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Hidden N64 gems! [roundtable]
 
The N64... didn't have very many games. You'd think that every good one that DID come out would have found an audience. Not true! Following is a small list of passed-over N64 gems:

1) Micro Machines 64 - This is seriously one of the best multiplayer games of all time. Up to 8 players with 4 controllers, and the mechanics of the game make it work fantastically. And it's plenty of fun with two players, as well. MM64 is a goddamned riot. This franchise needs to return in style.

2) Bust-a-Move '99 - Four-player Bust-a-Move madness? Sign me up!! Sure, it's couched in a weird, 'party-mode' style with tiny graphics and a handful of fixed stages, but you know what? Still awesome. The New Tetris was a great multiplayer game, too, but I think that game is pretty well known.

3) Yoshi's Story - If for nothing else than the superb music and graphics! But I like this game. It's ornery and particular, but I like it.

I could keep going (not for very long, though), but let's hear what you guys have to say. Can you think of any forgotten N64 classics?

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12/02/10, 17:49  
 
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@ludist210

I rented Bomberman 64 and WCW/nWo: World Tour years ago when they both were new (before Christmas sometime?). Needless to say, the wrestling game garnered much more of my attention.. Maybe Bomberman didn't get a fair shake? I didn't like it much.
12/03/10, 01:15   
@Bjomesphat The best version of Rayman 2 is apparently the Dreamcast version, but I've never played it since I don't have one. The next best after that is supposed to be the N64 version. The PSX version is pared down in content, compared to the other versions. I've never played it so I don't know if it's still enjoyable in its own right, but the N64 version sounds like your best bet here.

@Mr_Mustache I loved the multiplayer mode in Bomberman 64, but I never got too far in the single-player mode. I've tried to go back to it from time to time, but have yet to finish the entire thing.
12/03/10, 01:41   
@X-pert74

I only had the single player stuff to do. I think my parents had friends over and I sat in a dark room all night.

Scott Hall was dishing out nasty fake Outsider's Edge's though. Just nasty.
12/03/10, 01:44   
You guys have nailed a lot of the games that I was thinking about. I'll add Quake II, which supported the expansion-Pak (I think) and was about 10,000 times more fun in single-player than the PC version. The multiplayer was really good, too.

Bomberman 64 had really interesting multiplayer. So different. Gone forever...

@Kal-El814
Blast Corps is fun, but do not EVER try to 100% it. That way lies madness.

@X-pert74
There's a PS2 version of Rayman 2, also, I think.
12/03/10, 03:15   
Edited: 12/03/10, 03:17
anandxxx said:


@Kal-El814
Blast Corps is fun, but do not EVER try to 100% it. That way lies madness.

I'll echo that. Stop at "Gold" if you endeavor.
12/03/10, 03:35   
I freakin' loved Extreme-G. Fantastic racing game.
12/03/10, 04:40   
OH MY GOD HOW DID I FORGET THIS:



Loved this game, though I never did buy it (rented it three or four times). Damn, I would kill for a VC release of this.
12/03/10, 05:14   
Bjomesphat said:
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon.

One of my favorite games of all time. I still own the original cartridge but would love to play it in 480p on the VC.

And does anyone want to comment on what the best version of Rayman 2 is? (N64 or PS1). I've never played the game, but saw it on PSN and was interested. I don't want to get it if it's an inferior version though.
This quote is full of win. Rayman 2 just seemed to plop itself down from a decade in the future and destroy all others that came before it. Space Station Silicon Valley is another winner. However, I don't see that anybody has mentioned Duke Nukem: Zer0 hour yet. That was a fantastic piece of software.
12/03/10, 06:01   
While many have been mentioned, I'd like to add and reiterate if I may...

Beetle Adventure Racing!, Goemon's Great Adventure, Hybrid Heaven, Jet Force Gemini, Mischief Makers, Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, Space Station Silicon Valley, The New Tetris, and WinBack.

I always wanted to try Chameleon Twist, but never had the chance. And while I have and enjoyed Fighter's Destiny... I don't know if I'd call it a gem. I think I just liked it because I was desperate for a fighting game given the severe genre drought during the N64 era.

The New Tetris is my favorite from what I've listed above, though I'm not sure if it can really be considered a hidden gem. But a gem it is. It's one of the few N64 VC games I really wish would be made available. Sure I have my N64 copy, but having it more easily at hand would be great.
12/03/10, 06:31   
A lot of mine were already mentioned. Blast Corps, Body Harvest, Extreme-G, Mischief Makers, Sin and Punishment. And Bangai-O on N64 is basically the same as the Dreamcast version with a few differences.

The few games I didn't see mentioned are all racers. Top Gear Rally, Top Gear Rally 2 and World Driver Championship. The Top Gear games are both very good for different reasons, and WDC was just an amazing game. It was basically Gran Turismo on the N64. It didn't have the number of cars, but it was pretty sim-ish racing.
12/03/10, 06:57   
@anandxxx Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. I prefer the N64 version because it was the first one I played, and the PS2 version adds this overworld to the game, while switching around different places in each world. It's like a remix of the game, and it had actual voice acting as opposed to the original versions' gibberish (though I later found out you could apparently switch it over to having gibberish voice acting in the options), so it didn't appeal to me.
12/03/10, 08:00   
I don't think many of these games are hidden gems per say, they're just games you liked. Blast Corps? Really? Snowboard Kids is one I'd put in that hidden gem category though. Mario Kart + snowboarding + awesome, peppy music = whole lot of fun. The sequel wasn't as good but still a fun game.

People probably passed on it since it's called "Snowboard Kids" but it's a really fun, quality game.

Chameleon Twist was alright but I wouldn't put it in the hidden gem area. Mischief Makers I guess would count but the game seems to get mentioned a lot for it to be a forgotten classic. Cult classic would be a better term for it IMO.
12/03/10, 17:30   
That might be true. Iggy's Recking Balls was definitely hidden. I always wanted to try that game. It seemed to have a really complete feature set.

@gojira
Top Gear Rally was pretty good.

Extreme-G was good, too. Do you guys remember Forsaken? But that was more of a PC thing.
12/03/10, 19:01   
The thing I remember most about Top Gear Rally was getting to create your own paint job. We spent HOURS on that alone.

In fact, I don't recall ever actually doing the races themselves much...
12/03/10, 23:09   
Edited: 12/03/10, 23:09
I think they were drifty. And had good graphics.

I actually remember N64 as kind of being THE place to go for racing games. Until Gran Turismo. And after, actually. Fuck Gran Turismo.

WipeOut XL and CTR and Ridge Racer were good, though.
12/03/10, 23:25   
Like half my N64 collection was racers! N64 racers were the bomb! Too bad it didn't have much else.

I wonder if a part of this is the fact that developers didn't really know how to approach a lot of traditional genres in 3D, but the racing genre was already kind of 3D even when it was 2D? (Outside of top-down stuff...)
12/03/10, 23:32   
Edited: 12/03/10, 23:33
@anandxxx

Lies. CTR was a poor Mario Kart clone at best. I hated it.
12/03/10, 23:33   
Yeah I'm not sure if I would consider a lot of these hidden gems. If only because owning an N64 it was almost required to find out about all these games just to have something to play.
12/03/10, 23:40   
@Shadowlink
Really? I'm no fan of Naughty Dog, but I thought CTR was their finest hour. It was a clone of MK64/DKR, but a well-done one, I thought, with a lot of the best of both worlds, and some new tweaks on top (like the airtime boost and the progressive turning boost which worked kind of like MKWii's).

The characters were stupid, though.

And then Jak X was shit.

@Zero
The funny part to me is that NINTENDO received most of the hardcore racing games.

I dunno. It seems weird, from the perspective of today.

But, then again, when you think about it, Nintendo currently has the top-selling racing game(s), the top-selling fighting game... probably some other top-selling genre games that I can't remember...
12/04/10, 00:02   
@Shadowlink

No way man. Crash Team Racing was fantastic. Good Mario Kart clones only come out once in a blue moon, and CTR was one of those rare gems. The only other one I can think of that was as equally enjoyable is the recently released Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. All other kart racers besides those two (and of course, Mario Kart itself) are pretty much "meh" at best in my opinion.
12/04/10, 02:12   
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