|
|
Post by mrmolecule on May 24, 2012 14:46:53 GMT -5
Whenever I talk to people in real life or read Internet topics, it seems that reaction to the Nintendo 64: it was great, or it was terrible.
In a way, I can kind of see where this is coming from. The Nintendo 64 produced some fantastic games, some of the best from Nintendo, and the best of all time. Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, StarFox 64, GoldenEye, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Banjo-Kazooie, Blast Corps (and many more)...they were all relatively fun and many people have good memories of them. Even the second tier games, like Turok or Jet Force Gemini got decent reviews of the time. But the Nintendo 64 has also caught a flak, with its unusual controller, relatively small library (I believe there were less than 400 games for the N64, less than the SNES games, and less than half of the NES games), the "kiddie" reputation (although this was mostly attributed to fanboyism at the time, it has merit, especially when you see what the 3rd parties were turning out), the fact that most of the games outside the "core" have aged very poorly and did not offer particularly new concepts (platformers, 3D arcade rehashes were common), and some of the WORST video games of the generation, and of all time emerged from the console (Superman 64).
What are your opinions on it?
|
|
|
|
Post by Nester the Lark on May 24, 2012 17:40:03 GMT -5
Pretty much all consoles have both great games and awful games, so that's not unique to the N64.
My opinion on the console has actually improved over time. Back then, I was pretty disappointed with the N64, and I still consider it Nintendo's weakest console, but I think a lot of my negative impressions of it were due to my own attitude at the time. I was a very cynical, pessimistic gamer in the mid-to-late '90s; a phase I was very fortunate to have grown out of. But by then, I had gotten a Dreamcast, and so the N64 era kinda slipped past me.
Since then, however, I've come to recognize the console's charm and personality. Those early 3D games are about as rough and chunky as early 8-bit games, but acknowledging that, there are a number of really good games on the system that are still worth playing today. I think it would be a good system to collect for.
|
|
|
|
Post by 8bitretroshit on May 24, 2012 17:50:55 GMT -5
Yeah, the Playstation had it's fair share of shitstains too
N64 was the multiplayer king though. Best 4 player games at the time. Hell, Perfect Dark is still a fun time waster every now 'n then
|
|
|
|
Post by Da Robot on May 24, 2012 20:52:27 GMT -5
N64 was my first Nintendo console, only had 8 games for it, by the time the GCN came round, but it was still a good system and many hours were spent on it. (Also the few times I got to experience 4 player were wonderful)
One of the reason for the N64's lack of games/support would be the fact that it was diffuicult to develop games for, and that you had a lot of developers having to transistion their franchises from 2D to 3D gaming (which could turn out either good like SM64, OoT, or bad . . . like Sonic).
Another bizzare fact of the N64 was how Nintendo was desperate to get RPG's for the console to counter the PS1's Square Soft / Enix developed RPG's like Final Fantasy, Xenoblade Saga and Dragon Quest and yet on the Game Boy, Nintendo had the Pokemon franchise . . . and never did any real N64 RPG with it (they probably could have made good money just by porting/remaking one of the games for the N64).
|
|
|
|
Post by nocturnal YL on May 25, 2012 1:14:45 GMT -5
Super Smash Bros with 4 players. 'Nuff said. It only lasted for 2 years before Melee was around, but it was a fun experience.
EDIT - 2 years, not 4. I was still thinking about the 4-player thing when I typed that.
I wasn't very good at gaming at all back then, so single-player games tend to last for a long time for me as well. Stuck with Bomberman Hero? That's one more week added to that game's life for me. And not to mention the longevity of the first Banjo-Kazooie. A speedrun of that game lasts for more than 2 hours, so you can imagine how that game was like to someone not much of a gaming expert. (And I'd say it's the one game 3D Mario should really learn from.)
I pretty much killed off the console as soon as I got GC. (I used to have Saturn as well, but that died off even earlier after I realized Saturn Bomberman (the best of the series, I'd say) was the only worthy game on it, partly due to not having many games on that system at all.) So in a way N64 had lost to SNES and GC for me. But it's still a very awesome system.
|
|
|
|
Post by parrothead on May 25, 2012 1:51:23 GMT -5
Other genres it heavily lacked that the Saturn, PS1 and Dreamcast had a large number of were fighting games and arcade ports.
|
|
|
|
Post by Koopaul on May 25, 2012 5:58:29 GMT -5
I own more multiplayer games on the N64 than any other Nintendo console. Why is that? I thought the Wii would have TONS off multiplayer games for me... sadly that is not true.
|
|
|
|
Post by TV Eye on May 25, 2012 12:16:49 GMT -5
and that you had a lot of developers having to transistion their franchises from 2D to 3D gaming (which could turn out either good like SM64, OoT, or bad . . . like Sonic).  You did not just insult Sonic Adventure. As for the N64, I loved it as a kid. But since the price range of games ranged from $60 to $80...the only games I owned were Pokemon Stadium and Episode 1 Racer. Meanwhile, my PS1 was being played constantly. Later when I got older, N64 games dropped to around $3 to $20 so I was able to buy more games. After my douchebag dad sold all my PS1 games for...his expenses. |
|
|
|
Post by kirbychu on May 25, 2012 15:32:40 GMT -5
There were people who thought the N64 was terrible? Someday, I'd like to meet one. It was pretty much universally loved where I come from. People used to bring 'em to school and have Goldeneye tournaments at lunch.
|
|
BeamClaws
Balloon Fighter
Beam claws closes the gap with his excellent foot speed!
Posts: 934
|
Post by BeamClaws on May 25, 2012 20:23:40 GMT -5
I think it's the worst Nintendo console (does Virtual Boy count) but that's not saying much because it's still pretty great. My only problem is there really weren't that many games on it... My N64 experience was pretty much limited to Zelda, Goldeneye, Donkey Kong and Smash Brothers. Later I went on to play Mario, Kirby, Megaman Legends... and that was pretty much it. Compare this to the large amount of great SNES games and the hidden gems that riddle Gamecube's library, and all the awesome games I played on Playstation at the time. That's not really any great juxtaposition. I was really hopeful too, a console with 4 players is awesome for a family of 6.
|
|
|
|
Post by kirbychu on May 26, 2012 3:14:03 GMT -5
Just because you didn't play many N64 games, doesn't mean there weren't many. I only ever played about four PS1 games I liked, but that doesn't mean there weren't more out there... it just means I never found them.  I had around thirty awesome games for the N64, and I don't think I even had any third-party titles. It had a great library. |
|
|
|
Post by parrothead on May 28, 2012 1:06:15 GMT -5
On G4 Tech TV's Filter episode for Top Ten Best Game Consoles, registered Filter viewers voted the N64 to #1, but most people who were unregistered disagree with that. GameTrailers considered its toughest rival, PS1, the best.
|
|
|
|
Post by mrmolecule on May 28, 2012 22:54:55 GMT -5
What helped kill it (I think) was the N64DD (which I wrote about before my post got eaten). Nintendo, for most of the console's lifetime, paraded the N64DD around as if it was the next great thing. While it had a lot of awesome features (for 1997, at least), the "eight times as more space as Super Mario 64" was still paltry compared to CDs. Meanwhile, until late 1997 or early 1998, all the "big ticket" games would be for 64DD (Mother 3, Zelda 64) which probably left a bad taste in people's mouths and caused them to switch over to PlayStation instead. The constant delays of Mother 3 (and the 64DD add-on) didn't help either.
|
|
|
|
Post by kirbychu on May 29, 2012 5:43:18 GMT -5
...I never even heard about the 64DD until after the Gamecube came out. And the only games I'm aware of ever coming out for it are the Mario Artist games and that F-Zero Expansion.
|
|
|
|
Post by Wildcat on May 29, 2012 9:51:34 GMT -5
Ura Zelda was slated for the 64DD, too, plus Earthbound 64 and a couple of others I'm forgetting.
Anyway! I love my N64. It was my first new piece of hardware since the NES came out (I completely missed the 16-bit wars), and I had an absolute blast with it. Loved Mario 64, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Ogre Battle 64, Goldeneye, Body Harvest, Perfect Dark, and International Superstar Soccer 98 back then, and while it hasn't aged beautifully or anything, the games remain fun as hell. A definite favorite of mine.
|
|
