Probably not the most underrated relative to its quality, but as a fan of offbeat fighting games I have a soft spot for Rakugakids:
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What is the most underrated N64 game
- Thread starter alexi52
- Start date
So many, most already mentioned like Body harvest, blast corps, the goemon games, space station silicon valley, rocket: robot on wheels, sin and punishment, mischief makers, bangai-o.
The one I want to highlight is Pokemon Puzzle League. It's a great sequel to Tetris attack and barely ever mentioned.
The one I want to highlight is Pokemon Puzzle League. It's a great sequel to Tetris attack and barely ever mentioned.
Nice to see N64 getting a lot of appreciation. One of the most unique consoles in history and a deceptively diverse library.
Chameleon Twist's value in my eyes stand in feeling like a japanese NES platform game in term of atmosphere, if you understand what I mean.
Rocket: Robot on Wheels is good but the camera system has issues so keep it in mind. It's definitely among the top 3D platform games on N64.
Also one of the most technical impressive game on N64.
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Command and Conquer, StarCraft 64 and Ogre Battle 64 IMO; for a console that didn't get a lot of strategy games the few it did get were all fantastic.
Some great answers in here already; I'll signal boost some I agree with, before adding one I haven't seen mentioned yet.
I actually think a Blast Corps update is weirdly, blindingly obvious.
City-scale destruction, with all kinds of SFX? The N64 struggled, but a sequel could look amazing.
Definitely overlooked, on PC as well I think. It had the misfortune to come out just as the Descent genre was dying.
Jet Force Gemini might well be the most overlooked soundtrack of the N64. Still the best menu music in my opinion:
So onto my own addition; not a game I think about often, but I did spend hours playing Wetrix:
Some kind of update would be great but as I learned from the vid above, almost every company having anything to do with the game has disbanded, which might explain why that hasn't happened yet.
I actually think a Blast Corps update is weirdly, blindingly obvious.
City-scale destruction, with all kinds of SFX? The N64 struggled, but a sequel could look amazing.
Definitely overlooked, on PC as well I think. It had the misfortune to come out just as the Descent genre was dying.
Jet Force Gemini might well be the most overlooked soundtrack of the N64. Still the best menu music in my opinion:
So onto my own addition; not a game I think about often, but I did spend hours playing Wetrix:
Some kind of update would be great but as I learned from the vid above, almost every company having anything to do with the game has disbanded, which might explain why that hasn't happened yet.
I love the N64. BIg part of my childhood. N64 games were just so colorful and quirky.
As for underrated games, Bomberman Heroes, Space Station Silicon Valley, Starshot Space Circuit Fever, International Super Star Soccer, Episode 1 Racer and S.C.A.R.S. come to mind.
I really regret never having played Goemon. Looks like so much fun!
As for underrated games, Bomberman Heroes, Space Station Silicon Valley, Starshot Space Circuit Fever, International Super Star Soccer, Episode 1 Racer and S.C.A.R.S. come to mind.
I really regret never having played Goemon. Looks like so much fun!
Celine I think I know what you mean, looking at the artwork and screens. Thank you. In fact I wonder if I rented it as a kid because the screens look kind of familiar but I may be just mixing my memories up with looking at screens in a magazine. Do you feel like the gameplay/level design is worthwhile in this one?
This game is amazing. I have it ready on my new chrkmecast for an replay.
I also loved goemon
I'm not convinced there are truly any underrated games on the system. If you love the N64, you are certainly aware of Ogre Battle 64, Mischief Makers, and Sin and Punishment (which are the best games on the console, but not quite as high profile as the usual suspects). Basically, there aren't enough great games on the console to have excellent games that have fallen through the cracks.
The best you are going to be able to do is list some extremely flawed games that may have more redeeming qualities than people give them credit for having. On that note, I nominate the N64 Castlevania games. They aren't great, but they feel like they are actively trying to translate the Castlevania experience to the N64. That is a whole lot more than I can say about that Lord of Shadow nonsense.
The best you are going to be able to do is list some extremely flawed games that may have more redeeming qualities than people give them credit for having. On that note, I nominate the N64 Castlevania games. They aren't great, but they feel like they are actively trying to translate the Castlevania experience to the N64. That is a whole lot more than I can say about that Lord of Shadow nonsense.
I barely remember this game, but I do recall liking it a fair bit.
Ogre Battle 64. One of the best games of all time.
I feel like you're confusing underrated with hidden gem.
I feel like you're confusing underrated with hidden gem.
N64 in general is, nowadays, a ridiculously underrated system.
All due to the framerate and filter.
It's an amazing console, as demonstrated by all the replies here.
My picks:
NBA Hangtime - this is NBA Jam, but better. By far the best port of the arcade game.
Robotron - hook up two controllers, and you have a perfect twin stick shooter
Everyone seemed to know about this game back in the day, so i still don't consider it a hidden gem.
All due to the framerate and filter.
It's an amazing console, as demonstrated by all the replies here.
My picks:
NBA Hangtime - this is NBA Jam, but better. By far the best port of the arcade game.
Robotron - hook up two controllers, and you have a perfect twin stick shooter
Everyone seemed to know about this game back in the day, so i still don't consider it a hidden gem.
You know what... I think you are right. Even right after I posted that comment I felt like I was sorta blending the two concepts together.
So good.
Hybrid Heaven. I admit I haven't played the game since I was a kid, but I remember enjoying it despite it getting some seriously mixed reception from the gaming media.
Minna De Tamagotchi World.
I had sooooo much fun playing this when I was in my early teens.
It was a JP only release, so that kind of makes it underrated/underappreciated by definition.
I had sooooo much fun playing this when I was in my early teens.
It was a JP only release, so that kind of makes it underrated/underappreciated by definition.
Extreme-G
Wipeout 64
Duke Nukem 64
Rush 2049
Mission Impossible
Winback
Fighting Force
Gex 64
Ridge Racer 64
Aero Gauge
Star Wars: Battle for Naboo
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
Star Wars: Episode I: Racer
Wave Race 64
Excitebike 64
1080 Snowboarding
Hydro Thunder
World Driver Championship
Chameleon Twist
Killer Instinct Gold
Turok: Rage Wars
Gauntlet Legends
WCW vs NWO: World Tour
WCW vs NWO: Revenge
N64 is such an underrated platform with many great games. Too bad it was bashed to death by detractors and fanboys alike and, in result, alienated many players from enjoying it's library outside of the evergreen titles.
Wipeout 64
Duke Nukem 64
Rush 2049
Mission Impossible
Winback
Fighting Force
Gex 64
Ridge Racer 64
Aero Gauge
Star Wars: Battle for Naboo
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
Star Wars: Episode I: Racer
Wave Race 64
Excitebike 64
1080 Snowboarding
Hydro Thunder
World Driver Championship
Chameleon Twist
Killer Instinct Gold
Turok: Rage Wars
Gauntlet Legends
WCW vs NWO: World Tour
WCW vs NWO: Revenge
N64 is such an underrated platform with many great games. Too bad it was bashed to death by detractors and fanboys alike and, in result, alienated many players from enjoying it's library outside of the evergreen titles.
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon. Every time someone does a list dump of "greatest" N64 games, they always mention the first-party Nintendo offerings and the Rare-developed stuff, but Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon easily goes toe-to-toe with anything Nintendo or Rare made for the N64, but rarely gets mentioned in the same breath.
All official Controller Paks use SRAM, so their batteries will die eventually and need to be replaced. I bought a DexDrive for that purpose (still works on Windows 10!) so I could back up my saves when I finish games (and then solder in a new battery when the SRAM dies). I *also* bought an FRAM modded Controller Pak off eBay. I don't remember the exact length of time it'll last... but it should definitely stay function for the next several decades at least (since it's flash memory (I think?) it should go by number of rewrites. And it should last a ton of rewrites—the GBA Fire Emblem games used FRAM, since the games autosave after every turn).
Also note that a good few N64 cartridges that save to cartridge use batteries instead of flash. Make sure the games you want to play have new batteries in them first, if they use SRAM, as we are reaching life expectancy now (though given how long NES cartridges seem to be conserving data, I wouldn't be surprised if some N64 cartridges retain data for a couple more decades from this point even). Some of these games are: Ocarina of Time, F-Zero X, Smash Bros and Ogre Battle 64, among others. That's why I'll be playing Ogre Battle 64 in WiiU in the end even though I've got the cartridge—why bother putting all this effort in if my data will (definitely) disappear one day (in my lifetime) :/
Snowboard Kids 2
Goemon's Great Adventure
Bomberman Second Attack
People always talk about Mystical Ninja starring Goemon, Bomberman Hero and Bomberman 64 yet somehow always forget Goemon's Great Adventure and Bomberman Second Attack which are both super solid games.
Goemon's Great Adventure
Bomberman Second Attack
People always talk about Mystical Ninja starring Goemon, Bomberman Hero and Bomberman 64 yet somehow always forget Goemon's Great Adventure and Bomberman Second Attack which are both super solid games.
I still remember my brother playing that constantly.
"Oh there's a fine target"
"Oh there's a fine target"
"Oh there's a fine target"
"Oh there's a fine target"
"Oh there's a fine target"
"Oh there's a fine target"
"Oh there's a fine target"
"Oh there's a fine target"
"Oh there's a fine target"
Came in to post this. The music was amazing, and the game got a lot of undeserved flack at the time.
Castlevania 64.
Watched Dark1x DF Retro vid on it, it really ain't that bad
Seconding Diddy Kong Racing. It really was a true gem and my jam as a kid. Taking the typical Mario Kart formula and packaging it with Rare's charming 3D adventure structure, made for an all-around great N64 title. I prefer it over Mario Kart 64 and a sequel is an unattainable dream of mine.
I thoroughly enjoyed the open world freedom of the game. And flying races were my favorite. I love how you could use the hovercrafts and the primitive waves to make quasi ramps for shortcuts. The story based single player was super fun, and I had a blast with the multiplayer battles. Tiptup was my little turtle man! ^_^
I thoroughly enjoyed the open world freedom of the game. And flying races were my favorite. I love how you could use the hovercrafts and the primitive waves to make quasi ramps for shortcuts. The story based single player was super fun, and I had a blast with the multiplayer battles. Tiptup was my little turtle man! ^_^
Great call. I purchased this Blockbuster exclusive day one and really enjoyed it. I had played the original on PC and F5 made some nice qol updates with z-targeting, etc. Your post covers the positive qualities well.
Haven't laughed that hard in a while. I'm guessing this was intentionally glitchy? Or is this actually how the game shipped??
Agree 100%.
It's still such a great console, but like I said earlier, the FPS and the fog filter on games tend to make people hate this system.
It's still one of my favorite consoles, and the fact it runs off cartridges makes it incredibly unique - not to mention the loading times are usually minimal on the system.
It's encouraging to see how much enthusiasm there is for the console here!
I want to say that there's also a bug is SSV that happens if you play the game with the expansion RAM in the 64?
Or is that the same bug...?
Ah nope never heard of this one, apparently only happened for NTSC consoles (I'm EU) from little googling.
The one I was thinking about concerns one of those golden trophy you can collect on each level.
https://tcrf.net/Bugs:Space_Station_Silicon_Valley_(Nintendo_64)
"Present in all versions of the game is a bug where the trophy for the level Fat Bear Mountain cannot be collected. This is due to its hitbox size being set to 0, meaning you'll just pass right through it."
Great idea for a thread, as simple as the OP's ask is.
Picking a single console to examine for a hidden treasure seems to net better discussion then broadly asking for underrated games, where you'll usually hear about the same titles.
Picking a single console to examine for a hidden treasure seems to net better discussion then broadly asking for underrated games, where you'll usually hear about the same titles.
Yup. It has a good rep I think but the game is a god damn masterpiece and definitely in square enixs unforgivable list of forgotten games