"Sometimes, you can get everything right and still screw up, if you're making a 64-bit system and not using CD-ROMs..."

The Nintendo 64 is a game system I have very fond memories of. Getting into gaming in the very end of the SNES/Genesis era, and buying an N64 early, I had my most early, nostalgia-inducing gaming experiences with Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, among others. Unfortunately, however, it is also the console that perfectly represents how refusal to change and inability to adapt to the times could easily entomb a system's chances of success, and is overall one of the mistakes that has hurt the Big N forever.

The Nintendo 64 was one of the pioneering 3D systems, along with the Sega Saturn, and Sony's PlayStation 1 (and 3DO, but that was not met with as much commercial success as the three main console companies at the time). However, the main competition was between PS1 and the N64. Hardware wise, N64 was superior, and many N64 games could be made graphically better than many PS1 games. There was only one crucial flaw to this system, which ultimately was the death of the Nintendo 64: cartridge format. The CD-ROMs used by PS1 and Saturn could hold more data, more game, FMVs, more music…

There was much to be gained from the switch to cartridge format, but alas, the N64 received none of those benefits, for the sole reason that Nintendo wanted to protect its games from piracy (in fairness, piracy of N64 games were pretty low compared to CD-ROM format games until the advent of ROMs and emulators). As we all know, things went south when the developers saw the types of constraints they were working under with cartridges. To illustrate a point, Final Fantasy VII, one of the world's best known RPGs, would have been on N64, leading to Square continuing to develop for Nintendo systems, if the N64 had used CD-ROMs. In short, pretty much the only mistake the people who conceived the N64 made was the insistence on carts, but it was the mistake that sent everything to hell, unfortunately.

That aside, the Nintendo 64 is still otherwise an amazing game system. Powerful 1st party games(the Big N's N64 titles typically outclass any other company's) are the obvious choices, and, with few exceptions, the N64 has at least 1 great game for virtually every genre. And multiplayer on this thing is beyond description. This is THE 64-bit system for playing with your pals, between Mario Kart 64's Battle Mode, the triumvirate of available Mario Partys, the infinitely replayable Super Smash Bros. (that game, along with the original Soul Calibur, are perhaps the best fighters of the era), and Goldeneye. One thing I actually liked about the system is that there were 4 controller ports, as opposed to having to purchase a multitap or something like that.

Graphically, the N64 is stronger than any of its competitors, other than the Dreamcast. Most games look very nice, and even though there are a few "jagged" polygons and games that don't take full advantage of what the N64 was actually capable of doing. It wasn't really until Zelda: Majora's Mask that the hardware had truly shown all its power and glory, but previous games certainly weren't disappointing.

The controller for the N64 is also quite easy to use and ergonomic, though it lacks the second analog stick of the PSX controller, the bottom trigger button is helpful, and C buttons could help with the camera work that the second analog stick did anyways(though definitely not as precise, the C buttons aren't as useful as the stick). A D-Pad for some more "classic" gameplay (such as the side-scrolling Kirby 64) is present as well. As you may have noticed, there is a large port on the bottom of the controller for attaching some peripherals, such as a memory expansion pack, a transfer device for Game Boy games that was primarily used for Pokemon, and a rumble pack to receive physical feedback from the games themselves.

In conclusion, the Nintendo 64 was perhaps the system of the 64-bit era that had the most potential. It certainly had many great games, and it easily could have secured continued Nintendo dominance if only one mistake for storage formats wasn't made.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/16/06