Of course, technology has come a long way, and nearly 25-year-old games don’t exactly play like they used to. But that doesn’t necessarily make them bad.
These are five N64 games that have aged well, and five that haven’t.
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10 Aged Well - Super Mario 64
We don’t know how Nintendo does it, but their video games truly are timeless. Super Mario 64 was acclaimed upon release and rightly regarded as one of the most inventive video games ever made. And yes, some aspects are dated, including its then-amazing 3D camera. But overall, Super Mario 64 is just as fun now as it was back in 1996. It just goes to show that quality game design and rich imagination can span generations.
9 Hasn’t Aged Well - GoldenEye 007
Well, guys, we hate to call it, but GoldenEye 007 is crap. Once upon a time this was the pinnacle of the first-person shooter, the multiplayer game to end all multiplayer games. But time has not been kind to our dear friend. The graphics are positively abysmal today, but worst of all, the simple joystick controls are a total nightmare. FPS game design and controls have come a long way since GoldenEye, and unfortunately, we just can’t return to it. Yeah, maybe you can whip it out for nostalgia’s sake, but we guarantee that you won’t have a good time.
8 Aged Well - Mario Kart 64
What did we tell you about Nintendo? Mario Kart 64 perfected the Mario Kart design, and as a result, it hasn’t progressed or innovated much in the intervening years. Yeah, Nintendo has tweaked the series in numerous ways, but those who played Mario Kart 64 back in the day would be more than capable of playing Mario Kart 8. After all, it’s hard to improve on perfection! The levels, music, design, items - all remain perfect, and Mario Kart 64 remains a fantastic party game.
7 Hasn’t Aged Well - The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
Maybe we’ll get some flack for this, maybe we won’t. But either way, Ocarina of Time has not aged well. Like, at all. Unlike Mario Kart, the Zelda series has innovated in countless ways. And quite frankly, we can’t go back to the archaic qualities of Ocarina of Time. Take your nostalgia glasses off for a second and look into your heart, you know it to be true! Seriously, try transitioning from Breath of the Wild immediately into Ocarina of Time. You’ll want to rip your hair out in frustration. It’s grossly outdated and has been surpassed in nearly every respect. A classic, yes. But still fun? No.
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6 Aged Well - Super Smash Bros.
We don’t care what anyone says - Super Smash Bros. remains the best game in the series. It’s simple without being mindless. It’s very welcoming and player friendly, which ensures that everyone, from the pros to the little kids trying video games for the first time, can have fun. It also contains a stellar lineup of characters without resorting to “who are these guys?” and “This isn’t really Nintendo…” and “Are we really including them?” It’s just a good old fashioned fighting game without all the added (and maybe unnecessary) bells and whistles of the later installments.
5 Hasn’t Aged Well - Star Fox 64
Wow, this thing looks bad. Like, really bad! As we said, the N64 wasn’t a major technological leap, and its games weren’t really about improving graphics and physics engines. But man alive, Star Fox 64 is downright ugly. Maybe the game is still fun (depending on your opinion and preferences), but we just can’t get over how bad it looks. It’s nothing but blocky and colorless polygons! Maybe our childish imaginations allowed us to overlook this, or maybe this was actually considered good back in the day. But it’s certainly not good now, we tell you that.
4 Aged Well - Conker’s Bad Fur Day
Conker’s Bad Fur Day was one of the most controversial video games of its day. Luckily, it didn’t rely on controversy alone. The game itself was actually quite brilliant, filled with scatological humor, topical pop-culture references, and some surprisingly fun gameplay. And yes, it has retained all of those aspects. Humor doesn’t really age, the gameplay remains quite good, and while the pop culture references are a little dated, the game was lucky enough to reference classic movies (The Matrix, Saving Private Ryan). As such, they don’t really feel dated - just…classic. And that’s fine with us!
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3 Hasn’t Aged Well - Resident Evil 2
The Resident Evil 2 port was a masterclass of its time. Despite the PlayStation being far more powerful, a dedicated team managed (with the help of some good money) to port the game to the N64 without losing its core gameplay design and essence. But man is it bad today. Then again, that goes for all the old iterations of Resident Evil 2, not just the one found on the Nintendo 64. Why do you think Capcom decided to remake it!? And after playing that masterpiece, there’s just no going back to this archaic mess.
2 Aged Well - Pokémon Snap
This is a little out of left field, but considering how prominent Pokémon remains in the public consciousness, we may as well mention it! Pokémon Snap was a fun little game for its time, and we’re proud to announce that it’s still just as fun and rewarding. This is largely thanks to its simplistic gameplay design - simply point your camera and click away. Yeah, there’s a little more to it, but that’s the general idea! Like Pong or Pac-Man, its simplicity has ensured its successful transition between generations.
1 Hasn’t Aged Well - Perfect Dark
While GoldenEye 007 received all the mainstream attention, Perfect Dark put up a heck of a fight. This game is often regarded as one of the greatest FPS titles of all time, but much like GoldenEye, time has not been kind to its qualities. The same issues that plague GoldenEye plague Perfect Dark as well - poor graphics, slow and obtrusive gameplay, but worst of all, a horrid control scheme that has since been innovated and perfected. Sorry Perfect Dark, but your perfection has passed.
NEXT: The 10 N64 Hidden Gems Everyone Missed
