Could the n64 handle a Metroid Prime game?

[c0ldb33r]

I've been thinking, the Nintendo 64 and the Nintendo DS are roughly equal when it comes to processing power. Super Mario 64/DS and other games show this.

So, Metroid Prime Hunters is a DS game - would the n64 have been able to handle it?

[roushimsx]

I don't see why not. It'd look a bit crummy and might be a bit choppy, but it could have been done. It's for the best that they didn't try to do it, though.

[NEOFREAK9189]

yeah handle also the cpu for ds CPUs: Two ARM processors, an ARM946E-S main CPU and ARM7TDMI co-processor at clock speeds of 67 MHz and 33 MHz respectively
nintendo64 clocked at 93.75 MHz

[Barbarianoutkast85]

Probably it might be choppy at parts, but should be able to.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Don't forget blurry... Seriously though- I think so.

[smokehouse]

Sure, it would look like a blurry/blocky pile of shit, have crappy music and use one of the worse controllers ever made…but apart from that…flawless transfer.

[Aussie2B]

Only 6 posts in and the topic has degraded into biased N64 bashing already. Hooray.

Seriously, though, if you want to get technical, any system could handle "a" Metroid Prime game. Just the farther back you go in hardware, the farther you'll get from the original concept of Metroid Prime. There's nothing stopping someone from attempting to make a Metroid Prime on SNES, but it obviously wouldn't be 3D. The N64, however, was obviously capable of 3D first-person shooters, so it could stick pretty true to the concept. Its models wouldn't be able to contain as many polygons, the textures wouldn't be as good, and the frame rate would be slower, that's about it.

[Sothy]

I was surprised n64 handled Resident Evil 2 as good as it did.

It played like shit though.

[BydoEmpire]

Yes, of course! If you can port Millipede to the 2600, you can do a MP game for the n64. The only time I'd say you might not be able to port Game X to Console Y is when you'd have to convert a 3d game to a 2d console. I think you'd lose too much of what makes the game what it is, and it would be more of a spinoff than a port (like the Doom sidescroller for the SNES). Otherwise, heck, you could make Gears of War for the PS1.

[Edit]Now that I think about it, it might be cool to see a 2d Gears spinoff that plays like Commando, or Rambo on the SMS. You could duck behind crates, chainsaw enemies, lob grenades... even co-op! That might be kind of neat.

[Jehuty]

If you think about it, Turok 2 was very similiar to MP with exploration and very detailed areas for a game in 1998. If that engine was used on small detailed areas like in MP instead of the huge open worlds found in T2, I dont see why the N64 wouldn't be able to run it.

[walrusmonger]

while some modern 3D games would play the same on old consoles, if ported, minus the graphics, a game like gears of war would suffer. the game would be another generic gore-fest without the wonderful lighting, awesome sound and coop. if the game was ported, it would suffer because:

1. the AI would suck
2. you wouldnt have the coop and have as many enemies to fight as smoothly
3. graphics stink-same feeling not created

so your "gears of war" on ps1 would be mixed in the crowd.

metroid prime could be done on n64, but it wouldn't be anything like mp1 at least, since they would probably not focus on scanning stuff.

[PentiumMMX]

Only 6 posts in and the topic has degraded into biased N64 bashing already. Hooray.

This is why I avoid making topics on N64, even though it's my favorate system. Prefered over NES, though nobody else on here understands that (Pop in and start playing (N64) vs. hit, wiggle, blow, and bang on the system for 3 hours before you can start playing, and by the time it's finally working, your Zelda save is screwed (NES)).

[smokehouse]

Only 6 posts in and the topic has degraded into biased N64 bashing already. Hooray.

How so? Here's what I said:


"Sure, it would look like a blurry/blocky pile of shit, have crappy music and use one of the worse controllers ever made…but apart from that…flawless transfer."


It would be blurry (as most of N64 titles are), it would be blocky, it would lose a ton in the sound department thanks to no CD quality audio and sheer memory to house it and using a N64 controller would suck for that game. How is that biased? I'd say damn near the same thing if somebody asked about what a high end PS2 game would look like on the PS1....

[smokehouse]

This is why I avoid making topics on N64, even though it's my favorate system. Prefered over NES, though nobody else on here understands that (Pop in and start playing (N64) vs. hit, wiggle, blow, and bang on the system for 3 hours before you can start playing, and by the time it's finally working, your Zelda save is screwed (NES)).

No offense, but what does that have to do with the quality of the games? One system was made in 1996 and is more reliable than a system that’s nearly 10 years older and it’s a surprise?

Some like steak, some chicken so if you prefer the N64 over the NES that’s your taste…but to say getting a NES to work is too much trouble so it’s a crummy system is a little over the top.








BTW....a new 72-pin and you're in business....things do wear out with time...

[Aussie2B]

How so? Here's what I said:

"Sure, it would look like a blurry/blocky pile of shit, have crappy music and use one of the worse controllers ever made…but apart from that…flawless transfer."

It would be blurry (as most of N64 titles are), it would be blocky, it would lose a ton in the sound department thanks to no CD quality audio and sheer memory to house it and using a N64 controller would suck for that game. How is that biased? I'd say damn near the same thing if somebody asked about what a high end PS2 game would look like on the PS1....

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then, you sir, are a duck. :P

I don't need to explain how every statement you made is laced with a jab at the N64. You've already proven yourself time and time again a ranting and raving N64 troll that looks for any and all opportunities to derail and ruin topics just to express your hatred for the system because apparently the very statement of its name is enough to offend you and set you off.

[smokehouse]

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then, you sir, are a duck. :P

I don't need to explain how every statement you made is laced with a jab at the N64. You've already proven yourself time and time again a ranting and raving N64 troll that looks for any and all opportunities to derail and ruin topics just to express your hatred for the system because apparently the very statement of its name is enough to offend you and set you off.

Good grief, I wasn’t set off or anything…I just think the system would handle such a game poorly across the board.

I also don’t consider myself a N64 troll…possibly I am? I never thought of it that way. I do know I try not to make “You’re an idiot if you like the N64” type of comments, I normally aim my flaming arrows at the hardware itself, not the people talking about it.

I guess I’ve always thought of the N64 as a cheating wife of sort…not sure why as I’m a huge fan of Nintendo.

Oh well…to each their own.

[Kid Ice]

I also don’t consider myself a N64 troll…possibly I am?

I wouldn't take it to "troll" level, but it does seem like whenever there's something bad to say about N64 you are there to say it.

[Vectorman0]

smokehouse, we all know you hate the N64. On these forums, you are probably the person who hates it most. That said, why don't you stay out of N64 topics? We all know how you feel.

[diskoboy]

I'd say it probably could've. But it would have looked like total shit.

And since the N64 was cartridge based, I'm sure it would've cost $125 because it probably would've required alot of memory.

[theoakwoody]

I think the n64 is more than capable of doing a metroid fps game. What about the n64's hardware wouldn't be able to handle something that was done in prime? Lower resolution, muddier audio, less scanning. Obviously it would not be the exact same game as the gcn one but it would have been great if it would have come out in the n64's "prime".;)

[Cryomancer]

Smokehouse I'm gonna come over and we're gonna play some Goemon's Great Adventure on your home theatre system ok? Heh.

[CosmicMonkey]

The N64 would have easily been able to pull off a decent 3D Metroid game, especially if it was a RAM-Pak exclusive title. Personally, I'd loved to have seen a 3D Metroid game on the 64 just to see exactly what could be accomplished. It'd also be interesting to see what path the series would have taken starting on the N64 (MP3 on the Wii would then be at least the 4th game in the series).

[Bratwurst]

Metroid would have made a great N64 game because the series has favored claustrophobic, enclosed environments. In more open areas (such as a battle with Kraid) using solid black backgrounds would have made sense from an aesthetic perspective.

The lower poly-count also wouldn't have mattered as much as people might think because rendering alien critters and futuristic artifacts is more open to interpretation than human opponents and realistic settings like you would find in Goldeneye.

Above all, it probably would have been an in-house development like Ocarina of Time and Mario64, and those are among the best the system has to offer.

[Greg2600]

Metroid would have made a great N64 game because the series has favored claustrophobic, enclosed environments. In more open areas (such as a battle with Kraid) using solid black backgrounds would have made sense from an aesthetic perspective.

The lower poly-count also wouldn't have mattered as much as people might think because rendering alien critters and futuristic artifacts is more open to interpretation than human opponents and realistic settings like you would find in Goldeneye.

Above all, it probably would have been an in-house development like Ocarina of Time and Mario64, and those are among the best the system has to offer.

Amen.

[c0ldb33r]

Samus is ready for battle on the n64! :D

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/c0ldb33r/samus.gif

[gepeto]

The 64 3d had a funny blurry look to it. from body harvest to castlevania. I never could figure it out.

[j_factor]

Retro Studios wasn't really around in the N64 era. I don't think Nintendo's internal Japanese developers would've been up to the task of making a Metroid FPS.

[bangtango]

Yeah, the 64 could "handle" it. If there are issues, make a few minor compromises.

Cut a few enemies, cut a few levels, make the levels that are remaining smaller, scale down the music, scale down the graphics and slow down the action a little.

Finished product may not be great, maybe a 5 or 6 compared to an 8 or 9 on another system but it could be done one way or another.

[c0ldb33r]

Finished product may not be great, maybe a 5 or 6 compared to an 8 or 9 on another system but it could be done one way or another.
Do you mean 5 or 6 at the time or 5 or 6 compared to the cube version?

[theoakwoody]

Retro Studios wasn't really around in the N64 era. I don't think Nintendo's internal Japanese developers would've been up to the task of making a Metroid FPS.

What the hell are you talking about? Yeah, their other development teams outside of Japan are so much more amazing. So other than Rare games, what games didn't come from their internal Japanese teams?

[j_factor]

What the hell are you talking about? Yeah, their other development teams outside of Japan are so much more amazing. So other than Rare games, what games didn't come from their internal Japanese teams?

Uh, Metroid Prime for Gamecube didn't come from their internal Japanese teams. The fact that before that, they didn't really have anything other than their internal Japanese teams is my point. I had actually forgotten about Rare, and didn't consider the possibility of a Rare-developed Metroid Prime. Now that I think about it, that might have worked.

[theoakwoody]

Uh, Metroid Prime for Gamecube didn't come from their internal Japanese teams. The fact that before that, they didn't really have anything other than their internal Japanese teams is my point. I had actually forgotten about Rare, and didn't consider the possibility of a Rare-developed Metroid Prime. Now that I think about it, that might have worked.

So because Prime was developed outside of their internal studios that translates to their internal studios not being able to handle the license and make a quality game? Personally, if it would have been done internally it probably wouldn't have been a FPS, probably more like a Metal Gear Solid type of third person adventure. Maybe you're right, there has to be a reason why they didn't touch the Metroid franchise after giving sequels to all their other franchises on the n64. Punch Out never got a sequel on th 64 either but maybe that game had run its course. It's just weird that they would put Samus in Smash Bros. but not develop an actual Metroid game. By the way, I thought Samus looked great in Smash Bros.

[Rob2600]

If the Nintendo 64 could handle great first-person action/adventure games like Goldeneye 007, Perfect Dark, 007: The World Is not Enough, Quake II, and Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion, and great third-person action/adventure games like Jet Force Gemini, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Rayman 2, then it could've handled a good Metroid game.

Has everyone forgotten about those great Nintendo 64 games?

[hbkprm]

it whoudn't matter to me

[mailman187666]

I was thinking it would probably end up looking like a mix between Doom 64 and Turok. Maybe with less of the visor effects that it had, but I bet they could have made Metroid Prime on N64 and if it was made back then, we'd probably all be saying that it was the best N64 had to offer. Looking back at it since we started off playing it on the gamecube, of course we aren't going to think it would be all that good. I thought Duke 3D came out pretty well on N64.

[UniHamachi]

The 64 3d had a funny blurry look to it. from body harvest to castlevania. I never could figure it out.
It had an inadequate texture cache, so they used really low res textures that would pixelate or block up, especially on the larger background polygons. The fix was to use the hardware filtering to smooth out the textures. The result was like smearing vaseline on your TV. The background polys were the worst offenders -- they were blown up so large that you could actually count all of the pixels in the texture.

Being the N64 fanboy that I was, I found this preferable to the "PSX look", which was sparkly, pixelated textures and, due to the lack of hardware perspective correction, the 3D models looked like they were going to explode as the screen changed perspective. It got better later, but those first gen games are full of twitching polygons, and it made me a bit nauseous.

The way I see it, MP is a first person shooter, so of course the N64 could handle it. It all depends on what level of reproduction you're looking for.

[Rob2600]

It had an inadequate texture cache, so they used really low res textures that would pixelate or block up, especially on the larger background polygons. The fix was to use the hardware filtering to smooth out the textures. The result was like smearing vaseline on your TV. The background polys were the worst offenders -- they were blown up so large that you could actually count all of the pixels in the texture.

Being the N64 fanboy that I was, I found this preferable to the "PSX look", which was sparkly, pixelated textures and, due to the lack of hardware perspective correction, the 3D models looked like they were going to explode as the screen changed perspective. It got better later, but those first gen games are full of twitching polygons, and it made me a bit nauseous.

The way I see it, MP is a first person shooter, so of course the N64 could handle it. It all depends on what level of reproduction you're looking for.

I also prefered filtered, anti-aliased textures to jagged, pixelated textures. You're right about perspective correction, too. Even the worst-looking Nintendo 64 games didn't have graphics that twitched and pulsated every time the camera moved.

I think the best-looking Nintendo 64 games, like Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Rayman 2, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Wave Race 64, All-Star Baseball, NFL Quarterback Club, and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, looked better than the best-looking PlayStation games.

[Aussie2B]

Maybe you're right, there has to be a reason why they didn't touch the Metroid franchise after giving sequels to all their other franchises on the n64. Punch Out never got a sequel on th 64 either but maybe that game had run its course. It's just weird that they would put Samus in Smash Bros. but not develop an actual Metroid game. By the way, I thought Samus looked great in Smash Bros.

I'm sure a large part of the reason was that the creator and producer of the series had left Nintendo and then died in 1997, so I'm sure they didn't touch the franchise partially out of respect and partially because they didn't know what the heck to do with it.

[rbudrick]

Would it really have looked THAT bad on the N64? I mean, come on...it woulda been a first-party game, so it would have looked like the best Nintendo brand N64 games. I think it could have been passable to good. It would still have the same gameplay, so you know it would have been fun. Besides, if it came out during that era, you all would have oohed and ahhed.

The only real problem ould have been the lack of an extra stick, but nothing a subscreen couldn't have fixed.

-Rob

[Greg2600]

Frankly, I never understood why Nintendo didn't have RARE release Perfect Dark as a Metroid game, instead.

[UniHamachi]

Besides, if it came out during that era, you all would have oohed and ahhed.-Rob

That's an interesting point. I will agree with Rob here -- yes, it could be done, and it would have looked and played pretty damn good for it's time. I'm not sure if the bosses could be as large. Anyone remember an N64 polygonal game with really huge bosses?

[mailman187666]

That's an interesting point. I will agree with Rob here -- yes, it could be done, and it would have looked and played pretty damn good for it's time. I'm not sure if the bosses could be as large. Anyone remember an N64 polygonal game with really huge bosses?

I don't remember many with huge bosses, but I bet Metroid Prime comming to the N64 first would have been slightly different besides graphics and all that. It probably would have had the same gameplay, but maybe with smaller bosses, a bit smaller areas in between doors. The sound would have been all done off the cart so that wouldn't have been as good. Essentialy though, it would have turned out to be something that we would still be praising today.

[Rob2600]

I'm not sure if the bosses could be as large. Anyone remember an N64 polygonal game with really huge bosses?

To name a few:

Castlevania
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Donkey Kong 64
Jet Force Gemini
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon
Star Fox 64
Super Mario 64
Turok 2: Seeds of Evil

Polygons aren't like sprites. They can be as big as the developer wants. It's just a matter of camera placement.

[UniHamachi]

The larger they are, the more polys they take and if they have more articulated parts, the more polys they need. So there is a performance hit as you get bigger.

However, the first boss in Starfox64 is big enough for what I'm getting at.