Nintendo 64 games

[Peter McCoy]

Some people may recall my retro gaming collection thread a while back. As I got some extra wages this month I've started working towards my Nintendo side of the collection and decided to start with a Nintendo 64 setup. What I'm asking for are game recommendations. I never played that many N64 games, and originally owned even fewer. As such, any recommendations people make - a description of the gameplay/setting would be appreciated.

Okay, I'll mention the ones I'm already looking at:

Super Mario 64
Goldeneye 007
Perfect Dark
Body Harvest (never played, but it sounds good)
Mario Kart 64

And the one's I'm told are in transit:

Blast Corps
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
Doom 64
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter

And also the one that I've so far received:

Lylat Wars (Star Fox 64)

Oh, and a note for Droo - I know you've got my copy of Goldeneye 007 but I want one boxed :) It's all gotta be boxed! :p

[Zenas Codrey]

Looking good so far. I'd recommend adding to that list Diddy Kong Racing. Another kart racer like Mario Kart, adding in the options to race in hovercrafts and airplanes. It has a fairly good battle mode, a strong selection of tracks, and unique challenges such as gathering 8 silver coins and placing first, and racing difficult boss opponents. I drag this one out and play it once a year just because.

Legend of the Mystical Ninja starring Goemon was a pretty good action platformer. Not quite enough to kill Mario 64, but the humor and gameplay are excellent, as are the sequences in which you fight as a giant robot (this is easily the most exciting and fun part of the game).

[Liam Jinn]

Off the top of my head - Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. Fly around in SW vehicles and blow stuff up. From what I remember this game was pretty sweet.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Banjo Kazooie was fun :)

[Shawn]

I'm of the opinion that Conker's Bad Fur Day is one of - if not the - best games on the system. Seriously, check it out. It's an over the top platformer with an adult slant.

To give you an idea, there's one boss fight where you're confronted by several little flame... demon... things. You "fight" them by getting really drunk and urinating on them.

Immature? Sure. But it was fun, and lengthy to boot.

Shadowman is a third person shooter based on the comicbook of the same name, and is definitely one of the most solid action titles on the system.

[Brigid Cassidy]

I still play Perfect Dark!!! And Super Smash Bros. My two personal favs.

[Dragon]

Paper Mario is really a kick if you like silly RPG action.

I'm really surprised no one's mentioned Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It certainly shows its age nowadays, but the story's still excellent, and the gameplay's not at all bad.

If you love Ocarina of Time, you can try its awkward stepbrother Majora's Mask. The gameplay sort of wears down by the time you get to this game, and there are several long, tedious sequences to slog through, but there are also a few real gems of storytelling and presentation. The little mini-quests are actually more engrossing than the main quest. The third-night atmosphere when the moon's about to fall is genuinely chilling.

If you've played Super Smash Brothers Melee or Super Smash Brothers Brawl, I honestly don't think you need to play the original except for completeness' sake, because the sequels improved on it in every way. It has decent multiplayer action (though not as good as the newer versions), but the single-player is so anemic there's really no need to bother.

F-Zero X is a fun racer with an impressive sense of speed and some clever track design.

Mario Tennis is a good arcade-style tennis game.

Rayman 2: The Great Escape is a charmingly offbeat platformer with fun characters and a great art style. There is a remake available on PS2 (possibly GC as well, don't remember), so you might be better off going that way.

[Peter McCoy]

On the whole I'd prefer games that were exclusive to the N64. I'll be getting a lot of consoles over the next couple of years as I collect them, so if it's a multi-platform game I'll go with whichever platform had the best version.

As for Ocarina of Time - I already have it as part of my Legend of Zelda: Windwaker limited edition on Gamecube. I'm only up to the Forest Temple (first one after getting the Master Sword) and the last time I played it was over 12 months ago. I really need to play all the way through that game!

So far I've received the N64 itself, Lylat Wars, Doom 64, Shadows of the Empire and Blast Corps. I was a little annoyed at first as Blast Corps was completed, but I found out how to reset the cartridge :). I'll do the same with Lylat Wars so I can unlock the medals etc.

I'll check reviews and video's for Conkers and Shadowman, they sound good. Never played Banjo-Kazooie either so I'll do the same for that. Aside from Zelda and paper Mario which Dragon mentioned (never played Paper Mario) I don't really know of any RPG's for the N64. Any recommendations for that genre specifically?

[Dasquian Belargic]

If you enjoyed Super Mario 64, you will like Banjo Kazooie. It's the same kind of action-adventure platformer only with more creativity when it comes to level designs and gameplay, I always thought. Donkey Kong 64 was also pretty fun, in the same genre.

As for RPGs.. I think the only one I had was Zelda, though I never really thought of that as an RPG.

[Flux]

The only RPG I remember on that system was Quest 64, and to be perfectly honest, I wasn't that impressed.