People were predicting doom and gloom for the Nintendo 64, and for the most part, they were right. It was launching off the coattails of the great Super NES, easily the finest of the 16-bit consoles. (At least in Asia and North America. Europe, you can have your precious "Geni" you Zelda-hating bastards. UPDATE: 2-1-2010: This is an inside joke to Brit John Davison, former EGM and Official US PlayStation Magazine editor-in-chief, now current EIC at GamePro.) But Nintendo and their hyper-conservative business model was doing them in. They may have been launching a more powerful system than its competitors (the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn), but the N64 was cartridge-based, a boon that lost them tons of third party support, especially Square Soft. The hardware itself had numerous bottle-necks in terms of memory allocation, thus making it notoriously difficult to program for. Although the PlayStation always had this blocky, pixilated look to it, the N64's anti-aliasing techniques sometimes made the textures look less smooth and more blurry. True, the best-looking N64 games were far better than any on the PlayStation platform, but lack of storage space in the cartridge format often led to stripped-down animation and TONS of compression, sometimes to the detriment of the game.
Still, it's quite telling that what may be a poorly designed piece of hardware had more games of the year in EGM than PlayStation, particularly when you take into account how few N64 games were released on a regular basis. That, I think, just goes to show how powerful Nintendo is as a game maker.
Nowadays, Nintendo is the clear champion, having innovated their way out from under the heap and onto the top of the mountain. With the Wii and its motion control, everyone wants a piece of the action. Observe one of Sony's recent monstrosities patents: |
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| The world and the way it would be if each nut had a dick. |
| Consider where controllers are most often held and tell me if the above drawing looks silly or not. |
It's still not as bad as the N64's greatest flaw:
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Ever see that "Bizzaro" comic where the guy says on his planet the appendix actually has a function? It's a third hand meant for greeting people but I bet it would have come in handy when Nintendo built this strange, alien device. |
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So with that in mind, I want to say how frustrating it was being such a staunch supporter of the Nintendo 64 when the PlayStation was what was "cool" at the time. Too many people I knew hated on the poor thing (the 64) for how few games were released and how infantile they tended to be. And even though it may be more popular to come up with slick, top ten SNES or Genesis lists, I decided to give the N64 some much-needed love.
Also, keep in mind that this isn't a top ten "best" list, it's a top ten "personal favorite." The difference is this: I define the "best" as how something compares to things similar to it. "Personal favorite" is the impact it had on me. So let's take it away. |
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By far the most hated "super happy cartoon FUN!" game on the system, Banjo-Kazooie ranks in at number ten because it so lovingly perfects the 3D platforming established in Super Mario 64. Some say it was a little too similar to Mario 64, to the point where it was a complete rip off, I, however, say that's not a problem at all because Mario 64 is one of the greatest games ever made. |
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This was the first game I ever got for the N64, and it's still the last "true" Star Fox game, at least true to the original design. Trust me, no matter how great 2D gaming was and still is, the transition from the Super Nintendo to N64 was staggering. Throw in real (sometimes annoying) voice acting and you have what creator Shigeru Miyamoto described as "like a movie." Truly an impressive game. |
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Ah, yes. The first in a series of fan favorites, and possibly the only worth-while fighting game on the system. Super Smash Bros. went on to become one of Nintendo's most successful franchises. With service to the fans and a simple yet shockingly deep design, this game took the most beloved cast of video game characters and put them against each other in a fight to the ring-out. |
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The follow-up to the venerable GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark did pretty much what Banjo-Kazooie did--take an existing premise and perfect it. While PD may not have made quite the same impact that its predecessor made, it still stacks up with its ridiculous story, top notch gameplay, beautiful Blade Runner-style art direction and kickass multiplayer. Too bad for the frame rate issues. |
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Now THIS is the game that showed what a difference four controller ports can have. Perhaps not the best game in the series, Mario Kart 64 is still a great example of multiplayer mayhem... and single player, too! This game is lauded for its excellent track design and creative weapons. Seriously, before this, what racing game let you shoot the guy in front of you? Mario Kart invented it. |
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Damn, this game barely made the top five, which just goes to show how great this list is. Ogre Battle 64 is an odd sort of strategy-RPG in that the strategy essentially consists of where you send your troops. You don't even control them in battle. And yet, the gameplay is extremely deep and challenging. This game also has one of the best translations ever. I'm holding my breathe for a fourth one. |
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This one was difficult. While it may be a better game than its predecessor Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask didn't have quite the same impact on me simply because it came second. It's still one of the best games in the series, and aslo one of the most difficult. Its difficulty isn't frustrating like most games, however. I actually found it rewarding. Underappreciated, but excellent. |
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I don't think any game will give me the same feeling this game gave me. When I first saw it, I was spellbound. Punch drunk. A blow job for the mind. Seriously, I know it's weird to say. Nothing was quite like it. Super Mario 64 was the first significant stride in the revolution that was 3D gameplay, and easily the most important. Doom and Tomb Raider were good, but this is 3D perfection. |
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What can I say? This is why I bought an N64, even before the game was formally announced. I knew it would come, and I knew it would one of the finest games ever made. In fact, many people agree with this sentiment. I don't think any game in a long- running series has managed to innovate so heavily while at the same time bringing its formula to near-perfection. One of the best. |
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As far as clock hours go, I don't think any N64 game gave me as much enjoyment as GoldenEye. Often I would get new games, and enjoy them immensely, but this was the one I always came back to, whether it was to unlock new cheats or kick other people's asses in multiplayer. Even replaying the missions in 007 mode was awesome. It was a close race, but I have to say GoldenEye is my favorite. |
Note: This article has been DOUBLE POSTED! at my blog at ScrewAttack.
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