Post by wyldephang on Feb 28, 2014 16:21:31 GMT -5
Well, since I recently revealed my Super Nintendo and Genesis favorites, I thought I'd follow it up with another list that I created last fall in response to a thread on the Video Game Critic's forum. I made one alteration to the list, but otherwise everything is intact.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
This is an easy call. Ocarina of Time is one of the most complete games for the N64, guaranteed to pull gamers in for many hours of exploration. The controls are quite manageable and the camera angles are very user-friendly. The player is encouraged to take his or her time in uncovering all of Hyrule's secrets, and there are a lot to be had, from weapon upgrades to collectibles. I prefer this to the faster-paced Majora's Mask; for a game of this scope, being able to save anywhere on the world map is most merciful.
2. Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 was the N64's first sprawling adventure, and had it all ended there, I think we'd still manage to look back on the N64 with a great deal of fondness based on the merit of this one game. The environments are beautifully rendered, gameplay is smooth and fast, and everything overall makes a seamless transition to the third dimension. Oh, and the soundtrack features some of the best and most memorable compositions for a Mario game to date, like this one.
3. Star Fox 64
Since Star Fox on the SNES was a magnificent achievement in 16-bit engineering, it was all but expected that the follow-up would create a new standard for space combat games. This was everything that was great about the SNES game, but much more refined: controls were responsive, graphics polished, gameplay mechanics tweaked. The split paths on the mission map guaranteed replay value as players could crisscross the galaxy at key times in the story, opening up new levels for each playthrough. This game pioneered the rumble function in console games, and it arguably hasn't been done any better since; I remember feeling the tactile feedback when an enemy ship approached.
4. Super Smash Bros.
A novel idea that spawned a burgeoning franchise, Super Smash Bros. is violence tempered by cuteness. Cue the death metal music! Now, bloodthirsty Kirby knocks Mario off a 150 foot cliff; Donkey Kong pounds Pikachu's stout body into the ground. Imagine twelve of Nintendo's most iconic superstars coming together to beat the everliving snot out of each other and you have Super Smash Bros. It's easy to pick up and play and incredibly addictive with four players, but difficult to master. It is still one of the main attractions in competitive tournament play (e.g., Apex) and is highly entertaining to watch.
5. Banjo-Kazooie
A spiritual successor to Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie took the core mechanics of the former game and increased the amount of collectibles. My main issue with this game is the intractable camera, which seems to be possessed by a restless spirit of the wisps; it will put itself in the most inconvenient spots at the worst times possible. Still, Banjo-Kazooie is a very polished effort overall, an expansive journey across a lavishly detailed world.
I can't commit to a Top Five without including some of the games that were in the running but came up a little short. So, in no particular order, here are the honorable mentions:
Paper Mario: On a console conspicuous for its lack of RPGs, Paper Mario fills the void admirably. Utilizing gameplay mechanics that became standard for the franchise, this could easily break into the Top Five any other day of the week.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: Stay with me for a moment. Objectively, Majora's Mask is an improvement over Ocarina of Time in many ways. The graphics are souped up, the environment is colored with a greater palette of textures, the characters have more detail, and everything just seems more polished. The storyline is deeper, more mature, and considerably darker as a giant moon slouches toward Termina and casts an ominous shadow over the people who await their impending doom. My chief complaint concerns the three-day time limit. Some people have learned to ignore it, fewer embrace it. In my opinion, if the clock doesn't stifle exploration, it at least breaks up the flow of the adventure as the player needs to make constant trips to Clock Town to save the game and reset the time limit. I'm not sold on the owl statue save system, but I use it dubiously as it's the only way to resume the game from where I left off. Otherwise, Majora's Mask is a great adventure within an almost perfect narrative.
Mario Kart 64: The N64 was the only console of the fifth generation that came standard with four controller ports; most consoles featured two, but this game would have been a compelling enough reason to justify the extra two. While its predecessor on the SNES innovated the kart racing concept, I feel this version standardized the mechanics of the series.
GoldenEye 007: I was already a fan of the James Bond movies in the mid-1990s, so you could imagine my excitement when I first saw a preview of GoldenEye in a magazine. Thankfully, the game didn't disappoint at all. The single-player mode was immediately rewarding: you take a few steps forward, shoot your first bad guy with a silenced handgun, pick up his assault rifle and run down a tunnel raining a fusillade of bullets on unwary guards. It offered instant gratification for people who just wanted to shoot and kill enemies, and yet the action would slow down intermittently to emphasize the importance of stealth. For all my praise of the single-player mode, the multiplayer kept me hooked for years: the remote mine matches always led to some unforgettable moments.
Resident Evil 2: The PlayStation original was a marvelous achievement in survival horror gaming, and is in my opinion the apex of the series, but when I saw RE2 for the N64 sitting on the shelf at my local video store, I was doubtful that the game could make a faithful translation. To my surprise, the entire game was packed onto the cartridge, with all the weapons, enemies, gore, music, and scenarios carrying over. The voice acting and FMV sequences were compressed, but to be honest, I was simply amazed that they were still there. RE2 made me feel proud to own a N64; it had come a long way since its debut.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
This is an easy call. Ocarina of Time is one of the most complete games for the N64, guaranteed to pull gamers in for many hours of exploration. The controls are quite manageable and the camera angles are very user-friendly. The player is encouraged to take his or her time in uncovering all of Hyrule's secrets, and there are a lot to be had, from weapon upgrades to collectibles. I prefer this to the faster-paced Majora's Mask; for a game of this scope, being able to save anywhere on the world map is most merciful.
2. Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 was the N64's first sprawling adventure, and had it all ended there, I think we'd still manage to look back on the N64 with a great deal of fondness based on the merit of this one game. The environments are beautifully rendered, gameplay is smooth and fast, and everything overall makes a seamless transition to the third dimension. Oh, and the soundtrack features some of the best and most memorable compositions for a Mario game to date, like this one.
3. Star Fox 64
Since Star Fox on the SNES was a magnificent achievement in 16-bit engineering, it was all but expected that the follow-up would create a new standard for space combat games. This was everything that was great about the SNES game, but much more refined: controls were responsive, graphics polished, gameplay mechanics tweaked. The split paths on the mission map guaranteed replay value as players could crisscross the galaxy at key times in the story, opening up new levels for each playthrough. This game pioneered the rumble function in console games, and it arguably hasn't been done any better since; I remember feeling the tactile feedback when an enemy ship approached.
4. Super Smash Bros.
A novel idea that spawned a burgeoning franchise, Super Smash Bros. is violence tempered by cuteness. Cue the death metal music! Now, bloodthirsty Kirby knocks Mario off a 150 foot cliff; Donkey Kong pounds Pikachu's stout body into the ground. Imagine twelve of Nintendo's most iconic superstars coming together to beat the everliving snot out of each other and you have Super Smash Bros. It's easy to pick up and play and incredibly addictive with four players, but difficult to master. It is still one of the main attractions in competitive tournament play (e.g., Apex) and is highly entertaining to watch.
5. Banjo-Kazooie
A spiritual successor to Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie took the core mechanics of the former game and increased the amount of collectibles. My main issue with this game is the intractable camera, which seems to be possessed by a restless spirit of the wisps; it will put itself in the most inconvenient spots at the worst times possible. Still, Banjo-Kazooie is a very polished effort overall, an expansive journey across a lavishly detailed world.
I can't commit to a Top Five without including some of the games that were in the running but came up a little short. So, in no particular order, here are the honorable mentions:
Paper Mario: On a console conspicuous for its lack of RPGs, Paper Mario fills the void admirably. Utilizing gameplay mechanics that became standard for the franchise, this could easily break into the Top Five any other day of the week.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: Stay with me for a moment. Objectively, Majora's Mask is an improvement over Ocarina of Time in many ways. The graphics are souped up, the environment is colored with a greater palette of textures, the characters have more detail, and everything just seems more polished. The storyline is deeper, more mature, and considerably darker as a giant moon slouches toward Termina and casts an ominous shadow over the people who await their impending doom. My chief complaint concerns the three-day time limit. Some people have learned to ignore it, fewer embrace it. In my opinion, if the clock doesn't stifle exploration, it at least breaks up the flow of the adventure as the player needs to make constant trips to Clock Town to save the game and reset the time limit. I'm not sold on the owl statue save system, but I use it dubiously as it's the only way to resume the game from where I left off. Otherwise, Majora's Mask is a great adventure within an almost perfect narrative.
Mario Kart 64: The N64 was the only console of the fifth generation that came standard with four controller ports; most consoles featured two, but this game would have been a compelling enough reason to justify the extra two. While its predecessor on the SNES innovated the kart racing concept, I feel this version standardized the mechanics of the series.
GoldenEye 007: I was already a fan of the James Bond movies in the mid-1990s, so you could imagine my excitement when I first saw a preview of GoldenEye in a magazine. Thankfully, the game didn't disappoint at all. The single-player mode was immediately rewarding: you take a few steps forward, shoot your first bad guy with a silenced handgun, pick up his assault rifle and run down a tunnel raining a fusillade of bullets on unwary guards. It offered instant gratification for people who just wanted to shoot and kill enemies, and yet the action would slow down intermittently to emphasize the importance of stealth. For all my praise of the single-player mode, the multiplayer kept me hooked for years: the remote mine matches always led to some unforgettable moments.
Resident Evil 2: The PlayStation original was a marvelous achievement in survival horror gaming, and is in my opinion the apex of the series, but when I saw RE2 for the N64 sitting on the shelf at my local video store, I was doubtful that the game could make a faithful translation. To my surprise, the entire game was packed onto the cartridge, with all the weapons, enemies, gore, music, and scenarios carrying over. The voice acting and FMV sequences were compressed, but to be honest, I was simply amazed that they were still there. RE2 made me feel proud to own a N64; it had come a long way since its debut.
