The Official Nintendo 64 Thread!

[SlidellMan]

I also thought that Blast Corps was a fun experience.

[AtariBrian]

In my opinion Blast Corp is one of the very best games on that console. I really wish they would make a newer updated one for the Nintendo switch. 

[dudeguy]

12 hours ago, Wayler said:

What's the opinion here on Blast Corps?

 

I think it's the best game by Rare for the N64 and still holds up quite extremely well because of the inventive and fun gameplay, that has not been replicated since (that I know of).

Blowing stuff will always be a blast (hehe) with the tight and responsive controls. It's quite a challenge also if you want to go for gold and I remember hammering away at the stages just to better my time because it was so much fun.

And the soundtrack is one of the best the system has to offer in energy and head-boppin' melodies.

 

It received huge critical acclaim at the time, so it's odd that the concept hasn't been revitalized but I guess when something is forgotten, it's forgotten. And then there's always the pesky sales figures, it only sold a million copies.

 

Great game but I got bored with it. I find that with a lot of games like that where the primary objective is destroying buildings (Rampage, Red Faction on the 360) it gets old kind of quickly

[Tanooki]

I could see that, same could be said in general for point racking games too as they can get stale the longer it goes.

 

Needless to say, but I will:

Time to get moving! (and being blast corps players you heard the ladies voice in your head reading that.)

[SlidellMan]

GManLives on Perfect Dark:

 

[dudeguy]

I find the 64 to be one of the easiest retro consoles to go back to. Cart based so the games always work. Games were getting easier by this point. Save system for much of the games. No stupid timer counting down. And the best generation for multiplayer games. The console and its games were just esoteric enough to be fun to go back to but not so esoteric to be downright hard to play (think Virtual Boy or Jaguar).

 

Course I am biased. I was 6 years old when the console released. 12 when its successor came out. So 6-12 years old when this console was at its prime. That was the key age demographic for most of its games.

 

It was also the last generation where it seemed like a lot of third party games were exclusive to one system versus another. And also that if one game appeared on the 64 it most definitely felt and played different from its competitor, the PS1 (and then later, the Dreamcast.) If you really liked a game, you could play 3 different versions of it and experience it in a different light, maybe a different developer altogether. Tony Hawk comes to mind, as does Hydro Thunder, 007 series.

 

Great time to be a gamer, great time to be a kid, great time to be alive (1996 through 2000)

[Wayler]

4 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Needless to say, but I will:

Time to get moving! (and being blast corps players you heard the ladies voice in your head reading that.)

You're just trying to impress me!

 

 

Looking at that longplay video, I never realised the intro goes on so long and I don't think I've ever seen those character descriptions. This has always struck me as a weird design choice. Why do the extra effort but then hide your background story and intro behind numerous prompts to press a button.

 

Edit: Oh and I like the fact that the point factor in Blast Corps is the damage you have caused in $$$, it gives the numbers more meaning and satisfaction.

Edited February 16, 2023 by Wayler

[Tanooki]

Totally.  I remember that, but I also had the manual with it as a new game in the day so it was there too.  The game is solid, a few stages are brutally borderline unfair, but it works and as you go there are paths as well.  And I do agree the high score being property damage really adds a layer of fun to the whole adventure that is this unique game.

[SlidellMan]

The making of Perfect Dark:

 

[dudeguy]

Any love for Cruisn' USA? I played a ton of it circa 2016. I love the point to point racing games and this one had a great blend between realism and arcade. Difficulty can be unrelenting at times in the later stages, seems like the AI just doesnt let up

[M-S]

I never played it on N64, but I tried playing it on arcade recently and the steering wheel was all screwed up and I couldn't play it well. So all I have are my memories a lot of time ago, it's a good racing game but since it originated in arcades it's quite difficult compared to console racing games. Also, someone correct me if I'm wrong I think but I think it was the first original Arcade Machine released by Nintendo after 1984.

[dudeguy]

22 minutes ago, M-S said:

I never played it on N64, but I tried playing it on arcade recently and the steering wheel was all screwed up and I couldn't play it well. So all I have are my memories a lot of time ago, it's a good racing game but since it originated in arcades it's quite difficult compared to console racing games. Also, someone correct me if I'm wrong I think but I think it was the first original Arcade Machine released by Nintendo after 1984.

Steering being too sensitive is a major complaint for the N64 version. I am wondering if that problem is rectified by using a steering wheel controller

[Tanooki]

Nintendo kept releasing arcade games, some though vs system or playchoice10 style up into 1992, then a gap, and 2001-04 had a few and a last one in 2015 which I didn't know existed in the arcade and that's pokken tournament.

Cruis'n was a prop, Nintendo didn't make or do much of squat with it, it was Midway.

[SlidellMan]

Raw Thrills and Nintendo did release Cruis'n Blast. There was also the short-lived SNES-based Super System cabinets.

[M-S]

17 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Nintendo kept releasing arcade games, some though vs system or playchoice10 style up into 1992, then a gap, and 2001-04 had a few and a last one in 2015 which I didn't know existed in the arcade and that's pokken tournament.

Cruis'n was a prop, Nintendo didn't make or do much of squat with it, it was Midway.

The machines they released between 1984 and 1994 weren't really original, they were basically NES consoles in a big box. Cruisn' USA was the first game released in a proper Arcade Machine, which was basically a prototype for the Ultra 64.

This board is also slightly more powerful than the N64, which probably explains why the console port isn't as good.

[Tanooki]

I'm aware of what the hardware was, but it also is a Midway game not Nintendo.  Nintendo modified hardware was driving it, but it is wholly a Midway title.  Just like Killer Instinct isn't either, Rare made it, which is why that went that way when MS stepped in.

[Atariboy]

Actually I believe the story about it being N64 derived hardware that powered Cruis'n USA ended up just being marketing fluff. There was a thread on it years ago on I think the KLOV forum. Consensus was that there was no connection with Midway's V System hardware to what Nintendo/Silicon Graphics created for the N64.

 

But it made for a great marketing ploy to have consumers thinking that they'd be getting similar graphics at home, although some obviously ended up disappointed when reality showed up on their N64. Still, it's a solid effort that I enjoy revisiting occasionally.

Edited February 19, 2023 by Atariboy

[SlidellMan]

If there is one thing I can say in defense of the N64 version of Cruis'n USA: At least it has all the levels and upgraded cars that you can unlock. Man, I miss when arcade racers had a substantial number of tracks and cars.

[DragonGrafx-16]

7 minutes ago, SlidellMan said:

If there is one thing I can say in defense of the N64 version of Cruis'n USA: At least it has all the levels and upgraded cars that you can unlock. Man, I miss when arcade racers had a substantial number of tracks and cars.

Back in the day I found it funny that you could race as a school bus.

[SlidellMan]

For those who remember Bomberman Hero:

This game is still great to this very day, and Jun Chiki Chikuma's music is one of the best on the system.

 

[roots.genoa]

7 hours ago, Atariboy said:

But it made for a great marketing ploy to have consumers thinking that they'd be getting similar graphics at home, although some obviously ended up disappointed when reality showed up on their N64.

Yes, but the Nintendo 64 was also supposed to be more powerful initially. Remember it was based on Silicon Graphics stations! That's why the console was delayed that much; Nintendo was waiting for prices to lower, which never happened enough. So they released a "crippled" version of the hardware they originally envisioned to offer it at a low price compared to the competition.

[Asaki]

16 hours ago, M-S said:

This board is also slightly more powerful than the N64, which probably explains why the console port isn't as good.

Yeah, I wondering about that, because the N64 version's framerate is quite abysmal.

[Tanooki]

@SlidellMan To me, after how poor Bomberman 64 was, Hero was just stunning.  I got it when/shortly after it came out and was blown away because Hudson took a 180 on the camera and control problems of the original and crafted game where the 3D camera and control were close in quality to what Nintendo did with Super mario 64.  That game is just utterly fun, and the differing modes where he can be a jet or a sub too are so much fun.  I'd highly recommend it still to anyone decades later, and the good they learned from that when Bomberman 2(nd) Attack popped up later applied those lessons to also make that a far superior game to the original too.

 

If you are a fan and want Bomberman on n64, Hero and 2nd attack are the only good choices.

[SlidellMan]

I might as well share this discovery:

Quote

Just a heads up, those promotional renders were modeled using NURBS (Non Uniform Rational B-Splines), which didn't use polygons. It's akin to modeling with plastic sheets and mathematical calculations, and the harsh lighting algorithms of the time combined with the primitive modeling techniques give the CGI that "uncanny" plastic toy look that it's known for (not to mention it is HARD to get an organic look into NURBS modelling). They were the industry standard in movies and animation for years until they started being phased out around the 2000s due to techniques like sub surface scattering (crucial to CG realism) were found to work better with polygonal models. Presumably, they used Alias Poweranimator (the precursor to Maya) to create these renders like Rare did with Killer Instinct and Donkey Kong Country. NURBS are still regularly used in the engineering and architectural industry though, because their precise nature makes them very useful for precise planning and modeling.

That was from the YouTube comments.

[DragonGrafx-16]

On 2/16/2023 at 1:02 AM, SlidellMan said:

GManLives on Perfect Dark:

 

To me Perfect Dark was the superior version of Goldeneye 007... the multiplayer was essentially the same game but you could have bots which made it more interesting than only 4 player matches.