Author Topic: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64  (Read 9685 times)

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a slime appears

  • retro king
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RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« on: May 25, 2014, 10:54:12 PM »

                                                                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                             
                                                                   
NINTENDO®64





Introduction:

So, what's this thread all about? Way back in the mid 00's I used to cover games for an enthusiast press outlet and I've been meaning to get back into the writing habit. I profess I'm not very good but I do want to improve my creative and analytical writing skills so I'll be using this thread as a means to practice. I'm also a bit of a silly bastard who's really into retro gaming so another goal of mine was to focus on a project that forces me to play a bunch of classics and coalesce my thoughts into coherent opinions.



I plan on doing a full week of daily game impressions from my personal N64 collection. I don't have a particular attachment for the system but it just so happens to be one of the consoles I'm actively buying games for. I hope that by doing a consistent daily post it will spark some conversation and encourage others try out some N64 games. I'm also going to do a bit of a history segment for each game where I try to find interesting bits of development trivia or what was the relevance of the game within the industry. I think every title has it's own unique story so I hope some of you learn something new.







The Setup:

I try to play games on original hardware to get the most accurate experience but I've got no problems with enjoying ports or emulation. Call it nostalgia but I just like sitting down in front of a TV with an original system and controller. At the very least I'm putting forth more effort than simply firing up an emulator and grabbing games off the Internet so there's value in that. Below you can find an example of the console I'll be playing on, a sample of my 60+ game library, and the TV I'm using.

       

I have a Watermelon N64 with an Expansion pack, Rumble Pak, and a Controller Pak (memory card). I have the N64 connected to a Sharp 32" CRT via S-Video for the best native picture quality the N64 can spit out (without mods). What I have is rather bog-standard but I wanted to note what I'm playing on in case anyone is curious. If any of the game require the use of an external accessory I'll make sure to note it so if you want to play the game you can grab what you need in order to enjoy it.







Game Schedule:

My proposed schedule for the week includes playing one game per day for at least a couple hours. Once I’ve played enough, I'll post impressions at 8pm EST and this will continue for a full week (7 days) starting on Monday the 25th and ending on Sunday the 1st.

       

I compiled this list from the N64 cartridges that I own and chose a mixture of the best on the system, good games, hidden gems, and poor games. With this kind of variety I won't get burned out on continually playing mediocre titles or even get sucked in by the classics. I'm also varying the genres so I'm playing something different each day. To keep things interesting I'm keeping each game I cover a mystery until the day I post impressions but I still kept the quality tags so you can take a guess if you'd like.






Wrap Up:

Hopefully this experiment is a fun exercise that's worth the effort and people enjoy it. If this thread takes off then I'll think about doing additional weeks or just jump onto another console altogether. Thanks for reading!



Fan-art graciously drawn by my good friend.
« Last Edit: May 29, 2014, 09:06:33 PM by a slime appears »

a slime appears

  • retro king
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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2014, 10:54:19 PM »
Monday's Game: SUPER MARIO 64







Game Overview:

Of course I'd start with Super Mario 64, a legendary game released on September 26, 1996 that single-handedly convinced the game buying public that they had to own an Nintendo 64. Though this was a bit of an expected choice I feel it's a mandatory first stop in this week of N64 gaming. Plus there's a lot of value in revisiting this classic to see how it holds up and it serves as a good game to get acclimated with the uniquely design "M-shaped" controller. I'm sure the majority of you are familiar with the game so instead of droning on about it I’ll start off by providing a few interesting anecdotes about the inception of this classic.

In the mid-90’s Nintendo was deep in development of this next-generation game console. Codenamed Project Reality, Nintendo partnered with Silicon Graphics to produce, what they hoped, would be the most advanced 3D gaming console on the market. After many years of rocky development Nintendo finally unveiled to the world the Nintendo Ultra 64 at the 1995 Shoshinkai Software Exhibition in Japan. Coinciding with the console's unveiling several in-development games were also showcased and chief among them was Nintendo’s very major foray into 3D Gaming, Super Mario 64. With SM64 the team struggled with coming to grips on moving gameplay into the third dimension so a lot of interesting experiments were carried out to create the game you know today.

   

Giles Goddard, a programmer on the SM64 project, estimated that there only about 15 people on the team by the end of development. With this small team work began on an initial concept that had principle gameplay operating on a fixed path but feature an isometric camera angle similar to Super Mario RPG. Although interesting, the team felt that didn't represent enough of a jump from the 2D games and they shifted gears to a fully 3D environment.

It's during this phase of development where Miyamoto focused exclusively on how controlling both Mario and the player camera feels, which resulted in a lot of character speed tuning and going through multiple iterations of the camera system. As Giles Goddard remarks “I think this probably went through 1000s of different systems... Miyamoto wasn’t sure how to control the camera in 3D as he hadn’t worked with them before...” Although these changes were iterative they usually resulted due to Miyamoto's feedback from play testing which he recalls, “In the beginning, we had Mario turning really slowly.... But at some point he'd started turning really quickly... So then we changed it... Super Mario 64 was a project that started from that turning movement.

The team tried to overachieve, even during their heavy research, but ultimately scaled back their plans to settle on a single-player game. SM64 was originally going to provide cooperative play as Koizumi recalls, “When we made the first prototype, Mario and Luigi were on a flat field” and he continued “Because of hardware limitations we had a choice between cutting Luigi or making more elaborate landforms. Then, in tears, we had to ask Luigi to leave.” In the end SM64 was released to widespread critical acclaim even though the team had to leave a lot of wonderful ideas on the cutting room floor. Ideas that weren’t forgotten just saved to be used on another game in the future.







Personal Impressions:

It’s always fun to go back to the classics but Super Mario 64 is one I’m a little more familiar with. I've made it a point to play and purchase the game every time it was ported although I haven’t played it since the Virtual Console release in 2006. I’ve only completed when it first released so my memory is a bit fuzzy on the end game. In any case, time to jump into the game.

I remember a younger me being absolutely blown away by the game, from the graphics to the controls, and well the game is still great for the most part but I think it’s starting to show some age. Now I’m not knocking it but it’s one of the first 3D platformers released so there was bound to be some rough spots. Starting the game you’re presented with a nice little intro which sets the game up perfectly and off you go into a clever little tutorial area where you’re free to roam about as you please. I’ve always liked running around the castle grounds but I guess I forgot just how simple everything is. This is pretty much the theme for the rest of my impressions, btw. I’m still having a lot of fun but the game is clearly showing its age.

After spending a little too much time screwing around, I finally get into a proper level (called courses). It’s great being able to replay this classic and I’m really having a lot of fun simply jumping and controlling Mario. While the camera definitely isn’t perfect, it functions well enough when it lets me move it but instances where the camera goes on auto-pilot makes it a constant battle when I want to shift my perspective. It really isn’t that big of a deal but I wanted to point it out. Besides that all the touches they put on Mario’s handling is really impressive. Remember, back when the game came out all you really had to compare it to was Bubsy 3D or other early examples of 3D games. To see Mario showcase actual momentum along with simple squash and stretch was pretty revelatory and I’m happy to say it still shines after all these years.

One of my favorite aspects of Mario 64 is being able to play each world multiple times to get every star. It’s obviously a cheap way to extend the life of the game but I feel where the game shines best is the clever re-use of assets to create brand new playgrounds. Each course has a lot of fun details and areas to explore and by going in and grabbing every star you’re practically given a guided tour of what you can do in each world. While I think Mario’s level design is really simplistic and lacking the finesse of the later games, the mission design still holds up as a clever example of just how much you can stretch simple gameplay concepts.

   

As I hinted at earlier I personally find courses to often feel unintuitive due to having been designed to support multiple missions. It isn’t always immediately clear what the player needs to do but there are instances where the design succeeds, such as the “Big Boo's Haunt” course using confusing layouts to encourage the player to explore every nook and cranny. With every well-designed course there are also one where I think the visual design starts to falter with a good example being of the first course “Bomb-omb Battlefield”. While it’s an easy course, I still find it to be a confusing collection of disparate areas with a central mountain taking up most of the space. I never really understood the purpose of each area when I first played it and I still don’t. I can’t really fault the game since it was practically the first of its kind but I think it’s great to compare and contrast this game with Super Mario Galaxy to see how far this kind of free wheeling level design has been improved upon.

One of the things I had forgotten is that the game doesn’t really hold your hand and I miss that kind of design. While there are text-box tutorials and a basic explanation at the start of the course, the game immediately dumps you out into gameplay to do things at your own pace. It’s pretty refreshing to play a platformer in this style and big part as to why I’m having fun is due to that simplicity. Granted, the team was under the gun to deliver a game for the console’s launch and the limited cart space meant not enough room for anything fancier, but I’m pretty glad they decided to trust the player in their first foray in a 3D game instead of stopping every moment to explain something. I think that trust also extended with the tons of secrets in the game for the player to find. Like when I first accidentally stumbled into the secret aquarium next to the “Jolly Roger Bay” course I felt like I earned that accomplishment. It’s one of those touches that make a Mario game, I think.

I didn’t really get too far in my play through because I simply had too much fun collecting each and ever star per course. I didn’t get past the basement courses but I think I played a good sampling of what the game has to offer. Overall I think Mario 64 still holds up today but is unsurprisingly outclassed by platformers that have been released since. It’s still a very playable and enjoyable historical footnote and the amount of polish that has gone into the feel and control of Mario is still a tough bar to hit. When I started playing the game I was immediately reminded as to why Mario 64 was such an amazing game when it first came out. The game is simply a joy to play.







Where to Find It:

Fortunately Super Mario 64 is an easy game to find and play these days. Besides the original cartridge, Nintendo has released the game on the Wii's Virtual Console service and if you own a Wii U you can also play it through the Wii emulation option. Back in 2004 Nintendo released an upgraded port of the game for the Nintendo DS, called Super Mario 64 DS. Although missing the refined control of an analog stick, the game has been upgraded in multiple ways such as improved graphics, more stars to collect, and three more playable characters among other changes. If you plan on picking up the original you can expect to pay around $15 - $25 for just a cart or even as high as $50 for a complete set (box, manual, game). The game was also released for the iQue but that system is not available in the US.






Video Coverage:

Contained in a spoiler for bandwidth and performance reasons:

spoiler (click to show/hide)
 
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« Last Edit: May 29, 2014, 09:07:11 PM by a slime appears »

a slime appears

  • retro king
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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2014, 10:54:25 PM »
Tuesday's Game: DOOM 64







Game Overview:

Doom 64 is an interesting game to say the least. Released on March 31, 1997 it was a first person shooter of early 90's design featuring maze-like levels, a large armament of weaponry, and plenty of demons to kill as you hunted for the next key card and the eventual exit. At the time of the game's release Turok: Dinosaur Hunter had just come out the month prior and set the N64 world on fire with it's fully polygonal organic worlds and impressively animated dinosaurs. D64 looked more dated by comparison with its sprite-based characters and blocky interior environments. While D64 received mixed reviews, consumers who didn't write the game off due to graphics were surprised to find that the game wasn’t just a mere PC port but a completely redesigned original game made exclusively for the system.

It’s not surprising how different D64 feels due to the game being developed by Midway Games in San Diego. While id Software provided supervision, guys new to the series who got their start making Doom WADs worked on the game. Development originally started off as an ambitious project called ‘The Absolution’ but ended up being a struggle to finish. Midway decided to reboot the project after the prototype phase and work began on the game we know today.

   

While it’s easy to find a dry list of changes from the first Doom, I think the bigger picture is that this was a dark and brooding spin on the classic game that placed more emphasis on making the player feel on edge instead of the typical balls to the wall action of the original. Right from the start players find themselves in a much darker and claustrophobic environment with an unsettling ambient sound-scape instead of the typical heavy metal rock. It’s this first impression that sets the tone for the rest of the game and while the gameplay is still very much Doom-like, the experience feels like a completely different beast at times.

Not all changes were for the better and due to limited cart space some weapons, monsters, and animations had to be cut in order to fit it all within the cart. Even more surprising multiplayer mode was completely abandoned due to Nintendo not providing the resources for multiplayer programming. However due to these changes the team was given the freedom to experiment more and even implemented custom scripting (borrowed from Heretic) to pull off some cool mid-level events. Randy Estrella, a level designer on D64, agreed and added “Scripting was the best thing to happen to Doom64. Gave us a lot more creative freedom since they took away our monsters.” However the team’s biggest challenge, as Tim Heydelaar another level designer puts it “Trying to make Doom feel fresh again. It was 1997 after all and Quake was around.” With all of the changes, good and bad, I think the team certainly pulled it off. While it’s still Doom at its core there’s enough there to make it a fresh experience.







Personal Impressions:

I’ll start off by saying that I really enjoyed playing the game. I didn't pick it up when it was first released so it was a nice surprise to see how solid the game is. Original Doom nostalgia is obviously a big factor in my enjoyment but D64 does enough different to set it apart. It’s by no means a classic but D64 plays like a supercharged mod of the original with plenty of new engine gimmicks that might surprise you.

I didn’t get too far, only 10 levels in on the second hardest difficulty (I own Doom!), but every level had a distinctive layout and unique scripting gimmick along with plenty of monsters to mow down. The core gameplay remains unchanged with plenty of twisting corridors and enemies to kill and key cards always placed in inexplicable locations. Items pickups make a return but they’re pretty standard fare so nothing really to report. The controls are simple like you’d expect, only aiming, shooting, and strafing for the most part. Overall the game worked surprisingly well with the N64 controller and I had no issues running through the levels and killing demons.

Graphically it looks pretty damn slick for being an N64 game. Literally everything has a brand new design with higher resolution texture maps, and anti-aliasing keeps everything from looking a pixelated mess like the other console ports. Enemies have also seen a higher-res bump and while purists may not like it but I think the redesigned enemies have a very cool style that matches the new art style. Although it’s built on the original Doom engine, D64 has been upgraded and now supports multiple rooms on top of each other adding additional variety and verticality to the level design. Though I didn’t get far there were multiple examples early on with a lot of nice touches such as hanging ledges, walkways, and even sculpted details in the environment. The scripting I mentioned earlier is used to great effect with pieces of the level moving around, barriers opening, or even an instance where giant machinery is used to punch a hole in the ground opening the way forward. Rounding out the graphical improvements is a new lighting system that’s put to eerie use. Rooms and corridors now glow with colored accentuation giving the levels vibrancy and an otherworldly vibe. Combined with the scripting there are multiple instances where a room can light up a bright shade of blue after activating a switch or a corridor can be engulfed in darkness with pockets of red emergency lights cluing you in on where the enemies are. It’s moments like these where the game shines despite its aging tech.

   

The highlight of any Doom game for me is the level design and I’m happy to say it’s pretty solid with very little missteps. The early levels feel appropriately straightforward and each new level layering on additional challenges such as figuring out what door the last switch you hit opened. The use of enemies to direct players works pretty well but often the layouts fall into the trap of warping enemies directly behind you or repopulating a room you just cleared out feeling like you didn’t make any progress. Also hampering progress is just trying to figure out where to go next. You really need to be paying attention as any barrier or locked door is often opened via a switch somewhere else in the level. While I never did get truly stuck there were some moments where I had to run around a portion of the level trying to figure out where to go next. I can see how some may find this irritating but at least in the early levels it was pretty easy to deduce what to do after I started taking mental notes on what areas are blocked and relying on the map to let me know what buttons I can access since anything with a yellow line typically means it’s a door or a switch. Plus I like these moments of pause where I can run around a level and resupply as I hunt for the next open door.

To enjoy the game to its fullest make sure you have a memory card avoid writing down lengthy passwords. Saving your game tracks your health, acquired weapons, and ammo count so it’s better off to rely on that. Be aware of the UI prompts when saving; you need to push the Left and Right C-buttons in order to save your game. If you want to load you need to go into the Options menu and select the Password option and perform the same C-button shenanigans to jump into your game.  While we're in the options menu do change the default controls to use the C-buttons for strafing and sticking with the analog stick instead of the D-pad. Also be sure to up the default brightness to at least halfway since the game is incredibly dark. Be aware that you can't save your changed settings so you’re going to need to reset your changes every time you play.

Overall I think this is a fine addition to the series and while not matching the brilliant level design from the original, the new scripted events and graphics help make up for the game’s shortcomings. Since the game sticks to the tried and true formula that Doom standardized I think it’s held up surprisingly well. If you’re hankering for some classic 90’s FPS action or are a big fan of Doom I’d give this game a strong recommendation.







Where to Find It:

Doom 64, while technically still a system exclusive, can actually be found on other platforms thanks to the dedicated Doom community. These hardcore fans took it upon themselves to port the assets, levels, and gameplay changes to existing the existing Doom source code on the PC. Doom TC Absolution is the most well known and while it’s a direct port for the most part, a lot of refinements were made. Now if a straight port is more to your liking you can try out the newest release of Doom 64 EX. Similar to Absolution, EX brings over all the assets but doesn’t change anything from the original game. If you plan on picking up the original you can expect to pay around $10 - $20 for just a cart or even as high as $60 for a complete set (box, manual, game).







Video Coverage:

Contained in a spoiler for bandwidth and performance reasons:

spoiler (click to show/hide)
 
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« Last Edit: May 27, 2014, 09:16:45 PM by a slime appears »

a slime appears

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #3 on: May 25, 2014, 10:54:31 PM »
Wednesday’s Game: QUEST 64







Game Overview:

Quest 64 is a landmark title but not in the ways you might think. This action-RPG was developed by Imagineer and released on June 1, 1998 and was welcomed by fans who were desperate to play an RPG on their Nintendo 64. So, what's the game about? Quest 64 has a light story that follows the exploits of Brian, an apprentice mage on a journey to find his missing father. The game relies on standard RPG fare where the player must navigate through towns, caves, and the countryside slaying monsters and solving the world’s problems. Combat is a unique mixture of real-time action sandwiched in turn-based gameplay with a myriad of magical attacks to unleash. Boasting a fully polygonal world, Quest 64 offers multiple hours of exploration, strategic combat, NPCs to interact with, and kingdoms to save.

With the genre exploding in popularity thanks to Final Fantasy 7 it’s easy to see why THQ decided to pick the game up for US release. It even received top billing at Nintendo’s own Spaceworld  Expo in 1997. Nintendo fans that grew up on the SNES’ stellar library of RPGs were eager to get a taste of what the N64 could do with its advanced 64-bit hardware. Hype was high as previews for the game were quite positive with several magazines, including GameFan, showering praise on the game. With The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time still months away, Quest 64 was just the game RPG fans craved while they waited for Nintendo’s magnum opus. Or was it?

   

It’s sort of funny how things worked out. For as much hype the game received it launched to poor reviews and any hopes of playing a good RPG that year on the N64 were dashed. Quest 64 was clearly a very mediocre game and it came out the same year that saw some of the best games released thus far. If the game's blandness on it's own wasn't enough, try putting yourselves in the shoes of someone who just finished Resident Evil 2 or StarCraft and then picked this game up. It’s possible that fans expected too much from the game or the quality bar was already really high that year but regardless the game simply wasn't very good. It was developed by a little known Japanese developer and published by THQ so it shouldn’t really be too surprising.

Unfortunately there’s not much else to say about Quest 64 other than covering the game itself. Developed in Japan during the 90’s there’s no information regarding its development in the English-speaking world. The only interesting bit of trivia I could round up is the composer for the game, Masamichi Amano went on to work in other games such as Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games and even films such as Battle Royale. A song from Battle Royale was used in Django Unchained and I think that’s enough information for me to factually assert that Quentin Tarantino has bad tastes in RPGs.







Personal Impressions:

To cover the basics I didn’t get too far, only about to the first boss in some forest that took me a couple of hours to reach. I did spend time grinding to level up, as there happens to be a big difficulty spike right after the first castle town. While I didn’t hate my time with the game I think my biggest complaint was just how boring it is. Which is a shame because I do think the combat has something going for it.

Quest 64 starts you off with a very small amount of exposition and asks you to go find your father. There’s a bigger story going on, something about collecting magical orbs, but if the game couldn’t be bothered explaining it then I won’t either. After running around an unnecessarily large monastery (practically every room is empty) you eventually make your way out to the over world and head to the next town. The thing with Quest 64 is it’s really very linear so there isn’t much in the way of exploration. While the path may offer pockets of grass along the side there is rarely anything of value there. Even the odd house you may find might be empty or have an NPC that spits out one sentence. There’s just not much to do while heading to the next plot point. The game is rather forgiving though, giving you an item to immediately warp back to town or even free bread to restore your health. Even the Inn doesn’t charge you a single dime to get a full night’s rest to replenish your health and magic. The thing is, there’s no money in the game so being able to buy or sell isn’t really an option. It’s a really simple game if you haven’t noticed by now. Once you leave the first town the game proper begins and off you go to the castle that’s conveniently just down the road.

While exploring you’ll be inexplicably thrown into combat with zero fanfare indicating you’re about to fight. As I mentioned earlier I think the combat is interesting and elegantly mixes real-time and turn-based mechanics in a very simple system. Essentially the enemy and player alternate turns and within that turn the both parties can move around the arena and attack. The arena size and movement range are indicated through glowing octagons so it’s pretty easy to understand. When attacking the player uses the C-buttons to select which spell elemental they wish to unleash so there’s not a lot of menus to jump through. While this is a pretty easy system to get into and admittedly kind of neat, unfortunately it gets boring quickly due to lack of any intelligent AI behaviors or scenarios. It’s always the same large area, running around the same dumb enemies, and using the same basic attacks. At least dodging attacks can be sort of fun.

   

When you win the battle you’re thrown out in the world as if nothing happened and maybe some of your health and magic will get restored. So what the game forgets to tell you is that you’ve actually gained experience from the fight but you’ll never know that unless you look in the pause menu. Leveling up weird where the only way to increase your defense is to be hit a bunch of times and to get your agility up requires you to run around the combat arena a whole bunch (boosting Health and MP is equally as silly). How does your magic factor into all this? Well sometimes after a fight or exploring the world you’ll find an elemental spirits which you can collect and use to level up one out of the four elemental spells you have (Earth,Fire,Wind,Water). Pump enough points into an element and you’ll get a new spell. Protip: don’t waste your time with anything but Earth and Water.

To wrap things up, it’s not that I think the game is an irredeemable mess but it practically fails in every category. From graphics, to story, to gameplay; Quest 64 is a game that reeks of “first attempt” and unfortunately a boring one at that. The game's bare bones presentation often makes the experience feel incomplete at times with flimsy explanations as to why you need to saunter off to the next generic location to fighting the same brain-dead enemies. Often times the game feels like a call-back to NES-style RPGs and not in a good way. The one-line comments NPCs throw your way are reminiscent of the earlier Dragon Quest games and the story is barely a little more complex. It's disappointing that a game released a full 10 years after and on hardware considerably more powerful than those games fails to even match them in quality.

Not all all is lost however as the game still has some charm. The graphics are certainly bright & cheery and unlike other games there isn’t a thick blanket of fog obscuring the world in front of you. The lack of loading makes everything in the game immediately accessible so there's no down time as you explore. Brian controls well enough and the design is kid-friendly with a comical quail-like hair extension that bobs around as you run. I also appreciate the developer's determination to simplify and streamline what they could such as not having to dig through nested menus to perform a simple attack. It's this simplicity that you'd surpisingly find the game's strongest point. It's a great RPG for small kids to play due to the small amount of text and simple world design. While I wasn't a fan of the game I'd still say to check it out if you're curious as to what an RPG on the N64 is like. However be warned that it's not a very entertaining game.







Where to Find It:

While Quest 64 is a system exclusive and was never ported to another platform Imagineer did try to turn it into a franchise of sorts. They released two GBC games with the Quest name starting with Quest: Fantasy Challenge, a Mr. Do clone that has nothing to do with the N64 original. The second game, Quest: Brian’s Journey is actually a demake of Quest 64 featuring similar gameplay and story. Neither of these handheld games are any good but Brian’s Journey drives home the point that Quest 64 doesn’t even match the quality of NES RPGs released 10 years prior. If you plan on picking up the original you can expect to pay around $6 - $15 for just a cart or even as high as $35 for a complete set (box, manual, game).







Video Coverage:

Contained in a spoiler for bandwidth and performance reasons:

spoiler (click to show/hide)
 
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« Last Edit: May 28, 2014, 08:23:02 PM by a slime appears »

a slime appears

  • retro king
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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #4 on: May 25, 2014, 10:54:36 PM »
Thursday’s Game: SPACE STATION SILICON VALLEY







Game Overview:

Space Station Silicon Valley (or SSSV) was released on October 21, 1998 by a Scottish developer called DMA Design. While DMA had critical games such as Lemmings under their belt, they were still relatively unknown and it would be years until they would release Grand Theft Auto and rebrand themselves to Rockstar to make them a household name. Although I can’t do justice to the history of DMA Design or even fully cover the interesting development of SSSV, I do urge you to follow my links to get a better insight on these two very interesting topics.

In 1998, DMA Design was founded in Dundee, Scotland by hobbyist programmer David Jones. It was a small company that focused their releases on the Amiga and worked very closely with publisher Psygnosis. Their first breakout hit Lemmings arrived in 1991 and quickly catapulted the studio from fledging to certified developers. After a few years of nothing but Lemmings sequels and ports the studio looked elsewhere for new development deals and found Nintendo. In 1994 Nintendo published DMA’s latest game Uniracers, which released to commercial and critical acclaim. This was the beginning of a very unique relationship with the Japanese giant.

Thanks to the success of Uniracers, Nintendo approached DMA Design about joining the Dream Team, a group of developers handpicked by Nintendo to develop games for their upcoming 64-bit console codenamed Project Reality. DMA’s first game would be Body Harvest a game that suffered a notoriously difficult development. Although interesting, we’ll leave that story for another day. The game we’re focusing on is Space Station Silicon Valley, the second game DMA would eventually release for the Nintendo 64.

   

For those of you who are unfamiliar with SSSV, it’s a highly unique 3D platforming action puzzle hybrid that has the player swapping between the bodies of eccentric cyborg animals in order to accomplish the goals given to you by your partner. The story follows the misadventures of Dan Danger and his android partner Evo who are on a mission to investigate a lost space station that was designed as an advanced zoological amusement park. While approaching the space station the pair unwittingly crash into it causing the body of Evo to break apart leaving only a memory chip intact. Evo must now traverse the different biomes of the space station and possess the cyborg animals to accomplish the missions Dan gives him and to eventually reclaim his lost body parts.

SSSV is a landmark game, not because it’s a fun hidden gem, but it along with Body Harvest would help plant the seeds for the studio’s biggest game Grand Theft Auto. The team was mostly comprised of brand new hires to the game industry, some who would go on to manage the company, but the game's development began rather humbly. SSSV was part of a three game publishing deal with BMI Interactive and the team selected the Ultra 64 due to simply being the most powerful hardware at the time. The project began as a series of tech demos and experiments on the hardware where several new ideas such as developing a new animation system from scratch. Interestingly a lot of these experiments would go on to influence their future titles as Obbe Vermeij, SSSV’s lead programmer explains: “In GTAIV the idea of code generated animation came back in a big way with the inclusion of NaturalMotion's Euphoria. Although much more advanced than the system used in SSSV the idea is similar.”

The game’s first unveiling at E3 1997, the game had a solid showing wowing critics with its open world design and variety of playable characters. When the game was eventually completed it released to critical fanfare with multiple publications lauding it with high scores. However not all was good as sales for the game were markedly less than stellar due to development delays and Nintendo’s own marketing budget allocation. SSSV’s programmer Grant Salvona explains; “Nintendo worked on a scheme of dividing their marketing budget into quarters... SSSV was initially penciled in for a Q1 1998 release... unfortunately it slipped to a Q3 release when Nintendo put all their advertising behind their own Ocarina of Time release.”  Although the door was closed on any future opportunities for SSSV many of the team members went on to bigger and better things within Rockstar and elsewhere. Even SSSV lived on being an inspiration in DMA’s future games. Vermij, who became a technical director at Rockstar North feels there’s even a bit of SSSV in GTA: “There is a strong connection between SSSV and GTAIII. The concept of an entity using vehicles to navigate the game world is very similar.”







Personal Impressions:

I played Space Station Silicon Valley for quite a while but I couldn’t tell you exactly how long I spent with it. I imagine at least a couple of hours but I lost track of time since I was so engrossed in clearing as many levels as I could in one sitting. I can tell you that I managed to clear the European Zone, which is a collection of 10 grassland style levels that represents about a third of the game. Once I finished that set I thought it was a good stopping point for the day and more than enough for me to write down my impressions. One thing is for sure; I do plan on going back to this game to beat it. Its incredibly unique hybrid design of puzzle solving, platforming, and creature possession has me hooked.

The game begins with a humorous and very British intro with two characters that look designed very much in the Wallace and Gromit style (which was no accident). After the duo crash land on the space station crushing a poor dog who’s just professed his adoration for his sheep girlfriend, Evo takes over the body of the recently deceased pup and the player is in control. As mentioned earlier Evo has lost his body parts and is now a hapless computer chip that has the ability to possess the bodies of the wacky cybernetic animals that are loose on the space station. It’s this unique mechanic that is at the core of SSSV and every roadblock and puzzle you encounter requires intelligent use of these animals to clear ever level.

Controls are simple with the analog stick moving your character, the R-button allowing you to swap hosts, the C-buttons functioning as your camera controls, the Z-button brings in your camera for more accurate aiming, and the A/B buttons act as context sensitive action buttons that change depending on which animal you’re in control of. Although I can’t go into detail about the differences between the 40+ animals, suffice to say they all offer a different play experience. Every animal features a unique method of propulsion (feet, wheels, etc.), has a unique navigation action (jumping, floating, etc.), and an offensive action (biting, rockets, etc.) to help clear each level. It’s these unique actions and the clever placement of animals that the game flexes its puzzle muscle in the guise of ridiculous missions given to you by your partner Dan Danger.

   

Although I only played roughly a third of the game a lot of the more interesting levels are naturally towards the end. However even in these early parts a glimmer of insanity rears its head once in a while where the tasks you’re asked to accomplish are as wacky as the animals themselves. One level has you usurping the evil dogs and reclaiming control of a farm by defeating a rocket launching dog with a ram, growing carrots to reach the farm house and activating a bridge so you can take your rocket launching dog to clear the house of teleporting foxes on wheels. While another level has gameplay straight out of Star Fox while you’re flying around attacking bi-plane dogs in order to collect a piece of your missing body. Although those two levels don’t really convey the full spectrum of absurd situations you find yourself in hopefully it demonstrates the unique body swapping gameplay and scenarios that can be found throughout the game’s 31 levels.

Although I’ve touched lightly on it, essentially the game’s structure has you starting off in a level with a few objectives you need to accomplish which will unlock the level’s exit teleporter. These missions typically contain no story elements to tie them together for the most part. The overarching goal of reclaiming Evo’s lost body and solving the mystery of the space station is still there but the level objectives are usually a random assortment of self-contained comical objectives. That’s not a bad thing but aside from the level’s theme and animal roster, there’s not much of a plot build up with the only thing keeping them in order is the difficulty curve. Once you accomplish these objectives the exit teleporter activates and the player needs to reach the exit to clear the level. Additional bonus objectives are available such as collecting all the Power Cores (coins essentially) and accomplishing a hidden puzzle to collect a golden trophy. Collecting all the trophies supposedly unlocks a bonus level but sadly one of the trophies is glitched and can’t be collected so you’ll need a cheating device to manually unlock it.

Overall I highly enjoy this game and there’s still nothing quite like it out there. You can see hints of prototype GTA in the game’s design but while the animal hopping mechanics are faintly similar to the car swapping, it’s still a markedly different game altogether. It’s not a lengthy game by any means but the levels all exhibit very tightly designed levels that hit the mark for the most part. While the game won’t win any awards for it’s puzzle design I think the unique atmosphere and mechanics make up for some of the confusing scenarios and obtuse level layouts. If you’re interested at all in playing a strikingly unique game or just want to try out one of the Nintendo 64’s hidden gems, by all means play SSSV immediately.






Where to Find It:

Space Station Silicon Valley is a console exclusive in the US, but in Europe it was ported to the PS1 and GBC. The PS1 version is titled Evo's Space Adventures and porting responsibilities was handled by RuneCraft. Unfortunately the PS1 version is miserable with awful performance and missing features although being released two years later. The GBC version features the same title and was an attempt to be a faithful demake of the original game but it’s also rather poor. If you plan on picking up the original you can expect to pay around $20 - $30 for just a cart or even as high as $40 for a complete set (box, manual, game).







Video Coverage:

Contained in a spoiler for bandwidth and performance reasons:

spoiler (click to show/hide)
 
[close]
« Last Edit: May 29, 2014, 08:30:23 PM by a slime appears »

a slime appears

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #5 on: May 25, 2014, 10:54:42 PM »
PLACEHOLDER FOR FRIDAY'S GAME

a slime appears

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #6 on: May 25, 2014, 10:54:47 PM »
PLACEHOLDER FOR SATURDAY’S GAME

a slime appears

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #7 on: May 25, 2014, 10:54:55 PM »
PLACEHOLDER FOR SUNDAY’S GAME

Raban

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #8 on: May 25, 2014, 11:01:57 PM »
Goldeneye 64 is an overrated piece of shit. Also this console is one of the only Nintendo systems to lack a Metroid game, which means I hate it. That is all.
SRY

demi

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #9 on: May 25, 2014, 11:06:29 PM »
Metroid sucks
fat

a slime appears

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #10 on: May 25, 2014, 11:07:11 PM »
Goldeneye 64 is an overrated piece of shit. Also this console is one of the only Nintendo systems to lack a Metroid game, which means I hate it. That is all.

lol the game wasn't that bad!

I just put together a basic banner with games people recognize. I mean eventually I'll play GoldenEye but I'm not going to this week. It's too obvious of a choice, I think.

Raban

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #11 on: May 25, 2014, 11:08:08 PM »
I actually played through it recently and outside of the rad midi remixes of 007 themes*, found it to be a really awful game. Perfect Dark is way better.

*which I have provided here for your listening pleasure
« Last Edit: May 25, 2014, 11:09:50 PM by Raban »
SRY

Joe Molotov

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #12 on: May 25, 2014, 11:50:14 PM »
this is way too much effort and far too little male nudity for a bore thread

PURASUMA!

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #13 on: May 25, 2014, 11:54:18 PM »
If this thread doesn't have Mischief Makers, I'm gonna rage.
dog

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #14 on: May 26, 2014, 12:02:08 AM »
At first I thought you copy and pasted this from gaf. Like the idea.
IYKYK

Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #15 on: May 26, 2014, 01:06:03 AM »
Slime: Hey guys! I wanted to give something back to the community! I hope you enjoy my effort!

Raban: YOUR BLOG SUCKS


the bore  :rejoice

chronovore

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #16 on: May 26, 2014, 01:16:41 AM »
Goldeneye 64 is an overrated piece of shit. Also this console is one of the only Nintendo systems to lack a Metroid game, which means I hate it. That is all.
http://imperialentanglements.thecomicseries.com/comics/32

chronovore

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #17 on: May 26, 2014, 01:19:42 AM »
this is way too much effort and far too little male nudity for a bore thread

There is also a disturbing lack of one more Bore necessity:
spoiler (click to show/hide)
[close]

PS: I LOVE THIS THREAD

Raban

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #18 on: May 26, 2014, 01:20:50 AM »
:patel
spoiler (click to show/hide)
I'm actually really excited for this thread I just felt the OP was way too saccharine for me to not reply bitterly :lol
[close]

Goldeneye 64 is an overrated piece of shit. Also this console is one of the only Nintendo systems to lack a Metroid game, which means I hate it. That is all.
http://imperialentanglements.thecomicseries.com/comics/32
You are so poster 15.
« Last Edit: May 26, 2014, 01:26:22 AM by Raban »
SRY

Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #19 on: May 26, 2014, 01:28:28 AM »
Playing with the real hardware on a CRT. My man.

I've had mine since 96 and I still play it more than the PS1. Probably just the good multiplayer games + 4 controller ports. I can take apart an N64 controller in my sleep, I've had to repair those damn sticks so many times. The new Gamecube-esque replacement sticks just aren't the same.

Himu

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #20 on: May 26, 2014, 01:43:07 AM »
For my birthday party when I was eleven I had a sleep over. Friend brought over his n64 and and didn't share all night. He was the only one to play it.  Had a negative view Nintendo 64 and Nintendo fans ever since.
IYKYK

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #21 on: May 26, 2014, 02:02:31 AM »
My least favorite Nintendo console.

This sounds fun, though.

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #22 on: May 26, 2014, 02:46:07 AM »
I cannot even begin to explain how incredibly bizarro the Nintendo 64 hardware was. It was basically a really fucked up version of silicon graphics stuff, with baffling design decisions such as a 4 kB texture cache. This resulted in developers spending an absolute fuck ton of cash on development hardware, with which they had no idea how to deal.

Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #23 on: May 26, 2014, 02:55:22 AM »
There was an interesting thread on GAF a week or so ago comparing PS1 and N64 graphics. Someone posted shots of Mario 64 without smear filtering and it was a godawful mess. Still, games on the N64 did always appear...cleaner? to me as a kid.

HyperZoneWasAwesome

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #24 on: May 26, 2014, 04:37:00 AM »
N64 had terrible blur, but it pretty much kicked the arse of the PS1 in terms of actual poly output, texturing, hell, everything but sound.  But of course, its worth remembering, that the PS1 actually came out in 1994
, when polygons were but considered fanciful things for game design.

Perhaps the OP wouldn't mind covering some of those Goemon games that Konami was crazy enough to bring out in America, or the fairly maligned yet still somewhat worthwhile Castlevania 64.

The Sceneman

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #25 on: May 26, 2014, 05:06:42 AM »
Cool thread! I'll hook up my N64 and join you if I own the game in question
#1

magus

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #26 on: May 26, 2014, 07:08:17 AM »
i know what this thread is missing!

<----

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #27 on: May 26, 2014, 08:45:09 AM »
Fuckin Mario Party on that painful analog stick. :lol

a slime appears

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #28 on: May 26, 2014, 08:53:34 AM »
MAN, there are too many interesting games which makes it hard just picking 7 for a week. I tried to stay away from sticking to just the classics so I picked a few interesting choices that some of you (and myself) have never played before. Speaking of which, you guys have already brought a few great choices that I fortunately own so maybe if this thing turns out alright and there's interest I can do another week.

Thanks for the support though, I sincerely appreciate it. This is an embarrassingly nerdy thing to do but y'know, I just want to play some old-ass games and talk about it. :derp

spoiler (click to show/hide)
There's a hidden easter egg in the first post. :shh
[close]
« Last Edit: May 26, 2014, 08:58:12 AM by a slime appears »

chronovore

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #29 on: May 26, 2014, 09:31:16 AM »
That's pretty cute.

Positive Touch

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #30 on: May 26, 2014, 10:33:50 AM »
Castlevania 64 was better than Lords of Shadow.  It was weird, but I liked it.

cv64 was a mess, but the good levels did a alright job of bringing 2d platforming into 3d. the tower levels were the high point of the game iirc. also had some cool creative challenges, like the chainsaw maze and the explosive potion. got unfairly shit on because it wasnt a new metroidvania
pcp

demi

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #31 on: May 26, 2014, 10:49:20 AM »
I've noticed N64 games seem to be climing in value lately. Must be that Retro kick over time.
fat

Trent Dole

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #32 on: May 26, 2014, 01:00:12 PM »
Metroid sucks
You could argue that for in 3-D, but generally no.
Also why is this not in the thread:
« Last Edit: May 26, 2014, 01:04:35 PM by Trent Dole »
Hi

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #33 on: May 26, 2014, 01:26:24 PM »
I got a Nintendo 64 for Christmas '96. 8)
dog

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #34 on: May 26, 2014, 01:29:51 PM »
You could argue that for in 3-D, but generally no.
Also why is this not in the thread:

I thought that would be the easter egg slime was talking about but I think the one in the OP is cuter/less insane.
SRY

a slime appears

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #35 on: May 26, 2014, 06:02:00 PM »
lol is it considered fan-art if you ask a buddy to do it? In any case, my friend graciously drew a couple of pieces for me and one that was "Bore appropriate" which I put back in the OP.

a slime appears

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #36 on: May 26, 2014, 08:09:06 PM »
Posted my game impressions at 8 on the dot. Maaaaaaybe I wrote too much but I wanted to start off with a bang.

Apologies if you were expecting something more exciting but I promise the rest of the week is filled with a lot of surprises.

Eel O'Brian

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #37 on: May 26, 2014, 08:12:49 PM »
Great write-up! I like your conversational tone :)
sup

Raban

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #38 on: May 26, 2014, 08:39:37 PM »
predictable but commendable first choice, Super Mario 64 is probably my favorite 3D Mario game (and by extension, favorite Mario game as I grow less and less fond of the classics) to this day. The action-game style acrobatics you can pull off with Mario are always satisfying, even though they are entirely superfluous in the game's simplistic and relatively forgiving level design. And again, another N64 game with outstanding midi music (spoilered for bandwidth reasons)
spoiler (click to show/hide)



:bow Koji Kondo
[close]
SRY

Raban

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #39 on: May 26, 2014, 10:24:03 PM »
yeah, that's not gonna happen. the thing I really appreciate about slime's review is that it goes into the development process behind the game. if you even follow it beyond what he wrote there, it's evident that the non-linear nature of Super Mario 64 wasn't so much intention as a happy accident during Nintendo's struggle to bring Mario into 3D. Sunshine tried to iterate on this and got a relatively lukewarm response (on top of its more linear, proto-Galaxy-type levels garnering the most praise) which pretty much led to the death of the idea that 3D Mario ought to be non-linear.

Personally I agree with you, I'd love a more sandbox-type Mario game, but that's not happening in this lifetime.
SRY

Himu

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #40 on: May 27, 2014, 12:21:42 AM »
It's funny. The reasons Slime likes Mario 64 a lot (reusing assets, recycled levels, collecting stars) are major reasons I feel 64 remains the weakest 3d Mario title to date. The star system makes playing the game a chore, because the game is now about collecting items to progress. The reuse of assets also creates a problem in that the game is simply too repetitive. You dive in, complete a level, go back, until you get all the stars you can. Gone is the variety of titles like Yoshi's Island and Super Mario World in level design.

Instead, you are progress becomes a chore as you go through the same paths in the same levels repeatedly. Sunshine and both Galaxy titles alleviate this by making collecting fun (new nozzle abilities which allows you to do new tricks) and simply sealing off certain sections of levels depending on the mission. At the port in Sunshine you'll be forced to go one route, but the next mission, it is cut off, and a new  route appears that is wholly unique to that mission, in the form of a race, for example. Mario 64 also is a tremendous downgrade from the levels we had become accustomed to since Smb3.

Many, even most, levels in 64 are short romps without a single hint of creativity. Things like, the goal of the whole level is to get in a cannon and hit a star to complete the level, or grab 8 red coins in the entire level. It is extremely lazy and comes of as rushed. Finally, this trend continues until well into more than halfway into the game. Mario 64's actual platforming and levels don't get good until the last third before the game is complete.

Mario 64 is a highly flawed early 3d platformer that, while is influential, was outdone very quickly by other 3d platformers such as Ape Escape, Jet Set Radio, Jet Set Radio Future, and Mario Sunshine. It is a bloated, back-ended mess, and stands as one of the worst entries in the Mario franchise to this day.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2014, 12:27:07 AM by Formerly Known As Himuro »
IYKYK

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #41 on: May 27, 2014, 12:39:25 AM »
I am of the divisive opinion that SM64 has aged like wine. Game plays pretty fucking well still somehow.
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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #42 on: May 27, 2014, 01:06:22 AM »


One of the greatest tracks in any Mario game.
dog

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #43 on: May 27, 2014, 01:06:36 AM »
Eh. Three years is a short time in games, in my opinion. It is like Gears of War being topped by Uncharted 2. Or FFVII vs IX.

Sunshine has a lot of flaws. But it isn't boring like 64. As for corralling the player, I never minded it, because Mario was never really about being open to me, anyways. Sure, there's secrets in all Mario titles, but 64 isn't really that open. You almost always start on the same path every mission.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2014, 01:10:59 AM by Formerly Known As Himuro »
IYKYK

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #44 on: May 27, 2014, 01:09:48 AM »
If a game is the top of its genre for three years, I'd consider that to be kind of a big deal.
dog

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #45 on: May 27, 2014, 01:11:23 AM »
Or that 3d platformers were shit back then. I'd also say Jumping flash was better than Mario 64. Also, Rayman 2.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2014, 01:13:39 AM by Formerly Known As Himuro »
IYKYK

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #46 on: May 27, 2014, 01:25:48 AM »
I'm split on Sunshine's openness. I think that the actual exploration bits were better than 64, because of Fludd. Getting new nozzles opened up new ways to do things and get creative with your jumps. Being able to not jump a lick, to being able to jump that high ass tower in town felt really good. I also think Sunshine ultimately, has much better platorming. It has a lot of flawed set pieces and level design, but what's good is really good, and unlike 64, it isn't as back-ended and is much more even.

I can see why Delfino would bore someone. It's just island stuff, but I still really liked it and that it was a step up from the typical grass world, ice world, fire world, forest world, water world set up I had been experiencing since i was 4 years old.

I'll give Mario 64 some credit, but I never thought it was a noticeably good game. It always felt like a tech demo to me. Meanwhile, Saturn had Panzer Dragoon Zwei and Nights, and psx had Jumping Flash, Tomb Raider, Crash Bandicoot, and Ghost in the Shell.
 
Despite all of this, I can see why people love it so much. It's just that my Mario taste was so different at the time, and I just couldn't see how, in any shape or form, it was an improvement over Yoshi's Island, which was by that point the best side scrolling platformer I've ever played. Going from Shyguys on Stilts to...shoot Mario from the cannon to hit the star just felt like a downgrade, and every time I try to play 64 I always think,"I'd rather be playing Sunshine or Galaxy."

Or that 3d platformers were shit back then. I'd also say Jumping flash was better than Mario 64. Also, Rayman 2.

Rayman 2 was *also* three years later.  And Jumping Flash really isn't even in the same genre, unless you consider Halo and Gears of War to be the same genre, too.

Jumping Flash isn't a 3d platformer? I always considered it that.
IYKYK

The Sceneman

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #47 on: May 27, 2014, 01:29:26 AM »
:piss Mario 64 :piss2
#1

Himu

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #48 on: May 27, 2014, 01:40:54 AM »
True enough. I mostly kept it at 3d platformers regardless of perspective though.
IYKYK

cool breeze

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #49 on: May 27, 2014, 03:00:33 AM »
I think Banjo 1 held up really well, but I'm judging the XBLA version.  the n64 version probably has a bad frame rate and whatnot.  lotta games back then were slumming it in the teens and twenties.

I am of the divisive opinion that SM64 has aged like wine. Game plays pretty fucking well still somehow.

the speedruns definitely brought a new appreciation for the game.  mario 3d world is great, but it's inline with the harrison bergeron approach to making games with low skill ceilings.

Himu

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #50 on: May 27, 2014, 03:09:20 AM »
I haven't played Rayman 2 since it came out. Definitely nostalgia for that one. Ape Escape though? :rejoice
IYKYK

magus

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #51 on: May 27, 2014, 07:21:04 AM »
i like mario 64, the whole mechanic with triple jumping,wall jumping and back jumping let you do a lot of tricks (sometimes even skipping part of the level :lol) the stages while adhering to the strict "LAVA/DESERT/SNOW" design that later mario games likes to abuse to the point of becoming derivative, somehow still finds a way to give them a touch of uniqueness with small details here and there like the penguins or the snowman that's missing the head,that giant moray eel or the horror piano that comes biting at you!

the missions are all varied, most of them either take place from wildly different part of the level or are so close from where you start they might as well not be inside the level at all, and while the fact that the game doesn't clearly tell you what to do can be annoying, figuring out yourself or stumbling upon other random objective makes you feel clever as fuck! the only one that really bothers me are those 8 red coins and 100 yellow coins one because those do force you to wander all around the level like an idiot, and the one that involve the flying cap because it's pretty fucking clear that thing exist only so that they could go "LOOK! WE MADE A 3D GAME! AND YOU CAN MOVE IN 3D!" it's superflous and it controls awfully

sunshine is super boring by comparison, boring enviroment, pointless gimmick added (probably to show gamecube could do fluid physics i guess?) boring new character that everybody forgot after a while (even if nintendo tried for a while to sneak petey piranha in fucking everything, oh god he's even in fucking mario kart, i didn't know that...) and worst of all they added a collectathon so bad you'd think rare suggested it


but anyway i'm going to get ahead of myself and calling it now because i know it's going to happen sooner or later
zelda OOT is overrated and you sucks for liking it :hitler




« Last Edit: May 27, 2014, 07:33:45 AM by magus »
<----

demi

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #52 on: May 27, 2014, 09:33:34 AM »
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Zelda OOT was one of the games, but I made him change it because of the distinguished mentally-challenged discussion it would foster
[close]

I think you guys will like the rest of the games. You'll be surprised.
fat

a slime appears

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #53 on: May 27, 2014, 11:17:46 AM »
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Zelda OOT was one of the games, but I made him change it because of the distinguished mentally-challenged discussion it would foster
[close]

I think you guys will like the rest of the games. You'll be surprised.

Switched up the list again and I'll be adding a surprise bonus game to the week, lol. I'm really trying to find a good balance between the big games, hidden gems, and stinkers.

Also, for Raban:


Himu

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #54 on: May 27, 2014, 11:36:24 AM »
This isn't true.

Quote
most of them either take place from wildly different part of the level or are so close from where you start they might as well not be inside the level at all

 I played it again two years ago.

For having sandbox levels, pretty much all the levels have the same path every time you do them. Let's take the first level for an example. The first mission is to defeat the Bo-bomb King. Fine. But the next mission? Race the turtle to the top of the mountain you just fought the King at. You are using literally, tic for tac, the same path. Cannons are not open, so you can't short cut. You are doing the SAME EXACT THING you just did - get to the top of the mountain - but now there's a race on top of it instead of fighting Bo-bomb King. Boring. The next mission? Shoot Mario out of a cannon. Boring. This mission takes nothing but a few seconds to the point it might as well not even be the game, and the first cannon is barely two feet away from where Mario starts, so the mission ends up lasting like 10 seconds at most. That was impressive in 1996?

Mario 64 does this the sum of its entire run. How many times do you have to swim in the water at Dire Dire Docks. A fucking lot. How many times do you take the same path in Noki Noki Nay? Never. In Mario 64, the levels are so crammed up and small that the little objectives that you're trying to accomplish are all always just a few seconds away. It feels like the Nintendo 64 tech hampered its scope, Ocarina and Majora are crowned jewels of 64 era Nintendo. When you compare these games to Mario 64, it is night and day, in terms of quality.

As a launch title Mario 64 is impressive. As a. Mario game though? It's terrible.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2014, 11:43:34 AM by Formerly Known As Himuro »
IYKYK

demi

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #55 on: May 27, 2014, 11:51:07 AM »
For speedrunning types, yall should watch Siglemic, or recent NEW world record holder, puncayshun. Some swag level skill is shown off.
fat

Himu

  • Senior Member
Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #56 on: May 27, 2014, 11:53:11 AM »
I like those speed runs a lot.

And Oscar, it feels like more than two-thirds of the game is a tutorial and the game doesn't get good until the final floor.
IYKYK

Rufus

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #57 on: May 27, 2014, 12:01:36 PM »
nah, you're right, i just played rayman 2 recent-ish, and it definitely hasn't held up as well as SM64.
Doesn't surprise me. The camera is atrocious.

Raban

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #58 on: May 27, 2014, 12:50:11 PM »


One of the greatest tracks in any Mario game.
you slut, I posted it first!
SRY

Great Rumbler

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Re: RETRO WEEK - Nintendo 64
« Reply #59 on: May 27, 2014, 12:51:11 PM »
But you hid it behind spoiler tags. :smug
« Last Edit: May 27, 2014, 01:30:52 PM by Great Rumbler »
dog