The Nintendo 64 was originally released 20 years ago today

rardk64 said:
I remember the feeling of just seeing the box for the N64 console itself. Those renders still bring back nostalgia.

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Holy shit

It's been a while since I've seen that :(
 
Personal fav of Nintendo consoles.

Partly because it was one of the first 3d consoles and (of course) because the games were awesome.

When I think back, I can't remember a single time where I was holding the controller for the d-pad position, was always analog.
 
All this really does is remind me I still need to play the Goemon games on this thing.
I was waiting for those VC rereleases for so long, but alas...
 
My favorite System!

From Mario Kart 64 to Smash Bros and Bomberman 64 for endless Multiplayer sessions and Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie for the best 3D platformers anywhere.

Playing Mario Kart 64 in the mall after school where the looser had to pass the controller before I owned the system myself and watching the demos on the units without a controller...
It was a mindblowing time for me

The controller was dope
And I can't wait for the 8bitdo N64 bluetooth controller!!! Hopefully with Wii U support!
The system itself had a perfectly 90s spacey form factor and I for myself loved the cartridges.

The renders were also amazing. I wish, Nintendo would try out this style again. It felt a little bit rougher than everything that came after it. I think Luigi's Mansion was the last game that used it.
It's great to see them in this thread again. I think I had a Super Mario 64 calender back in the day.

P.S. The promo VHS tapes where a pretty amazing way to do marketing:

The new Dimension of fun

Wieviel 3D hältst du aus?
 
MCN said:
Are we now pretending that the N64 didn't have controller gimmicks now?
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Outside of peripherals like the rumble pak and the Game Boy transfer pak, there wasn't really anything that gimmickry about the N64 controller. It was a little odd in its design because it was the first of its type. But the controller did serve a purpose for 3D gaming.
 
The first time I saw an N64 was in a dentist's office. Seeing Mario in 3D and using that controller was truly a mindblowing gaming experience, nothing since then has matched it.
 
Turok was £70 ($105) when it released, that's my greatest memory of this console..

Seriously though that xmas when I got it was the most excited I've ever been for something, tears of joy
 
woopWOOP said:
All this really does is remind me I still need to play the Goemon games on this thing.
I was waiting for those VC rereleases for so long, but alas...
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I fucking loved the Goemon N64 games. The first one in particular was mindblowing at the time, as there was nothing else like it. I think a lot of people forget that it came out before Ocarina of Time. A huge adventure game in a fully 3D world was incredible back then. The second game probably holds up better today though, as the fact that it's a (fantastic) 2D platformer probably help it not feel as dated.
 
Got one of these as a kid just to play Star Fox. Many, many days spent on that console. I'd still pick PS2 as the console of my childhood but loved the 64. Where the hell did time go?
 
A lot of the software has aged terribly, but many of my fondest and most important gaming memories are tied to this system.

Holidays with Mario and Zelda, convenient four player simaltaneous console multiplayer, my first serious exposure to imports, endless arguments at school about whether or not PlayStation or N64 was better.

We spent many lovely summer days in dark stuffy
rooms playing Goldeneye, Smash Bros. and Mario Kart.

No idea how we could even see what was going on considering the sizes of the televisions we all had in our rooms back then. We'd even play at one guy's house on a tiny black and white portable set.

Still love playing my N64 now. Great system.
 
The N64 is full of many gaming memories, the countless races on Mario Kart 64 with friends. The many 4 player matches on GoldenEye.

And that's not putting aside the amazing games this machine offered in terms of quality. Ocarina of Time, Banjo Kazooie, Perfect Dark and Rogue Squadron to name a few right there. Still, i'm glad i got an N64 that Christmas many years ago.
 
Even though I already owned a 32X, Saturn, and PlayStation, nothing prepared me for how right Super Mario 64 felt when I first played it at the Toys R Us demo station about a month before launch. That, Wave Race 64, and Gretsky 3D Hockey were on constant play, soon to be joined by Mario Kart 64 when it launched the following February.

The first 2.5 years of that system's lifespan were just pure fun, and it didn't hurt that I was in college at the time, so there were tons of 4-player Mario Kart and Goldeneye matches to be had.
 
So much nostalgia when thinking about N64. The Nintendo & Rare team were awesome back in the day and could make the console worth it just by themselves. 20 years went by so fast... I still listen to Rare N64 soundtrack once in a while just to remind myself of the good old days, even if I know the games are pretty outdated right now.
 
N64 was awesome for Mario 64 alone. I would have bought it for just that, but at the end of the day, thank goodness for Nintendo's decisions as it made way for the Saturn and PSX to reap the benefits of third party development.

Before then, the A teams of companies like Capcom and Konami worked on the snes and nes, while the MD and PCE got shafted. This was the first generation in my memory where systems other than Nintendo got the third party heat for real.
 
Ay, here's to you, N64.

You may of not had CDs, and you may of not had Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid, Symphony of the Night, etc, but something you'll always have is a place in my heart. Mario 64, as well as the Banjo games, are king.
 
Nintendo's actions in this era were baffling, and started a big decline of sorts. This was forever the end of stellar third party support, but N64 has a lot of damn good games compared to recent Nintendo consoles. I still have very fond memories of:

1080 Snowboarding
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Tooie
Beetle Adventure Racing
Diddy Kong Racing
Donkey Kong 64
Goldeneye 007
Jet Force Gemini
Killer Instinct Gold
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
LoZ: Ocarina of Time
LoZ: Majora's Mask
Mario Golf
Mario Kart 64
Mario Party
Mario Party 2
Mario Tennis
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon
Perfect Dark
Pokemon Puzzle League
Pokemon Snap
Star Fox 64
Star Wars: Shadow of the Empire
Super Mario 64
Super Smash Bros
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
Turok 2
Wave Race 64
WWF No Mercy

The list above is far from comprehensive, and it is still missing some very well known exclusives. If an obvious title is not there, it's because I didn't play it.

I missed on very nice third party gems like Mischief Makers, Ogre Battle 64, and countless others. A lot of stuff was under the radar for me. I didn't even know there was a second Goemon game, and it is apparently really good.

I started playing PS2 in early 2001, so I also missed out on Paper Mario, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and games released after those.

N64 had a lot of good ports. Doom, Rayman 2, Resident Evil 2, and Quake stand out as the most memorable for me.

This system lacked RPGs and Metroid, but this thing easily has 50+ worthwhile games. It doesn't stack up to PS1 or SNES, but the library is not bad at all.
 
Bought my N64 with my first pay from my first job. Although admittedly a year after release following a couple of price drops.

Didn't get Mario 64 with it, got Star Fox instead (Lylat Wars).
 
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Turok Rage Wars was one of my fav n64 games.

So much fun with it.

Obviously Goldeneye was another great one as was perfect dark.

I forgot what it was called but the star wars game where you fly the x-wing and stuff, that was cool too
 
Speaking of boxes I love looking back at the screenshots on console packaging, they tend to be early beta footage or never release and it's rather cool
 
Bought on launch. My third favorite Nintendo console (right behind the NES) but it had my favorite Nintendo game with Super Mario 64.

Followed this thing from the beginning of the Project Reality announcement through the first delay to the arcade debuts of Killer Instinct and Crusin USA to the name change and final release when dinosaurs did fly. Just the wait was one hell of an experience.

Oh, totally social engineered Nintendo as a teen and got them to send me a press kit from the Nintendo 64 debut at E3. I still have it around here somewhere.
 
SM64, Mario Kart, OoT, NFL Blitz, Goldeneye, Wave Race, and Banjo were the games I remember owning but that's enough to make it my favorite console probably. I never touched Banjo 2 and Conker until years later and only rented Majoras Mask. Never played Perfect Dark. I also remember how my dad somehow heard about Goldeneye and bought it without me knowing, tried to hide it at first since I was still pretty young. Nostalgia
 
I love the N64 so much.
Despite its flaws, it has some of my absolute favourite games on it. I've got it and an CRT TV sitting next to me.


Actually my original N64 (which I still have) was bugged from the day I got it (for Christmas). It caused these weird vertical lines running down the screen, and it messed with the textures in the games. To this day I still don't know the problem.

That being said, about a decade back I decided to buy a second N64 used from a EB Games, because I wanted one that didn't have that visual glitch as I was planning to replay (and finally beat) Banjo-Tooie (I love those games.)
$7 CAD got me the system, two controllers, and all the cables in near mint condition. Still arguably the best video game purchase I've ever had.
 
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I'm eating this thread up!

I loved this system, and Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon just blew me away. I rented the SNES game and me and my brother played the tar out of it. Seeing there was an N64 version just blew my mind. One of my favorite games on the system.

Oh yeah, and there was Super Mario 64, and two great Zelda games, and Wave Race, and great Mario sports titles, and Diddy Kong Racing, and... (goes on, and on, and on...)

Awesome system with some truly great games. Loved the Rumble Pack too!
 
64 for bits of Pure Power!

Fantastic system even if the games haven't aged that greatly its still one of my favorite consoles. I remember my friends and I playing the multiplayer in games like Conker's Bad Fur Day and Perfect Dark well into the PS2/Gamecube/Xbox gen.
 
I remember taking every opportunity to play the Mario 64 demo they had in stores and just tearing into the game on release and meeting new people to discuss star location and secrets.

I remember being addicted to Wave Race and playing it every morning before school while I watched Kamen Rider or listened to John Henry by TMBG.

I love the lightness of the console and the whole design. I was a big fan of the controller too despite the analog stick wearing down so easily.

Whenever I get asked to rank Nintendo consoles the N64 always proves the most difficult. If I try to be objective about things it should really be 4th behind the Wii, SNES, and Wii U for me and or possibly even 5th now that I've been going through the famicom library but my heart is just dead set on putting it number 2. So many of my absolute favorite games of all time were N64 games and I just had so many great memories with it.

Anyway personal favorites:


007: The World is Not Enough
Bomberman 64 - favorite Bomberman
Castlevania - favorite CV game
Fighter's Destiny 2
Getter Love!!: Chō Renai Party Game Tanjō
Goemon's Great Adventure
Hybrid Heaven
Mario Kart 64 - favorite Mario Kart
Mischief Makers
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon - favorite Goemon game
Star Wars Episode 1 Racer
Star Wars Episode 1: Battle for Naboo
Star Wars Rogue Squadron
Star Wars Shadows of the Empire - favorite Star Wars game
Super Mario 64
Tetrisphere
Virtual Pro Wrestling 2: Oudou Keishou
Wave Race 64 - favorite racing game
 
My all time favorite growing up.

The graphic expansion pack, the awesome controller, no loading screens.. Honestly the most fun I've ever had gaming was done on the 64.

I still have it tucked away in storage somewhere lol
 
kunonabi said:
I remember taking every opportunity to play the Mario 64 demo they had in stores and just tearing into the game on release and meeting new people to discuss star location and secrets.

I remember being addicted to Wave Race and playing it every morning before school while I watched Kamen Rider or listened to John Henry by TMBG.

I love the lightness of the console and the whole design. I was a big fan of the controller too despite the analog stick wearing down so easily.

Whenever I get asked to rank Nintendo consoles the N64 always proves the most difficult. If I try to be objective about things it should really be 4th behind the Wii, SNES, and Wii U for me and or possibly even 5th now that I've been going through the famicom library but my heart is just dead set on putting it number 2. So many of my absolute favorite games of all time were N64 games and I just had so many great memories with it.

Anyway personal favorites:


007: The World is Not Enough
Bomberman 64 - favorite Bomberman
Castlevania - favorite CV game
Fighter's Destiny 2
Getter Love!!: Chō Renai Party Game Tanjō
Goemon's Great Adventure
Hybrid Heaven
Mario Kart 64 - favorite Mario Kart
Mischief Makers
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon - favorite Goemon game
Star Wars Episode 1 Racer
Star Wars Episode 1: Battle for Naboo
Star Wars Rogue Squadron
Star Wars Shadows of the Empire - favorite Star Wars game
Super Mario 64
Tetrisphere
Virtual Pro Wrestling 2: Oudou Keishou
Wave Race 64 - favorite racing game
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I also liked Shadows of the Empire, but it's strange to call it your favorite because you listed it right next to superior Star Wars games.
 
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