£30 sound tempting? (Nintendo N64)

Member Name: D1A1

Product:	Nintendo N64
Date:	19/10/00 (625 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nintendo have a bright future, and a great few quality titles!

Disadvantages: Lack of games for the N64

Ok, so the Nintendo 64 never grasped the publics attention in the same way as the PlayStation did, and now it seems as though the 64 bit purely for games machine is on it’s last legs, with very few releases arriving, but I do recommend this machine to you if you can pick one up for the right price. Let there be no mistake – there are some absolutely phenomenal games on the Nintendo 64, which play better than most of the recently released games – Golden Eye for example is one of the best multiplayer games ever made, and is still a favourite among N64 owners and non owners alike. So, would you consider getting the 4year old, 4 control-ported, practically now unsupported games machine? Well maybe you weren’t thinking of getting one, but neither was I until I did a bit of research.

Let me just say, that at the moment I am in between games consoles – I have a PS2, Dreamcast Sega Saturn and occasionally a Nintendo 64 – at present I haven’t got one, but I’ll let you know what I know! Ok, so the Nintendo 64 isn’t hogging the shelf space anymore, and unsurprisingly it’s been relegated to the mini shelves in game stores such as Game and Electronics Boutique, and considering the lack of releases in recent months, it’s not really worthwhile putting the N64 games on display. Instead you’ll have to search harder for your game, but expect the prices to be slightly better than the full SRP.

It’s a shame, and a sorry sight to see the shelves still packed with PlayStation games, but that is the most popular format, despite it’s age, and so the N64 will never be in the limelight again – not in terms of retailing success anyway. But still, at around £69.99 still for the console and the controller, I highly advise you purchase your machine second hand – either online, searching the auction sites such as Ebay.co.uk or amazon.co.uk but try Loot.com for a real bargain! At the m
oment you could easily pick up a Nintendo 64 console, perhaps with a game like Golden Eye, for under £35 – half the new price, making it exceptional value!

New versus Second hand continued: Ok so if you’re going to buy new, and some people do generally prefer to get everything brand new and in the seal, then I’d recommend buying one of the coloured see through machines. Not only do they look better - they’ll hold their value better than the regular black/dark grey console. Be warned though, you may have difficulty in finding the colour that you want, so just get a see through coloured one – they all look rather impressive! (Although the performance of the console will not be affected in any way, shape or form!) You can get different coloured pads, as well as the see through ones, which cost £19.99 separately, but unless you ‘have’ to buy new, I strongly advise you buy second hand because basically it’ll cost you half of the new price!

Second hand tips! Ok, so if you’re like me and prefer to buy second hand because of the huge difference in price, then make sure you know exactly what you are buying. The N64 only works if the Jumper pack, which is included with the console, is in the machine – unless of course you replace it with the Expansion pack. So if you do buy a machine without one (which you shouldn’t as I have already warned you) then don’t worry – the machine won’t work until you have one! Always make sure the advert or auction sates it is in full working order, as it you don’t get a warranty with second hand purchases (usually!), so the seller may be reluctant to help you out. Right – never pay an absurd amount, games should cost you around £40 brand new, although when the machine was first born, selling at £249.99 the games were similarly expensive at £50 and above! Second hand games should never really be more than £25 for the best ones, and y
ou could pick up some bargains for under £15. That’ll do on tips, down to the actual machine and games!

Graphically, the N64 wasn’t as much of a revelation, when it was new, than I thought it would have been. With games displaying visual effects that were comparable to the likes of PlayStation and even the Sega Saturn (play the game ‘Nights’ if you do not believe me!), and in my view this shouldn’t have been the case. However, there are some really excellent games on the N64 spanning throughout the genres, although I have yet to play a decent racing game from Nintendo! The console is smaller than the standard controller – looks kind of funny, but I’m not over keen on the console shape or design. I don’t like the features of the console, as its main downfall in my view is that it takes cartridges! This has made the game prices incredibly high – especially compared to other format’s games prices! Therefore the N64 cannot double as a CD player, doesn’t have any other features or ‘intentional’ uses than playing games on it! And quite frankly, its great for that! (Yeah, but you could use it as a paperweight – a rather large paperweight)

Games wise, the best titles are undoubtedly from Nintendo itself, Rare, factor 5 and a few dozen other dedicated N64 developers. I don’t know the ins and outs of the N64 developing world, but I’ll give you a few examples of the best games I know on the format – to help you with your buying decisions!

Golden Eye. Even it’s around 3 years old, I’m still adamant that this is as good, if not better in playability terms at least, than the brilliant Quake 3 Arena on the Dreamcast and offers the best 4 player fun this side of Virtua Tennis! The graphics are still some of the best you’ll see on the N64. Grab 3 mates and play in one of many different, brilliantly designed levels and a superb choice of w
eaponry and characters! The game excels in gameplay alone, and doesn’t have some of the gore and blood of games like Doom or Quake making it more appealing to the younger gamer (well, the younger gamers’ parents!) and so Golden Eye has sold very well indeed!

The Mario games! If there’s one thing Nintendo is good at then its making top quality games that are 100% fun to play! They love their Mario games, and it seems we all do too! If you want an adventure style game with classic gameplay, then go for the brilliant launch title – Super Mario 64, unlike the SNES and NES versions, this one’s in true 3D! Mario Kart is a very entertaining game, although I prefer the more serious racing games like Le Mans 24, MSR and F355, and the Nintendo hasn’t really got a top class racing simulation, but this is a classic in it’s own right – offering the madness of Cartoon style Cart racing with all your favourite Mario characters! Throughout the N64’s life we have seen an onslaught of cracking Mario related titles – we’ve had the standard Super Mario, the crazy Mario Golf, Mario Party, and the hilarious, and not quite as good as Virtua Tennis, Mario Tennis!

The best of the rest! I don’t own an awful lot of N64 games, seeing as I don’t possess a console at the present moment, but here’s a quick list of the best titles I have played on the format: Perfect Dark, ISS Pro Evolution, 1080 Snowboarding and the classic Zelda titles – both Zelda games are supposedly some of the best games you’ll find on any system! Banjo Tooie is a good adventure game, the South Park games can be mildly entertaining, and well – anything that takes your fancy should give you a good few hours of gameplay at least! Avoid Superman 64 like the plague – thankfully it’s rare, and will stay rare – so don’t get it!

I’m going to award the N64 4 stars, as it enjoy
ed a period of success and his enlightened the lives of many Nintendo fans, whom have had a lot of hours of pleasure with their consoles. I personally prefer the Sega Dreamcast as it has a better library of games and Internet access.

Still, for a fifth of the price that it was originally sold at, you could get your hands on a second hand mint Nintendo 64 with a couple of games and pads. Great value, although be careful!

Thanks for reading, - roll on the GameCube!!

D1A1

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