It was the mid-90s, and I was still on a Super-NES fever. Well, as much as I could given I didn’t have the system. But nevertheless the games were great, and Donkey Kong Country was a blast, as many other Super-NES fans can attest to.
But then I heard rumblings of a new Nintendo system in the works, and I also heard of another new console called the Sony Playstation which surprised me since I knew of Sony from their appliances like the Walkman and TV sets, but video games?
Then one day I was at my local Blockbuster (may it rest in peace) I saw a video game station, and lo, and behold, it was indeed the new Nintendo system called the Nintendo 64. With their mascot Mario being the one to herald its arrival with Super Mario 64.
Now, did this game disappoint? Not at all.
Taking a 2D character and his world and translating it to the 3D realm was no easy task, and in many ways it could have flopped. But thank God for Mr. Miyamoto and his team, who delivered an experience that was new, yet still maintained that classic Super Mario feel which players loved. And when I had a chance to try it, I was enthralled. While I didn’t get any of the Power Stars, I didn’t care all that much about it since I was having too much fun in simply walking around and exploring.
Then came the arrival of Star Fox 64, which was essentially a remake of the original game on the Super Nintendo. While the original was groundbreaking, this one on the 64 was a full realization of what Nintendo wanted. And it was this game that sold me on buying the system.
Eventually I was able to get the console, and while I couldn’t get Mario 64, I did get Star Fox, and boy was it beyond amazing. It truly was another one of those games that you just wanted to play again and again.
I also had a chance to play NBA Hang Time as well, but my library was very small, but I loved every bit of it, with Star Wars: Rogue Squadron being the last addition to my library.
While the N64’s library was never as large as its predecessors, and the system wasn’t as successful especially with the original Playstation now in the market, but it still held a special place in many Arcader’s hearts, especially mine. And while I didn’t have a chance to own all the games I wanted, I’m glad I had what I had. Plus the games I played were all fun. No game was ever boring and there was always something new to discover every time.
(Plus playing multiplayer on Goldeneye was beyond amazing, along with Pokémon Stadium.)
Plus the lessons Nintendo learned from this era would play a part in what would ultimately lead to how the Gamecube was developed, and most importantly the Nintendo Wii a generation after that.
Speaking of, when the Nintendo Wii was announced as well as the Virtual Console feature, I was more than intrigued, since Mario 64 was a title I never had a chance to own until that point, and it was worth the wait when I finally downloaded it. And that experience never waned when I bought my Nintendo Switch and got my N64 app for the system.
In many ways, the N64 helped usher in the era of 3D games on a game console, as opposed to said games just being purely on the PC/Mac, and the games that were on there more than enjoyable, and on this day when the system was introduced to America way back when, it is a touchstone moment because it showed that things were truly changing, and Nintendo was willing to embrace that change in game development.
The tagline for the Nintendo 64 was “Change the system”, and with the games it had, it helped do just that. I know in my case it definitely did.
Happy 27th Birthday here in the states N64!
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