kjell1979's Full Review: Nintendo 64 Black Console
It wasn't until 6 months ago that I owned an N64. After years spent with friend's N64s, both positive and negative, I thought it might be worth the $20 I spent on the base system. Now after 6 months of sitting down and using the system, I realize that it's probably too late to get into the N64 game.
Design and Features
Specs:
94MHz MIPS R4000 64-bit CPU
4MB RAM (upgradeable to 8MB with Expansion Pack)
62 MHz graphics processor with a maximum resolution of 640x480
16-bit sound card with a 24 channel average
64MB game cartridges
The N64 was a very powerful machine for its day. Unlike the 32-bit Playstation, the N64 was a powerful 64-bit gaming machine. It's processor was 3 times as fast as the Playstation's and the RAM was 2-4 times larger. The N64 could produce greater draw distances, faster rendering, a wider pallet of colors, and a smoother gameplay experience due to its hardware. In addition, there were several design decisions that really endear itself to gamers like the addition of 4 controller ports, the ability to expand the memory, and the standardization of composite video cables.
Despite the superior hardware, there was one inferior component that many say contributed to the lack of adoption of the N64 over the Playstation and that was the 64MB cartridges. A Playstation CD could hold more than 600MB of data on one disc. That translated to bigger and more detailed soundtracks, graphics and overall information. Most importantly was the fact that Playstation media could be produced at a fraction of the total cost of the game, which allowed developers to reap larger profits. It also allowed older games to drop drastically in price compared to the N64's atrocious prices for its games. The cartridge design did have some advantages. It cut down on load times and were more durable than Playstation CDs. Still, those were only small wins compared to the advantages Playstation owners and developers were reaping from the CD disc design.
Game Library
The N64's game library was one of the weakest aspects of the system. Typically you can gauge a system's success based on the comprehensiveness and quality of its gaming library. The original Nintendo had a large flowing library of games. While many were bad, there were also some really great games as well, but it was the variety that really allowed the system to take off. While the N64 has some great titles, it really lacked the variety that its 8-bit predecessor and more importantly its fiercest rival enjoyed. The N64 had some titles that really rivaled the best titles on the Playstation:
Super Mario 64
GoldenEye
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Mario Kart 64
Super Smash Brothers
Donkey Kong 64
Mario Party
Paper Mario
Perfect Dark
Based off this list, the N64 really excelled in platformers, adventure games, racing games, and first person shooters. Many of the best titles really took advantage of the 4 controller ports and turned this console into one of the best game systems to own when you have a small group of friends over. I've literally spent days with my friends playing Mario Kart 64, GoldenEye, Smash Brothers, Mario Party, and Perfect Dark. Besides Super Mario 64, the N64 also had a strong lineup of platformers like Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and Donkey Kong 64.
While these titles certainly drove system sales, there were some genres that really weren't supported as well. For instance, the N64 really lacked the quality RPGs that it had during the SNES era. Instead all the great RPGs were on the Playstation. Square was pumping out quality title after quality title while others were following in the wake of Square's production. Also sports games really didn't have a decent following on the N64. While it did have support from EA and other 3rd party sports game developers like Midway, their games just didn't hold a candle to the Playstation ports. Besides, the Playstation and later the Dreamcast had very strong first party sports games. The NFL Gameday series in the late 90's really rivaled Madden. The NFL 2K series really picked up the slack once 989 Studios really lost market share on the Gameday games. With the exception of a few quality titles like Pilotwings 64 and Ogre Battle 64, the N64 also didn't have a strong lineup of strategy and simulation games.
The cause of the weak library of games has a lot to do with the problems that the GameCube and Dreamcast ran into, which was lack of 3rd party support. Unlike Sony and prior Nintendo consoles, the vast majority of the N64's best games were ones produced in house. While many of them were fantastic, they also couldn't carry an entire console either. Having a full house of games really made Sony's Playstation much more appealing even if its best games might have been a notch below the N64's. After you're done playing most of the games on your N64, then what do you move on to? With the Playstation there were plenty of quality games coming out every week practically.
Controller and Accessories
I absolutely hated the N64 controller. It was a jumbled mess that tied your hands in knots trying to play some of the more popular games of the system. While the N64's controller introduced some great concepts to the mainstream console market like a central trigger button, analog stick, and controller expansion ports, it was just outclassed by Sony's Dual Shock controller in almost every respect by the time the N64 really hit its stride.
The N64 controller was a massive unit. It had three hand grips jutting out from the bottom. One of the left, one down the center and one on the right. The controller had two triggers along the top edges on both sides of the unit. The face of the controller had lots of activity. On the left side was the dpad. In the center was the Start button and below it sat the analog stick. On the right was a yellow diamond formation of buttons and a green and blue button lined up next to it to form two rows of three. Below the unit was a third trigger button used when holding the controller by its bottom grip. Also below the controller was an expansion port to plug in your rumble pack, controller pack, or transfer pack. Except for the analog stick, every button on the N64 controller was digital.
Overall the controller was setup great for fighting games. The six button alignment of buttons really made that possible. Unfortunately, there weren't many fighting games for the system. The controller's biggest problem was it had 3 regions. Unfortunately, you only have two hands and the controller was so big, it was difficult to really switch between the regions during the normal pace of a game. Luckily, many games focused on using the analog stick, the central trigger, and the face buttons while ignoring the left trigger and dpad. This allowed for a generally comfortable setup. Unfortunately, other games like GoldenEye really required you to implement all the buttons in order to really hone your deathmatch skills. This created a steep learning curve for the console's newer members because the players who had techniques for contorting their hands could dodge, strafe, and aim for headshots on the fly.
Despite all its problems, having the expansion port on the bottom of the controller was a great idea. It allowed for plugging in different accessories to fit specific games. Unfortunately, the potential of this feature wasn't reached because most games really only used the rumble pack to create a vibration in the controller at certain points. There were a few games that needed a controller pack, which allowed you to save extra game data when the cartridge was full. Still, I found this a little puzzling. One of the advantages of having a cartridge based system is that you really should need to implement memory cards, but that's exactly what the controller pack was. It was simply a memory card because a cartridge either didn't support saved games or didn't have the space to save the appropriate amount of data. Another accessory was the transfer pack. This is one example of one of those accessories designed for one game, which failed to really take off like the PS2 HDD or the NES's R.O.B. The transfer pack was primarily designed for Pokemon games, because it allowed you to transfer your Pokemon from Gameboy Color carts to your N64 game. It's a great idea, but there was such a small library of games for both the N64 and Gameboy Color that this accessory was doomed to obscurity.
There's one final N64 accessory yet to be mentioned. This accessory was probably the one component that forced me to give up on my quest to own and maintain an N64. This was the memory expansion. It expanded the base memory of the system from 4MB to 8MB when inserted into the expansion slot in the top of the base unit. Many games strongly urged the use of memory expansion for better gameplay performance. Games like GoldenEye and Perfect Dark really slowed down without it. There were even games like Donkey Kong 64 that flat out required it. So what's so bad about that? Well, the memory expansion unit today can cost as much if not more than the entire N64 unit itself. Without it, you can play many great games, but it limits what is already a very small library. It's one of those cases where I ended up spending close to $50 just to get a base system with a memory expansion unit. It just isn't worth it today.
Conclusion
Don't get me wrong, I've had many fond memories of late nights playing N64 games with friends. Still, I just cannot justify an N64's purchase right now. It's design flaws led to a lack of support and adoption of the console in the late 90's, which is directly leading to a lack of value today. A memory expansion pack can cost as much if not more than the system itself. Yes there are some really good games, but most of them are outclassed by today's standards. If you have a budget of $50 for a console, a PSOne or Dreamcast is your best bet here. The N64, while a decent system in its day, just will siphon your money away to the point where you probably are best left to picking up a PS2 instead. Besides, on the bright side, if the Nintendo Revolution (I refuse to believe that the console will be permanently renamed "Wii") delivers on its promise to port N64 games to its new console, then you'll get all the good games without many of the biggest annoyances. While I've had many positive experiences with this console dating back to almost a decade ago, it just isn't practical to start a collection. Some systems like the Dreamcast, Genesis, and PSOne have a window where you can get some great bargains, but there aren't many to be seen here.
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