plug their cables straight into the N64 and it'll work just fine.

Yeah the AV cables. Seriously? That's all I have to do? I hope still have my Wii in the garage that stopped working.

[Conando]

Yeah, it was especially obvious when it came to the RF adapter (from SNES to GCN) which was just a repackaged NES RF Switch.

[Agie]

7 hours ago, Dan-Dude said:

Yeah the AV cables. Seriously? That's all I have to do? I hope still have my Wii in the garage that stopped working.

Sadly, Wii cables won't work. Still, third parties still manufacture new cabes if you're interested and don't mind not getting first party cables.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

5 hours ago, SurrealBrain said:

Sadly, Wii cables won't work. Still, third parties still manufacture new cabes if you're interested and don't mind not getting first party cables.

there were two type of wii cables, main ones should work I think

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Well, just went to the gamestop website and put a big list of N64 games in my shopping cart(well 11), and took a picture. What I can find at my local gamestore for equal or lower(or within 2 or 5 bucks), I'll but there, but what I can't I'll order from gamestop since I get the whole discount and free shipping thing(got a pro membership for christmas). prefer to support local businesses, and that's where I'm getting my actual N64, but hey if they don't have the games, it's my want list so I'll just order them online tonight, not like I have a ton of N64 time at the moment anyways

Current to pick up list(on gamestop) is: Banjo-Kazooie/Tooie, Killer Instinct Gold, Flying Dragon, Rocket Robot with wheels, Snowboard Kids, ClayFighter, Tetrisphere, Gex 64, Pokemon Puzzle League, and Pokemon Stadium

Also after Cruis'n world, Goemon 64 1+2, Castlevania Legacy of Darkness, and maybe a few others. Anyone have any thoughts on these, and suggestions?

[Agie]

On 01/21/16 at 9:36 AM, Mando-Whirl-Wind said:

there were two type of wii cables, main ones should work I think

I've only ever seen one type, and the only other console they work with is the Wii U. Though if what you say is true, then who knows?

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Well say hello to my collection Part2a(Part1 is my long time collection that my sisters have most of, I'll see if I can get a pick), all but 6 of these I picked up today for a mere $70! the other 6 I picked up for about $65~(with 35 of that being for beast wars)

Also not pictured is the 3 first party controllers I picked up used for $75 total, all in excellent shape with only a minor wiggle on the joystick. Got 4 more games I ordered from gamestop that I will picture when I get them in, got Banjo-Kazooie, Tooie, Rocket Robot on Wheels and Flying Dragon.

Waiting on picking up a spare N64 until they get a color I want in, hopefully in two weeks time, and I have but 5 games or so left to complete my collection:  both Goemons, Castlevania2, bomberman 64... maybe Mario Party 1 and Clayfighter

 

Say any thoughts/ suggestions?