The Fourth in a Long Line of Game Consoles from Nintendo.
A True Classic in Gaming.
The Nintendo 64, released on September 29th, 1996, was a fifth generation console made by Nintendo. It is a classic in gaming, giving us such great games as Gold Eye 007, Mario Cart 64, Super Mario 64, and Diddy Kong Racing.
Although the Nintendo 64 production has been canceled, it will stay in our hearts as a classic of cartridge gaming for all time.
Why Wasn’t The N64 More Popular?!
Most people think that the Nintendo 64 should have been much more popular then it actually was. This is because, of course, Sony’s PlayStation.
Putting all the blame on Sony isn’t quite fair, but they do deserve a bit of credit for the N64’s ultimate demise. The PlayStation, released just a year before the N64, was at the time a market dominator. The games, made on discs instead of cartridges, were cheap and easy to handle, while a cartridge is bulky, awkward, and fairly expensive.
Many actually bought a PlayStation because of Sony’s deal with Square Enix in regards to Final Fantasy, easily the biggest RPG series in history. You just couldn’t play Final Fantasy games on a Nintendo machine, which greatly disappointed RPG fans.
Although just slightly less then half the market was the N64 (the other, larger half being the PS), some just didn’t see it as a serious gamers console. Good, must-have games were depressingly few and far between, and those who wanted an amazing game each month were saddened by this.
Get Your Game On
Even with the lack of a constant stream of games for the Nintendo 64, there is no question that some of the greatest games of the fifth generation playing field were made for the cartridge console.
Super Mario 64 is without a doubt the most well known, best selling game that was made on the Nintendo 64. It was not just a must-have game, it was a must-have-and-must-play-every-level sort of game. There is no question about it – helping Mario save the princess and defeat an evil turtle-dragon mix who breathes fire never gets old.
Also, the Nintendo 64 enjoyed the smash titles Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It was huge for all Zelda fans, and was an amazing seller for the N64.
Ultra!
The codename for the N64 in the early stages of development was Project Reality, but was given the name Nintendo Ultra 64 (The 64 referring to the 64 bit processor) in 1994. The console design wasn’t released to the public until 1995, where it featured the Ultra logo and a game cartridge, but no controller. The final version of the N64 was identical in design, but without the logo.
Holy Color Scheme, Batman!
The N64 is, without a doubt, one of the only consoles with so many colors!
The standard Nintendo 64 console was a simple dark grey, but a jungle green color was made available with the Donkey Kong 64 bundle. The Funtastic Series utilized clear, colored plastic, and came in over five different colors, making the N64 even more child-friendly.
The official controllers ranged from black, to gold, to even blue. Each console in the Funtastic series had it’s own colored controller made of the same clear plastic, and numerous special editions came out featuring different colors and designs.
There were even a few Pokemon consoles, featuring Pikachu and others.
Even a few of the cartridges were colored, including Rayman 2, which was a green one, and Rally Challenge 2000, which was black.
Bottom Line?
The N64 is a classic in gaming, and even though Sony had one-up on it, it is a powerful, wonderful, extremely fun console that’s enjoyable for kids and adults. It’s ideal for multi-play gaming, and if you’ve never played classics like Super Mario 64 or Mario Cart 64, the Nintendo 64 is a must have.
Sure, it’s a bit aged, but that just means that you can get the cartridges and console for cheaper! It’s worth it.
