The Official Nintendo 64 Thread!

[Tanooki]

Much like your opinion eh?  Great start with post #1.

[Jim Crawford55]

10 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Much like your opinion eh?  Great start with post #1.

Damn, I guess the truth hurt

[Tanooki]

1 hour ago, Jim Crawford55 said:

Damn, I guess the truth hurt

Hahahaha sure, if that makes you feel better there champ.  Anyone claiming a system with 100s of games can barely scrape together 10 that are worth owning has personal problems.  If you choose to keep blinders that's fine, but being a snotty ass with your first post here is your idea how to make a good impression you're sadly mistaken.

[Austin]

I can't agree that the N64 is $@&%. Anyone that says that either, A) has an extremely limited taste in games, or, B) simply hasn't bothered to explore the library.

 

I'm not going to sugar coat it though: The reality is, the Nintendo 64 lacks the overall variety of its competition and that is a big problem. There are far less arcade-style games than on the PS1 or Saturn, there are virtually no shmups, there are exactly zero pinball titles, there's not a lot of 2D side-scrolling games, and there are very few actually-2D games in general (which is a massive shame, because the ones it does have do it pretty well). It also lacks in overall fighting game quality, as despite having a lot in the genre, asides from Smash Bros and maybe Mortal Kombat Trilogy, everything available falls in "B" and "C"-tier categories compared to what the Saturn and PS1 has on offer.

 

That said, the genres it excels at, it truly does to an amazing degree, such as with first-person shooters, 3D platformers and driving games. I've been revisiting its driving game offering in particular lately and I'd go as far to argue that it's the best console for this genre right behind the PlayStation 2. The stock analog stick feels like it was made for it, and it also has a wide variety of styles in the genre, from more sim-oriented releases, to dumb-fun arcade ports (i.e., the Cruis'n series), to quality futuristic racers. The best games on show in particular are still top-tier titles in their respective genres, like Wave Race 64 and F-Zero X.

 

"$@&%" should be relegated to categorizing systems like the Bandai Apple Pippin, Playdia, Hyperscan, and perhaps Philips CD-i, heh, not the Nintendo 64. Yes, the console is underwhelming in some areas, but it's amazing in others. Credit where credit's due.

Edited April 6, 2023 by Austin

[Asaki]

On 4/3/2023 at 5:10 AM, Charlie Cat said:

Xeno Crisis Nintendo 64 ROM

 

 

 

Oh dang, that looks sick!

 

  

57 minutes ago, Austin said:

...there are exactly zero pinball titles...

That's not true

I can name at least one (it wasn't release in the US, though).

[Austin]

35 minutes ago, Asaki said:

I can name at least one (it wasn't release in the US, though).

What is that? 🤔

[SlidellMan]

I'm glad that Bitmap Bureau is contributing to the N64 homebrew scene.

[Asaki]

35 minutes ago, Austin said:

What is that? 🤔

[Austin]

18 minutes ago, Asaki said:

Eh, it's Famicom Pinball, in a Japanese-only game, that is likely time consuming to unlock (and far from an exclusive game itself, at that). May as well pretend it doesn't exist.

 

But I gotcha.

[SlidellMan]

Fun fact about F1 Pole Position 64: It was originally part of Human Entertainment's Human Grand Prix series.

Source: https://tcrf.net/F1_Pole_Position_64

[SlidellMan]

Working Man Games on BattleTanx:

Too bad that 3DO went under before they could make the third installment...

[KidGameR186496]

On 4/6/2023 at 11:32 AM, Austin said:

I can't agree that the N64 is $@&%. Anyone that says that either, A) has an extremely limited taste in games, or, B) simply hasn't bothered to explore the library.

 

I'm not going to sugar coat it though: The reality is, the Nintendo 64 lacks the overall variety of its competition and that is a big problem. There are far less arcade-style games than on the PS1 or Saturn, there are virtually no shmups, there are exactly zero pinball titles, there's not a lot of 2D side-scrolling games, and there are very few actually-2D games in general (which is a massive shame, because the ones it does have do it pretty well). It also lacks in overall fighting game quality, as despite having a lot in the genre, asides from Smash Bros and maybe Mortal Kombat Trilogy, everything available falls in "B" and "C"-tier categories compared to what the Saturn and PS1 has on offer.

 

That said, the genres it excels at, it truly does to an amazing degree, such as with first-person shooters, 3D platformers and driving games. I've been revisiting its driving game offering in particular lately and I'd go as far to argue that it's the best console for this genre right behind the PlayStation 2. The stock analog stick feels like it was made for it, and it also has a wide variety of styles in the genre, from more sim-oriented releases, to dumb-fun arcade ports (i.e., the Cruis'n series), to quality futuristic racers. The best games on show in particular are still top-tier titles in their respective genres, like Wave Race 64 and F-Zero X.

 

"$@&%" should be relegated to categorizing systems like the Bandai Apple Pippin, Playdia, Hyperscan, and perhaps Philips CD-i, heh, not the Nintendo 64. Yes, the console is underwhelming in some areas, but it's amazing in others. Credit where credit's due.

Speaking about the N64 library, it seems that it was yesterday or today that Twitter once again declared a day to $#&% on the system. That's their opinion XD

 

It has to be option B.

Edited April 18, 2023 by KidGameR186496

[Wayler]

How about some Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon? I was surprised it was only the second game from the series to get a western release. But in hindsight, it's understandable that Nintendo wanted to get every possible game localized to stack up the N64 thinner library, so there might have been a bit of a nudge from the Big N to Konami to get it done.  And apart from a few minor changes, I'm glad they did not do any compromises in the localisation. It's all so wonderfully weird. On a side note, I don't like the SNES installments at all, but this was very much my kind of game.

 

Pros

-Essential action adventure / light RPG for the system that needed them more

-Quirky setting and humor that just screams Japan

-One of the best soundtracks on the platform, mixing all kinds of genres and traditional japanese instruments

-The big mecha sections are fun and bring variety to the gameplay

 

Cons (typical for early 3D games)

-Camera problems

-Ugly textures

-Huge swathes of empty nothingness in the overworld

 

Here's a playthrough:

 

And here's the official soundtrack release, that fuses all the stage music evolutions into complete songs and most importantly, the full versions of the vocal songs (the tracks in the game are shorter). So many headboppin tunes here. My favorite is the track for Festival Temple Castle, that opens slowly and develops into an epic jam. Also amusing that the track title offers advice on how to advance in the game: Use the Ice Kunai on the Fox's Fire (Link starts at that track).

 

[Asaki]

6 hours ago, Wayler said:

How about some Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon? I was surprised it was only the second game from the series to get a western release.

I can't believe it even got a Western release, that game is SUPER super Japanese, and as far as I can tell, they barely localized it.

[Tanooki]

They did barely localize it and it's better for it.  I got a taste of it months before it arrived as a local shop in the era back then had try before you buy and had the cart.  I didn't get it over the level of text, but knowing it was coming over I bought it day one.

 

I stand by the fact I think that it plays better than Ocarina of Time and I found it just a little bit more fun too.  Both games have the empty spaces syndrome Wayler said, that's fair.  But I don't agree about the camera, z-lock on aside from Ocarina the camera is better than Nintendo's in respect to general placement and follow which is surprising. The textures being ugly is a bit of a personal choice, I just don't see it, they're quite good better than many of the first year titles.  Compared to some even from known franchises like Bomberman64 it's masterful.

 

Every PRO he listed is on point, doubly agree with all that.  I would add that the plot is just a lot of fun and quirk start to end, and so are the really wacked out bosses and leaders of that gang that pick the fight in Goemons stomping ground there.  I'd call it one of those unappreciated hidden gems people throw the dumb comment on so much of, yet it really is.  It's a true stand out must play game for the system unless you utterly hate that genre, then, don't bother.

[Wayler]

2 hours ago, Tanooki said:

They did barely localize it and it's better for it.

Indeed and that is how it always should be. Too many times the localization process involves a lot of butchering and cutting up things. In a perfect world, there should only be the translation of the game and physical paraphernalia and the content is left as is. 

 

However, I do understand certain changes. Like here in Goemon, where there's an old man who's obsessing over hentai magazines. The concept at the time would not have been understood. And had it been, it would be too weird and creepy for a "kids game". So that had to go. But then make the replacement something weird and creepy too, like feet or shaved cats. No, they went with cars... 

 

2 hours ago, Tanooki said:

But I don't agree about the camera

Imo, for the most part it isn't a problem. The outdoor sections are vast and there is little precision needed in towns. But I feel things go sideways in the castles where the spaces are tighter and the sluggish camera just sometimes refuses to give a playable angle. The N64 Castlevanias also suffered from a poor camera, so Konami was clearly struggling with it. Maybe that's why they decided to dump 3D and went with a 2.5D approach for the sequal, Goemon's Great Adventure. 

[Gavynnnnn]

On 4/6/2023 at 11:32 AM, Austin said:

I can't agree that the N64 is $@&%. Anyone that says that either, A) has an extremely limited taste in games, or, B) simply hasn't bothered to explore the library.

 

I'm not going to sugar coat it though: The reality is, the Nintendo 64 lacks the overall variety of its competition and that is a big problem. There are far less arcade-style games than on the PS1 or Saturn, there are virtually no shmups, there are exactly zero pinball titles, there's not a lot of 2D side-scrolling games, and there are very few actually-2D games in general (which is a massive shame, because the ones it does have do it pretty well). It also lacks in overall fighting game quality, as despite having a lot in the genre, asides from Smash Bros and maybe Mortal Kombat Trilogy, everything available falls in "B" and "C"-tier categories compared to what the Saturn and PS1 has on offer.

 

That said, the genres it excels at, it truly does to an amazing degree, such as with first-person shooters, 3D platformers and driving games. I've been revisiting its driving game offering in particular lately and I'd go as far to argue that it's the best console for this genre right behind the PlayStation 2. The stock analog stick feels like it was made for it, and it also has a wide variety of styles in the genre, from more sim-oriented releases, to dumb-fun arcade ports (i.e., the Cruis'n series), to quality futuristic racers. The best games on show in particular are still top-tier titles in their respective genres, like Wave Race 64 and F-Zero X.

 

"$@&%" should be relegated to categorizing systems like the Bandai Apple Pippin, Playdia, Hyperscan, and perhaps Philips CD-i, heh, not the Nintendo 64. Yes, the console is underwhelming in some areas, but it's amazing in others. Credit where credit's due.

Exactly! At 22 I’m a bit of a whippersnapper here compared to some of y’all, but I know one thing is a fact: 6th Gen and backward, every console has a reason to exist. Not one was able to be everything on its own, and so everything had merits. These days, eh, they’re all just basically computers. The N64 is my absolute favorite system out of all my retros. NES has a huge library, but difficult gameplay and sometimes hard-to-look-at graphics. Mike Tyson’s and Zelda are great though. My SNES is basically brand new with all OEM parts, and the SNES has one of the best libraries of its time. A clear improvement over the NES visually, audibly, and with library. 
 

The N64, however, I would say was exactly what it needed to be. It had little flash storage, but it was a powerhouse. It ran everything you threw at it, for better or worse. Difficult to program for, but if Resident Evil 2 is any proof, you could get it to do nearly anything you wanted compared to other systems of the time. The mipmapping and Z-buffer, things the PS1 lacked, made the games the N64 DID have visually shine. Never knock on a system that created an RE2 port 10% of original size and things as glorious as Ocarina of Time or Conker’s.

[Gavynnnnn]

I had a question of my own, actually. So I recently heard NTSC N64s support S-video, but I’m not sure how. Is it able to detect the cable in the slot as S-video or composite or is there a second slot I’m unaware of?

[Austin]

4 minutes ago, Gavynnnnn said:

I had a question of my own, actually. So I recently heard NTSC N64s support S-video, but I’m not sure how. Is it able to detect the cable in the slot as S-video or composite or is there a second slot I’m unaware of?

Standard S-Video cables are indeed available for the console and use the same connector as the composite cable (or the RF adapter box). After all, there is only one video-out port on the console.

[Gavynnnnn]

2 minutes ago, Austin said:

Standard S-Video cables are indeed available for the console and use the same connector as the composite cable (or the RF adapter box). After all, there is only one video-out port on the console.

That makes sense and that’s what I thought. It also just occurred to me that the port may be outputting both composite and S-Video at the same time, and only one is actually used depending on what you have hooked up in there.

[Austin]

1 minute ago, Gavynnnnn said:

That makes sense and that’s what I thought. It also just occurred to me that the port may be outputting both composite and S-Video at the same time, and only one is actually used depending on what you have hooked up in there.

Yep, a lot of systems do it that way. That’s why A/V connectors will have so many pins on them. Some are used to send the composite and audio signals, others carry the extra line needed for s-video, some of the rest will send RGB (in the SNES’s case at least, since N64 doesn’t have that support without a mod).

[Tanooki]

On 4/18/2023 at 2:47 PM, Wayler said:

Indeed and that is how it always should be. Too many times the localization process involves a lot of butchering and cutting up things. In a perfect world, there should only be the translation of the game and physical paraphernalia and the content is left as is. 

 

However, I do understand certain changes. Like here in Goemon, where there's an old man who's obsessing over hentai magazines. The concept at the time would not have been understood. And had it been, it would be too weird and creepy for a "kids game". So that had to go. But then make the replacement something weird and creepy too, like feet or shaved cats. No, they went with cars... 

 

Imo, for the most part it isn't a problem. The outdoor sections are vast and there is little precision needed in towns. But I feel things go sideways in the castles where the spaces are tighter and the sluggish camera just sometimes refuses to give a playable angle. The N64 Castlevanias also suffered from a poor camera, so Konami was clearly struggling with it. Maybe that's why they decided to dump 3D and went with a 2.5D approach for the sequal, Goemon's Great Adventure. 

We're in agreement on that localization bit.  Things did evolve inside Castlevania(and Konami) and out too, first parties even.  Look how generally intact something like the very Japanese-ish Chibi Robo was, even retaining the name.  I mean I know what chibi means, surely you do, but that's not english.  Anime and manga had taken off a bit more thanks to toonami, but chibi was relatively unknown other than Chibi-usa (not Rini) on the later run Sailor Moon stuff late nights.  They either were like whatever or thought Small Robo (or Tiny Robo) would be stupid.  Goemon did drop the eechi, cars works, given the time frame, but yeah something a bit more sketchy could have worked unless they feared the ESRB goons as they were more uptight then fresh off being made and all the f'd up Karens and their MK / congressional rage antics.

 

Konami like many struggle pretty hard with first generation 3D. It was a testament to Nintendo, Miyamoto, and his crew to make Mario 64 so damn fluid and well flowing with their third person camera as it moves or as you could move it.  Few made something largely as well (Rayman 2 and Bomberman Hero comes to mind) and others used locked but wisely done angles (Bomberman 2nd Attack learning from the original)...many just were serviceable to counter-intuitive crap.  Konami was middling.  Legacy of Darkness and Goemon were about the high point, it works pretty nicely as a huge improvement over the Castlevania 64 dumpster fire, but I do suspect you're right the return to form for the 2.5D sequel likely was to make the game flow better and center entirely on play, not camera babysitting.

[Gavynnnnn]

I want to know, is this Pioneer receiver viable for N64 Surround?

[DragonGrafx-16]

41 minutes ago, Gavynnnnn said:

I want to know, is this Pioneer receiver viable for N64 Surround?

N64 doesn't do surround sound and that receiver is only stereo anyway... yes it has rear speakers but it seems to just be copies of the L/R channels. Yes I know it's possible to simulate surround sound with stereo but that only really works with headphones.

[Gavynnnnn]

19 minutes ago, DragonGrafx-16 said:

N64 doesn't do surround sound and that receiver is only stereo anyway... yes it has rear speakers but it seems to just be copies of the L/R channels. Yes I know it's possible to simulate surround sound with stereo but that only really works with headphones.

N64 supports Dolby Prologic, see Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, etc.

 

It does unfortunately say stereo receiver, but it also uses Prologic apparently so I’m conflicted on what it actually is lol. I have a decent turntable so it’s not a complete loss if I can’t use it for my N64 but I was hoping it’s useful for that too.