United States and Canada in 1998 despite Sony's best efforts.
The whole Wrestling theme was really big that year and people when nuts
for WCW/NWO Revenge and WWF War Zone. Nintendo may have lost
some thunder in 1998 with bombs like Yoshi's Story but they quickly
gained it back with massive hits like Zelda: Ocarina of Time and
Goldeneye's re-release later on in 1998. The 4 controller ports in
front of the system were really making the N64 the console of choice for
the multi-player gamers out there and Nintendo started to really dish out
these types of games in 1999 with Mario Party and Super Smash
Bros.
Although 2000 was another great year for the N64 (Pokemon Stadium
was even the top selling console game of 2000) but it was clear that the
fun machine was just too out of date because of its blurry graphics and
weaker sound thanks to the limitations of the cartridge compared to the
CD-Rom. The new 128-bit Sega Dreamcast and Sony's low game prices
were just too much for the poor old Nintendo64.
Sadly, Nintendo has no plans to release any new games beyond the second
half of 2001 or in 2002 (only games like Tony Hawk 3, Maddan 2002
and the Power Puff Girls are being released but only in limited numbers)
Sadly the Gamecube will NOT be
backward compatible so you cannot play your N64 cartridges on the system but the Nintendo Wii lets you download some of these games from the Virtual Console.
If you think that you seen it all for the Nintendo 64 then maybe you should
consider getting some of the import titles? Despite the fact that the N64
was never a huge hit in Japan there are still tons of great (and not
so great) N64games only released over there. First off there was the popular
Custom Robo series where you get to create your robot and place them
into one on one battles to earn money for more parts. The games were a cross
between Virtua On and Pokemon. There are also other cool Japanese
games like Sin and Punishment and BangaiOh to find.
Final Word: Let's face it. Nintendo makes
some the best games in the world and the Nintendo 64 only continued that tradition
but in 3D. It wasn't a perfect machine but you don't know what your missing
if you don't play some of these games at least once. Heck, I had more fun with my N64
then I had with my Playstation and I'm not afraid to admit it. So
long N64, thanks for the memories.
System Rating out of 100: 80/100
Rare scale: 1/10 are you kidding? You can't find one?
The N64 Accessories (what you need to know)
N64 Controller
The N64 Controller is HUGE but fairly comfortable. It doesn't feel as good
as the Playstation controller but it's really useful for the 3D games out
there thanks to the new analog stick (Sony would later add two analog sticks
to their controllers but it was Nintendo's original idea and Sony's analog
sticks are far too loose for my liking).Although the N64 controller also includes a digital cross
pad similar to the Super Nes controller cross pad, it's only 4 way instead
of 8 way which is kind of annoying in games like Killer Instinct Gold.
The N64 controller has a serial port in the back that works with the accessories
the Rumble Pak, the Transfer Pak and the Memory Game Pak.
Rumble Pak
Star Fox 64 was introduced as the first ever 'feedback' console game
in
August
30 1997
because
the game was packaged with the new Rumble Pak. The Rumble Pak makes Nintendo
64 games more interactive by making the controller shake after taking hits
(or for any almost moment really) in the game. Plugs right in the back controller
easily but you still have to be careful not to switch the Memory Pak for the
Rumble Pak during game play. You need 2 AAAbatteries for the Rumble Pak to
work.
Memory Game Pak
The Game Pak holds 123 blocks of Memory which isn't too much considering that
a lot of games take around 40blocks (like in Bust A Move 99 and Rush
2) to save data. If you want to check your Game Pak data then you have
to get a Controller and Game Pak plugged in the N64 then hold down the Start
button before you turn on the system. Most Nintendo games like Super
Mario 64 and the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time doesn’t
need a Game Pak because they feature build in battery back up instead.
Expansion 4 Meg Pak
This little device upgrades the Nintendo 64 by adding an extra 4 Megs of Ram
(that doubles your system's Ram by the way). Just replace your wimpy Jump Pak inside the N64
with Expansion Pak and you're ready to go. The Expansion Pak will only work
on certain games though so be sure to check the box to see if what games get
upgraded. Donkey Kong 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask NEEDS
the Expansion Pak to work plus other games like Star Craft 64 and Perfect
Dark will have additional features added to games.
Transfer Pak
The Transfer Pak originally was packed in with the hit game Pokemon Stadium in 2000 but you can also buy it separately if you like. This lets you transfer
your Game boy game data to a certain N64 game if it’s compatible.
Some of the most Common N64 games:
Body Harvest
Dark Rift
Hexen 64
Madden 64
Pokemon Snap
Quarterback Club Whatever
War Gods
Some of the
Rarest N64 games:
Bust a Move 99 (Acclaim, 1999)
Harvest Moon 64
Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine
Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time: Gold edition (Nintendo, 1998)
NFL Blitz Special Edition
Star Craft 64 (Nintendo/Rebellion, 2000)
The New Tetris
Track and Field 2000
Transformers: Trans Metal
Tony Hawk Proskater 3 (Activision, 2002)
Worms Armageddon
This may be the last N64 game ever so it may be collectable.
Top Ten favourite
games for the N64:
10. STAR SOLDIER Vanishing Earth (Hudson Soft, December 1998)
9. TETRISPHERE (H2O, September 1997)
8. SUPER SMASH BROS. (Nintendo, April 1999)
7. STAR FOX 64 (Nintendo, 1997)
6. DONKEY KONG 64 (Rare, 1999)
5. LEGEND OF ZELDA Majora's Mask (Nintendo, 2000)
4. LEGEND OF ZELDA Ocarina of Time (Nintendo, November 1998)
3. SUPER
MARIO 64
2. CONKER'S BAD FUR DAY (Rare, 2001)
#1. WWF
NO MERCY (THQ/Aki, November 2000)
Other great N64 games:
Banjo Tooie
Ogre Battle 64
Wave Race 64
Rayman 2
Golden Eye
Banjo Kazooie
Ms. Pac Man Maze Madness
N64's Most Disappointing:
Knife Edge
WCW Mayham
Aidyn Chronicles The First
Mage
BomberMan Hero
Magical Tetris Challenge
N64's Worst Games:
Anyone who hates a game machine has probably plays the wrong games right from
the start. For example, these N64 games!
StarSoldier's top five worse n64 Games:
5. SOUTH PARK RALLY (Acclaim,
2000)
4. HEY YOU PIKACHU (Nintendo/Game Freak,
December 10, 2000
)
3.
BATMAN BEYOND (UBIsoft, 2000)
2. WCW NITRO
(THQ, 1999)
1. HEXEN 64 (GT Interactive, 1997)
N64's Most Underrated:
STARSOLDIER: VANISHING EARTH
Flying Dragon
Go to N64 REVIEWS > >
In just three months, Nintendo would release
the N64 over here, but it's a different story this time. Super Mario
64 wowed everybody and many American Companies (Midway, Lucas Arts) released
games for the N64 which kept it alive and selling sometimes better than
the rival PS. The N64 still got hurt by massive delays, remember that Zelda
was suppose to come out summer 1997 not fall 1998, and the year 2000 is
no exception, Perfect Dark came out May 2000, NOT December 9, 1999
like it was suppose to.
Square was a big boost for Sony but the N64 continued to sell well
in the