enigmatic_alex44
Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
I've been seeing a lot of nostalgia for this thing online, and I tried out a new dental office this week where I caught a glimpse of an N64 plugged in to an old tube television in the kids play area and memories of owning this disappointing machine as a child came flooding back.
***THIS THREAD IS NOT COUNTING VIRTUAL BOY LET'S DO LIKE NINTENDO AND PRETEND IT DOESN'T EXIST***
The game library is woefully lacking
You have Mario 64 and Zelda OOT which changed the industry, I would never take that away from them. But other than that? Not much to choose from. There are ZERO good RPGs on this machine unless you count Paper Mario, a couple of decent Mario 64 clones like Banjo that haven't stood the test of time and you can forget about quality 2D games, those were few and far between (Mischief Makers is the only one I can even think of). The only truly important N64 games (Mario 64/Zelda OOT and Majora's Mask) have received updates or remasters to other systems. Even though the Wii U is a flop, it's library trounces the N64's. It's interesting that I don't own a single N64 Virtual Console game, yet have several from the SNES, GBA, etc. The N64 was also the era where Nintendo infamously pissed off Square by going with cartridges over CDs, causing PS1 to get Final Fantasy VII exclusively which is a big reason it succeeded and JRPGs became mainstream. Going with cartridges at the time was such a massive mistake. Only now with the Switch are we ready for cartridges/cards to hold the same amount of data as a disc at a reasonable price. People who rag on the Wii U's small but incredible library of games have no idea how bad N64 owners had it back in the day.
The graphics were a soupy, foggy mess
Mario 64 wowed when it first came out, and it's simplistic graphics helped it age well. However, most games suffered from that N64 fog. Almost every game had extremely blurry textures, and usually had fog 10 feet in front of you. It was the trademark N64 look. Yeah the N64 had Z-buffering but honestly, the PS1 and Saturn's games aged way better even with the texture warping. Since the N64 used cartridges with low memory, they also couldn't squeeze large games with pre rendered backgrounds on a cartridge like you could with a PS1 disc. 64 bit seemed so cool at the time vs. 32 bit, but clarity is king and pixels > blurry textures any day of the week. Yikes, remember that 4MB expansion pack or whatever that was required for a few games an plugged into that slot in the front of the console? I think it came with Donkey Kong 64 (awful game) and was required for that game, and also improved performance in Majora's Mask or was it required as well for MM? Let's hope Nintendo never requires an awkward add on to run a game again.
The console is Nintendo's worst looking machine and the controller looks like a claw and was uncomfortable to use
I honestly don't even remember what I did with my machine. I think I actually just threw it in the garbage instead of bothering trying to sell it once the Gamecube hit store shelves? I must have at least sold the games though. As a huge Nintendo fan, the N64 was the most disappointed I've ever been (the GBA comes in at a close 2nd though). I have a lot of love for the NES, SNES, Gamecube, Wii and Wii U, but the N64 was just a misfire all around for me. It's the most "off" Nintendo's ever been imo.
Would you consider the N64 console/era Nintendo's worst? Or do you have a soft spot for Nintendo's first foray into 3D? If yes, why?
***THIS THREAD IS NOT COUNTING VIRTUAL BOY LET'S DO LIKE NINTENDO AND PRETEND IT DOESN'T EXIST***
The game library is woefully lacking
You have Mario 64 and Zelda OOT which changed the industry, I would never take that away from them. But other than that? Not much to choose from. There are ZERO good RPGs on this machine unless you count Paper Mario, a couple of decent Mario 64 clones like Banjo that haven't stood the test of time and you can forget about quality 2D games, those were few and far between (Mischief Makers is the only one I can even think of). The only truly important N64 games (Mario 64/Zelda OOT and Majora's Mask) have received updates or remasters to other systems. Even though the Wii U is a flop, it's library trounces the N64's. It's interesting that I don't own a single N64 Virtual Console game, yet have several from the SNES, GBA, etc. The N64 was also the era where Nintendo infamously pissed off Square by going with cartridges over CDs, causing PS1 to get Final Fantasy VII exclusively which is a big reason it succeeded and JRPGs became mainstream. Going with cartridges at the time was such a massive mistake. Only now with the Switch are we ready for cartridges/cards to hold the same amount of data as a disc at a reasonable price. People who rag on the Wii U's small but incredible library of games have no idea how bad N64 owners had it back in the day.
The graphics were a soupy, foggy mess
Mario 64 wowed when it first came out, and it's simplistic graphics helped it age well. However, most games suffered from that N64 fog. Almost every game had extremely blurry textures, and usually had fog 10 feet in front of you. It was the trademark N64 look. Yeah the N64 had Z-buffering but honestly, the PS1 and Saturn's games aged way better even with the texture warping. Since the N64 used cartridges with low memory, they also couldn't squeeze large games with pre rendered backgrounds on a cartridge like you could with a PS1 disc. 64 bit seemed so cool at the time vs. 32 bit, but clarity is king and pixels > blurry textures any day of the week. Yikes, remember that 4MB expansion pack or whatever that was required for a few games an plugged into that slot in the front of the console? I think it came with Donkey Kong 64 (awful game) and was required for that game, and also improved performance in Majora's Mask or was it required as well for MM? Let's hope Nintendo never requires an awkward add on to run a game again.
The console is Nintendo's worst looking machine and the controller looks like a claw and was uncomfortable to use
The controller was awkward to hold, looked like a monster's claw coming at you and the machine itself was okay, but a bit goofy with that swoop in the middle and the giant feet, it looks too "Fisher Price". Nothing like the iconic NES, cute Gamecube or slick Wii/Wii U designs. The SNES was a bit bland, but at least it's controller was nice. I'd place the N64 controller below the Dreamcast controller and original Xbox controller in comfort and design.
I honestly don't even remember what I did with my machine. I think I actually just threw it in the garbage instead of bothering trying to sell it once the Gamecube hit store shelves? I must have at least sold the games though. As a huge Nintendo fan, the N64 was the most disappointed I've ever been (the GBA comes in at a close 2nd though). I have a lot of love for the NES, SNES, Gamecube, Wii and Wii U, but the N64 was just a misfire all around for me. It's the most "off" Nintendo's ever been imo.
Would you consider the N64 console/era Nintendo's worst? Or do you have a soft spot for Nintendo's first foray into 3D? If yes, why?
