N64 anyone?

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Jones
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N64 anyone?

Post by Jones » Mon Nov 07, 2011 10:03 pm

Hi guys,

I was thinking. Should I buy a N64? You know, I really liked the
SNES for games like Super Metroid, Mortal Kombat II and Rock'n Roll
Racing and Shadow Run.
But concerning the N64, well, are there any games which are not
produced just for children? I mean, games that don't come only
with blurry, candy-coloured visuals?
Aside from Perfect Dark and 007 Goldeneye, which seem pretty nice!

BTW: I always doubted the N64's horsepower, but then I saw
this homebrew demo - and I am honestly impressed!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoO0Cif72vY

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Post by 3DOKid » Tue Nov 08, 2011 12:35 am

I am forbidden from commenting.

Blurry you say? [cough, cough, cough, playstation, cough, splutter]


That demo looks cool by the way.

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Post by Lemmi » Tue Nov 08, 2011 1:27 am

he is forbidden to comment, i really cant comment with only 13 games in my collection and ive played only 3 of those games :)
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Post by Scarlettkitten » Tue Nov 08, 2011 2:11 am

I've never liked the N64 myself, I preordered one back when they were released and was so dissapointed with the blurry visuals and lack of PAL RGB.

The only games I had any time for were Mario 64, Mario 64 oh yeah and Mario 64.

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Post by Trev » Tue Nov 08, 2011 3:18 am

Sadly, every N64 game that I've ever played did have the blurry visuals you speak of. Doesn't mean it didn't have some great games ... SM64 & MK64 are two of my all time favorites! But the 3rd party selection is truly weak ...

-Far, far too many racing games

-Almost no rpgs

-Hardly any good fighters

-Sports library is hit or miss

Honestly, if you are just getting into it now, I say buy a Wii instead & just download some of the classics.
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Post by Austin » Tue Nov 08, 2011 5:36 am

The N64 is a great little system that's super-cheap to collect for these days. I wasn't a huge fan of it when it was new(ish), but playing it now I have a lot more respect for it. Many of the games have held up strangely well over the years, and I think Nintendo's own properties on it were the strongest they have put out *since* the N64 days.

Like it's been said already, the system is lacking in certain genres and slightly overabundant in others, but it definitely excels at the ones it has plenty of. In the '90s this bothered me, but to be honest, I like it the way it is. I have the Saturn and PlayStation for those other kinds of games. What the system did though, it did well.

It also has quite a few games that are a little less well-known or talked about that are still worth checking out. Some quirky puzzle games, a single vertical-scrolling shmup with the most generous scoring system I have ever seen in a game, and more. I was personally really into PC gaming back then as well, and it's great that I can play some of my favorite franchises on the platform as well, like Hexen (it has save states!), DOOM 64, and Quake. Quake especially is a novelty because it lets you turn the graphics filter down, and everything looks excellent. I wish more games on the system did this, or at least gave you the option.

My only real gripe with it these days is more of a wishful-thinking sort of thing, and that is I wish developers at least gave a *LITTLE* more consideration to making 2D games. What is there, Yoshi's Story, and more so, Mischief Makers, are really smooth with lots going on, and virtually no load time (obviously). It didn't even seem like the system was remotely tapped 2D-wise through these games, but they look amazing today. I think the system was more powerful than some would have expected in that regard, but we never were able to see how far they could take a traditional 2D platformer, or maybe a side-scrolling 2D shmup, or even a Street Fighter Alpha game. The Nintendo 64 wasn't able to get its Silhouette Mirage, or its Radiant Silvergun, or its Metal Slug. It's s shame, because I think it would have been amazing.

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Post by sneth » Tue Nov 08, 2011 3:11 pm

I've had somewhat of an N64 revival. You have to look for gems....just like the 3DO. Let's not pretend the 3DO has aged well either.

I was quite anti N64 when it came out for the terrible anti aliasing and blurry textures people have already mentioned.

What n64 gaming does give you is:
-CARTRIDGES!!! maybe it's just me, but as the last cart system it's kinda cool. There is something to be said about having a shoebox full of carts and hearing it rattle around.

It had a good life with plenty of great games. The later ones definitely put more definition on the edges. The system could pull 3x more polygons than PSX, but making that happen was not easy.

and if you really want to experience the best of the games, emulators have enhanced graphics which really sharpen the polygons.

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Post by 3DO Experience » Wed Nov 09, 2011 2:39 am

Austin, I'm really glad you brought up 2D gameplay, I was just thinking about Kirby N64 today! (but that is a kiddy game.)
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Post by Austin » Wed Nov 09, 2011 3:32 am

3DO Experience wrote:Austin, I'm really glad you brought up 2D gameplay, I was just thinking about Kirby N64 today! (but that is a kiddy game.)
Haha, yeah, that's a good one, too. Although I was referencing full-on 2D games (sprites and all), there were a couple of good 2.5d platformers as well, like Kirby 64, or the second Goemon game. I would have happily taken more of that style, too. :)

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Post by Jones » Wed Nov 09, 2011 7:49 am

I like the term 2,5D! :)

Actually, I would consider the 3DO a 2,5D machine.

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Post by BryWI » Wed Nov 09, 2011 5:30 pm

since kirby was brought up... The new kirby on wii is awesome!

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Post by Trev » Wed Nov 09, 2011 6:40 pm

The only Kirby game I've ever owned is Kirby's Adventures for the Nes. It was a great swan song for the Nes, and a fun game. For some reason I never really looked at the later Kirby games. What would be the best one for someone who is almost a Kirby newbie (hey, that rhymes! :P )

Btw, this thread is now officialy derailed.
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Post by Austin » Wed Nov 09, 2011 9:18 pm

Trev, really any of them up to the N64 version. The Game Boy ones, Super Star on the SNES. Maybe even a few of the GBA ones, but I never tried them.

I hear the ones on the DS and the Wii weren't really "Kirby" games in the traditional sense that they were in the '90s. At least the ones prior to this newest one that just came out on the Wii.

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Post by 3DOKid » Wed Nov 09, 2011 11:35 pm

Star Fox was okay on the N64. Honestly, compared to Total Eclipse I don't think it's as good, but it's not bad. Certainly better than the SNES incarnation. Paper Mario was pretty good too.

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Post by Mobius » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:25 am

I friggin LOVE the N64... Mario 64, Mario Kart, Zelda, Wave Race, Blast Corps, StarFox, GoldenEye, Banjo-Kazooie, Beetle Adventure Racing, F-Zero X, Diddy Kong, Paper Mario... Every one of them is a masterpiece. Then there are several hidden gems, too, like Rocket: Robot on Wheels, Space Station Silicon Valley, and Body Harvest. Plus there's all the stuff that's just "really good" instead of "a masterpiece" -- Conker's BFD, Jet Force Gemini, Wipeout, Ridge Racer, some of the Turok games... Gosh, so many good memories.

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Post by VertigoProcess » Sat Nov 19, 2011 12:46 pm

star fox was the whole reason i got a n64 when it first came out, i remember walking into best buy and seeing it on the big screen from the front door and instantly wanting it...

but although i am a fan of the system i don't really collect on it anymore honestly a lot of the good titles just don't hold up anymore, i can't even play most of them no a days because the low rez gives me a headache. which is funny cuz i remember thinking how awesome the graphics were when it was still new...

every once in awhile my friends will force me to put goldeneye in. but that game held up the worse as time went by, with all the lagging from explosions the low rez rendering and the low rez textures it just looks like a mess to me...

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Post by Trev » Sat Nov 19, 2011 3:25 pm

I just sold/traded my N64 set on Thurs. It was a good system in its day, and I had lots of fun w/certain games. But the way I figure it, I already own the "Big "3 in other forms (Super Mario 64 on the DS, Mario Kart 64 on th VC, and Ocarina of time on the Zelda collectors disc for the GC) These were/are my favorites, and the reason I hung on to the system for so long. Overall though, there just wasn't enough variety in the N64 library to make it a keeper for me.
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swaaye

Post by swaaye » Sun Nov 20, 2011 7:23 am

Hmmm. There's no doubt that N64 was lacking but I have a few favs that aren't in the usual lists.

Space Station Silicon Valley (hilarious unique little game)
the Star Wars games
Doom64 (an original take on Doom)
Quake 2 (it's nothing like the PC game)

there are quite a few decent 3D platformers if those interest you. Conker is maybe the best and a real technical achievement.

I also have always loved exploring Pilotwings 64.

Aidyn Chronicles and Shadowgate 64 are somewhat interesting RPGs but those are about it for that genre.

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Post by 3DO Experience » Sun Nov 20, 2011 4:24 pm

Shadowgate 64 is a game I thoroughly enjoyed but I wouldn't call it an RPG by any measure. Just so you know what you are getting into. It is more of a puzzle/quest... ok maybe there is an RPG element of it but it's no DragonQuest just so you know.
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Post by Austin » Sun Nov 20, 2011 10:26 pm

Yeah, Shadowgate 64 shared more in common with its predecessors, where the focus was heavily based around finding items and figuring out how to utilize them in [typically] unconventional ways in order to progress farther in the game. Not much combat in that game at all, really.

swaaye

Post by swaaye » Tue Dec 06, 2011 3:02 am

Yeah sorry I suppose it's not really an RPG. The mystical setting just had me thinking of iit as one. It is an interesting little adventure/puzzle style game though.

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Post by Rick-Manta » Tue Dec 06, 2011 5:38 pm

Yeah, if you're even slightly interested in retro gaming you've got to have an N64. I hated them when they came out because some idiots thought it was going to, for lack of their actual words, 'out-do' the Playstation and constantly argued with me. There are loads around and if you get an unboxed one with two pads (the analogue sticks go wobbly so examples with one pad only tend to be worn out!), and hopefully with a few loose cartridges as they're a bargain.

What made me get one in about 2003 and sold it earlier this year was to play DOOM 64 as I just had to play the new levels and see the altered graphics. I ended up buying about 50 games for it and it's just so different from the CD consoles and even the supposed matched 64 bit 'cartridged' Jaguar it's a must have. There are mostly 'kids' games, remember Nintendo wanted a whiter than white image when that Night Trap nonsence was going on in '93 and even supported the prosecution and could have really damaged the video game market, this always gave me a dislike to Nintendo. I still can't deny some of the 64 only games are really fun even the wacky ones like Space Station Silly-con Valley, in fact Body Harvest which looked like a nice violent, time travel, alien attack, shooter come sandbox game was actually somewhat disappointing. Still okay, just wasn't quite what I expected and didn't match the quality of the more kid focused games.

I don't know about you guys but i found the controller is awful! You need three hands or at least be left handed to use it well (imo)

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Post by Trev » Tue Dec 06, 2011 8:42 pm

Rick-Manta wrote: I don't know about you guys but i found the controller is awful! You need three hands or at least be left handed to use it well (imo)
While I appreciate what the N64 controller brought to the table w/analog, force feedback, etc ... I also didn't really care for it. I loved the GC pad though.
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Post by swaaye » Tue Dec 06, 2011 11:26 pm

I like the N64 pad. However it has a few design problems such as the way you can't use all of the functions at once due to it being designed around 3 hand positions. Also the stick gradually wears out and loses accuracy due to the plastic quality (watch for the dust that accumulates) .

But the analog design really is essential for 3D game worlds.

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