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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It's weird, Sega is totally putting together some um... acceptable... games again. If they keep going up at the rate they kept going down, maybe they will be a good developer again someday!

@anandxxx Top selling racing and fighting games... by totally ignoring what the rest of the industry is doing in those genres. Makes you wonder what other genres Nintendo could totally own if they did just right. Hell, Pikmin is probably one of the best selling console RTS ever.

Sega are 'making' good games again, because they are mostly just publishing them. That's not entirely true, I suppose. But I'm still going to pretend like it is!

As for other genres, FPS baby. If Miyamoto wanted to, he could totally melee Cliffy B in the back of the head. Or something.

Pikmin probably IS the best-selling RTS, if it counts.

@GameDadGrant
Not a Wai Wai Racing fan? Nice icon!

@GameDadGrant

I dunno, I just found it boring. I didn't have nearly as much fun with it.

Of course part of that might have had to do with the fact that we could only ever play 2 player. I know you could use the multitap, but that's not something everyone had available.

@anandxxx Well there is Halo Wars... I think it also broke 1 million. Close call.

Harvest Moon 64 was a pretty great HM. Improved things but didn't over complicate things like today's Harvest Moons tend to. I used to rent it and play well into the dawn on the basis of just "one more day, etc."

Expensive on the used market to. I got mine for 45 bucks.

Battle Tanx. The game was pretty basic, but I found the destructible environments and tank selection fun. I enjoyed the single player and multiplayer as well.

I was also one of the few who enjoyed Bomberman 64. That game was fantastic.... my friends and I used to pound Dew, crank Primus or old Korn, and play multiplayer for hours.

@chrisbg99 Sounds like a deal in comparison to the SNES game. I've heard that one goes in the hundreds range online.

Yeah I've seen Harvest Moon for 80 bucks at my used game store. I got it for 8 bucks on the VC which isn't a bad choice considering the first HM is fairly archaically made.

Virtual Console releases and remakes haven't seemed to devalue the originals as much as I thought they would. Collectors will be collectors, I guess.

roykoopa64 said:

Shadow Man - The game was difficult for me to get into at first, but the game turned out to be very deep and challenging, and it has a great story as well.

Agreed. Shadowman 64 sort of took the place of the non-existent Metroid 64 for me. It had a mix of exploration, artifact collection, and some sort of horror thrown there for good measure.

@Shadowlink

Heh, I just realized I never really played multiplayer Crash Team Racing. I think I played some 2-player VS. races with my girlfriend back in the day, but a majority of the game was spent in the single-player "adventure" (campaign) mode. I preferred Mario Kart 64 overall, but I think the single-player aspects of Naughty Dog's game was superior. More proverbial "bang" for my "buck."

@anandxxx

What's Wai Wai Racing? *goes to do research*

Also, thanks... I felt it was about that time to break out the holiday icons!

EDIT: *comes back from doing research*

So, it's basically Konami's take on the Mario Kart formula, eh? Huh. That one totally slipped by me - I never played it. Apparently it's available for the GBA here in the States. But it's known as Konami Krazy Racers or something like that. Maybe I'll hunt down a copy of the cartridge. Looks pretty decent.

@anon_mastermind
Haha, Nagano '98 got some play in the Rochester meetup. AND was fodder for a key trivia question! (In what year were the Winter Olympics held in Nagano?)

The simple answer is: all of them!

But really, while there may not have been that many releases in the grand scheme of things (296 in NA, 387 total worldwide), I feel like most of the focus was on Nintendo's published titles and most everything else fell through the cracks. And though I would still say the Nintendo titles are the best, there are still plenty of other goodies that are worth playing. It's nice to see that many of them were mentioned in this old thread way back then. The N64 itself is kind of an under-appreciated system, I feel.

Yeah, I dug this thread up while looking for Yoshi's Story impressions. A blast from the past...

I'm pleased to see Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon and SpaceStation Silicon Valley get mentions.

Not sure how hidden it is, but I still want to mention Pilotwings 64. Provided you with a pretty sweet flying sensation, well designed and varied missions, pretty environments and lots of stuff to do. You can make it as relaxing or stressful as you like. Awesome.

I think I'd go a step further than @NoName and call Fighter's Destiny a gem. It's obviously not comparable to the more popular 3D fighters from the same era, and the character designs were awfully bland IMO (well, apart from that aggressively humping cow...), but I think the general gameplay was solid. Never liked the game a whole lot as a kid, but when I bought a copy of my own a couple of years back I started appreciating the point based scoring system a lot more.

@r_hjort

I'm always a little upset that:

1.) Pilotwings 64 isn't available on the Virtual Console.

2.) I never played Fighter's Destiny, despite loving the fighting game genre.

Bust-A-Move 99 is so cool. I wish I hadn't lost my copy; now I only still have Bust-A-Move 2: Arcade Edition for the N64 D: Oh well. I also really like Yoshi's Story a lot and find it incredibly underrated. No, it's not Yoshi's Island, but for what it is, it's still really fun, and still stands out as a unique 2D platformer to this day.

@DungeonO I rented this game as a kid, and enjoyed what I played of it. I was later confused by the terrible reviews I read though. I remember one of my favorite things about it, which stood out to me as a kid, was how one of the early levels had this corn boss, where every time you either killed him, or died to him (I forget which), he would have different dialogue, as it turned out to be a brother or uncle or other relative of the first corn boss you killed. I forget how many times I fought them, but it seemed to be an endless line of family members I was slaughtering

@Zero Mischief Makers is hands-down one of my absolute favorite games ever I love it!

I remember playing a little bit of Goemon's Great Adventure at a friend's house as a kid, but I never owned my own copy, sadly. I really should get it at some point... as well as finally get around to finishing Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon.

@FINlos For some reason, I remember reading a little about Hybrid Heaven in Nintendo Power, then years later hearing friends talk about being really into this game called Halo, and somehow I thought they were talking about Hybrid Heaven, and thought that game had somehow become the newest hit sensation in gaming I feel kind of silly thinking that, in retrospect.

I can't help but say that I'm probably a bit biased when it comes to the Nintendo 64, it's still my fave system and I own all 296 of the NA releases. But I think I see at least one goodie that no one has mentioned: Rocket: Robot on Wheels. I guess it was overshadowed since Nintendo already released some 3D platformers, but the quality and creativity of this one quite nearly matches that of Nintendo's own.

Plus the music, thought it didn't have the best sound quality, was pretty great.



I forget how to embed YouTube stuff...

Zero already mentioned, but I feel it bears repeatin g. Sin and Punishment is a fantastic game. It's my favorite Arcade-style shooter and one of my favorites on the system. If you like Star Fox or other arcade-y on rails shooters, you'll definitely want to check this one out.

Also, I see that Dr Mario 64 is only owned by 3 others members here, so I'll include that too. It's a puzzle game with a story mode, which always earns points in my book. It's also one of the only versions of Dr Mario I know of that supports up to 4 players. The music is pretty good, and I like the wide selection of characters. It's worth giving a try if you're looking for a fun version of Dr Mario, or want to bust some viruses with 3 friends.

Finally, I'm going to mention Disney's Tarzan. Quick disclaimer: I haven't played this game in over a decade, so I could be wrong about its quality. I doubt that, however. It's a 2D platformer with a tiny bit of exploration and minigames thrown in to break up the action. I've heard good things about it recently, as well as enjoying back at the turn of the century. Tarzan stands out as a fitting end to the golden age of Disney games in the late 80's and 90's. It's probably worth checking out if you enjoy the genre, especially since the N64 doesn't have too many options 2D Platorming fans..

....
*Crickets*

no?

Actually ... I second Wayne Gretzky Hockey.. oh and this one: