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The Nintendo 64 Appreciation/Collecting/Emulation Thread.

cacildo

Member
What video cables are you connecting your N64 with, and to what kind of TV?

Its an lcd tv

The n64 is connected with regular av cables

The wii is connected with component cables

Right now im really excited to see when this emulator hits the wiiu (probably a few years from now)
 

cacildo

Member
I know. I could buy a crt tv and mod my n64 with the rgb mod. The one that dosent work with all n64 models. That would cost me money, time and space and put a big crt tv in my house

On the other hand, i can just use a wii/emulator to get a beutiful image, without aditional costs or trouble

I think ill go with the wii/emulator guys
 
I know. I could buy a crt tv and mod my n64 with the rgb mod. The one that dosent work with all n64 models. That would cost me money, time and space and put a big crt tv in my house

On the other hand, i can just use a wii/emulator to get a beutiful image, without aditional costs or trouble

I think ill go with the wii/emulator guys

That's totally reasonable, though I would recommend picking up SVideo if you've got the input on your TV.

But then again, your N64 experience isn't really comparable to what the N64 can do. Evidenced by the fact that you prefer a buggy emulator.
 

cacildo

Member
That's totally reasonable, though I would recommend picking up SVideo if you've got the input on your TV.

But then again, your N64 experience isn't really comparable to what the N64 can do. Evidenced by the fact that you prefer a buggy emulator.

Yeah, i think im ok with the bugs by now as opposed to the terribly dark and muddy graphics the real n64 puts on my current tv. My eyes really arent the same as when i was young

In fact i expected people in this thread to be more excited about the evolution of a n64 emulator for a home console.

I for one think its HUGE. I tried Wii64 some years ago and it was depressing, felt like it was never going to work. So to see it running games at full speed (some games even with faster speed) feels like a great step

And to me playing games on a pc is never an option. I just dont like it at all.
 

bronk

Banned
Hey guys I just got a s video cable for my N64. After hooking it up i cant tell any difference from composite. I switch back and forth and cant tell. Is there supposed to be a big noticable improvement? Do i have a bad cable? Is there certain games i shoukd try and compare to really tell the differance? I also got an s video cable for my ps1 and it looks drastically better then composite. So im a lil worried i got a crappy cable.
 

Jamix012

Member
Hey guys I just got a s video cable for my N64. After hooking it up i cant tell any difference from composite. I switch back and forth and cant tell. Is there supposed to be a big noticable improvement? Do i have a bad cable? Is there certain games i shoukd try and compare to really tell the differance? I also got an s video cable for my ps1 and it looks drastically better then composite. So im a lil worried i got a crappy cable.

Is there a subtle checkerboard pattern when you use the S video? If yes, it's a bad cable. For some reason these are rampant with the N64. What's even weirder is that an S Video that improved my GC graphics HUGELY over composite was a dud when used with the N64. Real good S video cables do exist, but it sounds like you don't have one, sorry :(
 

bronk

Banned
Is there a subtle checkerboard pattern when you use the S video? If yes, it's a bad cable. For some reason these are rampant with the N64. What's even weirder is that an S Video that improved my GC graphics HUGELY over composite was a dud when used with the N64. Real good S video cables do exist, but it sounds like you don't have one, sorry :(
Yea it doesnt have that checkerboard pattern but i see no improvement using it. Maybe ill try another cable.
 

Craft

Member
Just picked up Resident Evil 2 (PAL) really cheap unfortunately the back label is a little bit torn so I'm looking to replace the back of the cart. Problem is the tear is on the part of the label with the embossed batch number on.
Does anyone have a copy to hand cheers to let me know?
 

Celine

Member
I'm playing through Ridge Racer 64 these past days.
The game is competent and have good graphics and solid framerate however the drifting mechanics is awful (or maybe I'm just bad at it).
It's very easy to start drifting and the trajectory seems to be automatic which make it feel very shallow.
At the same time what's hard is how to stop drifting since you need to counter steer to set the car straight but if you counter steer too much you keep drifting in the opposite direction.
There is no indication if you counter-steered to much thus it's always uncertain when drifting will stop and where the car is pointing at when it happens.
This is exacerbated by the fact the drifting seems separate from the normal driving, it feels like the drifting is a separate mode which can only be on or off.
After hours of play I still cannot control the drifting (how to stop it) as I like which is utterly bizarre for an arcade racing game so focused on the drift mechanics.

Also the developer, probably in attempt to improve longevity, thought to improve car AI the problem is (cheating aside) that too often there are moments when you need to overtake a group of 3 cars side by side on a narrow street which make it almost impossible without crashing.
Not a wise decision for an arcade racer in which you need to overtake 11 cars for each race especially because as I said previously the drifting trajectory are automatic.
 
I'm playing through Ridge Racer 64 these past days.
The game is competent and have good graphics and solid framerate however the drifting mechanics is awful (or maybe I'm just bad at it).
It's very easy to start drifting and the trajectory seems to be automatic which make it feel very shallow.
At the same time what's hard is how to stop drifting since you need to counter steer to set the car straight but if you counter steer too much you keep drifting in the opposite direction.
There is no indication if you counter-steered to much thus it's always uncertain when drifting will stop and where the car is pointing at when it happens.
This is exacerbated by the fact the drifting seems separate from the normal driving, it feels like the drifting is a separate mode which can only be on or off.
After hours of play I still cannot control the drifting (how to stop it) as I like which is utterly bizarre for an arcade racing game so focused on the drift mechanics.

Also the developer, probably in attempt to improve longevity, thought to improve car AI the problem is (cheating aside) that too often there are moments when you need to overtake a group of 3 cars side by side on a narrow street which make it almost impossible without crashing.
Not a wise decision for an arcade racer in which you need to overtake 11 cars for each race especially because as I said previously the drifting trajectory are automatic.

I haven't played a lot of RR64, but I've played the PS1 games (RR1-4) extensively. Controlling the drifting is the tricky part of RR, and doing so successfully will make you win the races easier. My tips would be:
-Find a car that fairly easily kicks into drift.
-Consider how sharp the turn is to either let the gas go for a second then re-apply it so start a drift or slightly hit the brake button to instantly kick the drift in to drift even sharper and longer.

It's game that you simply have to learn how to control the drifitng of the car you prefer, then find the sweet spot of how much drift you activate for each turn on the track. Learning each track by heart is key.

The passing of opponents is annoying though, because the crash physics in the series is terrible. It's basically "hit anything and you will be punished by death". They take away all your speed. The wipEout series (which kind of released the same amount of games over the same time period as the RR games) had these terrible physics in the first game, luckily they got rid of that from the second game. You should check out WipEout 64 if you want another fast and fun racing game for your N64 btw.
 
I'm playing through Ridge Racer 64 these past days.
The game is competent and have good graphics and solid framerate however the drifting mechanics is awful (or maybe I'm just bad at it).
It's very easy to start drifting and the trajectory seems to be automatic which make it feel very shallow.
At the same time what's hard is how to stop drifting since you need to counter steer to set the car straight but if you counter steer too much you keep drifting in the opposite direction.
There is no indication if you counter-steered to much thus it's always uncertain when drifting will stop and where the car is pointing at when it happens.
This is exacerbated by the fact the drifting seems separate from the normal driving, it feels like the drifting is a separate mode which can only be on or off.
After hours of play I still cannot control the drifting (how to stop it) as I like which is utterly bizarre for an arcade racing game so focused on the drift mechanics.

Also the developer, probably in attempt to improve longevity, thought to improve car AI the problem is (cheating aside) that too often there are moments when you need to overtake a group of 3 cars side by side on a narrow street which make it almost impossible without crashing.
Not a wise decision for an arcade racer in which you need to overtake 11 cars for each race especially because as I said previously the drifting trajectory are automatic.

For me, I find that you pretty much have to play in first-person mode in order to not run into walls when you hit A to end a drift. The problem is, the game is designed so that when you hit A to end a drift, you then will go in the direction that your car is pointing at that moment... which, from a third-person camera, is often different from the direction that the camera is pointing because it's based on the car, not the third-person camera. So, you run into the wall all the time. The solution is to play from first person, and end the rift when you are facing straight on the road as you want to be.

Now, I really dislike this because I virtually never play racing games from first person, but that's how this game is unfortunately. It's not great design, but there are a lot of things about Ridge Racer games I dislike, so it's just one of many issues with the series.

Oh, and yeah, drifts are very automatic. That's how they work in this game, and in many other Ridge Racer games also.
 

MrBigBoy

Member
So yesterday I bought my first N64, and also first ever retro console for 30 Euros in perfect condition with 2 controllers. Got SM64, a VW Beetle Racer, and a basketball game.

I'm planning on getting Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Paper Mario and Conkers Bad Fur Day.
What other games do I really need to play? Thnx :)
 

Celine

Member
^What do you like?

I haven't played a lot of RR64, but I've played the PS1 games (RR1-4) extensively. Controlling the drifting is the tricky part of RR, and doing so successfully will make you win the races easier. My tips would be:
-Find a car that fairly easily kicks into drift.
-Consider how sharp the turn is to either let the gas go for a second then re-apply it so start a drift or slightly hit the brake button to instantly kick the drift in to drift even sharper and longer.

It's game that you simply have to learn how to control the drifitng of the car you prefer, then find the sweet spot of how much drift you activate for each turn on the track. Learning each track by heart is key.

The passing of opponents is annoying though, because the crash physics in the series is terrible. It's basically "hit anything and you will be punished by death". They take away all your speed. The wipEout series (which kind of released the same amount of games over the same time period as the RR games) had these terrible physics in the first game, luckily they got rid of that from the second game. You should check out WipEout 64 if you want another fast and fun racing game for your N64 btw.
RR64 has brand new drifting and collision mode (or you can choose the old ones for RRR and RR) but really I don't like much the drifting for RR64.
For example I have no problem with RR for PSP...
 

Celine

Member
Mainly platformers and story driven games, shooters. Also side scrolling games but I don't think there are much on N64? No fighters or sports games.
Ok, try check out these games.

Sidescrolling games:
Mischief Makers
Goemon's Great Adventure

3D Platform games:
Super Mario 64
Banjo Kazooie
Rayman 2
Rocket Robot on Wheel

Shooter as in FPS?:
Doom 64
Turok
Perfect Dark
007 World is not enough

Story driven games:
Shadow Man
Hybrid Heaven (but it's really a love or hate game)
Ogre Battle 64
 

ultimos

Neo Member
Mainly platformers and story driven games, shooters. Also side scrolling games but I don't think there are much on N64? No fighters or sports games.

Not sure if it qualifies as a shooter for you, but Star Fox 64 is great either way. My personal favorite Nintendo 64 game.
 

televator

Member
You might like the Factor 5 Star Wars games too while you're at it with space a combat type game. Rogue Squadron and Battle for Naboo.
 

Celine

Member
Rocket Robot on Wheels has a very bad camera system yet the game is still very enjoyable which is a testament of its quality in the level design department.
The variety of the situations to get the tickets (the equivalent of the golden stars in the game) and the physic engine are the stars of the game.
It's up there with best the genre has to offer on N64 with games like Super Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie and Rayman 2.
Of course Sucker Punch foirst outing is also far more obscure than the games developed by Nintendo, Rare and Ubisoft.
 
So is Aidyn Chronicles good in the least bit?

Yes, it can be! I think it's a good game... but it's VERY much love or hate. Whether someone can enjoy it depends on several factors.

The bad:

1) Patience is necessary. Aidyn is a very long game -- it can take up to 100 hours. Even with a walkthrough it's probably 40+ hours long. It is also very slow paced -- the framerate, game speed, battles, etc., everything is slow. Battles get longer and longer over time too, as the number of enemies in each enemy group gets larger.

2) Saving often and to multiple files (and cards preferably!) is essential. If the main character dies it's game over, but if anyone else dies, they stay dead permanently and you cannot resurrect them, period. It's not clear if this is intentional or if they removed resurrection because of bugs, but that's how it is. However, you have save anywhere when you're not in battle, so make use of it and load if someone dies. And keep save file backups because the files can corrupt, I've heard stories of losing a nearly-finished game...

- As with most RPGs the gameplay may get repetitious after a while.

- The story is kind of average stuff for a Western RPG, this isn't some great epic tale.

- Oh, and the character art is kind of terrible. This game isn't exactly polished.


However, there is good for those who can bear the pace and bugs.

- Aidyn Chronicles is a very ambitious game! It has a huge world, good battle system, lots to do, more complex game system than most Western console RPGs of its time, and more. You have to admire this game for its sheer ambition if nothing else! 5th gen Western console RPGs were not this ambitious back then. It didn't pay off, sadly, because of the games' very late release and buggy nature -- that is, the game sold not that great and the promised sequel never happened -- but at least they tried.

- The game includes some pen & paper RPG design elements you almost never see in videogames -- spellcasting requires reagents, for example! You can choose some stats to improve when characters level up, too.

- The graphics are decent, particularly in high res mode (Expansion Pak required). The character models are better than the somewhat poor drawn portraits, for one, and I do like the graphical design in the levels. Of course textures repeat, but they try to keep things interesting. The world (characters aside) is large and interesting, and I like the environments. Right from that large castle you start out in, I knew the game would be something different, and it is. I find the exploration in this game a lot of fun.

- On that note, I really like the large-for-its-generation world. The world really is huge, starting from the quite big castle you start out in; it'll be a while before you get into your first fight, but I didn't mind this at all. There is a lot to find, and for a console RPG of its time. This is a game with a linear story to follow, but there's a lot to explore both on and off the main track. It can be hard to find your way sometimes, but I did start to get used to each area after some time in it, and there is a (semi-useful) map on the pause screen. A walkthrough may also be useful.

- Enemies are visible on the map, battles are not random! Sometimes you can avoid enemies.

- The battle system is basically an improved version of the battle system from Quest 64. I've never played that deeply unpopular game, but I do like the battle system here. Battles take place on a separate battle screen, and each character has a movement range ring around them. It's all turn-based, not real-time, and you can move and attack within the circle. Combat is fairly strategic and positioning matters. I really like more strategic battle systems -- the PC Baldur's Gate Infinity Engine series is my favorite RPG combat system ever, for example, in large part because it allows for so much strategy -- and while Aidyn isn't on that level for sure, it is strategic enough to be interesting. I like being able to move around in combat as opposed to just standing in lines like a lot of JRPGs did (and some still do), and this game has that.


Basically, Aidyn Crhonicles is a game which a lot of people hate, but a few people love. I don't know if I love it myself, I haven't ever stuck with it for the significant amount of time it'd take to finish the thing, but I do like it, at least. I wish that it had done well enough for them to make a sequel on a newer console, that could have been interesting had they been given more time to fully bug-test and polish up the game.
 

Teknoman

Member
Well i'll definitely give it some thought for the future, especially since i'm not really wanting for RPGs on any console / handheld to play, but just curious.

Btw, do you have a giant N64 review thread as well?
 
Well i'll definitely give it some thought for the future, especially since i'm not really wanting for RPGs on any console / handheld to play, but just curious.
If you have the time for it sometime it's definitely worth a try. You may love it or hate it, I don't know, but RPG fans should at least try the game.

Btw, do you have a giant N64 review thread as well?
Of course. It was, I think, the first one of them I wrote. I bumped it again recently to add a bunch of new summaries of games I've gotten over the past year or two. Probably because it was before these classic-collecting threads, the thread actually got more than like five replies -- it's on page five now (with 50 post pages): http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=473262 The update got a few replies, but not a lot. Still though, that's more than the zero replies that the PS1 Game Opinion Summaries list update I did before that got. (It starts on post 38, for anyone who wants some often-pretty-critical opinions on PS1 games. :p I do say nice things about some games, though, once you get past the first few, which I can't stand!)

Also remember that I've posted all of my reviews and summaries on my site, along with a variety of lists and stuff: http://www.blackfalcongames.net/?page_id=78 Most also have GAF threads, for the reviews and summaries at least; lists don't usually of course.

As for Game Opinion Summary lists, the big classic-system one I haven't done is the Genesis. It's one of my favorite systems, but I have like 200 games for the system so the list would take forever to finish, so I've been putting it off for like a year or two now. I have maybe ten written, from some months back... (There's also TG16 HuCards, the Dreamcast, NES, etc. but I really should do the Genesis first...)
 
If you have the time for it sometime it's definitely worth a try. You may love it or hate it, I don't know, but RPG fans should at least try the game.


Of course. It was, I think, the first one of them I wrote. I bumped it again recently to add a bunch of new summaries of games I've gotten over the past year or two. Probably because it was before these classic-collecting threads, the thread actually got more than like five replies -- it's on page five now (with 50 post pages): http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=473262 The update got a few replies, but not a lot. Still though, that's more than the zero replies that the PS1 Game Opinion Summaries list update I did before that got. (It starts on post 38, for anyone who wants some often-pretty-critical opinions on PS1 games. :p I do say nice things about some games, though, once you get past the first few, which I can't stand!)

Also remember that I've posted all of my reviews and summaries on my site, along with a variety of lists and stuff: http://www.blackfalcongames.net/?page_id=78 Most also have GAF threads, for the reviews and summaries at least; lists don't usually of course.

As for Game Opinion Summary lists, the big classic-system one I haven't done is the Genesis. It's one of my favorite systems, but I have like 200 games for the system so the list would take forever to finish, so I've been putting it off for like a year or two now. I have maybe ten written, from some months back... (There's also TG16 HuCards, the Dreamcast, NES, etc. but I really should do the Genesis first...)

Holy shit you really do cover everything on your site. Amazing work, you have given people an encyclopaedia of games that will be forgotten over time unless somebody writes about them.
 

NR1

Member
28CB9C93-AB92-46E5-BEB3-B7DD4C9951EE.jpg


Got a very good haul at EntertainMart today! Majora's Mask with the hologram label for $8!
 

illadelph

Member
Now that's something to see. A place charging less than Killer 7 for a Zelda game? Deals are still out there.

I'm going to guess that all Gamecube games were 14.99, and all N64 games were 7.99, no matter what they were exactly

this of course means that the Zeldas and Paper Marios get scooped up, leaving behind nothing but 30 copies of NFL Quarterback Club 98 or whatever haha
 

NR1

Member
I'm going to guess that all Gamecube games were 14.99, and all N64 games were 7.99, no matter what they were exactly

this of course means that the Zeldas and Paper Marios get scooped up, leaving behind nothing but 30 copies of NFL Quarterback Club 98 or whatever haha

Nope. They price their stuff differently. They had a copy Viewtiful Joe for $10 and a copy of Wave Race 64 for $5. It's just occasionally, they have really crazy prices on some amazing stuff. I got a copy of Resident Evil for the GameBoy Color for $3, Smash Melee for $20, and Secret of Mana for $28 on the SNES at EntertainMant in the past. They had 2 copies of Zelda: LTTP on the SNES for $25 and Baten Kaitos Orgins for GCN for $15 earlier this week.

image-160.jpg


image-159.jpg


9AF5AC3D-5E0E-42C3-9A77-D36991FA6A04_1.jpg
 

Anarki

Member
I acquired an N64 off a workmate last week, fully boxed with a ram expansion included, no games however.

So I've been on a bit of a collection spree with games, nothing too outrageous or expensive and I'm still waiting for most to arrive.

Of the games that have arrived, blast corps is one of them, always wanted it and remembered it from when I played it round a mates house years ago. So much fun!

Once the main mission of guiding the nuke truck is done you can go back to the level and free-roam finding secrets and completing objectives. So simple but so good.

Really loving the N64 as a first time owner.
 
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