The Goods and bads of Nintendo 64

[Jaker]

Good- Nice classic games
Bad- That DAMN controller. And that DAMN cartridge format.

[jonjandran]

Good : Mario 64.
Bad : Those dang fuzzy graphics.

[Kejoriv]

I cant stand that controller. I dont mind the catridge format.

[Jaker]

I cant stand that controller. I dont mind the catridge format.

Actually I agree it wasn't bad, just wouldn't a disc be much cooler? On a lighter note, as long as the game is good, the cartridge doesn't matter.

[Quintracker]

One thing is no loading times. For me that's one of the best qualities of any cartridge based system.

[Drexel923]

I don't understand people's hatred of the controller. For most of the games on the system, the controller worked perfectly, also it was quite comfortable. But of course everyone has their own preferences. I liked the N64 a good bit. There are plenty of games that I like for the system...the only thing I disliked was the lacking of RPGs. But other than that I was and still am completely happy with it.

[Kejoriv]

I cant stand that controller. I dont mind the catridge format.

Actually I agree it wasn't bad, just wouldn't a disc be much cooler? On a lighter note, as long as the game is good, the cartridge doesn't matter.

I love catridge based systems. Something about it. Dont get me wrong cds are good too. But they scratch so easily and they are hard to find in the wild with few scratches. Just me 2 cents.

[GameGuru]

I actually really liked the controllers. The system was really fun 4-players but the fuzziness was a pain.

[petewhitley]

4-player action on the N64 was and is incredible. Mario Kart, Diddy Kong, Starfox, F-Zero, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, and at the time Goldenye/Perfect Dark (neither of which have aged well).

[Sotenga]

Goodness: Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Paper Mario, Super Smash Bros., and... in my humble opinion, both Castlevania games.

Not-really-that-goodness: The controller is a bit unorthodox, and Turok blows.

[Flack]

Good: 4 player action right out of the box, no loading times, analog stick.

Bad: Controller (which cramped my hands), lower quality cut scenes, too many games for younger players and not enough for adults.

[charitycasegreg]

4 player without a multitap. I hate that you still have to spend like 30 bucks to buy the multitap for the playstation. A bad is that nintendo still used cardboard boxes instead of plastic. The master system came out after nes and before the snes but nintendo never did the plastic cases like sega did. Too many loose n64 carts...blah :angry:

[Arcturius]

Bad - The fact it looks like the base part of a vaccum cleaner and to me at least the controllers felt "cheap" the analogue stick wasn't the strongest thing in the world.
Good - Lots of multiplayer games, no loading times, Mario Kart 64 batte stages.

[tholly]

For its time, I loved it. I probably wouldn't be able to name one thing bad about it. Sure, compaired to the current systems it sucks, but by the standards of its time i thought it was excellent.

[TheJuggala]

The Good: The Controllers.

I loved the N64 controller, to me it was and is one of the best controllers i have ever used. I
love playing FPS but i can't stand them on PS2 or gamecube it just doesn't feel right using two analog sticks.
But the N64 controller was perfect for FPS.

The Bad: None that I can think of.

[Dahne]

Good: Harvest Moon 64, Zelda, Star Fox.

Bad: Tiny joystick make thumb cry.

[Johnny]

GOOD: N64DD (if it was largely avaiable), GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark, ISS 64, Mario 64, Zelda, Doom 64.

BAD: Most games had that horrible "blurry" look. That made my eyes hurt. If i recall, I simply could not play Hexen on it. After 5 minutes, my eyes were hurting a lot. Cheap controllers (can't forget a friend always complaining about it), Expensive acessories ( Memory cards, rumble pack and memory upgrade used to cost a lot here).

Anyway, for me it's a great console. It was too overhiped before it's release, still with the ULTRA 64 name. When people played Cruisin' USA and Killer Instinct at home it was not as good as the arcade (graphics).

[Ze_ro]

I actually rather like the controller. I like the idea of having a controller that can be used in different configurations... even though not a lot of games used it like that :o The only things about the controller that I don't like are how the analog sticks break down so easily... and I don't like how so many games ignore the D-pad. I really would have preferred to play Super Smash Bros with the D-pad rather than the analog stick, but for some reason, Nintendo ignored that part of the controller... why? :? Seems to me that if a game isn't going to use the D-pad for anything else, it might as well allow you to use it to move around at least. Even if I don't get the whole "analog effect", it would be a nice gesture.

I also like the cartridge format. I'm not entirely sure why, but I just don't care much for CD's. Somehow, it doesn't feel like I have the actual game or something... I guess I need something more substantial to validate my collecting than just a plastic disc. I think the games managed perfectly fine on cartridge, and certainly saved some load times.

I really wish the third parties had made better games though. Nintendo made some truly excellent N64 games, but very few other companies made anything really noticable. The Gamecube seems to be in the same situation... very odd.

--Zero

[Ed Oscuro]

Hmm, come to think of it the joystick WAS a bit narrow and stiff feeling...besides that, I like the controller design quite a bit.

PSX Dual Shock kicks its arse in most every way, though, you can't deny that, except that there aren't any free C buttons or such to map items to or rotate the camera with :P

[hezeuschrist]

Exceprt from my recent piece on Nintendo.


For some reason, Nintendo loves to defy the market. The Nintendo 64 is arguably the beginning of the end. The cartridge based medium had already run its course of worth by the time the system was released, and while more powerful than the competition, it’s not much use when so limited to what you can tell the system to do. Ok, strike one. It wasn’t a monumentally bad decision, but it did prompt their biggest third party developer to jump ship and climb aboard with Sony, and go on to make one of the best selling games of all time to effectively establish them as a true competitor who eventually dominates the market like the NES days of old. Whoops.

[ubersaurus]

Pros: Sweet mario kart, f-zero X, 3d platformers, Star Fox 64, easy multiplayer, comfortable controller

Cons: Poor 3rd party support, crappy thumbstick that wears out too fast.

[Mayhem]

Good: the controller (best controller ever until the Cube pad came out), 3D how it should be done, multiplayer games, Goldeneye, OoT, instant loading.

Bad: being stiffed by Sony's inferior technology, sometimes fuzzy graphics

[Querjek]

Good: Mischief Makers
Bad: The control scheme for Mischief Makers

Good: Paper Mario
Bad: It was too easy

Good: Mario 64
Bad: There really aren't any...

Good: Donkey Kong 64
Bad: Got repetitive after a while.

Good: Diddy Kong Racing
Bad: Graphics were decent, but not great.

[kainemaxwell]

N64's one th emost durable controllers ever made. The N64 has some great games too, but few of them were well known seeing the N64 was shunned and passed over.

[dreamcaster]

I'm a huge N64 fan, and I don't have complaints about the console itself.

My only gripe is that it's inferior cartridge format allowed Nintendo to suffer.

Oh well - at least it's a great system.....unlike that infernal Cube.

[Zubiac666]

Good: undestroyable,cardrige(no loading times;i hate them), some of the best games ever,

Bad: hard to programm(that's why most 3rd party games look so terrible)


and i think it's one of the most beatiful consoles ever

[NintendoMan]

Well, I really have no complaints about the N64. Well maybe that the joystick did start numbing my thumb after hours of Ocarina of Time , and after lots of use the joystick lost it tightness real easy and didn't work as well. I just had bought 2 brand new N64 controllers about 2 weeks ago and they cost me with shipping $60 or so.
There could have defiantely been more good games if it did have thrid party support (Good support), but Nintendo is the mail reason I play games, pretty much for the games they release. I mean I don't just play their games on my Nintendo systems it's just the Mario's, Mario Kart, Zelda's, etc. are better than any game with drugs and ho's in it. I am not saying I have anything against those games, but no point there, no originality.
GREAT GAMES ARE:
Goldeneye
Mario 64
Mario Kart 64
Donkey Kong
1080
Cruis'n Series
RUSH 2 (Personal Favorite, don't know how well it sold)
Banjo Kazooie 1 + 2

(I know about 10 more, I just can't think right now, too early!!)

[Sanriostar]

Think we could get away with making a new N64 controller? Something for enthusiasts? How much would one cost?

[badinsults]

The Good: The Controller. Seriously, it is my favourite controller of all time. The shoulder buttons weren't puny and hard to use (ie PSX), the handles were straight up and down, the control stick wasn't too lose, and it the control pad was large. Other good things are Goldeneye, Super Mario 64, Zelda, Paper Mario, and other first and second party games. The lack of loading times was also a big bonus, early PSX games had some serious problems with that. Also, is there any game like Pokemon Snap on anywhere? I loved that game (although it could be beat in 3 hours).

The Bad: The lack of rpgs and decent fighting games sucked, even though the PSX rpgs could never match up to the snes ones. Also, the amount of really shitty games was pretty bad, it reminded me of the NES era in a way. Bad games include Turok 2, Fighters Destiny, and Castlevania.

[atari_overlord]

I dont think anyone has brought up the one con that I think everyone can agree on. THE PRICE! Even now you cant get the good 64 games for under $20. I went to my local KB store that was closing so I could check out there selection and found there 64 games still priced in the 50 and 60 price range.
I left that store half the man I was when I entered.

[Ze_ro]

I went to my local KB store that was closing so I could check out there selection and found there 64 games still priced in the 50 and 60 price range.

I used to regularly see parents buying their kids N64 games in EB... the parents didn't know that the system was obsolete, they just knew they had one, and that's what the kid wanted... so they didn't realize $50 was kind of a ripoff. This is gradually stopping though, and the prices are coming down. I was able to pick up F-Zero X at EB the other day for only $10.

As for the graphical filtering, I think it's sort of a good and bad thing at the same time. I certainly hides a lot of the polygons to get rid of jaggies and make everything look less computer generated.. but they pour it on so thick at times that its as if someone smeared vaseline on your screen or something. Quake 1 was very bad for this.

And has anyone else noticed that the cartridge port in the system is rather loose? Or maybe I just have a promiscuous sytem or something...

--Zero

[DDCecil]

Good - Most of the games, my favorite being Goemon's Great Adventure and Mischief Makers (Anyone remember that goofy commercial?). 2 true gems!

Bad - Misison: Impossible. I was sooooo disaapointed with it when I heard it was supposed to be a "Goldeneye killer".

I had no problem with the controller, it using carts, etc...

[kainemaxwell]

Hell, the N64's a great party system with 4-player support right away for numerous game slike the Mario Party series, Mario Kart, Goldeneye/Perfect Dark, Tennis and more. Great for parties and cons.

[8-Bit Master]

Good: Nintendo's franchise games, the controllers kick ass, no load times, the system itself looks cool

Bad: lack of 3rd party support, lack of RPG's and fighting games, no lightgun games :(

Good Games: Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Donkey Kong Country 64, Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Wave Race 64, Starfox 64, Killer Instinct Gold, and Castlevania (yes, I like them both :P )

[farfel]

GOOD: Small cartridge files (<64 meg) make it easy to download and emulate.

GOOD: Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Zelda

BAD: No hi-res graphics without an expensive add-on

GOOD: Focus on the game instead of unlocking the next pre-recorded video

BAD: Severe lack of RPGs/story-driven games

GOOD: Controller

BAD: Lack of two sticks makes flying sims difficult

BAD: Not enough variety (no DDR or Mister Mosquito or RC Copter)

[Link75]

Good: Huge library of some of the possibly best. games. ever.
Bad: Weird joystick blisters

[sabre2922]

I have to say that the N64 is the least liked system I ever owned overall.
PROS: the Zelda games Conker,Goldeneye and a few others were truly AAA games.
CONS: almost too many to list the blurry graphics drove me over the edge and the HIGH cost of the carts was just too much.
I really like Nintendo and the games they have created but I have to say something that I have been in denial about every since the N64.
Nintendo will never be the 800 pound gorilla of the gaming industry it once was.
I hope im proved wrong though I really do :(

[jdc]

N64?

*swoon*

Pure bliss. A true gamer's system. There are those of us out there that don't give a rat's ass about everybody elses label of "kiddy system". It ain't. The mature games FAR outnumber the children's games. The system had SO much going for it. No moving parts to wear out, a durable cartridge format, an incredible controller, the coolest texturing ever and zero load time. When the software was great....it was outstanding.

Too bad the raw cartridges cost developers $30 a piece. That counted out small development houses. Also too bad that Nintendo had an exclusitivity contract for developers on the N64. That made larger developers tell them where they could stick their contracts. Hence, very limited 3rd party support.

The good ol' Fisher-Price-looking N64 will forever be my favorite system ever.

[Packerfan66]

How expensive would the N64 have been if they would have went with games on CD? I really thought the N64 was going to crush the Playstation when it came out. All the games seemed way more fun to play compared to what Sony had that first year. Anyone ever look at the top ten games for the N64 it's first year it was out because I think most were N64. The year after it was a total turn around and I think most were PSX.

[suppafly]

Good: Cartridge format meant no loading times
Bad: Cartridge format made games more expensive, and some games got scrapped for memory limits (like FF7!!!!)

[MonkeyWizard]

Good: The games. While it may not have as many good games as the DC or PSX, it makes up for that by producing the highest number of truly great games.

Bad: The controller. My main problem is how easily the thing breaks. Maybe it's just my luck, but during the days of the N64 I went through a ton of broken controllers. Most of the time it was because the joystick got screwed up, but there were a few other reasons. Oh well, at least it worked well with an FPS. :)

[DigitalSpace]

Good: Fun to play, good games. And the color options of the consoles and controllers were pretty cool.

The controller was decent. Not great, but decent. Although Nintendo was definitely cheap with that stick. My brother has three controllers with his N64, and they still work fine. But a lot of the third party controllers were awful. Most of my friends who owned cheap third party controllers had the sticks break on them in a short time.

Bad: Superman 64, with "Kryptonite Fog" to boot! Also, the lack of third party support.

[Daria]

Before I owned an N64 I was completely bias against it. I had no real love for Sony either... but at least the the PlayStation had games that I got excited over playing.

I can't stand 3D plateformers so the new Mario games only turned me further away from the system. Then two years or so ago while working at GameStop I got a couple free games. Both Zeldas and Paper Mario (which I picked up on a whim) and thus being presented with three free games I bought a system.

Hated Ocarina of Time... which is funny because I've always loved Zelda games. Probably just the 3D shock and if I went back and tried it again I might like it a bit better. Afterall I loved Wind Waker.

But Paper Mario? Instantly fell in love with the game. I actually thought it was better then Super Mario RPG. It had a lot more old school Mario refences anyway, and the graphics were amazing. I loved the sprites on the colorful and detailed 3D backdrops. It was like the cellshading of it's day, the perfect blend of 2D and 3D. Cause afterall n64 3D wasn't all that great... neither was PSX 3D for that matter. But spruce it up with sprites and 2D textures and it was really something.

Anyway the game alone was worth buying the system, and I later got Harvest Moon 64 which was just as much fun.

So the best part of any system is the best game you love for it, so in that respect my N64 is just as much fun as my any of my other consoles, Next Gen or Old School.
________
LUV (http://www.chevy-wiki.com/wiki/Chevrolet_LUV)

[baby_bytes]

Good: Mario 64, Mario kart 64, Diddy Kong racing, DK64, F-Zero X, the controller and the rumble pak...i actually liked the controller

Bad: that damn expensive expansion pack

[pookninja]

good:both of the mystical ninja(goemon)games,all of the wcw/nwo and later wwf/e japanese wrestling games that thq released here in america,zelda,shadowgate 64,and doom64. bad:having to keep reseting the analog stick on the controller,all that fog,and not many great 3rd party releases.and also,i thought the ps1 graphics just looked better even though the 64 was a more powerful system.

[Gunstarhero]

The Good:
- Cartridges!!! The last cartridge console, it gets bonus points just for this. What balls Nintendo had...way to go!
- Awesome 3rd party support. The more close minded gamers will stick to their guns that Nintendo made the best games, but I personally think its just because they haven't been exposed to the real gems. Nintendo's titles were safely good, sticking with Mario and company...but not necessarily the best, I would say rather mediocre. Midway proved to be a tremendous publisher on the N64, and IMO the absolute STAR of the machine, with DOOM 64, San Fransisco Rush trilogy, Ultimate MK3, NBA Hangtime, Blitz 2000, Body Harvest, Space Station Silicon Valley, Micro Machines, World Driver Champ....
And then there was Starcraft 64, and C & C 64, by Blizzard, Ogre Battle, Tony Hawk trilogy, Nuclear Strike 64...all by various publishers/developers...the machine had superb 3rd Party Support

-The machine is built tough. The console itself is a tank, I love that, it doesn't feel flimsy and hollow like an empty egg shell( Like the Sega Saturn). This console will be around in 50 years, fully functional much like the Atari 2600 is now.

-Natural 4 player support
-Innovative advancements propelled the home market, i.e. Rumble capability, analog control.

The Bad:
-Expansion Pak...this could have just been implemented from the get go...an obvious ploy to suck $30 extra from the consumer.

-Possibly the worst thing to happen to N64; Negative propaganda spread throughout the internet and game magazines that the machine was a childrens console, catered to the preteen crowd, when the games obviously show otherwise...DOOM 64 as a first gen game anyone? The machine had a bias against it from the get go for some reason.

[Aussie2B]

I love the N64, and the only complaints I have about it are rather minor and insignificant.

I don't understand why people hate the cartridge format. Why were cartridges fine and wonderful for SNES and Genesis, but when the next generation came they were shunned? The Neo Geo STILL uses carts, and I don't see many people complaining about that. It certainly can't be an issue of technology. The N64 carts could store MUCH more than SNES carts. In fact, correct me if I'm wrong, but N64 carts are the largest carts ever after Neo Geo carts. And while N64 games were more expensive than PSX games, they were CHEAPER than SNES carts on average. They rarely went over $60, while SNES games were frequently 70 or 80 bucks (and I won't even get into the 90 dollar Genesis games...).

From a game player's standpoint, carts are great. No load times, very durable, and just as fun as games on discs. If you're a game developer... sure, I can see your point. Carts are expensive to produce, so why bother when you can make a CD game that costs a buck to produce and sell it for $40? Better yet, you can bloat the disc with FMV and CD music, so the gamers won't notice your game sucks so much. :P

Gamers can complain that the cartridge format scared off some money-grubbing (or tight on money) developers, but don't hate the carts themselves.

Now, as for the controller... I personally love it. I was amazed when I first saw the design and first felt it in my hands. I think the analog stick is great, and my original controller from 1996 still works beautifully even after the hundreds of hours of use it's gotten. Of course, the controller is not without its problems. The D-pad is too stiff and not used frequently enough (blame the developers for the latter). The C buttons are small and raised quite high, so they can be confusing or even painful with some games (Mischief Makers, I'm looking at you!).

The controller pak is a bit annoying because the developers should have all just put in in-game saving when needed. With the exceptions of a few games, they can store a ton of files, though. Also, unless I'm mistaken, there is no way to transfer files from card to card. That always pissed me off.

The rumble pak, while revolutionary at its time (stupid Sony ripped off Nintendo with both the rumbling and analog sticks), hasn't aged so well. It's bulky and heavy, and who wants to buy batteries for a rumble pak?

As for the hardware itself, the original black N64 is beautiful, and it's great that modification is pretty simple.

In the software, I'd complain mostly about the developers getting too ambitious at times resulting in bad frame rates. They didn't bother me so much back then, but they're quite noticeable now. I wish they had used the expansion pak to reduce frame rates, but instead, it usually made them worse... Sure, hi-res mode in games looks pretty, but I ain't gonna use it if the game moves intolerably. Donkey Kong 64 is particularly an annoying offender. I would gladly take a simpler looking game if it played and moved great (see F-Zero X).

The library size is something that could be complained about (and the long delays and lack of new games to buy during certain periods of the system's life). However, it's just more encouraging to me as a collector. I hope to have a complete collection of N64 games someday (maybe including Japan-only imports O_O ), so the fact that there are only 300-some US N64 games helps... It's also a much better great game to crap ratio than say... the PSX.

The system is a bit lacking in some genres (fighters and RPGs, obviously), but I get all I want of those on other systems. However, I think it's worthwhile to note that while the N64 has very few RPGs, nearly all are very good. Paper Mario and Ogre Battle 64 are a couple of the best RPGs ever, in my opinion, and they easily beat out most RPGs on PSX. The N64 did have a fair amount of variety, in my opinion, especially if you factor in the Japanese titles. It even had a dating sim (which is what my avatar is from), and if I'm not mistaken, it's the only Nintendo console to have a DDR game (a Disney-themed one released in Japan only). I won't bother listing every fruity game on N64; you guys can look them up if you want. :P

I also can't forget to say how awesome N64 multiplayer is. The GameCube is great with Super Monkey Ball (so many hours put into Monkey Target here...) and Mario Kart, but I think N64 beats it. I could play multiplayer Mario Kart 64 for hours and hours and hours... and I have. ;)

And finally, to wrap up this huge post, here's a list of what I personally think are some N64 games that make the system more than worth owning and playing:

Super Mario 64, Goemon's Great Adventure, Wonder Project J2, Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness, Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Zelda: Majora's Mask, Ogre Battle 64, Paper Mario, Getter Love, Bomberman 64 (Japanese one which is entirely different from same-named US game), Sin & Punishment, Harvest Moon 64, Body Harvest, F-Zero X, Mario Kart 64, Donkey Kong 64, Hybrid Heaven, Jet Force Gemini, Mischief Makers, Space Station Silicon Valley, Star Fox 64, and many others.

[§ Gideon §]

A bad is that nintendo still used cardboard boxes instead of plastic.
I never thought much about that. It does seem a little sucky.

Put me down as another lover of the N64 controller. Though, I'll be the first to admit that the joystick is flawed by design.

[downfall]

BAD: Not enough variety (no DDR or Mister Mosquito or RC Copter)

There was DDR: Disney Dancing Museum (something like that) released in Japan only. I think it was a bit before DDR took off here, so I seriously doubt it would have done well on this side of the ocean anyway.

GOOD:

A wrestling gamers paradise. Best wrestling games ever.

Also has some very good imports from what I understand, although I only have one: Virtual Pro Wrestling 2.

Probably the best ratio of taking a 2d game and turning it 3d and doing a good job of it. Mario, Zelda, Mario Kart, Excitebike, etc.

I love the cartridges, as well as the way the system looks. The controller was great also.. it feels a little weird now going back to it, but that's mostly because i'm used to the Gamecube and PS2 controllers now.

4-player was great. I've had more fun multiplayer experiences with the N64 than I have any other system.

Basically everything everyone else said.

The only really bad thing in my opinion is that for some reason, it feels like there's just not a lot of absolute *knockout* games. Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of great games, but there aren't as many "home-runs" as there are on other systems. Maybe it's that a lot of the games haven't held up so well... I'm not really sure.. I can't exactly pinpoint it, but it's almost like there's a glass ceiling or something holding the N64 down. Maybe I'll figure it out later.

[downfall]

The library size is something that could be complained about (and the long delays and lack of new games to buy during certain periods of the system's life).

I think that's what I was trying to get at.

[JB Lars]

GOOD: Paper Mario, Zeldas. F-Zero, Mario Kart, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Theft Auto: Mushroom Kingdom (just seeing if you're paying attention), Space Station: Silicon Valley, Body Harvest, Harvest Moon 64, Starfox 64, Beetle Adventure Racing.

BAD: The controller, after extended use. Get a Mako Pad (IIRC), and this system really comes alive.

[dracula]

GOOD: Paper Mario, Zeldas. F-Zero, Mario Kart, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Theft Auto: Mushroom Kingdom (just seeing if you're paying attention), Space Station: Silicon Valley, Body Harvest, Harvest Moon 64, Starfox 64, Beetle Adventure Racing.

BAD: The controller, after extended use. Get a Mako Pad (IIRC), and this system really comes alive.

I loved the 1st party N64 controllers as well(similar to the GC controller), as for the analoge stick, is there any way to tighten it up after it gets loose? That is my only complaint about the controller, I will have to pick up a mako controller.

More bad: the multiplatform games were generally better on other systems, ogre battle 64 sucked hard compared to tactics ogre or ff tactics. All you do in ogre battle 64 during battles is just watch while the computer controls your chars for you.

The good: well, mario 64, oot, goldeneye, mario kart 64 and a few others really saved this system. Goldeneye is still a fun multiplayer game, sure it looks dated compared to halo for the xbox

I kind of like cartridges, when I buy a used cart, I dont have to worry about the disc being scratched or anything. And like everyone says, no load times are fantastic. The only problem as I see it is that the snes, psone's library kicked its ass pretty hard.

[Neonsolid]

Gone.

[MegaDrive20XX]

Good: It's downright fun
Bad: The Blurry graphics ("Z" Buffering" as Nintendo liked to call it) in some games weren't needed, like "Hexen"...ow my eyes...

[max 330 mega]

i love my n64, snowboard kids were great games, pokemo snap was awesome, and i really liked chameleon twist.
i dont gripe about graphics really, they were fine to me.
i always use those 3rd party controllers, the ones called super pad 64's and love them.
my only gripe was the paper boxes, because it makes it virtually impossible to find complete copies nowadays.

[PentiumMMX]

BAD: The controller, after extended use. Get a Mako Pad (IIRC), and this system really comes alive.


Where do you get the Mako Pad?
Is the Mako Pad that N64 controler that looks like a Gamecube controler?

[SegaAges]

bad: expansion pak. it annoyed me that they didn't just use that in the 1st place. i could be going off on a stupid again, but i think (with the saturn needing a ram cart and all, that they would have maxed all that out as much as possible the 1st time around.

good: everything else. I PLAYED THROUGH AND BEAT SUPERMAN! now if that is not love, i don't know what is.

[davidleeroth]

I loved the 1st party N64 controllers as well(similar to the GC controller), as for the analoge stick, is there any way to tighten it up after it gets loose? That is my only complaint about the controller, I will have to pick up a mako controller.


Lik-Sang had a few replacement stick (I think it was 5) about a week ago but as you can guess, they ran out in minutes. If they know their business at all, they'll be restocking for sure.

http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=177&products_id=5322

[Leo_A]

" Lack of two sticks makes flying sims difficult "

How so? I've yet to see a airplane that had two sticks in the cockpit...

Do you want a 2nd one to control the camera so you can look around easier? Only thing I can think of.

[Jasoco]

I for one am a fan of the N64's controller. It worked PERFECTLY for the games I played. The PSX DualShock is shit in that it's too small for me. Uncomfortable shit. But that's all I'll say to that.

It had a LOT of memorable games. I spent HOURS with Mario 64.
Turok (The first one) rocked. I hated the rest, but number 1 was excellent and different at the time. Something I never played before and it kept me on my seat. Dinosaurs coming out of the fog.. kick ass.
Mario Kart at the time was great. I look back at it now and it's not so hot in comparison to DD. (Framerate is HORRIBLE! I never noticed the bad framerate on it back then when it was the best we had. Still, I'm used to the Cube.)
At the time, Mario Party was the bomb. The first had that horrible "Palm Killer" syndrome. And all my controllers and used ones I find are dead because of it. (Anyone make a Cube to N64 convertor? As long as the L button is the Z button. The top Z on the Cube is almost as bad as the L and R placement on the DualShock.)
Banjo was fun as all get out.

[Black Dragon]

good: Mario 64 and 007 Goldeneye!!

bad: THE DAMN SYSTEM OVER HEATING DURING THE GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :angry: :angry: :angry:

to me the controller was fine with me I think because I have big hands lol
I still use my original Xbox controller too!

[Jasoco]

to me the controller was fine with me I think because I have big hands lol
I still use my original Xbox controller too!Me too. Big Xbox controller is the only comfortable controller for me. Whereas, strangely, the DualShock is the most uncomfortable. Only due to placement of the L and R buttons and the damn stick and D-pad being switched. WTF, SONY?

[Habeeb Hamusta]

Cartridges are great. Discs get Damaged too easily and have load time. Plus for most cartridge games you don't need a memory card. Only bad things about cartridge titles is that the boxes and booklets get lost so easily. The controller was fine...except the d-pad was pretty useless. It just needed some more RPG's and such...instead of lame 1st person titles.

[davidleeroth]

The controller was both it's good and bad point. The then revolutionary design fits your hand and the Z-button placement was great. Camera buttons, who had ever though of that before? Too bad they used too soft a plastic on the stick part. :o
PS1 pad, which was uprated to Dual Shock soon after, simply doesn't cut it designwise.

Some great games I've enjoyed over the years: Super Mario 64, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Zelda: Majora's Mask, Paper Mario, Blast Corps, Body Harvest, F-Zero X, Jet Force Gemini, Star Fox 64, Goldeneye, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Pilotwings 64 and 1080 Snowboarding. And of course Mischief Makers, Bangaioh and Sin & Punishment from you know who.

[om3ga]

Good - First system with some really good party games.
Bad - Party games own your controllers in about a week. :angry:

[VG_Maniac]

Good - Some great quality titles, great multiplayer games, 4 controller ports, No loading.

Bad - lack of 3rd party support, fog in 3D games with soft looking graphics, hardly any RPGs, hardly any 2D games.

[Jumpman Jr.]

Good: The games that were good, were REALLY good. Small enough library for it to be easy to complete, but large enough to have a good selection of games. Kept the best franchises runing (Zelda, Super Mario Bros., etc..) Ocarina of time!!!

Bad: ALOT of sports games that were no good. The controller joystick became loose after trying for months to do a 1080 in the game 1080. The expansion pack was cool, but the fact that you had to go out and buy one just to play certain games sucked.

[tritium]

I'm a huge N64 fan, and I don't have complaints about the console itself.

My only gripe is that it's inferior cartridge format allowed Nintendo to suffer.

Oh well - at least it's a great system.....unlike that infernal Cube.

I don't see a big problem w/ the cartridge format if its done right. I think the n64 was pretty good.

infernal cube? The cube is freakin great! its a nintendo system with a cd type format.

[tritium]

bad: expansion pak. it annoyed me that they didn't just use that in the 1st place. i could be going off on a stupid again, but i think (with the saturn needing a ram cart and all, that they would have maxed all that out as much as possible the 1st time around.

good: everything else. I PLAYED THROUGH AND BEAT SUPERMAN! now if that is not love, i don't know what is.

mid nineties. Wasn't that the time when there was an earthquake in taiwan and ram prices skyrocketed? If I remember correctly 4mb of PC ram was over $100 us.