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[maxcriden]

Edit: or not in Rare Replay

For reference, Rare Replay has the following N64 games:

Blast Corps
Banjo Kazooie (x360 BC)
Banjo Tooie (x360 BC)
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Jet Force Gemini
Killer Instinct Gold
Perfect Dark (x360 BC)

Original Post:

I'm considering purchasing an N64 and trying to figure out which quality games (NTSC region but I'm open to a variety of answers) wouldn't already be available to me to play on VC instead. So, to that end I'm interested in hearing your favorites within this criteria and why you like them. Looking forward to the responses!

I'm going by NA releases here, for my own selfish purposes:

Wii VC

1080° Snowboarding
Bomberman Hero
Cruis'n USA
F-Zero X
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Mario Golf
Mario Kart 64
Mario Party 2
Mario Tennis
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
Paper Mario
Pokémon Puzzle League
Pokémon Snap
Sin & Punishment JP
Star Fox 64
Super Mario 64
Super Smash Bros.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Wave Race 64
Yoshi's Story

Wii U VC

1080° Snowboarding
Donkey Kong 64
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Mario Golf
Mario Tennis
Paper Mario
Sin & Punishment
Super Mario 64
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Wave Race 64
Yoshi's Story

 

[Joey Ravn]

Banjo-Kazooie was my first, most immediate thought.

 

[Vandole]

Harvest Moon 64 was quite if you haven't played it (similar to Back to Nature). Natsume has said pretty much said the code for the game no longer exists so we're never going to see it on the VC as things stand now.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Oh gee hmmmmmm let me think here...oh I know...the ONE DAMN GAME I'VE BEEN WANTING FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does ANYONE have a legit reason why this wasn't on the Wii or Wii U (yet)?!?!?!?!

 

[Solidsoul]

Majora's Mask, no I don't want to play the 3DS one.

 

[TheMoon]

You're crazy if you don't play:

(list with bonus max-rating)
NBA Hang Time (goat & alien vs kobe bryant & cow-man)
Blast Corps (there's no shooting, max! you just demolish buildings^^)
Space Station Silicon Valley (maxcriden: the game)
Banjo Kazooie / Banjo Tooie (though you could play better looking HD versions on 360 and X1 now)
Beetle Adventure Racing (soooo many alt-routes! aliens! jurassic park! best licensed racer ever)

and Diddy Kong Racing of course. But maybe they'll throw the DS version on VC one day? Who knows.

 

[PtM]

Half of Rare Replay

I'm also up for 60Hz F-Zero.

 

[NismoTigerWVU]

Depending on how you view pro wrestling, WWF No Mercy can land anywhere from the holy grail down to fun multi-player brawler. If you do snag a cart, try to avoid revision 1.0 as it had a nasty game save clearing bug.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Mischief Makers.

Have not played it since I rented it from Blockbuster as a wee lad. But man, did I enjoy it at the time.

 

[orborborb]

Pilotwings 64
Castlevania 64
Tetrisphere
Doom 64 (this is a unique game, not a port)
Diddy Kong Racing
Goemon's Great Adventure
The New Tetris
Beetle Adventure Racing
Rocket: Robot on Wheels
Shadowgate 64
Aidyn Chronicles: First Mage

 

[TannerDemoz]

Mystical Ninja Staring Goemon

It's up there with Banjo Kazooie + Mario 64. Fantastic platformer that boasts some really varied gameplay mechanics.

Spoiler

and that IMPACT theme, ffs. Incredible

It's a shame that it's full of save glitches. At least here in the UK. I've tried playing through numerous copies of the game and it always seems to corrupt my save states.

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

Banjo-Kazooie was my first, most immediate thought.

Though it's also available on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One, if OP has either of those.

Same goes for Conker's BFD. Worth playing but it's available on the Xbox One if you have that.

Harvest Moon 64 was quite if you haven't played it (similar to Back to Nature). Natsume has said pretty much said the code for the game no longer exists so we're never going to see it on the VC as things stand now.

Not a bad choice but Harvest Moon is on so many platforms that I feel like it's something that can be experienced elsewhere unless HM64 has a particular feature that makes it stand apart from its numerous sequels.

Pilotwings 64
Castlevania 64
Tetrisphere
Doom 64 (this is a unique game, not a port)
Diddy Kong Racing
Goemon's Great Adventure
The New Tetris
Beetle Adventure Racing
Rocket: Robot on Wheels
Shadowgate 64
Aidyn Chronicles: First Mage

On the topic of Doom 64, quite a few of the PC ports were original games. I know Quake 2 was for sure (and the game is gorgeous with the Expansion Pak features turned on) and I believe Duke Nukem 64 was as well.

 

[RedToad64]

Mario Party 3, Diddy Kong Racing, and Pilotwings 64 all come to mind. The last two will probably never make it due to issues with other companies.

 

[StrangeRoboMemory]

Mischief Makers is by far the biggest exclusion to me. Awesome action/adventure with a lot of charm, creativity, amazing bosses. So much personality and lots of unique ideas. It's ripe for rediscovery and is my #1 wish for Wii U VC.

 

[TheDinoman]

Mostly Rare's stuff, really.

Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, and Perfect Dark had great XBLA ports so that's something. Rare Replay sounds cool but I have no interest in getting an Xbox One, and a compilation isn't enough to convince me.

 

[tkscz]

Mischief Makers is by far the biggest exclusion to me. Awesome action/adventure with a lot of charm, creativity, amazing bosses. So much personality and lots of unique ideas. It's ripe for rediscovery and is my #1 wish for Wii U VC.

Came to post this.

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

Mischief Makers is by far the biggest exclusion to me. Awesome action/adventure with a lot of charm, creativity, amazing bosses. So much personality and lots of unique ideas. It's ripe for rediscovery and is my #1 wish for Wii U VC.

It's a damn shame that Enix (now Square-Enix I guess) holds the rights to this one. Had Nintendo published it like they did Sin & Punishment it would be up on the VC by now. Bah.

 

[Baleoce]

Body Harvest

 

[Xis]

For reference, Rare Replay has the following N64 games:

Blast Corps
Banjo Kazooie (x360 BC)
Banjo Tooie (x360 BC)
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Jet Force Gemini
Killer Instinct Gold
Perfect Dark (x360 BC)

 

[Voysa Reezun]

Honestly, the WWF and WCW games that will never show up due to rights issues. Anything that I liked from Rare (Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Blast Corps) will never show either.

 

[Gai Murakumo]

I loved this game more than the first Bomberman 64. It had awesome villains.

 

[Chiramii]

One of my favorite games on N64.

 

[IntelliHeath]

Not a bad choice but Harvest Moon is on so many platforms that I feel like it's something that can be experienced elsewhere unless HM64 has a particular feature that makes it stand alone unless I'm mistaken

Well, it had a features that wasn't replicated in any old Harvest Moon game.

 

[Tohsaka]

Goldeneye and the wrestling games.

 

[Byronic Hero]

One of my favorite games on N64.

Yeah. There is no reason that this and its amazing sequel shouldn't be available.

Come on Atlus/Nintendo, somebody make it happen, then we can start talking sequels.

 

[mrmickfran]

Banjo Kazooie and Tooie
Conker
Mischief Makers

 

[Voysa Reezun]

Oh shit yeah, Snowboard Kids! Great games on the N64. Bring them back, Atlus, and not as kewl teens in a shitty handheld game.

 

[chronic_archaic]

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1, 2, and 3

Okay there are many other versions that are better but even I'd enjoy them on the N64.

 

[Theanine3D]

Resident Evil 2.

Harvest Moon 64 was quite if you haven't played it (similar to Back to Nature). Natsume has said pretty much said the code for the game no longer exists so we're never going to see it on the VC as things stand now.

Is that really their reason? Sounds more like an excuse. You don't need the original code in order to emulate the game. All they need is a rom. Unless there's controversial things that they need to change in the original game or something (or there's something I don't know about N64 emulation that makes it more complicated?.)

 

[GabeTheGrouch76]

GoldenEye 007 and Diddy Kong Racing were my jam.

Coincidentally, those are the only two games I either never owned (DKR) or had but then lost (GE 007).

 

[Dr. Feel Good]

Anything by Rare

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Does Pilotwings 64 work perfectly with any emulators? Neither of the two N64 cores in Retroarch can emulate it properly without either glitching or slowdown (on a Core i7). I'm not familiar enough with the other N64 emulators at this point to know if they pull it off without issues.

 

[BennyBlanco]

 

[-Mutsukki-]

Mario Party 3, all bomberman games, Pokemon Stadium 1 and 2. Freaking Dr. Mario 64 which is my absolute favorite puzzle game and it wasn't avaible on the Wii either???
Also both Goemon games

 

[sixteen-bit]

Bangaioh

 

[Stopdoor]

Where the heck is Mario Party 3, Nintendo? I can understand Mario Party 1 because of the control-stick rotating whatever, but can't think of any good reason for MP3 to be sitting untouched.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Does Pilotwings 64 work perfectly with any emulators? Neither of the two N64 cores in Retroarch can emulate it properly without either glitching or slowdown (on a Core i7). I'm not familiar enough with the other N64 emulators at this point to know if they pull it off without issues.

Do you know what specifically causes the issue? I've literally been asking this question for almost a decade and have never gotten an answer.

 

[Host Samurai]

It's probably impossible to get the WCW/WWF Aki games on there, but what about VPW?

 

[Yoshi]

It's the same as my overall favourite N64 game, Banjo-Kazooie. But it's not really required, I have it on N64, 360 and Bone. F-Zero X Expansion Kit however is missing, even though there is now a fully translated integrated N64 ROM that Nintendo could probably easily get running on VC. Of course, they don't, because who wants F-Zero...

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

Bangaioh

Better on the Dreamcast, no?

 

[maxcriden]

For reference, Rare Replay has the following N64 games:

Blast Corps
Banjo Kazooie (x360 BC)
Banjo Tooie (x360 BC)
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Jet Force Gemini
Killer Instinct Gold
Perfect Dark (x360 BC)

Adding to OP, thank you!

 

[RobFox64tm]

The two Goemon games were great! I'd love to see those.

 

[Pancakes R Us]

Depending on how you view pro wrestling, WWF No Mercy can land anywhere from the holy grail down to fun multi-player brawler. If you do snag a cart, try to avoid revision 1.0 as it had a nasty game save clearing bug.

Came to see No Mercy mentioned, not leaving disappointed. This game is just too badass.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Do you know what specifically causes the issue? I've literally been asking this question for almost a decade and have never gotten an answer.

From posts and articles I've read, I get the impression that Paradigm used some non-standard hacks/tricks to pull off some of the things in the game and they are hard to emulate, or at least easy to miss for emu authors.

Here is an excerpt from a recent RetroArch blog post talking about the glitching with the shadows in PW64:

Well, this is caused by a clever hack in Pilotwings where the shadows are masked out by framebuffer aliasing!

First, the color buffer pointer and depth buffer pointers are assigned to the same location in memory. Depth test is turned on, but depth update is off … But, color writes to depth, so this is a problem. 5/5/5/3 16-bit color data now needs to alias per-pixel with a 3.11/4 depth buffer, and the fix was to implement a special path for the aliasing scenario where depth would be decoded after every color write. Pilotwings did stencil shadows without stencil, clever. Fortunately, since it’s implemented with compute, this was trivial to implement once the problem was understood. Interestingly enough, the UI bug in Pilotwings was also solved by this.

 

[Chiramii]

Yeah. There is no reason that this and its amazing sequel shouldn't be available.

Come on Atlus/Nintendo, somebody make it happen, then we can start talking sequels.

I'd have to sell a kidney to be able to buy a PAL copy of Snowboard Kids 2. Australia only?! What the hell. With that said, Bergsala distributed Gimmick! on NES for Scandinavia. Strange decisions were made in the past, that's for sure.

 

[Waluigilicious]

0. Perfect Dark
0. Goldeneye 007
0. Diddy Kong Racing
1. Mario Party 3
2. Pokemon Stadium 2
3. Tetrisphere
4. Micro Machines 64 Turbo
5. Pokemon Stadium
6. Mario Party

 

[batfax]

Harvest Moon 64 was quite if you haven't played it (similar to Back to Nature). Natsume has said pretty much said the code for the game no longer exists so we're never going to see it on the VC as things stand now.

What I had come into the topic to say. Really sucks that they still haven't figured out how to emulate such a gem.

 

[Coppanuva]

Yeah. There is no reason that this and its amazing sequel shouldn't be available.
Come on Atlus/Nintendo, somebody make it happen, then we can start talking sequels.

They tried to talk sequels a few years ago... maybe they should stay away from sequels and just release these 2.

 

[MoogleWizard]

Castlevania 64 and Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness. I'm one of the five people on the planet that loved these games. The only 3D Castlevanias that really captured the spirit and atmosphere of the series.

 

[DeuceGamer]

Rocket Robot on Wheels is a really well done 3d platformer by Sucker Punch and gets constantly overlooked.

Body Harvest is a open world sci-fi game from DMA Designs that later became Rockstar North.

Space Station Silicon Valley is another DMA Designs game and a platformer. It's unique and quirky as you play through as several animals.

Doom 64 is a unique Doom campaign that isn't available anywhere else, as far as I know. It's definitely worth checking out, especially for fans of the original Doom games.