Benefits of the N64 Expansion Pak

[TwinChargers]

I've read many different things regarding the N64 Expansion Pak. I know its needed for a few games (Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong 64), but after that, it gets a bit fuzzy. I've heard that it improves the graphics on all games, even ones prior to the offering of the Pak. I have heard also that it improves some games AI, once again even in older games. Rumors are that it helps some games framerates, but on others it actually slows them down?

Could somebody please enlighten me to the truth of the Pak? Is there some list that tells the benefits of the Expansion Pak to each game that uses it?

[psx95]

It does improve the graphics and adds features on games that are made for it. However, it does not improve older games made before the release of the Pak. The manual for it says that you can leave it in for older games and they will play normally, but I have found that it causes glitches in them. For older games I take the Pak out.

[Aussie2B]

Basically a lot of people are full of crap. It makes no sense that it would improve older games, especially not in areas of graphics or AI, considering they weren't programmed with it in mind, and considering the the expansion is just a RAM boost, it can't store anything to recognize and improve pre-expansion games.

I've heard claims of improved frame rates, but never any proof. As best as I can tell, in games that are enhanced with "high-res" modes, it always WORSENS the frame rate because the CPU has more to process.

And the only game known to have issues with the expansion is Space Station Silicon Valley.

I'd love a list of all of the effects of the expansion too, though, since I'm no authority. Obviously you'll want to use it for games that require it for the whole games or portions of content, but you can leave it in the rest of the time too. Just don't turn on the enhancements if you don't like the choppier frame rates, and don't worry about the old games in general unless you want to play Space Station Silicon Valley.

[Greg2600]

I don't recall ever playing an N64 game in any resolution that got bogged down, but I only had/have well designed games, no stinkers. Since you need the pak for games that are highly sought after, it makes no sense not to have it.

[Snapple]

Another game that is improved by the expansion pak is South Park. The fog in that game without the pak is HORRIBLE. It was designed with the pak in mind, and I'm pretty sure the pak does not improve any games that were made without the pak in mind.

[Sanriostar]

And the only game known to have issues with the expansion is Space Station Silicon Valley.


Really? SSSV works just fine w/ my expansion pack....:?

[StoneAgeGamer]

Tony Hawk 2 also checks for expansion pack I believe.

[Urzu402]

I'm pretty Sure Majora's Mask needs the pak too if we're going to list games that require it.

[Aussie2B]

I don't recall ever playing an N64 game in any resolution that got bogged down, but I only had/have well designed games, no stinkers.

There are good games that get choppier. For example, both Hybrid Heaven and Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness take a considerable hit to the frame rate in high-res mode. Definitely look nicer, sure, but I feel Legacy of Darkness is downright unplayable using the expansion.


Really? SSSV works just fine w/ my expansion pack....

I've heard that some copies don't have problems, so maybe that's true. I don't think the European version has problems either. And if I remember correctly, it'll load up fine, but shortly after you begin playing, that's when it'll lock up.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

From Wikipedia:

Some of the games to support this accessory are Aidyn Chronicles: The First Mage, Duke Nukem: Zero Hour, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Gauntlet Legends, Hybrid Heaven, Rayman 2: The Great Escape, Resident Evil 2, Road Rash 64, Shadow Man, Spider-Man, Star Wars: Episode I Racer, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, San Francisco Rush 2049, South Park, and The World Is Not Enough.

A few games, including Rare's Donkey Kong 64 and Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask required it for play.[10] Perfect Dark had limited gameplay options when the expansion pak was not present.[9] Supporting games usually offered higher video resolutions or higher textures and/or higher color depth. For example, the Nintendo 64 all-remade version of Quake 2 features higher color depth but not a higher resolution when using the Expansion Pak. It was used in Starcraft 64, to unlock levels from the popular Brood War add-on for the PC version of the game.

[TwinChargers]

Is it safe to say that a large portion of the games that came out from '99-'02 made use of the Expansion Pak? It would be nice if there was a definative list, but I'm just trying to get an idea of how many games actually took advantage of the hardware upgrade.

[fishsandwich]

I have two examples...

Turok 2 looks AMAZING in hi-def with the pak in and it stutters like crazy. It's better to play it without the pak.

Rayman 2 looks equally amazing and does NOT stutter. It also has a far greater draw-in distance with the pak in place and looks 5x better than the PSX version.

[BetaWolf47]

Turok 2 is, in general, a graphically amazing game, so it makes sense that the framerate would take a little hit.

[A Black Falcon]

I think the Expansion Pak is one of the most successful console addons around, it makes a real difference, was supported in a bunch of games,

Here is what I believe is a complete list of US-released titles that support the Expansion Pak.

Compiled by Captain N in this NeoGAF thread: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=360979

--------------------------------------------------
US or European Released Nintendo 64 Supported Titles
--------------------------------------------------

Aidyn Chronicles: The First Mage
All-star Baseball 2001
Armorines: Project S.W.A.R.M.
Army Men: Air Combat
Army Men: Sarge's Heroes
Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2
Battlezone 64: Rise Of The Black Dogs
Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
Command & Conquer 64
Cyber Tiger
Daikatana
Donkey Kong 64*
Duke Nukem Zero Hour
Extreme-G 2 (aka XG2)
Excitebike 64
F1 World Grand Prix II (released in Europe only)
Gauntlet Legends
Hot Wheels Turbo Racing
Hybrid Heaven
Hydro Thunder
Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine
International Track and Field 2000
Jeremy McGrath's Supercross 2000
Ken Griffey Jr.'s Slugfest
Madden NFL '99
Madden NFL 2000
Madden NFL 2001
Mario Golf
Mega Man 64
NBA Courtside 2
NBA Jam 2000
New Tetris, The
NFL Quarterback Club 99
NFL Quarterback Club 2000
NFL Quarterback Club 2001
Nuclear Strike 64
Perfect Dark
Premier Manager 64 (released in Europe only)
Quake 2
Rayman 2
Re-volt
Resident Evil 2
Roadsters
San Francisco Rush 2049
Shadowman
Road Rash 64
South Park
South Park Rally
Starcraft 64
Star Wars Episode I Battle for Naboo
Star Wars Episode I Racer
Star Wars Rogue Squadron
Stunt Racer 64
The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask*
The World is not Enough
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Top Gear Hyper-Bike
Top Gear Overdrive
Top Gear Rally 2
Turok 2 Seeds of Evil
Turok 3 Shadow of Oblivion
Turok Rage Wars
Vigilante 8
Vigilante 8: The Second Offense
Xena Warrior Princess - The Talisman of Fate

*Required to play the game.


Here's my addition to that list...

------------------
64 Disk Drive
------------------
64DD Hardware (the expansion pak is required to use the 64DD, and it was originally designed for it)

All 64DD Disks (listed below)
--
F-Zero X Expansion Kit
Mario Artist: Communication Studio
Mario Artist: Polygon Studio
Mario Artist: Paint Studio
Mario Artist: Talent Studio
Nippon Pro Golf Tour 64
SimCity 64
Kyojin no Doshin
Kyojin no Doshin: Kaihou Sensen Chibikko Chikko Daishuugou
Randnet Disk

[A Black Falcon]

If we can confirm this list, as well as any titles that aren't compatible with the Pack, I'll add the info to the FAQ section.

It's not 100% complete, no. First, the 83 titles only released in Japan have not been checked. The seven that were released in Europe only (four) or Japan and Europe but not the US (three) I just checked though, one Europe exclusive had been missed. As for the US titles, I thought it was complete, but just checked a few and found two missing ones, Army Men: Air Combat and Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2. Also Cruis'n Exotica was incorrectly listed, it doesn't have support. Hmm, I wonder if anything else is missing... still, it's definitely largely complete, if not quite 100% yet.

... Just checked the Europe-but-not-US titles, two of the seven games that came out in Europe or Europe and Japan but not in the US are expansion pak enhanced, but only one of them was on the list (F-1 World Grand Prix II). I added the other one, Premier Manager 64. I'll probably go through the Japanese list as best I can later... but for US and EU titles at least I don't know of anything that's missing. :)


As for games that aren't compatible, as was said earlier in the thread the only one I know of is Space Station Silicon Valley, and even there it's not all copies of the game; evidently the expansion pak makes the game crash, but I've never had a crash with the game and have always had an expansion pak in while playing. Some people evidently are much less lucky...

[kedawa]

I could never get past a certain point in my copy of Space Station Silicon Valley because of a glitch that made it impossible to progress. I wonder if that was due to the expansion pak.

[TwinChargers]

My thanks to A Black Falcon for researching this, quite informative indeed!

[tubeway]

There are good games that get choppier. For example, both Hybrid Heaven and Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness

lulz...

[vivaeljason]

It does improve the graphics and adds features on games that are made for it. However, it does not improve older games made before the release of the Pak. The manual for it says that you can leave it in for older games and they will play normally, but I have found that it causes glitches in them. For older games I take the Pak out.

What games glitch with the expansion pak? I've never had that problem with any older games.

[Aussie2B]

lulz...

While Hybrid Heaven can be divisive, I'd say you're in the minority if you think Legacy of Darkness is a bad game. Some people don't like it just on the basis of it being 3D and not side-scrolling like all of the other Castlevania games before it, but ignoring those things and just looking at it for what it is, most would agree that it addressed virtually all of the issues of the original Castlevania 64.

[A Black Falcon]

While Hybrid Heaven can be divisive, I'd say you're in the minority if you think Legacy of Darkness is a bad game. Some people don't like it just on the basis of it being 3D and not side-scrolling like all of the other Castlevania games before it, but ignoring those things and just looking at it for what it is, most would agree that it addressed virtually all of the issues of the original Castlevania 64.

LoD is somewhat divisive for some reason, but I absolutely agree, it's a really good game. Looks fantastic in high definition mode with the expansion pak, too! Framerate's a bit low, but if you're used to the N64 you probably won't mind...


What games glitch with the expansion pak? I've never had that problem with any older games.

Nor have I, not one.

[megasdkirby]

Hybrid Heaven.

That game played terribly with the expansion pack. Which is a shame, since the game looked great too. :(

[heybtbm]

I don't know if anyone remembers, but when the expansion pack came out, it was impossible to find. Most stores only got one shipment and didn't get more until after Christmas that year (1998). I had friends who worked at Target so I managed to snag one right away. Otherwise I would've been forced to play Rogue Squadron in the fog (shudder).

I always wondered what the story was behind the severe scarcity when it first came out. Anyone know?

[Ed Oscuro]

Hybrid Heaven.

That game played terribly with the expansion pack. Which is a shame, since the game looked great too. :(
This also isn't a big surprise since it's a Konami game around the time of Castlevania LoD (which also uses the expansion pack). I haven't played HH (I've had an import copy for years though) but I wouldn't be surprised if the engine is similar.

[retro junkie]

Really? SSSV works just fine w/ my expansion pack....:?

Mine plays great too with the expansion pak. :confused: And I have never had a problem with older games. And not all games suffer the frame rate problem in high-res. Star Wars Episode I Racer runs beautifully smooth and is a joy to play. Not all games give you a choice. Hydro Thunder has a auto detect for the Expansion pak. You would have to take it out to run the game without it. Another game that I do not see a frame rate problem.

[shinobimusashi]

madden 99 through 2002 looks a little better with the pak(smoother player models) not sure of what else happens

[swlovinist]

I definitely play rouge squadron with the expansion pak. As others have said in some cases the frame rate takes a small hit, but I can actually see what I am shooting. For me, I would always take a graphics improvement.

[BetaWolf47]

This also isn't a big surprise since it's a Konami game around the time of Castlevania LoD (which also uses the expansion pack). I haven't played HH (I've had an import copy for years though) but I wouldn't be surprised if the engine is similar.

The game does indeed play very similar to a Castlevania game for N64. Only real difference is the battle system... the platforming is almost identical.