About 9 years ago, I was 6, my parents bought me 9 Nintendo Entertainment System, for short called NES. I got some games like some kind of Commando game, 1942(what old plane fighter was so fun), and Super Mario Bros 3. I got many games over the next 6 years. But then when I was 13, I learned of the new Play Station, which was suppose to have amazing graphics. Getting caught in all the hype and trading in my Nintendo and all my accessories and games for the refurbished Play Station and my first RPG, Final Fantasy 7.
I also got the N64, with my first few games being Diddy Kong Racing, Wave Race, and the infamous Goldeneye. I loved and have cherished my 64 ever since I got it as new games were released and it kept getting better and better. I look back now, and if I had a chance to change one thing in the past, I would have kept my Nintendo. I remember my father and I spending long nights, drinking mellow yellow and eating Doritos while kicking each others butt in Goldeneye and splashing each others faces in Wave Race. As new multi-player games came out, my father would always come home from work with either a bought multi-player game or some sort of game that I’ve asked for.
Now, with my father working full time and school harassing me with homework, I look at those weekends where we’d stay up till’ all hours of the morning, playing one or two games the whole time, and remember the good times that the N64 gave my family and I. It brought us closer together. I can now see why people started calling it the “Family Machine.” So? There’s nothing wrong with that. You may be one of those Mature playing gamers and are blood and gore and everything, finding time to play a game that’s suitable with your whole family can bring you closer together. OF course, the N64 wasn’t “Just” a Family Machine. There were lots of great games like Turok, Zelda:Ocarnia of Time, Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Star Wars Rogue Squadron, Ogre Battle 64, and the Banjo series that kept the system alive.
A long time ago, before the N64 was released in 1996, in around 1994 or 1995 when rumors started circulating about Nintendo’s newest BIG system called the Ultra64(which is now the Nintendo 64). As release time came closer, and more information was found out about the Ultra64, Square Soft, a greatly known Third Party developer in Japan, jumped ship to the Play Station because Nintendo developers decided to stay with Cartridges. This no change from the SNES kept many Third Party support for the Ultra 64 away because the Cartridges were ok for the SNES, but not for the next consoles because of upgrades in the graphics department. So none of the Final Fantasy titles ever came to the N64 and Square Soft became exclusive with the Sony Play Station creating Final Fantasy VII, VII, and IX.
Ok, enough bout’ all that mushy stuff, I think I’ve got a tear coming, lets talk about the N64.
The Nintendo 64, from now on the N64, is a 64 bit system, which when it came out, was twice as better as the Sony Play Station, which was only a 32-Bit console. The 64’s graphics ability let there be such games like Pokemon Stadium 2, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, and the non-forgettable Ocarnia of Time. I’ve got to admit, when I got to the storming scene at the graveyard in OoT, I was breathless at the capabilities the N64 has to be able to produce such great graphics.
But a few years after its release, games got so graphically enhanced, that there was an Expansion Pak that was made to help support these new games. The first game to use the Enhancer, Donkey Kong 64, was also packaged with the Expansion Pak. After the release of the Expansion Pak, almost all of the following games had to use the Expansion Pak for them to be able to even run.
Nintendo’s no change from cartridge format to CD format, was a bad one, with a lot of good developers jumping ship from Nintendo to the Play Station because CDs were easier to develop for and they could hold more space for game play and graphics than the cartridges. I personally, was glad that Nintendo didn’t change to CD format, because the CDs can get scratched very easily, and there’s no room for memory, so a memory card is needed. However, CD format would have been cool because you could save information on the memory card, but not even own the game, and then you could just keep borrowing it from different people and keep resuming from your last save spot. Most of the N64’s games held save slots for in game saves rather than using a memory card, but some games were to big to put any in game saves in, so the N64 had a memory card for those games. But most of the games did have in game save ability, so a need for a memory card is slim.
The main thing that the N64 is best for, is the multi-player action you can get on it. Instead of there being only two slots for controllers like the Play Station, there are four. Yes, 4! Some of the best games on the N64 are multi-player hits. The Play Station, which I don’t think, has very many good multi-player games except for the Gran Turismo series, but then again the single player in the GT series outweighed the multi-player mode. Games like Super Smash Bros, Mario Kart, Goldeneye, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and Pokemon Stadium 2 are all awesome games to play with friends or family.
The controller, oh the controller. I think the N64’s controller is the best designed controller out of all of the systems. The Play Station’s analog sticks are to far up and close to the D-Pad. The N64’s joystick is in the middle, on the middle handle. The “A”, “B”, and “C” buttons are all on the right handle. The shoot button for most games “Z”, right under the middle handle, is the most well placed button and was very comfortably reached. Having a hard time thinking of what the controller looks like? Just think of three handles sticking out of a small playte, the middle one a little longer than the other two, and you’ve got your controller.
Now that you know about the Nintendo 64 and its greatness, let me tell you what I think are the 10 best games on this system:
10. Wave Race
The first water racing game and actually only good water racing game, this is an N64 classic.
9. Super Mario 64
The pizza loving guys first 3-D adventure, this is another N64 classic.
8. Donkey Kong 64
May not have been as good as the previous SNES installments, it’s still a challenging game.
7. Mario Kart 64
The first racing game including all the Nintendo characters, is still loved by me and my father.
6. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
The one and only true skateboarding game on this system. Many hours of good multi-player fun.
5. Banjo-Kazooie
The N64 is famous for its Platform games, and Banjo-Kazooie shows their fame.
4. Perfect Dark
An unofficial sequel to the great Goldeneye, this game has attracted so many people to the N64’s FPS genre.
3. Super Smash Bro
This is the best multi-player fighting game I’ve played in a while. I’ve had many late nights taken away from me because my father and I would stay up kicking the crap out of each other.
2. Goldeneye
Sorry all, there’s another game that totally clears Goldeneye out of the top spot, but don’t worry, Goldeneye is the best FPS today. The levels are exactly the same as the different spots in Goldeneye the movie and they go in order like the movie also. There are also two hidden levels from older movies.
And my favorite game of all time and the one that deserves a bunch more credit than what it has....
*1* Star Fox 64
Surprise? Not really. If anybody’s read my Star Fox review, you’d know this was coming. The best space shooter on the N64 and with the best storyline, this needs a lot more credit than what people give to it.
Well, there you have it. I’ve spoke my mind. Now leave me a comment about my top ten, and then check out these other great writers in the “A Tribute to the N64 W/O”:
Yarrick(the fine man who invited me to this w/o and is the host)
Jeremy1456
ChromeKiller
Pika312
Krabople
xeno3998
Horhay
StarSoldier1
pearman
rader6795
and of course...ME! but you just read mine...
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