The Nintendo 64 is now 25 Years Old

[FarSight XR-20]

​

The N64 is now 25 years old (released in Japan on June 23, 1996). In my opinion one of the top 3 consoles of Nintendo. I'm curious to know what were your favorite games or your opinion on this console ?

My top 10 in my case:

1) Perfect Dark

2) Jet Force Gemini

3) Banjo-Kazoie

4) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

5) Starfox 64

6) Conker's Bad Fur Day

7) GoldenEye 007

8) Banjo-Tooie

9) Turok 2: Seeds of Evil

10) 1080° Snowboarding

 

[Y2Kev]

Oh my godddddd. I love this console. JFG is bad though.

 

[Mike Rambo]

Can't believe I'm exactly one year older than the n64 happy birthday to us and sonic

 

[BrokenFiction]

A buddy and I spent hours beating the hell out of each other in this:

 

[Deleted member 5491]

Yes the library was small, but as a kid at the time, with just 2-3 game a year (at best next to a GameBoy) the N64 were great.
What a interesting time it was. The jump to 3D and then with a game like Mario 64 and other games like Zelda OoT and MM
and more.
I like my N64

 

[Mass Effect]

Things I didn't want to hear today:

no but seriously, still one of my favorite consoles ever. It's actually what got me into gaming. MK64 and Star Fox 64 were the first games I remember ever playing.

 

[Diablo Rosso]

Makes you feel really old when you realise the N64 is only 5 years younger than Sonic the Hedgehog.

 

[gofreak]

My first 'day one' console. Loved it to bits.

God I feel old.

 

[Zalman]

Despite its relative failure, it's arguably one of the most revolutionary systems of all time. So many of its titles completely changed the game (literally).

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

TIL the N64 was released on Sonic's 5th anniversary I guess

 

[bushmonkey]

I was 17 when it came out? What? I always thought I was much younger when the N64 arrived

 

[BrickArts295]

Good lord. I remember playing Mario Party 3 and Kart with my cousins like it was yesterday and how Ocarina of Time was a mind blowing at the time.

 

[treasureyez]

A buddy and I spent hours beating the hell out of each other in this:

Click to shrink...

ah, loved that cheat code to make a fight trigger every few seconds

 

[Trago]

Probably the best console revisit to this day since so many titles can be enjoyed locally with friends.

 

[It’s Time To Go]

The first home console i ever played. It was my brothers, cos i was only 6 when he got it in 1999, but he lost interest in it pretty quick, so it became mine. I rented Pokemon stadium so many times, i must have paid for the cost of the game several times over.

 

[BrokenFiction]

Playing games on this with a CRT or PVM is still a joy.

 

[Badcoo]

The magic this console brought. Only lacked a Metroid game.

 

[Ecotic]

That list is depressing, because mine would be similar. Nintendo not buying/selling Rare was such a foul-up. Owning a Nintendo console has never been the same without them. I'll never not be bitter about it.

 

[LostCauseUnite!]

Celebrating the N64 bday.

Resetera do what Nintendon't!* lol


*as of 12 est

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

It brought us one of the absolute best games of all time:

Fun story about this. I wanted this so bad for Christmas when it came out - I was in 6th grade or so, I think. I begged. But my mom was completely unwilling to purchase the game plus the expansion pak for one title. She was adamant it was too expensive.

I go to my Grandma's Christmas Eve Party where she invites a bunch of family and friends. While there, I meet her neighbor's kid, and as we begin talking about games, I eventually comment about how bad I want this game for Christmas, but why it won't happen.

He looks at me and goes, "I have an extra Expansion Pak. We already had one and then I got DK64, which includes one - you want it?" I thought he was gonna ask for something in return. Nope. He approaches his parents, asks, they say "sure," and we run over to his house and he hands me his extra.

So of course, I rush back to the party, find my mom, explain the situation, and BEG her to get me the game.

Bless her heart and man am I lucky, I get the game the next day. She tells me she called like eight stores and nobody had it in stock any more the night before Christmas, except for a Sears about 25 minutes away. Sure as shit, she got the last copy.

To this day, one of my Top Five of All Time.

 

[ContractHolder]

Ah, one of the two systems that made my childhood. Happy birthday, you beautiful system!

 

[Truno]

First console I ever played on. I actually used to watch my brother play and my mom would give me a disconnected controller so I would feel as if I was playing. Pretty sure I have pictures of myself sucking on a pacifier whilst playing with a unplugged controller lol, great times. Great list OP, but you're missing one of the greats:

 

[Fuzzy]

This thread needs more WCW/nWo Revenge.

 

[thetroublewith]

I need remakes of these.

 

[Uncle Squingis]

What a weird regression in box art from BK1 to 2.

 

[QuigleyMcShine]

Bring back Jet Force Gemini. It could XBox's Ratchet & Clank, but with a hover-dog.

What a weird regression in box art from BK1 to 2.

Click to shrink...

Also weird regression in game quality.

 

[Kamek]

Yes the library was small, but as a kid at the time, with just 2-3 game a year (at best next to a GameBoy) the N64 were great.
What a interesting time it was. The jump to 3D and then with a game like Mario 64 and other games like Zelda OoT and MM
and more.
I like my N64

Click to shrink...

The thing is, it never felt small to me. Many of the games had insane replay value, and perhaps it was being a young kid, but I had the time to play and replay things over and over. I'd play Smash for Ages locally and Mario Party/2. Paper Mario when it was first shown was so exciting because it brought back the clown copter in the initial screens. I played Mario 64 for ages, figuring out how to get every star. "Wall kicks will work" blew my mind as a kid when I was finally able to execute it. Then I had Majora's Mask which had insane replay value trying to get all the masks and fairies. The rare collect-athons were also so much fun. I spent lots of time trying to 100% these games. Trying to find all the secret Pokemon in Snap. Seeing if Luigi was really in Mario 64

Amazing times. The internet and tips and faqs were there, but there was something innocent about a time where not every solution was on a video and you had to figure it out yourself or use words or static pics to solve a problem.

Then there was the rumble pack which was so fucking cool for it's time. Made everything feel real. And the GB player extension as well.

Loved this system. Really pushed things forward.

 

[Brinbe]

fuck yea

 

[zyvorg]

Still remember spending hours trying to get used to the then "strange" Mario 64 control scheme, thankfully those full color manuals when into a lot of depth on everything that could be done.

So many great memories of the N64, also love how every developer was trying to figure out how to make and control 3D games, it was a wild west era and you never knew what you were going to get.

 

[Forkball]

PAPER

MARIO

N64/PSX era is special to me because that's when I started to really follow games seriously. Reading magazines, knowing release dates, following developers etc. Before that it was the Wild West. Karate Kid for NES? Surely this is a good use of my mom's money!

 

[Rizific]

those were some damn good times. definitely the centerpiece of a sleep-over and sometimes was even the whole reason to have the sleep-over.

 

[wallmeat]

I loved this system and my neighbor had a PlayStation, it was a fun time all around for both of us.

I remember playing the Super Mario 64 demo kiosk at Toys R Us one day near release and it changed the way I thought about video games. I've replayed it in the last year and still had an amazing time with it.

 

[AaronMT]

The system that delivered the greatest intro in gaming.

 

[nihilence]

A buddy and I spent hours beating the hell out of each other in this:

Click to shrink...

I can't remember the hours I put into this.

 

[Diarrhea Day-Lewis]

My fav console of all time. Not necessarily the best but I was like 9-13 during its peak so it gave me amazing memories, with people who I still spend time with today and some who are no longer here.

My top games have to be

1. Mario 64
2. Goldeneye
3. Ocarina of Time
4. Mario Kart 65
5. Shadows of the Empire
6. Star Fox 64
7. Tony Hawk

 

[Deleted member 3208]

My first console. Still remember my grandmother gifted us the Nintendo 64 and Mario Party 1 in 1998. So many good memories. Even bought Starcraft 64 because we couldn't get it on PC.

 

[Deleted member 5491]

The thing is, it never felt small to me. Many of the games had insane replay value, and perhaps it was being a young kid, but I had the time to play and replay things over and over. I'd play Smash for Ages locally and Mario Party/2. Paper Mario when it was first shown was so exciting because it brought back the clown copter in the initial screens. I played Mario 64 for ages, figuring out how to get every star. "Wall kicks will work" blew my mind as a kid when I was finally able to execute it. Then I had Majora's Mask which had insane replay value trying to get all the masks and fairies. The rare collect-athons were also so much fun. I spent lots of time trying to 100% these games. Trying to find all the secret Pokemon in Snap. Seeing if Luigi was really in Mario 64

Amazing times. The internet and tips and faqs were there, but there was something innocent about a time where not every solution was on a video and you had to figure it out yourself or use words or static pics to solve a problem.

Then there was the rumble pack which was so fucking cool for it's time. Made everything feel real. And the GB player extension as well.

Loved this system. Really pushed things forward.

Click to shrink...

Same here.
With Majora, with searching for every corner in Mario 64, with doing all the content in both Pokémon Stadiums and fighting friends, doing cart raced with my dad every day in Mario Kart 64. So often, that he got really good at it and just being blown away at what you could do and figuring out how far you could go.
Amazing times

 

[andymcc]

Probably one of the absolute worst game consoles for me with a library of games I really don't like. Almost all of the genres and publishers that were great on NES/SNES get zero representation on this thing.

Handful of games on it are really awesome and there is no denying how it changed the console landscape, though.

Happy Birthday to Mario 64-- still the GOAT exclusive launch title.

 

[srtrestre]

Legendary console.

 

[killuglypop]

GoldenEye was a force of nature, incredible how it appeared fairly early into the consoles existence. The guns felt so damn right, you really were James Bond running around those brilliantly designed levels

I feel other Rare efforts didn't age well at all though, DK64 and JFG got ridiculously high review scores. A magical time, used to love reading magazines over and over

 

[criteriondog]

One of the best consoles ever. So much fun!

 

[Temascos]

So much time was spent in Perfect Dark's combat simulator with my friends. Those later challenges were brutal as hell, and god help you if you go N-bombed and tranqed, the screen would get blurry and the framerate would tank! :)

Excellent console.

 

[Kamek]

Same here.
With Majora, with searching for every corner in Mario 64, with doing all the content in both Pokémon Stadiums and fighting friends, doing cart raced with my dad every day in Mario Kart 64. So often, that he got really good at it and just being blown away at what you could do and figuring out how far you could go.
Amazing times

Click to shrink...

The interesting thing I see today is people complaining about games having "too much content" or being "too long". I always laugh at that, because it's all I wanted as a kid - to get as much out of the experience as I could. I'd never think of a game as having "overstayed" it's welcome but that's just me.

One other thing - I remember certain games coming with new hardware to "enhance" the system. The Rumble Pack with Starfox, and the expansion pack with DK64. Always thought that was so cool.

And transferring my Pokemon Team to Pokemon Stadium and being able to play on my TV was insane.

 

[Juryvicious]

For my group of friends, throughout college, gatherings, etc, it went toe to toe with the PS1 during its generation.

Great system with A LOT of quality games, not just 1st party, that people often overlook.

 

[boxter432]

small library but the highest of highs. My Favorite console by a mile. biggest reason was I was a teenager during this time, so tons of multi-player gaming sessions of MK, Wrestling, Goldeneye/PD, Mario Party, Conker MP, on top of the top tier SP Zelda/Mario/Banjo. It was also fun trying out other games like Wave Race, Blast corps, Castlevania, and others.
Didn't know it wasn't all that successful vs PS until after the fact, I was in a little bubble where to me it seemed like more people had 64.

 

[Deleted member 5491]

The interesting thing I see today is people complaining about games having "too much content" or being "too long". I always laugh at that, because it's all I wanted as a kid - to get as much out of the experience as I could. I'd never think of a game as having "overstayed" it's welcome but that's just me.

One other thing - I remember certain games coming with new hardware to "enhance" the system. The Rumble Pack with Starfox, and the expansion pack with DK64. Always thought that was so cool.

And transferring my Pokemon Team to Pokemon Stadium and being able to play on my TV was insane.

Click to shrink...

The thing is, there is so much more to do than just gaming when you were a kid. You also have so much more games you could buy and play.
I mean look at Mario 64. That game isn't long at all, but it was new, we were stupid kids and haven't experienced anything like it and so we were able to dive in that deep, because what else was there to play?
Many games today are too long or ar filled with repeated fluff like in the bog standard Ubisoft Open World game. Games have changed, as well as we as a person and our circumstances

 

[nStruct]

Experiencing the magic of Mario 64 is something I'll never forget

 

[Tom Nook]

N64 era were indeed amazing times.

Mario 64, Banjo, Zelda OoT, and Rare were at their peak with Goldeneye, PD, and Kiddy Kong Racing.

The Aki games during when Wrestling was super hot were the best times to be a wrestling fan.

Even bought Starcraft 64 because we couldn't get it on PC.

Click to shrink...

Same.

Had a blast on the N64 version. My brother and I as the Terrians would co-op against Zergs and Protoss.

Why is this game ever on VC during the Wii years? Using the pointer would be amazing for it. :(

 

[Celine]

While the support from japanese third-party publishers was weak it still got some bangers:

 

[srtrestre]

Mario Kart 64 with friends, racing or battle mode, was pretty much heaven at the time