I’d love to emulate 64DD as well. Hope there’s good support with parallel-n64 - it’s the only option for me. The visuals have to appear like they’ve been rendered from actual hardware, at the original N64 too.
I was playing some today and it really is an entertaining game even in the absence of things like explicit difficulty settings or content to do. I jumped into Whomp’s Fortress, didn’t even note which star I picked, but I was having a great time playing around in what would be another wholly unique visit to the area (I ended up grabbing all the red coins in the end).
Which leads me to one thing that I’d have added to that linked page above - the ‘pick your poison’ concept also extends to how you’d approach the game. The more you master the controls the more ways you can get around, opening up endless possibilities for tackling the game’s challenges, or for making your own fun.
I’ve been thinking about the N64 lately and there are quite a few innovative third party titles I never played which I plan on in the future:
Mischief Makers
Glover
Space Station Silicon Valley
Wetrix
The New Tetris
Tetrisphere
Body Harvest (?)
Rocket: Robot on Wheels
Japan Pro Golf Tour 64
Tonic Trouble(?)
Top Gear Rally(?)
Winback(?)
Hybrid Heaven(?)
Castlevania 64(?)
Multi-racing Championship(?)
I’ve put question marks next to the ones which are probably of questionable quality and/or curios today, but I’m all ears if anyone wants to vouch for them!
It mentions that a lot of “launch” titles were created by simulation companies who had more of a handle on the hardware than Nintendo at the time. I guess because it was Silicon Graphics.
But what were the other simulation companies and the games that they made? ( only Pilotwings 64 was ready for launch date they say)
The only simulation company i can recall was Paradigm. Maybe T&E Soft too, they had an early golf game iirc. Paradigm hadn’t done anything before the 64 but became known quickly for Pilotwings then later their F1 game. Nintendo must have had them on an almost 2nd party leash for the early years. But yeh, there weren’t a “lot” of launch titles period let alone a lot of games made by simulation companies!
I can offer thoughts on a few of those games above. Mischief Makers is well worth playing, it’s a pretty inventive action platformer that like most Treasure games seems to be brimming with new ideas on every stage. I played the Japanese version and so i found it a little hard to get to grips with all the mechanics but I’m sure it’s easier in English!
Top Gear Rally i had as a kid. I wanted it to be Sega Rally but it’s not really close. It runs ok but the controls take some getting used to - it can be hard to keep straight! And the physics often freak out so u can flip the car far too easily just from clipping an edge, which will cost you the race. They knew it was bugged too cause there is a reset to course button for when you get stuck somewhere! Still, i had some fun with it, it had quite a few tracks and a primitive decal editor too.
Multi Racing Championship i only hired. It looks really ugly and is pretty sedate. It was from the era of Ridge Racer and so it only had a few courses, mostly made from alternate routes etc. The course design wasn’t as good as Ridge Racer tho so it got old quickly.
Castlevania 64. I was a huge 2D Castlevania fan so i had high hopes but reviews put me off back in the day. I got the Japanese version now but I’ve only played a bit cause it felt like a janky early 3D platformer! Also again i had a little trouble progressing at first cause of the language. The opening section with spawning skeletons seemed to take forever. It’s also ugly as all hell in the beginning! Then i reached the castle where the platforming takes over and it really becomes an exercise in frustration. I stopped at a boss that rotated around a small room shooting flames or something, because the camera was just too painful. It does however, have excellent title screen music. The title screen is probably the best looking thing about the game too!
I have the English version and am the hugest Treasure fan. But I couldn’t fully understand the mechanics and got stuck very early after like the first few levels. I intend to go back to it since everyone keeps singing it’s praises. I know I’m missing something.
Cheers! I’ll probably pass on the racers then and stick with the known classics of the generation.
Castlevania 64 sounds like Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, though I’m surprised to read it released in 1999! Goemon’s followup was much improved, even if it was a move back to side-scrolling gameplay - anyone know how Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness is? I’m amazed that released so soon after Castlevania 64, while also including stuff from that game!
The late release was certainly a factor for me not giving it a go back in the day. I was excited for it from the first screens which were from around 1996! At that time it was more like a model test area than anything final. It looked about as good as anything else did at the time but when it released stuff like Ocarina was far better looking and playing.
Even with more modern Zelda games available and theoretically challenging its approach to Zelda I still think it’s special because of its sense of cohesion: everything feels like it’s happening in the same interconnected game world. Twilight Princess never understood the appeal of that, other problems it has aside.
Funny how we were discussing Castlevania 64 the other day - John from Digital Foundry just did a let’s play style video featuring it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o44eGybawOo
I hadn’t really gone out of my way to check out gameplay of the game, and I have to say it looks pretty impressive for a game of its time, and I’d definitely get some enjoyment out of it playing it today I think. There are qualities in there which aren’t in other games in the series (as John points out the PS2 games are more like a series of interconnected rooms of the same theme) and modern action games are extremely guided experiences right down to the platforming. While I’m sure it is missing content given Legacy of Darkness’ release it does still seem like an extremely polished game, right down to the high framerate, polished controls and excellent art design.
I’m glad he showed some love for the original. Even though everyone rates Legacy of Darkness better, it’s missing that dope intro music from 64.
Bit disappointed he didn’t get too far into the game but I’m glad he tried something different and less structured. Hopefully it means more content more frequently.