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Shodan09
Unconfirmed Member
Me too! The throwing knives on Goldeneye were my favorite. It felt so magical and next gen. It was a shame this effect was removed from the XBLA remaster.
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Most impressive 3D-Games for the N64
- Thread starter nkarafo
- Start date
JohnSpartanLee
Member
F1 World Grand Prix:
ResurrectedContrarian
Suffers with mild autism
Sin & Punishment was great, but I don't have a solid screenshot to quote. It looked much better in motion anyway--because the asset quality might have been low, but the tremendous sense of speed & chaos made it work.
Alexios
Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Thanks, I was sure N64 had at least one good sim racer and was searching for it to see if it's on par but couldn't remember it, my mind kept going back to Le Mans 24h like the Dreamcast had, ha. Sadly it doesn't seem as clean & smooth as the other racers mentioned but it's not bad for the era and it's not like the other systems were full of 60fps racing games (pretty much the exception left for some random bonus modes and gimmick remaster tech demos of early titles), plenty of them (even of this same F1 license at that) chugged and/or had other visual flaws. The video has both exterior & cockpit laps and is from real hardware like the RR64 video.F1 World Grand Prix:
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nkarafo
Member
Yeah, Sin & Punishment has those angular models that have tons of sharp edges. Another game that suffered from this was Castlevania 64.
Both games look far better in motion though.
Ulysses 31
Member
Star Fox 64
nkarafo
Member
Wasn't that a PAL only release?
True. The games that push the most polygons use more modern, custom microcodes. The majority of N64 games would use the default ones that weren't as optimized.
Codiox
Member
What shader and overlay are you using here?Follow the thread and you'll be surprised.
Next game is 1080 Snowboarding.
This game doesn't look particularly special in screenshots. But in motion, i think it's the best looking game of it's kind during that gen.
It's best graphical feature was the "clothing hit by the wind" animations. Every now and then, you could see the clothing of your character rippling because of the wind. A very convincing effect that i remember impressing me a lot back then.
And for those who are wondering, the frame rate was pretty much perfect 30fps.
Naked Lunch
Member
Sin & Punishment
The aircraft carrier level in particular is mindblowing even today.
Treasure always pushed consoles to the brink - basically showing off with their talent.
Beyond graphics - the gameplay is just too good.
I want all games to have the gameplay depth and improvisational freedom of SnP.
Time for a replay...
The aircraft carrier level in particular is mindblowing even today.
Treasure always pushed consoles to the brink - basically showing off with their talent.
Beyond graphics - the gameplay is just too good.
I want all games to have the gameplay depth and improvisational freedom of SnP.
Time for a replay...
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AeonGaidenRaiden
Member
I dont remember any of these games looking this sharp on N64 honestly. I know its through emulation but then thats not the real representation of what the game was back in the day.
Type_Raver
Member
<insert RARE game> .... </thread>
sunnysideup
Banned
banjo kazooie is the technical showpiece of n64. It has a detailed world and retains good framerate. Games like conker has terrible framerates.
But i think mario 64 looks better and holds up better with its simpler often flatshaded look.
But i think mario 64 looks better and holds up better with its simpler often flatshaded look.
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Team Andromeda
Member
I still say Mario 64 looks the best.
I also loved the GFX in
Turok 2
Wave Rave 64
Pilotwings 64
F1
Blast Corps
Mario Kart 64
I also loved the GFX in
Turok 2
Wave Rave 64
Pilotwings 64
F1
Blast Corps
Mario Kart 64
ResurrectedContrarian
Suffers with mild autism
To me they looked far better on the original CRT televisions. Emulators make it sharper, sure, but that only exposes the bad textures and limited geometry. It's best on a real tube set with the subtle glowing effects around colors etc.
Probably the first game to use bump mapping, particle fire/fog and motion blur :
Team Andromeda
Member
Yeah it was so amazing at the time and one of the few N64 games that didn't really suffer from low res and blurry graphics too
I think it would be more appropriate if people posted screens of games running on actual N64 hardware rather than emulators. I had an N64 for a couple of years before the Dreamcast launched and there's no way the games looked as sharp as these shots do. If you were playing on a crt the blurryness was unbelievable. Even with an expansion pak. Emulator screens are a bit misleading in my humble opinion.
AMSCD
Member
Bump mapping in an N64 game?
nkarafo
Member
SkylineRKR
Member
N64 didn't make my toss my PSX aside as I once expected to do, but it certainly had its merits. In terms of platform games, and FPS, the PSX couldn't compete. I was in awe when I played Mario 64, and saw the likes of Goldeneye. The console could render bigger fully 3D playfields. PSX sorely missed that, eventually Ape Escape came out which I thought was a masterpiece but it was kind of late and likely still not as impressive as Mario and Banjo. I agree N64 looked blurry, but also more impressive at the same time. I also played Blast corps, and the amount of things going on was a step ahead of PS and Saturn.
But the N64 library was severely lacking. The system had like no 2D games at all. And there wasn't something like FF of Xenogears for it either. So much IP and publishers from SNES era didn't carry over.
But the N64 library was severely lacking. The system had like no 2D games at all. And there wasn't something like FF of Xenogears for it either. So much IP and publishers from SNES era didn't carry over.
nkarafo
Member
It had a few good ones. My favorite was Mischief Makers. Yoshi's Story wasn't as good as the original but graphically it was pretty amazing at the time. I hear good things about Bangai-O and Ogre Battle 64.
Other than that you have Rampage World Tour, MK Trilogy and some puzzles like Dr Mario, Pokemon, a couple of Tetris games, etc. Some Japanese exclusives are also 2D like Wonder Project and a bunch of others that i have never played. Also, i'm not sure if Rakuga Kids counts as 2D, if it does it's a darn impressive 2D game.
So yeah, it's not a 2D powerhouse or anything but i wouldn't say it doesn't have them.
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Camaway2
Member
Amen to that. I still dream of 1080! I so wish for a new 1080 title for the Switch!Follow the thread and you'll be surprised.
Next game is 1080 Snowboarding.
This game doesn't look particularly special in screenshots. But in motion, i think it's the best looking game of it's kind during that gen.
It's best graphical feature was the "clothing hit by the wind" animations. Every now and then, you could see the clothing of your character rippling because of the wind. A very convincing effect that i remember impressing me a lot back then.
And for those who are wondering, the frame rate was pretty much perfect 30fps.
Alexios
Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Playing Sin and Punishment and it's brilliant and great fun. I seem to remember contemporary talk of it having a weird control scheme or whatever but it's basically a dual analog style rail shooter just like the sequel (just substitute the movement stick with the d-pad), I guess people weren't used to that, it's different to Star Fox/Panzer Dragoon/Space Harrier as you have independent control of the character and the crosshair. It looks pretty great for N64 and runs very smooth too. Before that I tried Star Soldier and that's just embarassingly bad with its low framerate for a top down shmup.
The presentation is top notch, it must have been really ambitious for the small Treasure back then.
Rakugakids looks wonderful and is a fun fighting game that would have been good to have back then too as a party game.
The presentation is top notch, it must have been really ambitious for the small Treasure back then.
Rakugakids looks wonderful and is a fun fighting game that would have been good to have back then too as a party game.
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nkarafo
Member
And every FPS N64 has that control scheme. In most it's not the default but every game has it as an option. Turok was the first game that introduced it.
You can also hold the gamepad from the left side so you can use the D-Pad instead of the C-Buttons and have movement with your left thumb and aim/direction with your right, just like modern games. But for that you need the original, trident shaped controllers. Which is one thing that many 3rd party controllers get wrong when making N64 pads shaped like modern pads. They remove this option completely, yet people shit on the trident design even though it's the only single analog gamepad that allows this.
It's a shame how very few people know these things. Most will claim that games like Goldeneye have shitty controls, only because they never bothered to try the available control methods.
There's actually a note n gage game with bump mapping, the terribly named fighting game one
My brain remembers Shadows of The Empire looking a lot better than it actually is/was. But I do remember my brain nearly exploding playing it at the time.
But Rogue Squadron, Conkers and Sin and Punishment spring to mind. But I'll always have a soft spot for Star Fox 64.. Too many!
But Rogue Squadron, Conkers and Sin and Punishment spring to mind. But I'll always have a soft spot for Star Fox 64.. Too many!
Alexios
Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
The forgotten real Rogue Squadron 2 is better than people gave it credit for as well. It's more Rogue Squadron so really only the Episode I Naboo setting makes it less desirable, otherwise it has the same ace action (but more levels with ships that can't fully fly and only hover, still, variety is good).
Of course like Rogue Squadron 3D I'd rather play it on PC with dgVoodoo but still it's an N64 gem.
Of course like Rogue Squadron 3D I'd rather play it on PC with dgVoodoo but still it's an N64 gem.
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GamesDontSuck
Member
Is it me or does the map in the second picture look like someone bending over? LolGame No 2:
World Driver Championship.
This is the best looking Racing game on the N64. Technically, it's probably the best on any of the 3 consoles during that generation. It uses custom microcode in order to push more polygons than the average N64 game. As a result, the cars and environments are more detailed than most other racing games during that gen. And even when 8 cars are on screen at once, the frame rate is stable (most of the time). There's pop-up but it's quite minimal.
Gangster Bastard
Member
The unreleased Eternal Darkness version for N64 looked even more impressive:Resident Evil 0 looked impressive in magazines before it was moved to Gamecube.
Also, No Mercy looked really good at the time. Especially when compared to the earlier gen wrestling games.
It's indeed an animated texture.
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ultrazilla
Member
Body Harvest
Great article from Peer Schneider from May 29, 2023 here:
Body Harvest: The Game Nintendo Walked Away From
Box arts:
One of the best showcases of 3D for N64 imho.
Great article from Peer Schneider from May 29, 2023 here:
Body Harvest: The Game Nintendo Walked Away From
Box arts:
One of the best showcases of 3D for N64 imho.
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nkarafo
Member
If you look closely, the car has real time reflections of the environment.
ZoukGalaxy
Member
The thread.
Anyway, it's Jet Force Gemini.
/thread
Anyway, it's Jet Force Gemini.
/thread
West Texas CEO
GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief and Nosiest Dildo Archeologist
I never played Body Harvest.
It looks like a tech demo.
It looks like a tech demo.
ultrazilla
Member
It's like Grand Theft Auto fighting aliens as you can drive/fly trucks, airplanes, helicopters, etc
It was a really fun game.
Heimdall_Xtreme
Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
Zelda Ocarina of time, Majora mask.
Conker
Perfect Dark.
I did know, in fact at that time I was interested in playing it on the N64 as a Swan song.
Conker
Perfect Dark.
I did know, in fact at that time I was interested in playing it on the N64 as a Swan song.