It's 2022, update your all time top 10 - The Bear and Badger

nick_md

I need to revisit my list and add some N64 greats.

LivDiv

Its a shame the games were so expensive. It meant I missed quite a few games that weren't in that top bracket.

Then there were the bottom tier games that seemed to be a mystery how they sold any copies at all.
Can you imagine buying Chef's Love Shack for £50 in 1999.
I seem to remember that Rugrats game kicking around the Game shelves for years as well.

regmcfly

nick_md wrote:

I need to revisit my list and add some N64 greats.

Please join my TEDx Round Table

Questor

There's too much N64 love here, worst console of that generation.

hylian_elf

Questor wrote:

There's too much N64 love here, worst console of that generation.

Forgetting that the Saturn exists is a bit harsh!

RamSteelwood

I'm assuming Questor is just bitter there was no metroid on n64, but they had to hold something back or no one would have needed to buy any more consoles

Moot_Geeza

N64 is the Guns n' Roses of consoles. A tidy collection of elite bangers and a deluge of dross.

Yossarian

hylian_elf wrote:

Questor wrote:

There's too much N64 love here, worst console of that generation.

Forgetting that the Saturn exists is a bit harsh!

Feels to me like the Saturn has aged better than the N64. The Saturn was the pinnacle of the 16/32 bit 2D gaming, if you’re comparing versions of 2D games that released across multiple systems at that time, and there was a Saturn version released, that’s almost always the one to go for.

hylian_elf

Jokes dude. I love the saturn, being a shmup and vs. fighter whore. It’s the console of choice for that.

Eric

Moot_Geeza wrote:

N64 is the Guns n' Roses of consoles. A tidy collection of elite bangers and a deluge of dross.

You're right there. I was working my way through my N64 Everdrive and ended up deleting about 70% of the library. There were a couole of surprises though, I came across Beetle Adventure Racing thinking it would be a certain delete but turns out it is actually one of the best Arcade racers of that Gen. Graphics are decent too.

davyK

Saturn has aged better than PS1 and N64 by a country mile. That depends largely on your tastes but PS1 today is pointless because its big games have been superseded by updates. It does remain a nice console for shmup collectors if you delve into the JP library though. There's Vib Ribbon, Kurushi and Bishi Bashi too but its main offering was driving games, MGS, SquareSoft slideshows chugging off a slow CD drive and some FPS games which tend not to age too well.

I would have liked to have seen Stunt Racer on N64. It was crippled on SNES but I could see a nice game trying its best to perform.

I remember being slightly disappointed with Pilotwings64 and I'm still waiting on a proper sequel.

Mario Tennis is an N64 highlight. It even took some of the shine off Virtua Tennis due to the amount of content that was on offer.

Sin & Punishment, Bangai O and Mischief Makers from Treasure - should have got those in the West.

Wetrix, Tetrisphere and New Tetris for puzzle heads - all superb. New Tetris with 4 player support, the 4x4 square game rule tweak, and Voss tunes.

Saturn's one 1st party line up was pure quality and many of them are still playable today. Most of them even got splendid full screen PAL ports. Remember it came with an RGB SCART cable that the chavs complained about and they had to sell it with a fucking RF cable.

retroking1981

The 3D revolution was huge though, its easy to forget.

The Saturn was a 2D power house, but back in that era few people cared, the sales reflect this.

Alot of early 3D games have also aged poorly. Going through my everdrive 64 it was also interesting to play things like NBA Hangtime. Basically one of the definitive NBA Jam experiences with the typical N64 4 player option. It received poor reviews at the time against 3D basketball games that are no doubt terrible to play now.

Another great example is Goldeneye, one of the best games of the gen is poor in comparison now to something like Doom 64. Back in 1997 few people would have picked it over Goldeneye though... pipe down @davyK ;-)

Yossarian

Oh for sure, playing 2D games felt almost anachronistic at the time.

davyK

Heh. Loved Doom64.

Paid £50 quid for that with a feed of drink in me and had to hide it from Wifey next day.

Symphony on the the Night was a rare 2D outing on PS1 - I believe there was a row over publishing that on PS1.

I'm led to believe the yanks lapped up the Wrestling games on N64? The 4 player modes probably helped out there. They also drooled over SF Rush.

N64 also had F1 World GP and its PAL exclusive sequel which was a bit of a gobsmacker in the day. One guy I knew bought the console with steering wheel/pedal setup just for that game. I doubt it has aged well though.

retroking1981

Yeah, those AKI Wrestlimg games are still considered the best ever by most.

I loved them.

LivDiv

Certainly better than the current crop of wrestling games.
Its a shame because its a decent sub-genre even if you aren't interested in watching the actual thing.

Moot_Geeza

I think I'll put DOOM64 slightly higher on my POS.

Moot_Geeza

LivDiv wrote:

Its a shame because its a decent sub-genre even if you aren't interested in watching the actual thing.

This. I think I've seen one wrestling match in my life (he got chucked off the cage!!!) but I've enjoyed a few games. Wrestle War came out swinging with its 'welcome to 16-bit' visuals, my mate had that and Sonic when I'd not had my MS for long, welljel.

RamSteelwood

Moot_Geeza wrote:

N64 is the Guns n' Roses of consoles. A tidy collection of elite bangers and a deluge of dross.

This is probably very fair.
Top 10 N64 games prob stands against top 10 from any other console...but prob everyone would have a very similar top 10 on n64 compared to more of a spread on other consoles where there's more of a selection of top games for different tastes.

10-20 great games was more than enough for me for a console back in them days. If nintendo games don't appeal though it prob wasn't for you!

Nowadays it wouldn't cut it...I think gamepass has more games available than were released in the lifetime of the N64 (just under 400 worldwide release and 200+ PAL if i remember right)

LivDiv

It could be a good project for a smallish studio to do an unlicensed game.
Going wild with creating the characters would be great fun.

edit:Wrastlin

retroking1981

Moot_Geeza wrote:

LivDiv wrote:

Its a shame because its a decent sub-genre even if you aren't interested in watching the actual thing.

This. I think I've seen one wrestling match in my life (he got chucked off the cage!!!) but I've enjoyed a few games. Wrestle War came out swinging with its 'welcome to 16-bit' visuals, my mate had that and Sonic when I'd not had my MS for long, welljel.

Golf games are up there for that, I've literally never watched more than a minute of golf at a time flicking through the TV.

Armitage_Shankburn

Gavs list is gonna be all FIFORZA

retroking1981

Top 10 consoles in chronological order

Atari 2600
NES
GameBoy
Mega Drive
SNES
PlayStation
N64
PS3
3DS
Switch*

*partly off the back of all the Wii/Wii U ports

PS4 will likely make the list, but I've yet to play everything I intend to.

Near misses: PS2, 360, DS and PSP

tigersgogrrr

I want to live in a world where the Saturn won.

drumbeg

Good to see New Zealand Story get a mention. Loved Rainbow Islands too.

Anyone stuck a Last Ninja game in their list yet?

optimark_prime

Made my initial attempt at a list, the worry was it was so Sega-centric, that I’ll need to give it more thought.

davyK

tigersgogrrr wrote:

I want to live in a world where the Saturn won.

Saturn and DC suffered from the same problem of offering arcade games at home. PS1 changed everything.

optimark_prime

davyK wrote:

tigersgogrrr wrote:

I want to live in a world where the Saturn won.

Saturn and DC suffered from the same problem of offering arcade games at home. PS1 changed everything.

Two of the original PS big hitters Tekken and Ridge Racer were quality arcade ports though. It did expand from that though.

davyK

My 10 consoles:

2600 - of course. Sparked my interest in IT which is how I earn my corn.
NES - brought me back to videogaming. I hated the 8bit micro era. Tape loading, shit sound and video. Overly ambitous games with awful difficulty curves etc. SMB, Punch Out and Gradius brought me back.
SNES - Megadrive was great but it's all about local MP memories with mates - SF2, SMK, Super Tennis, Battletoads et al.
N64 - Didn't fancy the look of PS1 and Saturn with their ugly looking RR and Daytona ports. So I waited in order to play Mario64.
Saturn - when I wanted to play arcade shooting games I couldn't get on N64 this scratched the itch and then some. Broke the Nintard in me and made me start importing.
Dreamcast - arcade at home - I picture Sega blue skies when I hear Dreamcast. Library filled with arcade fodder which is just up my street. 60Hz mode - the scales fell from eyes. Ropey controller but the Official arcade stick is a delight.
Gamecube - I started to lose faith in modern gaming after the failure of DC. Halo-shmailo. F-Zero GX, Monkey Ball and Viewtiful Joe drew me back in.
PS2 - what a workhorse of a console. Bought for RType Final and Gradius V but what a game library - truly an everyman console.
360 - possibly the greatest console ever but not hot at local MP which is why..
Wii - is last in my list. Still my biggest game collection. Still underrated. Still misunderstood. Brought local MP back with a bang and I don't think it has been bested yet.

davyK

optimark_prime wrote:

I want to live in a world where the Saturn won.

Saturn and DC suffered from the same problem of offering arcade games at home. PS1 changed everything.

Two of the original PS big hitters Tekken and Ridge Racer were quality arcade ports though. It did expand from that though.

I remember the pain of trying to play with that shitty PS pad with no analogue control. RR looked shit too. As did Daytona. That's why I waited for N64.

But PS1 was soon a complete game changer for home experiences. Discs were packed with content - maybe the quality took a dip sometimes but they provided plenty of value.

PS1 isn't on my list as it's a personal choice but PS1 is one of the most influential. It's with 2600 (started it), NES(rekindled it) and 360 (online) in my book. PS1 made gaming mainstream.

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