• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

What was the best looking/sounding game on the N64?

Fox Mulder

Member
Conker

Is among the best visuals on the console, is voiced, and doesn't look like ass today. It's even more impressive because it doesn't use the expansion pak at all.
 

piratethingy

Self professed bad raider
I'm not sure how fair this is, but Perfect Dark is the greatest game of all time.

The rosey glasses are never coming off.
 

katkombat

Banned
Conker

Is among the best visuals on the console, is voiced, and doesn't look like ass today. It's even more impressive because it doesn't use the expansion pak at all.

I'm still surprised how all of those voices fit on there. Had to be a bigger size cart wise, right? The cart feels much heavier than, say, quake 2's.
 

DonMigs85

Member
I'm still surprised how all of those voices fit on there. Had to be a bigger size cart wise, right? The cart feels much heavier than, say, quake 2's.

Edit: Yes it was 64MB after all.
Mario 64 was only 8MB and a very light cart, Paper Mario and Pokemon Stadium 2 were also much heavier (40MB and 64MB respectively)
 

1upmuffin

Member
Conkers Bad Fur Day looks and sounds great still, but the gameplay has not held up as much; that game was a chore to play through.
 

Skel1ingt0n

I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
World Driver Championship

world_driver_championship_345601.jpg
 

Coreda

Member
Off the top of my head:

Conker (had award-winning music, voice acting, too)
Banjo-Kazooie/Tooie
Paper Mario
The Zeldas
Perfect Dark
DK64
Animal Crossing (Dobutsu No Mori)
Wonder Project J2 (2D)

conkersmatrixmkskm.jpg


Hells yiss. Emulated examples.

perfectdarkmp8bshh.jpg


Perfect Dark

majorasmaskxms6c.jpg


Majora's Mask

doubutsunomorib5sf7.jpg


Doubutsu no Mori

dk6451stb.jpg


Donkey Kong 64

papermario643yss5.jpg


Paper Mario

wonder20project20j22061swg.png


Wonder Project J2
 

katkombat

Banned
It's a 64MB cart, one of the few on the console.
Ah. Any others (besides the ones listed below, like can is there some sort of list? I'd love to check it out.)
Edit: Yes it was 64MB after all.
Mario 64 was only 8MB and a very light cart, Paper Mario and Pokemon Stadium 2 were also much heavier (40MB and 64MB respectively)
^^
Conkers Bad Fur Day looks and sounds great still, but the gameplay has not held up as much; that game was a chore to play through.
As much as I disagree :)P), try the remake!
 

hatchx

Banned
Perfect Dark. Great art design (for the late 90s) and tonnes of voice work.

Also, Majoras Mask and OOT. Both grand in scope with excellent soundtracks and art direction.
 

Greenzxy

Junior Member
Eh, N64 games always looked kind of bleh to me even back in its heyday, but for games that could push what it was capable of I'd have to choose..

Turok 2
Kirby 64 Crystal shards
Conker
Donkey Kong 64
Zelda Majora's Mask
 
Goldeneye 007 to me. Game was simply brilliant in every way

Coming from playing the likes of Doom, Duke Nukem, and Quake and then playing Goldeneye for the first time, I wondered what the fuss was all about.

Why on earth is this game so slow? Am I wading through treacle?
 
Banjo-Tooie, Banjo-Kazooie, Majora's Mask, Perfect Dark, and Jet Force Gemini all come to mind.

Agreed 100% Those are all some of my favorite n64 games because of the incredible atmosphere created due to the great art direction paired with outstanding soundtracks. I think Jet Force Gemini and Conker's were the two best in this regard.
 

Rich!

Member
Many of the later releases by Rare and Nintendo featured Dolby Surround.
Banjo-Tooie even had a 16:9 option.

It wasn't just Tooie - Goldeneye and Perfect Dark had not just 16:9 modes, but a whole range of aspect ratios to choose from.
 

Into

Member
In pictures: Yoshi's Story

In motion: WWF No Mercy


Unlike most games during this generation, the AKI wrestling games had impeccable animations, still unrivaled to this very day. The wrestlers moved and did their moves in a very realistic manner, you felt the moves, the submissions.
 
Wave Race 64

The waves physics are still top notch.

The "Milky Track" was(is) impressive to say at least.
You start off on flat water with the track covered in thick mist.
After 1 lap the mist vanishes, revealing a fantastic landscape which mirrows in the water surface.
not only that but there is also a stunning thing which makes you realize how good the water physics are in that game: after each lap the (in the beginning) flat water surface gets more and more "wave-ridden". The waves reproduce themselves in a physicly right matter after each lap.
This was unique in 1996. No PC or arcade game was even close to that at this time.

"Milky Track" Video (poor quality)
 
Surprisingly, I think that Super Mario 64 is the best looking game on the N64. It has some simple textures, but it makes the blur more acceptable, plus it runs very well unlike most demanding N64 games (mainly the Rare games). Star Fox 64 looked wonderful too for its time.
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
Resident Evil 2

Compressed to hell so of course it isn't REALLY the best looking/sounding game but man, Angel Studios delivered in spades on something that most people didn't think was possible.

For other random games,

Jet Force Gemini for sure, I remember thinking that game looked amazing.
Excitebike 64 looked great too I thought
Quest64...joking of course. Fuck that game, lol.

Most of these games are based on memory though, I haven't owned a N64 in years.
 

Glass Rebel

Member
Absolutely, unequivocally Sin & Punishment. It's really the only N64 game that stands the test of time visually.
8Io3dSf.jpg

0hLnfWF.png

I'm not sure if I completely agree with this but it is one of the best looking games on the system and has a fantastic soundtrack.
 

zoukka

Member
Coming from playing the likes of Doom, Duke Nukem, and Quake and then playing Goldeneye for the first time, I wondered what the fuss was all about.

Why on earth is this game so slow? Am I wading through treacle?

Yep, but some aspects were mindblowing to me back then like the hit detection, the immense arsenal of weapons, and the local mutliplayer. Perfect Dark of course amplified all of this times ten.

To answer the OP it can only be SM64 or OoT/MM to me. I hadn't witnessed similar leaps in design and technology ever before.
 

Rich!

Member
I'm actually scared. I've got a Japanese N64 on it's way, and I haven't played my collection in a decade. Whereas before I used my old console on a 24" Triniton CRT, I'll now be playing on a large 1080p LCD. I'm not sure if my eyeballs are ready.

Uh oh
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Conker is probably one of if not the most technologically impressive games on the system. Crazy what Rare was able to get out of the system. It's super low res, but Conker even has a true dynamic shadow of his model, that also reacts to light sources. Stand under the swinging ceiling lamps in the Teddiz bunker and his shadow moves accordingly.
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
I'm actually scared. I've got a Japanese N64 on it's way, and I haven't played my collection in a decade. Whereas before I used my old console on a 24" Triniton CRT, I'll now be playing on a large 1080p LCD. I'm not sure if my eyeballs are ready.

Uh oh

I was amazed when I plugged in my imported US N64 how low some of the framerates are. Really surprised. Lowish 20's on some points in games.
 

Persona7

Banned
Conker is definitely a technical marvel on the N64. The game even used MP3 audio.

The Xbox version looks fantastic as well.
 

Rich!

Member
I was amazed when I plugged in my imported US N64 how low some of the framerates are. Really surprised. Lowish 20's on some points in games.

Yeah. I'm used to the low framerates as they are still present in emulation (unless you use the 1964 mod). It's the visuals themselves that will be a shock.

Also, the two Zelda games are 20fps max. In some areas I noticed Majoras Mask drops to 12fps or so.

wheres my goddamn 3DS remake, Nintendo!?!?
 

Persona7

Banned
Does anyone know any documents or articles about the technical aspects of Conkers Bad Fur Day?

I found one YEARS ago but it was in japanese and I can't find that damn page anymore. I want to say it was from 2003 or 2004.
 

JordanN

Banned
Does anyone know any documents or articles about the technical aspects of Conkers Bad Fur Day?

I found one YEARS ago but it was in japanese and I can't find that damn page anymore. I want to say it was from 2003 or 2004.
It's not a document, but there's a developer commentary on Conker that do go into technical details about the game. They talked about stuff like the dynamic lighting/shadowing someone mentioned earlier or how they used textures as low as 32 x 32 (I'm still in the process of watching it tbh).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgtAXCaSlpk
 

Persona7

Banned
It's not a document, but there's a developer commentary on Conker that do go into technical details about the game. They talked about stuff like the dynamic lighting/shadowing someone mentioned earlier or how they used textures as low as 32 x 32 (I'm still in the process of watching it tbh).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgtAXCaSlpk

Oh yeah, I watched a few of those. Tomorrow I will try and watch a few more episodes.


Here is a thread I found on the internet about some hidden images on the cartridge : http://www.rarewarecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7046

hLve5gO.png
 
Yeah. I'm used to the low framerates as they are still present in emulation (unless you use the 1964 mod). It's the visuals themselves that will be a shock.

Also, the two Zelda games are 20fps max. In some areas I noticed Majoras Mask drops to 12fps or so.

wheres my goddamn 3DS remake, Nintendo!?!?

Majora's Mask is hard coded to 25 fps if I'm not mistaken, which is why it's impossible to emulate at any better framerate. OoT has a more "flexible" framerate.
 

Rich!

Member
Majora's Mask is hard coded to 25 fps if I'm not mistaken, which is why it's impossible to emulate at any better framerate. OoT has a more "flexible" framerate.

Really? I played through the game recently with FRAPS, and it was at a high of 20fps.
 

DonMigs85

Member
Conker is probably one of if not the most technologically impressive games on the system. Crazy what Rare was able to get out of the system. It's super low res, but Conker even has a true dynamic shadow of his model, that also reacts to light sources. Stand under the swinging ceiling lamps in the Teddiz bunker and his shadow moves accordingly.

Yeah Conker and Banjo-Tooie easily rival or even exceed DK64, and all without the Expansion Pak.
 

Rich!

Member
Yeah Conker and Banjo-Tooie easily rival or even exceed DK64, and all without the Expansion Pak.

To be fair, DK64 wasn't supposed to use the expansion pak either. The only reason it does is because there was a gamebreaking memory leak that caused the console to crash if it only had 4mb standard ram.

If it wasn't for that, it wouldnt have needed one.
 
Conker is probably one of if not the most technologically impressive games on the system. Crazy what Rare was able to get out of the system. It's super low res, but Conker even has a true dynamic shadow of his model, that also reacts to light sources. Stand under the swinging ceiling lamps in the Teddiz bunker and his shadow moves accordingly.

Pretty sure this was the case in both Zeldas as well.
 
Top Bottom