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[Osuwari]

so, i'm here wondering why my Mario Party cart doesn't work while sorting some games and i notice something that never caught my attention before.

the only 3 games i own on N64 that don't load up with a 64DD unit attached are F-Zero X, Zelda OoT and Mario Party. i sorta had an idea why FZX and OoT didn't work due to the games looking for US 64DD hardware upon turning on the system but somehow the Japanese 64DD hardware prevented them from booting up at all but i had no idea why MP didn't load. i thought the game cart had kicked the bucket.

that is when i noticed their code numbers in the front sticker of the carts.

every N64 game i have has the following structure: NUS-NXXE-USA
these 3 games have their code like this: NUS-CXXE-USA
XX = depends on game but everything else is the same. examples:
NUS-CLBE-USA is Mario Party's code
NUS-CFZE-USA is F-Zero X's code
NUS-CZLE-USA is Zelda OoT's code
normal game: NUS-NKTE-USA would be mario Kart 64 and NUS-NALE-USA is SSB

when i removed the 64DD to try the game again, it booted up fine and it surprised me since both FZX and OoT worked when i removed the 64DD.

this leads me to think that at some point Mario Party wasn't supposed to have so many sequels initially but, due to the 64DD tanking, they made the expansion disk it's own game and it became Mario Party 2. it would also explain why they recycled so many minigames for it and why all further installments had a complete new minigame roster in comparison.

this should help anyone who has both a 64DD and Mario Party know that their games aren't busted.

 

[The Spoony Hou]

Very interesting.

I've never played Mario Party, and there are so many I don't know where to begin .

 

[Big-ass Ramp]

Very interesting.

I've never played Mario Party, and there are so many I don't know where to begin .

I remember 3 being the sweet spot, IMO.

 

[Salsa]

I remember 2 being the sweet spot

fixed

 

[N4Us]

Good find. Makes some sense that MP2 came so quickly after the first.

 

[The Spoony Hou]

I remember 3 being the sweet spot, IMO.

Hmm... Nice to know.

But I think MP2 will be released at the VC soon... Might as well start there, I guess.

 

[YagizY]

Very interesting.

I've never played Mario Party, and there are so many I don't know where to begin .

5 is the best. That is all.

 

[HadesGigas]

That would have made sense, release a minigame expansion disk instead of a full sequel.

 

[KennyLinder]

This makes it sound like there was a US 64DD. There wasnn't, was there?

 

[Boerseun]

5 is the best. That is all.

.

 

[theinfinityissue]

This makes it sound like there was a US 64DD. There wasnn't, was there?

There were so many strange n64 things going on. Like, remember the failed implementation of Stop'n'swap? There's shit IN games that would have used it, like the frozen key in Banjo Kazooie. An awesome trainwreck.

 

[Shoogoo]

Interesting find. Iirc, MP2 came out exactly 1 year after MP. And so did MP3.

 

[Osuwari]

This makes it sound like there was a US 64DD. There wasnn't, was there?

well, games had to have some programming to recognize the device when it was plugged in. otherwise, the expansion disks wouldn't work (for example, the japanese FZX loads up first and recognizes the 64DD and then the 64DD disk loads)
though it would be interesting if someone with a 64DD and the jp version of mp1 could test it to see if the game sends a disk message. i know japanese OoT prompts you to insert the disk when you have the 64DD connected.

btw, Mario Party 6 was the best one.

 

[trinest]

You are all crazy- DS one is the best.

 

[faridmon]

The DS one and the 5 one was amazing.

The GBA one was one of the worst gamnes i ever played.

 

[koma]

It's true: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKu5lABxR2Q (you can activate the error text that tells you to insert the correct Mario Party 64DD expansion disk).

http://jimmy130.free.fr/?Mario-Party

 

[Diablohead]

So the 64DD would have been mario party expansions instead of actual sequels, rather cool.

 

[The Spoony Hou]

I wake up to know that no one agrees about which Mario Party is the best .

 

[Speevy]

That's fascinating.

 

[RavenFox]

Man 64DD. Dude you brought back some old memories.

 

[SuperAndroid17]

MP 1 was the best

btw , is this why its not the VC?

 

[Ninja Kn1ght]

That's pretty interesting. Nice find!

 

[sixteen-bit]

MP 1 was the best

btw , is this why its not the VC?

why cannibalize future sales by making best one available on modern hardware?

 

[Glix]

I'm just jealous that you have a DD!

How done was Mother 3? I WANT THAT CODE TO LEAK OUT!!!

 

[Cosmo Clock 21]

MP 1 was the best

btw , is this why its not the VC?

probably because MP1 is the "render your palm into a bloody mess of skin and flesh" mario party

 

[Vhalyar]

probably because MP1 is the "render your palm into a bloody mess of skin and flesh" mario party

Free glove though.

 

[Stumpokapow]

I wake up to know that no one agrees about which Mario Party is the best .

Pretty much everyone agrees that 1-3 and DS are the best.

Pretty much everyone agrees that GBA and 8 are the worst

You'll be hard pressed to narrow things down much more than that

 

[El Pescado]

Mario Party-e is amazing. I am not kidding. I still have everything you need to play it all in one box in my game room.

 

[WillyFive]

Shame Mario Party was over-saturated with games and was replaced by Wii Party.

Or maybe not, since I hear Wii Party was great.

 

[Crazymoogle]

This makes it sound like there was a US 64DD. There wasnn't, was there?

There was, for awhile. Nintendo basically had the usual roll out plan you'd expect, including money budgeted towards exclusive games for the device. But when N64 sales weren't the massive success they hoped - and the Gamecube started becoming more of a reality - the writing was on the wall.