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Modern Vintage Gamer: How Pilotwings 64 on the N64 Revolutionized 3D Gaming

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


In the 80s, early flight simulators were limited to what they could achieve. On consoles like the NES, it was nearly impossible to provide a sense of realism and immersion that you could only find in home computers like the PC and Amiga. However, in 1996 - Nintendo released Pilotwings 64 - a North American launch title for the Nintendo 64, and one that was developed alongside experts in military flight simulation 3d technology - Paradigm Simulation. The result was a technically brilliant realistic flight simulation engine that's wrapped up in a fun and whacky Nintendo game. Pilotwings 64 defined what was possible with 3d on the Nintendo 64 and could sit right alongside PC flight simulators in terms of its graphics and technology in the mid 90s. In today's video we take a look at one of my favorite Nintendo 64 games - Pilotwings 64

Timestamps:

00:00 - 02:19 - Introduction
04:07 - 13:07 - Paradigm Simulation and Pilotwings 64
13:08 - 14:07 - Outro
 

Crayon

Member
Get outta here.

images
 
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This game was one of the few that you could not copy due to it's use of a custom sound chip built in to the cartridge.

Anyone else have a super wild card or equivalent back in the day ?
 

Parazels

Member
In my childhood a had a PSX,
but about N64 I knew from game magazines.

I saw screenshots of Pilot Wings 64 and imagined graphics and performance, which in reality could have been possible only on Dreamcast or Game Cube.
 
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I feel for you. Pilotwings is an absolute classic.
Please read what one said.

I love the game and its a classic. I don't think it was a technical marvel at all.
Like so many N64 games the frame rate and screen res were a letdown and to run in a bordered window really sad, so much like Daytona USA even when on NTSC systems
 
I played this again just a few months ago on my N64 via CRT. It’s still great.

N64 launched with two of the best games for the system and that’s all we needed back then to be happy.
 

Markio128

Gold Member
It was a class game, and I still recall me and a mate spending hours trying to perfect each mission. Taking a photo of Nessie was a highlight.

The N64 had some games that really pushed the system.

Does anybody remember F1 World Grand Prix? It blew me away at the time, but obviously looks a bit shit now.

 
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Pilot Wings 64 was great. I was so immersed in it's island as a kid. It was fascinating to find new ways to study the topography of the island while doing quests.

I believe this was before the release of GTA3?
This happened about a year and a half before the first GTA came out.

It was a cool little game when released, I always felt that it was light on content and the framerate was headache inducing. It did good job at what it did and gave a glimpse at what was in store. I wouldn’t call it revolutionary and nobody did at the time either. Then I was 19 and not 5 when the game released.
 
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