The Official Nintendo 64 Thread!

[Tanooki]

1 hour ago, shane857 said:

Been playing some F-Zero X this evening...Personally for me THE best F-Zero game. The Super Nintendo version a close second 💪🏻

And to think the best of SNES and N64 games came to the GBA and Nintendo because the lousy GP Legend game (and anime saturn morning cartoon) bombed they scrapped it outside of Japan.  Climax has all the high intensity of the N64, the car spin/smash attacks and massive track builder coupled with the look and fun of the original.  You really should try it, not buy it, unless you love being ripped off as it's up there.

[shane857]

14 hours ago, SlidellMan said:

F-Zero X was awesome, even to this day. The 64DD Expansion made it even better.

It's a shame the 64DD Expansion wasn't more of a success.

[SlidellMan]

More from Beetle Adventure Racing:

Said Beetle was replaced with a Holden HSV in the Australian version.

[shane857]

Played Top Gear Overdrive today... Graphics in my opinion are really good. Tough racing game thou starting off.

Only 2 choices of cars, one that handles ok and one that handles like a bathtub on a Bobsleigh coarse! 😂

Something about the game made me keep trying to get better than 7th place to upgrade my car thou. I like it 👍🏻

[shane857]

4 hours ago, SlidellMan said:

More from Beetle Adventure Racing:

Said Beetle was replaced with a Holden HSV in the Australian version.

One of the best racing games on the system bro...In my opinion

[SlidellMan]

A little something from Kaze Emanuar:

 

[Tanooki]

13 hours ago, shane857 said:

It's a shame the 64DD Expansion wasn't more of a success.

The track editor was added to F-Zero Climax on GBA.  It allows you to create 30 tracks with lots of features to build.  This site I found by luck has some details about such things, you also get passwords beyond what saves to your own cart to share those tracks with other players to experience.  https://archive.kontek.net/f-mode.planets.gamespy.com/games/fzc/courses.html

 

Nintendo did it justice, then middle fingered the west.

[roots.genoa]

5 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Nintendo did it justice, then middle fingered the west.

Because they knew you guys would just create dick-shaped circuits. 😝

[Wayler]

I really liked the random track generation cup in F-Zero X and it's a shame it hasn't been implemented in any subsequent releases. Sure, it perhaps didn't generate the most exciting tracks but it was always still different. And every once in a while there would be a track where all the cpus would fall to their deaths on a sharp corner (and you along with them on the first try). But then you would learn to avoid that the second time and, well, the others wouldn't. And you'd cruise yourself to an easy victory.

[Gamemoose]

My 8BitDo N64 Hall Effect stick arrived and by golly I actually had time to install and test it!  I compared it to one of my "decent" N64 controllers with the original stick and, since it 8BitDo stick uses the Gamecube style stick, compared it to a controller with a GC style stick I purchased from The G.O.A.T. Store (and I have no idea what brand/company made the stick).  The games I tried were "Super Mario 64" (as this is mah game bruh, as the kids say) and "F-Zero X".

 

The level of resistance (or perhaps one might say "tension") of the stick feels a lot like a Nintendo-made Gamecube stick.  I pulled my OEM GC controller from storage as I was writing this to compare the tension between the two sticks.  When I played "Super Mario 64" with the 8BitDo stick, I started to move Mario very gradually-from a tip-toe to a full-on sprint.  The level on tension felt right and Mario responded smoothly as his speed progressed.  Running around, doing trick flips and such was very responsive.  It felt pretty dang close to an original stick.  I went to the Bomb-Omb fields and took care of the platform in the sky like I would with a regular OEM stick.

 

"F-Zero X" is THE game, IMO, to test out sensitivity with sticks.  The original N64 analog stick had such great sensitivity that playing "F-Zero GX" felt like a step back (again, IMO) in the control department.  The tight turns I could accomplish in X with just the stick required the use of the triggers in GX (in my experience, anyway-I liked X better than GX so I didn't put near as much practice time in the latter, so maybe I just couldn't handle the game as well?).  The 8BitDo stick felt awesome in that game.  After not playing X for probably a good solid year (and even then, it was a quicky) I buzzed through Mute City on Normal with ease with this new stick.  I had a similar experience with the OEM stick, though I think I got a little cocky and had a couple racing oops moments.

 

I haven't bothered mentioning the "GOAT Brand" GC stick as I don't know if all those sticks are alike.  The stick I got doesn't have the same level of tension like the 8BitDo or the OEM GC controller.  While I could play SMB 64 just fine, the gradual speed up test didn't go nearly as smooth.  It feels more "loose".  In "F-Zero X" I didn't perform as well as I did with the first two sticks as I had to train myself to get used to the lack of tension.  I also had a distraction as the wife came home wanting to go on a walk with me but overall, the stick I got from The G.O.A.T. store is sloppy compared to the 8BitDo.  Are other brands of N64 sticks like this?

 

Overall I'm happy with this new stick.  The box came with everything one needs to replace the stick (stick, screwdriver and instructions).  I'm looking forward to getting into some other games to see how well this stick plays.

 

 

[SlidellMan]

More code optimization from Kaze:

 

[shane857]

Played Automobili Lamborghini today for the first time. What an underrated racer for the N64, in my opinion.

Controls are great and cars handle well. The multi player mode is where the game shines thou...

Having the ability to have human and A.I opponents at the same time.

[SlidellMan]

@shane857 I agree with you on that one. That just may be the last truly good game, and possibly the only truly great game Titus made. As bad as Superman 64 was, the blame can be directed at DC for that.

[SlidellMan]

Ura Zelda: Amara's Quest:

Ocarina of Time has one thing that still keeps it going: the ROM hacking scene.

[SlidellMan]

Kaze is back:

 

[Van Halbgott]

Here, I’ll post that I’ve been playing Zelda: Ocarina of Time lately and posting about it on Lemmy as well.

 

I really got into the groove of playing on an Nintendo 64 recently.

 

How much progress did I make? Why, I became an adult Link and reclaimed Epona from the rancher Ingo, entered the Forest Temple, and made quite a bit of progress in it.

 

Saria in particular is a good character and I did my best to avoid the Happy Mask Salesman too.

 

I won’t spoil anything from here, but in general I think the game is good.

 

I also made progress on Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie and played F-Zero X a little, even if it meant crashing the Blue Falcon more often than not.

 

You guys can also check out my Lemmy posts if you want:

 

https://lemmus.org/u/VanHalbgott

[SlidellMan]

A little something from Kaze:

 

[SlidellMan]

Another video on Quest 64:

By the way, the head of the Quest 64 decompilation project posted a comment on this video that he and his team is planning to add the cut content.

[Tanooki]

Oooh the lost but only buried content?  I like this game, always have because I wasn't some FF suckup and liked the changes it did to the formula.  I'd welcome taking a crack at a full Quest 64.

[SlidellMan]

Another video on Dezaemon 3D:

 

[Austin]

On 7/18/2024 at 9:51 PM, Tanooki said:

Oooh the lost but only buried content?  I like this game, always have because I wasn't some FF suckup and liked the changes it did to the formula.  I'd welcome taking a crack at a full Quest 64.

You have exquisite taste, clearly.

[newtmonkey]

I've never been 100% happy with the wireless N64 controllers out there.  The Retro Fighters controller feels decent to hold and the analog stick is okay, but the controller has one of the worst dpads out there.  The Retro-Bit Tribute 64 is actually the better controller, with a slightly better analog stick but a much better dpad.  However, both controllers have a very unauthentic layout, and playing N64 with them simply doesn't feel right imo.

 

So, I'm always on the lookout for something that's both wireless and authentic, and today I've found it: the Nintendo Switch Online N64 controller paired with a BlueRetro receiver.

 

The receiver is compact and light, and can also be configured with a "virtual" memory pack.  This is crucial, because the NSO N64 controller lacks an expansion slot!  It's also based on an open source project, and you can find it for cheap on aliexpress and the like (the project github even links to an aliexpress vendor).

 

The controller itself handles like a dream.  It has the same layout, shape, and size of an actual N64 controller, though it weighs a bit more (in a good way) due to containing a battery, etc.  The dpad is accurate, the buttons feel authentic and great, and the analog stick is pretty much perfect.

 

Having said all that, the controller itself is quite expensive, and (at least in Japan) is limited only to NSO subscribers.  With that in mind, I'd recommend this solution only to N64 fanatics, or people (like myself) who want to play games using a controller that's as close to the original experience as possible.  For people who don't care and just want a decent wireless controller for their N64, the Tribute 64 is where it's at, as it plays great whether you're using the analog stick or dpad.  I'd stay away from the Retro Fighters controller, as Killer Instinct Gold is basically unplayable due to the poor dpad (somewhat ironically).

Edited July 27 by newtmonkey

[newtmonkey]

After taking my N64 out of storage to test the NSO controller and BlueRetro receiver, I decided to keep it hooked up to play some games.  I plan on finishing Ocarina of Time (for the first time) by the end of the year, but for now all I played was...

 

Super Mario 64

I completed this back in the day, but never got the full 120 stars, so I decided to give that challenge a shot.  I'm not sure I'll stick with it, because the coin-related stars seem like busywork to me.  We'll see.  Anyway, I'm at 17/120 stars now lol.

[Tanooki]

I never got 120 in it, the stick just physically won't allow for it, it's too damn slippery.  There's maybe 10 or so that are an unattainable pain in the ass for me, big one being that one with the ghost house where it's on the roof -- f that thing.

[newtmonkey]

Doom 64

This is one of the handful of N64 games I actually had back in the day, though I never got very far into it.  I didn't appreciate the moody lighting and soundtrack, and somewhat slow pace, compared with the devil metal blastathon that is Doom on the PC.  I also never could figure out a comfortable button layout, though the game helpfully allows you to reconfigure every single button on the controller!

 

Anyway, today, 27 years later, I decided to give the game another chance.  This time, I decided to play the Japanese version, since it fixes the ridiculously low brightness of the US release.  The downside to the JPN version is that it is slightly censored (blood, but not gore strangely, is green instead of red); luckily, there's a GameShark code you can enter to turn the blood red:

81053072 01EE

81019396 01EF

910193AA 01F0

 

For controls, I went with (I think) layout 5, which lets you strafe with L and R and has the fire button assigned to A.  This is a pretty comfortable way to play the game with the dpad, as I don't feel that the game really benefits from analog stick control for movement.

 

I blasted through the first four stages, and so far this game is really great!  It looks and sounds great, and has aged quite well.  It's much moodier than Doom and Doom II, but there's still lots of blasting to do.  However, I'll probably restart on a higher difficulty level, because the default difficulty level ("Bring it on!") is really easy so far.  I'll give the hardest skill level a try next and see how it goes.

 

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

I loaded up my old save and found myself at the entrance of the Fire Temple, which I managed to clear.  I go back and forth on this one.  It looks and sounds great, I love the quirky world and characters, and it's a ton of fun when you're exploring (whether outdoors or in the dungeons).  However, the combat and "jumping"/platforming stuff can be extremely frustrating and clunky.  Getting the Z-Target to actually target the enemy before it hits you can be very annoying.  The game also sometimes requires some insane precision when platforming, which can be annoying due to the sub-30 fps framerate and sometimes spastic camera.

Edited August 5 by newtmonkey