my apologies to Lord Kemco, King of Assembly Line RPGs
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i think n64 is cool because it is unique and recognizable. i’m unbothered by the sludginess of the average NTSC N64 game’s visuals (internal scaling using VI is gross, though, see e.g. Body Harvest and Genki’s MRC: Multi-Racing Championship, not to mention far too many poor PAL conversions), and in many cases (Iggy’s Reckin’ Balls, Banjo-Kazooie), the sludginess is vital to what works about the game
what is a “PS5 game” but a PC game that got ported to a PS5. n64’s got some flavor in that chew at least
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it is pretty cool to play some N64 games using the “Clean HDMI” feature on the MiSTer core, not unlike the infamous anti-aliasing or blur removal codes and features for various N64 stuff, but at a lower level. the results are pretty striking, especially for aforementioned games like Body Harvest that try to do non-integer internal scaling in a 320 by 240 area. i should make some videos.
MRC is unrecognizable, looks like some glorious forgotten arcade racer from the mid-90s rather than the unfortunately soupy look of the game as released
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How big is a rom pack of every N64 game. I’ve never explored a console’s category in an expansive way, but there’s something mysterious and elusive about the N64 to me that makes me think I’d like to try.
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well it’d be like 16M x 400 so probably only about 10G, I think there were fewer 32M games overall
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still chasing the high of having 4 player splitscreen mario kart and snowboard kid matches.
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if you exclude the regional duplicates it’s a little over 5 GB compressed
…oh never mind, i think this is excluding untranslated jp-only games
though to be fair most of the ones you’d want to play are probably in this pack.
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where is this, how do i get to this (i just want the hacks)
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is it just me or does the N64 tend to have really lovely sprites when it bothers to use them? for as much as it’s the ugly duckling of 32bit era systems there’s secretly an amazing SNES 2 hidden in there
i rly like whenever N64 games employ billboarding, thinking especially of the way its used in Super Smash Bros for explosions and Pokemon and big hit FX
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a lot of late 90s stuff with very visibly mixed 2D and 3D looks great imo (obviously FFT is my favorite example but there are loads from around then)
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you may already know this, but Bust-A-Move '99 is the same game as Puzzle Bubble 3 / Bust-A-Move 3, which are also on PSX and Saturn (and look largely identical), all of which are ported from the arcade original.
there are relatively few sprite-based games on N64, and most of them are like, mahjong games. the only example i can think of an N64 game with great, exclusive spritework is Wonder Project J2, but i’m sure i’m forgetting something
and not to diminish it at all - WPJ2 has god-tier sprite and animation work and is a must-play visually imo
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oh, oh, oh, i’m forgetting Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
definitely some baller-ass sprites in that one
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Was Yoshi Story sprites? Same question Harvest Moon 64
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Yes and yes! HM64 uses pre-rendered sprites if I’m not mistaken
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Mario Kart 64 is also billboarded sprites. DKR tried to go full 3D but the framerate suffered
Mischief Makers uses sprites… what else, what else
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WPJ2 is definitely the standout example on the console, i think 90% of spritework on N64 is in UI elements and “cutscenes” and imo it always looks sick. Just is rarely utilized to my dismay
ive been hungry for a sprites on low poly 3D “retro” style comeback for years. (eyes octopath traveller balefully) no, not like that
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Symphony of the Night!
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And of course Xenogears tha god
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Paper Mario showed up way too late N64 games should have been trying to rip it off before it even came out
Imagine if Mother 3/Earthbound 64 had taken a Paper Mario approach right away. instead of whatever the fuck it was trying to look like
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