VGCollect Forum
General and Gaming => General => Topic started by: bikingjahuty on January 02, 2015, 10:22:24 am
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People hate on the n64.
I understand that the N64 was a huge departure from the NES and SNES, both graphically and content-wise, but the widespread hate the N64 gets is very undeserved imo. It gave us some of the best games ever made, and many other games that are insanely good. Sure it lacked in the RPG department, the "64" naming gimmick was a bit overkill, but come on, it was an amazing system!
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People hate on the n64.
I understand that the N64 was a huge departure from the NES and SNES, both graphically and content-wise, but the widespread hate the N64 gets is very undeserved imo. It gave us some of the best games ever made, and many other games that are insanely good. Sure it lacked in the RPG department, the "64" naming gimmick was a bit overkill, but come on, it was an amazing system!
I disagree. The hate on the N64 is very deserved. Its a library of just under 300 games where almost 50% of them are based on sports or racing. It absolutely lacked in the RPG department where literally nothing on there can be counted as an RPG. And lets not even start on the upside down trident that is the controller. There was not anything redeeming about the system. I cant name 5 games on that system that are "insanely good" much less "best games ever made".
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People hate on the n64.
I understand that the N64 was a huge departure from the NES and SNES, both graphically and content-wise, but the widespread hate the N64 gets is very undeserved imo. It gave us some of the best games ever made, and many other games that are insanely good. Sure it lacked in the RPG department, the "64" naming gimmick was a bit overkill, but come on, it was an amazing system!
I disagree. The hate on the N64 is very deserved. Its a library of just under 300 games where almost 50% of them are based on sports or racing. It absolutely lacked in the RPG department where literally nothing on there can be counted as an RPG. And lets not even start on the upside down trident that is the controller. There was not anything redeeming about the system. I cant name 5 games on that system that are "insanely good" much less "best games ever made".
So a console automatically sucks because it has a relatively small library? The Dreamcast and TG16 have pretty small libraries, but both are incredible consoles, as is the N64.
Preference to genre boils down to personal taste; I personally love racing games, as do many other people who enjoy the N64's library. They certainly are not all created equally, but many of the racing games, especially the ones published by midway are pretty fun. I'm not a fan of most sports games, but can still enjoy a huge chunk of the library without touching one.
Yes, the N64 was not for you if you are an RPG fan. Ogre Battle 64, Harvest Moon 64, Paper Mario were definitely the most pure RPG experiences on the console.
The controller if not bad; I feel like it is often the one of the first things people go after when they are looking for something to hate about the console because they don't have anything better to argue about when saying the N64 sucks. It's never been uncomfortable for me, i've never had an issue with the button layout (with the exception of the DPAD), and while aesthetically odd, it's never bothered me.
Some of the Best games of all time:
LOZ: Ocarina of Time
LOZ: Majora's Mask
Super Mario 64
Mario Kart 64
Goldeneye 007
Perfect Dark
Super Smash Bros
Some Insanely Good games:
1080 Snowboarding
Banjo Kazooie
Banjo Tooie
Beetle Adventure Racing
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Diddy Kong Racing
Donkey Kong 64
Doom 64
Xtreme G
FZERO X
Harvest Moon 64
Killer Instinct Gold
Kirby 64
Mario Golf
Mario Tennis
Mega Man 64
Mystical nINJA
NFL Blitz
Ogre Battle 64
Paper Mario
Pilotwings 64
Pokemon Stadium 2
Snowboard Kids
Star Fox 64
Star Wars Rogue Squadron
Star Wars Shadows of the Empire
Turok
Turok 2
Wave Race 64
Yoshi Story
And then there are easily 40+ other games that are very good as well.
There was not anything redeeming about the system.
You obviously don't like the N64, which is fine, but saying there is nothing redeeming about the N64 is just a bit intellectually dishonest. I feel like a lot of people who grew up with the NES and/or SNES were not huge fans of the N64 because of how different it was, but millions, including me, thought it was an incredible console through and through.
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People hate on the n64.
I understand that the N64 was a huge departure from the NES and SNES, both graphically and content-wise, but the widespread hate the N64 gets is very undeserved imo. It gave us some of the best games ever made, and many other games that are insanely good. Sure it lacked in the RPG department, the "64" naming gimmick was a bit overkill, but come on, it was an amazing system!
I disagree. The hate on the N64 is very deserved. Its a library of just under 300 games where almost 50% of them are based on sports or racing. It absolutely lacked in the RPG department where literally nothing on there can be counted as an RPG. And lets not even start on the upside down trident that is the controller. There was not anything redeeming about the system. I cant name 5 games on that system that are "insanely good" much less "best games ever made".
I think the amount of hate that it gets is too high. It made a number of great games at the time, although most haven't aged well. I think it has become the ET of consoles, there are worse ones out there but people just like to hate on it.
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I split the topic to keep it out of the collection goals.
As far as this goes, Im going to agree to disagree. And I never said anything about a small library being the reason a system sucks. SMS is one of my top favorite consoles and it barely breaks the 100 title count. Its about the quality of the library. When 50% of it is sports and racing games, that definitely doesnt equal quality.
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The N64 is the least liked console in my collection, except for my Atari 2600 which I recently sold.
It just doesn't have a very good library of games. I like platformers, but N64's platformer-rich library seems to consist of cuticized and kiddied-down platformers that are just too juvenile for my tastes. There's like no RPGs or shoot-em ups either, which are two of my favorite genres. (I do have Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth on my wishlist, the only shoot-em up I know of on the N64).
There are games I would enjoy, however. Like the FPSes or cockpit-view shooters, IF it wasn't for the complete piece of crap controller. That thing is the most awkward, unwieldy controller I've ever held. And to make matters worse, the thumbstick is so incredibly sensitive to a fault. Heaven forbid you have to replace an N64 controller, either. Because you'll search the depths of the Earth before finding one with a thumbstick that isn't loose (unless you settle for a cheap third-party reproduction). It's FAR MORE than people just "looking for a reason to hate on it". It's quite a legitimate complaint.
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I split the topic to keep it out of the collection goals.
As far as this goes, Im going to agree to disagree. And I never said anything about a small library being the reason a system sucks. SMS is one of my top favorite consoles and it barely breaks the 100 title count. Its about the quality of the library. When 50% of it is sports and racing games, that definitely doesnt equal quality.
Except when you're a fan of racing and/or sports games. Most of which were well received at the time the N64 was being supported, and are still enjoyed to this day. Racing games, like any genre have a to of variation in the genre itself. There are many different flavors of arcade racers, sim racers, cart racers, ext. Mario and Sonic are pretty different games despite both being 2D platformers, as are Arcade Racers like Rush and Cruisin World.Even sports titles on the N64 are still enjoyed and are part of the systems quality library. I'm not going to defend the annual EA sports installments, but there are many wrestling, football, soccer, and hockey games on the console that are still a blast to this day. Let's not forget the Mario Sports games either.
And again, taking out all the sport and racing games, you still have a large amount of quality titles that make the N64 a very impressive and fun system to own. Not for everyone, but certainly one of the best consoles ever made, imo at least.
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I personally love the N64 (my 3rd favourite console after the PS2 and PS1), and even though there were only 392 games released for it (402 if you include the DD games), I feel that many of them were of high quality. Of course when you compare the number of releases with the PS1 it is absolutely dominated, but the N64 doesn't have to be better to be great.
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I'm really confused about this topic, maybe I just don't get out enough, but this thread is pretty much the first time I've ever heard anybody say they didn't like the N64. The game library is lacking in number and quality games, but like someone else said, the games that are good like both zeldas and the mario games are considered some of the best of all time with many others from the system included. As for the controller its just different I don't see the big deal. I do pc and console gaming and theres always a learning curve for pc games because you always need to play differently depending on how the keys are mapped out, but you adjust. You also complain that half the games are racing and sports games, but I'd like to point out that if you look at anything past super nintendo and you take all the racing, sports, and shooters you've taken over half of any and all game libraries. And yeah if you're looking for an rpg N64 isn't your system, so go with playstation, but if you like platformers then nothing compares to N64 once your past super nintendo. Also yeah they are cutesy and gimmicky because sorry to bring the bearer of bad news, but video games were made for children mostly. Even most of the RPG's you probably love are rated either E or T so it's hard to complain about the lack of adult content when they really aren't trying to sell games to us because were the minority gamers, most are probably 18 and below and anyone that games after that plays sports and shooters which is why that's all the make.
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I'm really confused about this topic, maybe I just don't get out enough, but this thread is pretty much the first time I've ever heard anybody say they didn't like the N64. The game library is lacking in number and quality games, but like someone else said, the games that are good like both zeldas and the mario games are considered some of the best of all time with many others from the system included. As for the controller its just different I don't see the big deal. I do pc and console gaming and theres always a learning curve for pc games because you always need to play differently depending on how the keys are mapped out, but you adjust. You also complain that half the games are racing and sports games, but I'd like to point out that if you look at anything past super nintendo and you take all the racing, sports, and shooters you've taken over half of any and all game libraries. And yeah if you're looking for an rpg N64 isn't your system, so go with playstation, but if you like platformers then nothing compares to N64 once your past super nintendo. Also yeah they are cutesy and gimmicky because sorry to bring the bearer of bad news, but video games were made for children mostly. Even most of the RPG's you probably love are rated either E or T so it's hard to complain about the lack of adult content when they really aren't trying to sell games to us because were the minority gamers, most are probably 18 and below and anyone that games after that plays sports and shooters which is why that's all the make.
I find that the biggest critics of the n64 are those that grew up with the NES and/or SNES. There was a lot of expectations placed upon the n64 to be the true successor to these two consoles, and the combination of everything going 3D and the lack of certain genres really turned this crowd off. My first Ninendo console was a SNES, however my Genesis was my goto console during that Gen so I didn't play it that much. When I got an N64 when they first came out it blew my mind. A big part of why I embraced the N64 was probably because my experience with Nintendo consoles prior was a lot more limited and I had fewer expectations than those who lived through the NES glory days.
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Eh. People 'hate on' everything though. Who cares if some people dislike the N64.
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When you have the PS1 in comparison, then the lacking game-library just shows that much more. PS1 covered all the bases: Platformers, RPGs. shoot-em-ups, racers, sports, puzzle games, kids games, horror games, you name it. With the N64, you really had to be a big Nintendo or Platformer fan to really appreciate it. And as I pointed out in my first post, those platformers were aimed entirely at the kiddies, at that.
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The smoking gun was it's processor. The 64-bit system was just too hard for most developers to program. Coupled with limited storage and expensive cartridges it's a no brainer way there's less games on the Nintendo 64.
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A horrible pad, a horrible video chip that blurred everything to hell, and Nintendo's dumb decision to stick to carts instead of moving to optical media (which limited what devs could do with the system - and raised game prices a lot) are the reasons I hate the system.
But mostly the pad.
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I think it's deserved. It simply didn't have "enough" games with lasting appeal (as it seems most of the games were built around the whole splitscreen aspect), nor the rom space for the big games of that generation. They were lucky to even get resident evil 2 running. (FF7 is twice the size of RE2) Even the big one, zelda has been made inferior by the newer titles in the series. Nostalgia is misleading sometimes.
If you thought 3rd party support on the sega saturn was bad it's even worse on the N64 which is pretty damn imbarrasing saying they had the biggest 3rd party support around 1-2 years before it launched. No Rare games on the N64 then the console doesn't even exist, if that was the case the atari jaguar would of been a better choice than a N64.
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Just personal here, but This was the 1st Nintendo system I had bought with HUGE expectations in what they could do in the RPG genre. I think we all know how that turned out. I still have mine, but I've played it, oh, maybe 10 times its entire life. It's still in the box I bought it in, forever, futilely awaiting a title worth playing. Don't get me wrong, it had SOME gems. But not enough to keep it from the hate crowd. I remember Goldeneye parties at friends houses many days, and have a huge love of Conker's BFD. But sadly, the only other game I honestly ever wanted for the system, that to this day I still have never even played, is Blast Corps. This was the system that broke my trust in the Nintendo brand, and was the last system I bought Day 1. After that I simply refused to be a Day 1 fanboy and run out to have the newest and latest. They got back some of my love with the Gamecube as it DID have some outright amazing games though. But then the Wii came out... I STILL don't have a Wii in my dedicated collection. My kid got one from the grandparents, and it's probably used less than the N64 was. The disappointment with Nintendo in general that comes from me saddens me to this day. I was in middle school when the NES came out and thought that Nintendo could do no wrong, and that was even with some of the horrid crap that got shoveled onto the NES :-). Although, I don't have any total hate for Nintendo. I absolutely ADORE my 3DSXL and play the hell out of it. I relish taking it out in public to get both street passes and passes for games I have on it that welcome other people to help (aka Fire Emblem, Bravely Default). But I digress. The N64 will forever burn in the back hell of my memories. I hear so many people that say they grew up with the N64 as their first Nintendo console and loved it and I weep for them. They just do NOT know how crapped on they were. When they lost Squaresoft I think it really did some damage to them as well. Sony has been annihilating them in the console wars ever since. Still, good subject. Thanks for the post.
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I love the N64 lol Sure it doesn't have the massive library, but some of my most favorite games of all time are on it. Ocarina of Time, Mario Kart, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Donkey Kong 64, Goldeneye, Diddy Kong Racing, and a number of others. Though I will say, as much as I love it, I can't say I love that controller lol That was a big misstep, but I am always going to love this console more than most other Nintendo systems and I grew up playing the NES and the SNES as a kid, up till I was 10 years old when the N64 was released.
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A horrible pad, a horrible video chip that blurred everything to hell....
The smoothed texture filter was intentional. I actually prefer it over PS1's pixelly textures.
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My main gripe with the N64 is that I wish they would've tried to do some more 2D style stuff with it. I feel the 64's library has probably aged the worst, since early 3D games just in general don't age well. It has some stuff on there I love, but sometimes it's really hard to go back and play some of those games with all the advances we've made since then.
Also the controller sucked, lol
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The console has a lot of nostalgic value for me, but it definitely has its flaws. Never cared for the controller at all, and like Bwigdahl said many of the games from that era have not aged well. However, there are some games, mainly first party, that are the best that gaming has to offer. The system is worth owning just for the two Zelda games alone.
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The 64 was the first system I owned and i remember going out to visit my cousins and playing Mario Kart, Star Fox, ocarina, Smash bros, Mario 64, and Pokemon Stadium with them on theirs. So it is the system I have the most nostalgia for and I'll admit some of those games are really hard to go back to, but admit I love that bastard of a system. And you know what I can credit it for getting me into collecting.
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smoothed
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
*gasps*
*faints*
I've seen smoother textures on sandpaper. Oh and don't get me wrong the PS1's texture filtering wasn't that much better but at least it didn't look like something viewed through a pair of eyes with severe cataracts.
To make this clear, I am not criticizing the system's games, as I only played a few of them years ago. I'm complaining about the way it handled textures.
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I guess similar reasons why people hate every Nintendo console after Super. "There's not enough _____." "I'm tired of Mario and Zelda". "It's too kiddy". "The games are so ugly to look at".
I think with the 64 it's about what you expected to get out of the 5th gen consoles at the time. They all had their strengths and weaknesses, but back then, the 64 delivered exactly the kind of games I wanted to play. Probably why I'll always remember it fondly.
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I guess similar reasons why people hate every Nintendo console after Super. "There's not enough _____." "I'm tired of Mario and Zelda". "It's too kiddy". "The games are so ugly to look at".
I disagree with this. The Gamecube is my favorite Nintendo console. The Wii is a really good system once you dig past all the shovelware that was released for it, and the Wii U is on track to having a killer lineup of games that will probably put it just under the Gamecube for me. I had both a PSX & N64 at the time, and the fact is I barely used the N64. Majora's Mask and DK64 are the only two single player games I remember putting a lot of time into, and I have some great memories of playing the Mario Party games with friends along with one of the racing games, I believe San Francisco Rush. I felt Ocarina and Mario 64 were two of the weakest entries in their series, still do. The Spyro series on the PSX ran circles around any of the N64 platformers IMO.
I'm not trying to hate on the system, I understand some people have a lot of nostalgia for it - especially those who remember it as their first system. That wasn't the case for me, I was in my early 20's at the time and it just did not have a strong library of games at all, not just in comparison to the PSX but also in comparison to every other Nintendo system out there (except the Virtual Boy, obviously).
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Funny that people think the N64 is a subpar machine because of it's preponderance of sports and racing game however I LOVE racing games and the few titles I do have for the N64 are racing games. I find it's racing library a great strength, not a weakness.
For me, console gaming kind of ended in the PS1/N64 era. I had graduated to PC gaming which had a richer experience with adventure games and simulations. I was already well into adulthood at 27, and the "kiddie" feel of N64 games turned me off. My nephew had one at launch and I played Starfox 64 and Mario 64 (god, enough with the damn "64" in every title. Nintendo has this unhealthy obsession with putting the name of a consoles title in every game) and was underwhelmed with the experience compared to games like Tie Fighter or Full Throttle on PC's
As for the N64 controller, I have no issues with it except for it's cheap analog controller that seems broken on 9 out of 10 controllers found in the wild.
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Since there as been a lot of comments about the N64's graphics I'd thought I'd chime in on the topic.
Early 3D no matter what console is was on (N64, PS1, Saturn, 3DO, Jaguar) has not aged well. Some games like Super Mario 64 (or pretty much most games published by Nintendo on the N64) and some by RARE still look pretty good given the talent that went into the polygon detail and decreased need for detail since most of these games were more cartoonish in nature. I feel like games that tried going for a more realistic look have ironically aged the worst in terms of graphics, again for any early system capable of 3D graphics.
With that said, I think there is a certain charm to the rugged 3D textures and polygons, and sometimes laughable attempts at realism. It's almost like how pixels on the Atari and Intellivision were often so bad to where you had to use some imagination to see that the blob of 10 huge pixels was actually a dragon. In sort of the same way, the sometimes ugly 3D graphics of the mid to late 90s really enhance the enjoyment of knowing I am playing a game from that time period and that that was as good as it got, at least for console gaming. It's definitely more of a nostalgic appreciation, but I wouldn't have the graphics on those systems be any other way :)
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I love the N64 and would love to get back into collecting for it! But THE CONTROLLER! The controller is what kills the console for me the same way the Atari 5200 does for most people. They are unreliable to use. I've had 5 joysticks break on me in the past. I know there are adapters use a GameCube controller with it but those are expensive. The Nintendo 64 was the first "retro" system I collected for.
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Since there as been a lot of comments about the N64's graphics I'd thought I'd chime in on the topic.
Early 3D no matter what console is was on (N64, PS1, Saturn, 3DO, Jaguar) has not aged well. Some games like Super Mario 64 (or pretty much most games published by Nintendo on the N64) and some by RARE still look pretty good given the talent that went into the polygon detail and decreased need for detail since most of these games were more cartoonish in nature. I feel like games that tried going for a more realistic look have ironically aged the worst in terms of graphics, again for any early system capable of 3D graphics.
With that said, I think there is a certain charm to the rugged 3D textures and polygons, and sometimes laughable attempts at realism. It's almost like how pixels on the Atari and Intellivision were often so bad to where you had to use some imagination to see that the blob of 10 huge pixels was actually a dragon. In sort of the same way, the sometimes ugly 3D graphics of the mid to late 90s really enhance the enjoyment of knowing I am playing a game from that time period and that that was as good as it got, at least for console gaming. It's definitely more of a nostalgic appreciation, but I wouldn't have the graphics on those systems be any other way :)
For me, this is always the case. The games we regard as the peak of graphical achievement and realism WHEN THEY ARE RELEASED are usually the games you go back to years later and say "man this looks like shit." Because at that point, someone has come through and improved on what was done years ago. Yet the games that try for a more artistic look usually hold up quite well. Good art direction/interesting character designs will always trump graphical prowess in my book.
And like you said, this was the case with ALL early 3D consoles. I just feel PS1/Saturn did better at throwing some more traditional 2D style games that look/play fantastic. Mostly fighting/platforming games but even with stuff like Wild Arms, which used 3D models in the battle sections but the overall feel of that game was just an updated take on the classic 3 quarter view 2D rpg the SNES made so popular. And it looked/looks great. This is why I usually consider the PS1 a truer successor to the SNES than the 64.
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I dunno...I'd think you'd have to look pretty hard here, to come up with pretty few examples, of people "Hating" on systems :)
I've found this community to be 1 of the most tolerant, unbiased, & open-minded of the many gaming sites I've been to & seen. 8)
I dislike (non-joking) "Hating" on systems & disrespecting/flaming others because, ya' know...their favorite systems aren't yours :P
My 2 cents:
Of *course* a system's library (amount of games in the favorite genre(s) of the person) is a consideration/part of the 'formula' that determines if & how much any given person likes/doesn't like the console in question.
I mean...think about it, if you were the proud owner of a PS1, SNES, N64, Saturn, & Dreamcast *before* there were any games made or released for any of them...which one would be your favorite & why? :o
Then, a year later; 4 of the 5 each have 10 games that you like equally --but-- the 5th had 100 games that you liked equally (to the 40 games on the other 4); yourMy favorite one would be obvious ;)
I can kinda understand & tolerate this kind of topic on a site like G*FAQs - where it'd be valid & relevant - *but*, I think it's insulting to the community here & that it smacks of & smells like the other/2nd (other than flaming for having different opinions) kind of topics that I can't stand, and that you'll also run into everywhere you go on G*FAQs...
..."The console re-assurance & justification" ones :-\
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I have an N64 with:
Star Fox 64
Perfect Dark
Golden Eye
Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer
six other games I don't remember off the top of my head.
I've played Perfect Dark and Golden Eye once.
I wouldn't say I hate the system. But I agree the games have not aged well which is why I haven't played it more. Playing the games in emulators is little help since the blurry texture stuff is baked in.
I also agree that in their purist form 3D games of the PS1 era have not aged well either. But when played under emulation a lot of these games upscale and then smooth out very very well. The Final Fantasy and Parasite Eve titles look amazing at 1080p with the right filters.
The PS1 also has an undeniably larger library of games that were not 3D that have aged incredibly well. These games in particular were as arcade perfect as it gets:
Area 51
Maximum Force
Leathal Enforcers
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Many cross platform games were also superior on the PS1:
Mega Man
Destruction Derby
Resident Evil 2
Several AAA exclusive franchises emerged on the PS 1 were serious contenders against the trickle of 1st party IP from Nintendo:
Parasite Eve
Dino Crisis
Final Fantasy
Tomb Raider
This is all just off the top of my head.
Now that I have a 3DO and I've been playing through my backlog I have to say the 3DO honesty blows me away yet many consider it a failed platform. It's got a library nearly as large as the N64. The graphics on most of the games I've played (Night Trap, Street Fighter 2, Gex, The Need For Speed) crush both N64 and first gen PS1.
When it comes down to it I agree with disgaeniac. I can have my own nostalgic and pet systems and for that the rationale doesn't have to make sense to anyone but me. But the reality in my case is I only collect what I want to play. So looking at the numbers themselves...
(http://i62.tinypic.com/2ezlbox.jpg)
My 3 favorite consoles appear to be in rank order:
Sega Genesis (Actually in this case it is my wife's favorite because it's her system and games)
NES
Atari 2600
Playstation 3
Super Nintendo
Seems like a pretty accurate (and sobering) breakdown to me. I had no idea I liked PS3 as much as I do. But it makes sense because it has a LOT of games I like to play. NES and Atari 2600 pretty much dominated my childhood. SNES was a system I only got to play when visiting my uncle.
Everything else is stuff I sought out myself once I was on my own.
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Since there as been a lot of comments about the N64's graphics I'd thought I'd chime in on the topic.
Early 3D no matter what console is was on (N64, PS1, Saturn, 3DO, Jaguar) has not aged well. Some games like Super Mario 64 (or pretty much most games published by Nintendo on the N64) and some by RARE still look pretty good given the talent that went into the polygon detail and decreased need for detail since most of these games were more cartoonish in nature. I feel like games that tried going for a more realistic look have ironically aged the worst in terms of graphics, again for any early system capable of 3D graphics.
With that said, I think there is a certain charm to the rugged 3D textures and polygons, and sometimes laughable attempts at realism. It's almost like how pixels on the Atari and Intellivision were often so bad to where you had to use some imagination to see that the blob of 10 huge pixels was actually a dragon. In sort of the same way, the sometimes ugly 3D graphics of the mid to late 90s really enhance the enjoyment of knowing I am playing a game from that time period and that that was as good as it got, at least for console gaming. It's definitely more of a nostalgic appreciation, but I wouldn't have the graphics on those systems be any other way :)
For me, this is always the case. The games we regard as the peak of graphical achievement and realism WHEN THEY ARE RELEASED are usually the games you go back to years later and say "man this looks like shit." Because at that point, someone has come through and improved on what was done years ago. Yet the games that try for a more artistic look usually hold up quite well. Good art direction/interesting character designs will always trump graphical prowess in my book.
And like you said, this was the case with ALL early 3D consoles. I just feel PS1/Saturn did better at throwing some more traditional 2D style games that look/play fantastic. Mostly fighting/platforming games but even with stuff like Wild Arms, which used 3D models in the battle sections but the overall feel of that game was just an updated take on the classic 3 quarter view 2D rpg the SNES made so popular. And it looked/looks great. This is why I usually consider the PS1 a truer successor to the SNES than the 64.
I don't think I agree all 3d games aged like shit. Most of them have. But good games are timeless. Conkers bad fur day has held up well I think most would agree. What doesn't age well is gimmicks.
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Mario Kart 64 doesn't seem to have aged too well. I recently brought it for my co-workers who had been enjoying Mario Kart 8. These guys love Mario Kart 8 and are good at it, but they're not really into video games too much outside of that.
At first they were excited to see what the N64 version would be like, but it ended up going over like a can of surströmming. After three courses of impossibly blurry split screens, they were begging to go back to the modern age. Even an old school veteran like myself had a hard time seeing what was going on.
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N64 didn't aged well.
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Mario Kart 64 doesn't seem to have aged too well. I recently brought it for my co-workers who had been enjoying Mario Kart 8. These guys love Mario Kart 8 and are good at it, but they're not really into video games too much outside of that.
At first they were excited to see what the N64 version would be like, but it ended up going over like a can of surströmming. After three courses of impossibly blurry split screens, they were begging to go back to the modern age. Even an old school veteran like myself had a hard time seeing what was going on.
Ouch. What about the gamecube version?
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When I was younger, I still remember my hand cramping because of how bulky the controller was when I wielded it and fiddling around that annoying thumbstick. The worst controller experience category definitely surpassed it's predecessor, in my opinion.
The games weren't that bad... Although, the only games I really stuck to trying out, despite the hand-cramping, were Mario Kart 64, Ogre Battle 64: Person Of Lordly Caliber, Star Fox 64, and Wave Race 64.
The only reason I keep mine was because it was given to me by a classmate nearly a decade ago.
However, there are some games, mainly first party, that are the best that gaming has to offer. The system is worth owning just for the two Zelda games alone.
Glad they were ported to the Gamecube.
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I never really cared for the N64 either.
I remember buying a Playstation and my friend bought the N64. The games were around $70 if you wanted the N64 version and they couldn't do the full motion video or voices like on CD based games (Mortal Kombat Mythologies comes to mind).
That was during the everything had to be in 3D era also. As an old school arcade gamer, I was still looking to play games like Mortal Kombat 3, WWF the Arcade Game (countless hours spent on this one and I never even watched wrestling before :P ), Raiden, In the Hunt etc. Like most have said here already, I too hated the N64 controller.
I have a few games that I received as gifts and a couple I bought on clearance, but no actual system...
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I somewhat like the N64 mostly just because of many of Nintendo and Rare's offerings on the system, as well as some other exclusive games for the system. Besides that, there's a lot of cons of the system, especially with the controller and just less of a variety of genres in game offerings compared to it's counterparts, especially with the fact that it did not have many 2-D games. So the PS1 and Saturn beat out the N64 when it comes to games, and that puts them higher on my list of consoles for the 5th generation.
The interesting thing is that the mainstream idea is that many people really like the N64. There's a lot of praise for the system, with no regard in checking out the actual pros and cons of the console.
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I certainly don't "hate" the N64, but it was most assuredly my least favorite Nintendo console having owned them all to date. I think a lot of the dislike/hate has to do with drawing comparisons to the PlayStation which was it's direct competitor. Nintendo stuck with the tried & true cartridge format which restricted what could be done with games. On the other hand, the PlayStation opened the floodgates. We were treated to these huge, sprawling worlds. Real music. Real voiceovers. FMV which at the time was a really big deal. Adult themes that we had never experienced. Think about it: Before PlayStation, there were no Resident Evil's or Tomb Raider's. Final Fantasy exploded with FFVII and Castlevania had arguably it's best entry ever in Symphony of the Night. Square, Titus, Enix, Atlus and just about every other RPG developer under the sun pumped out game after game after game. How about Working Design's JRPG's? The Lunar collections, Arc the Lad, Alundra....fantastic games. And while PlayStation was getting all these great games, N64 was pretty much relegated to Nintendo-made games, some 2nd party stuff and very few 3rd party titles. And for whatever reason-call my kooky if you want-I didn't like Ocarine of Time or Mario 64 at all. And while people were going gaga for GoldenEye 007, I was playing Quake, Unreal and Doom on my PC and just couldn't get into a FPS on a console.