Another N64 gem that I was in love with: Spoiler Bizarre-ass game, but a shitload of fun. And yes, the dog was a playable character. I also have to 2nd Perfect Dark. The multiplayer in that game was basically Goldeneye to the next level. Too awesome. I still maintain that 1.6 was the greatest multiplayer FPS ever made. Just looking at that picture makes me want to fire it up. It also makes me realize how shitty Modern Warfare 2 really is. That being said, time to fire up the X-Box.
I'm really enjoying all the love Fallout 1/2 have been getting on this thread. Some of the best RPG's ever made. On a quick little tangent, many of the folks responsible for the originals are making the newest installment, New Vegas, which will be out at the end of the year. Focus: Thief: The Dark Project and Thief II: The Metal Age were my favourite games growing up, and probably still are. Shit-your-pants-scary, smart AI, awesome level design and stealth gameplay actually done right and set in a cool steampunk world. Plus, the protagonist is an awesomely misanthropic, cynical asshole who's main strategy when it comes to defeating foes is sneaking up behind them and billy-clubbing them in the head. Ten years later, the modding community is still making missions that rival the originals in terms of quality. Not sure if ten years is enough to qualify it as old-school, but if we're bringing up Diablo II and Baldur's Gate, fuck it. Spoiler
Take my opinion for what it's worth, but I bought the N64 Mario Cart when it came out and I was absolutely addicted. I hated the fact that the Wii had a Mario Cart, because like you, I was a purist. Nothing could top it, and only imitations could ruin it. Then my brother-in-law got a Wii, and he got Mario Cart. Yes, there was a great chance that it could ruin the N64 version, but there was a minute chance that it could be even cooler. The holy grail, if you would, of virtual and unrealistic go-cart racing. I tried it. And it was glorious. The game pays homage to its ancestors through the bringing back of the old school tracks. The balloon battles are there, as are all of the old battle arenas. So are the competition tracks; the ice track is the same, the off-road track (Warrio stadium?) is even better than the original, and while the beach track is lacking a bit and Rainbow Road still gives me a migraine, there are a ton of new arenas and improvements on the old format. The driving experience is surprisingly realistic; every female I have competed against has been less talented than I, and I am currently searching for an Asian opponent upon whom to test my theory that the new Mario Cart directly reflects the real world. The more beers I consume, the worse driver I am and the more likely I am to ignore strategy (if you get the shells, always keep one on your tail in the firing position to provide a barrier for on-coming shells) and take stupid risks (boosts are not always a good thing, especially around turns). All I can say is: try it. The N64 version was top-notch, but the Wii version is borderline-orgasmic.
For anyone with XBox Live who is a Perfect Dark fan, it's being rereleased with 8 player online multiplayer as well as mildly updated graphics. Not to mention it's only ten bucks. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3177929" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3177929</a>
My favourite computer game of all time was the Sierra "word command" game Hero's Quest (a.k.a Quest For Glory). It's humorous, has plenty of action and is a thinking-person's game. I spent many a late nights trying to crack this game, and did eventually only for the less-than-par sequels to come out.
Best Funk Bass in a video game Spoiler And the second and third best games for the N64 after Goldeneye Spoiler Spoiler
5 pages of replies and noone mentions POKEMON RED AND BLUE VERSION? This game defined my childhood. I would play it going anywhere in the car, at school, anywhere I could get my grubby little hands on a gameboy. I remember the day I left my blue version, that I had payed for myself, at a restaurant and made my entire family drive 15 minutes back to pick it up [thankfully the busboy had just put it up by the register, god bless that man.] I am not proud of this now, but this just showed my massive love for a game that Japan perfected. Another classic was Dragon Warrior Monsters. Mating and getting the perfect metal slime were some of my best days. I loved my gameboy color.
The other day I went to dig out my Super Mario World and Super Mario Kart and discovered that they were gone. I realized that I had lent them to a friend so I asked him about it. He said he didn't have them so I didn't think much of it, but then he went as far to say that not only did I never lend him the games, but he hadn't mentioned Super Nintendo in probably 10 years. Right away I knew it was bullshit, but also knew it was pointless to argue with him. The kid's a compulsive liar and not worth the effort. Still extremely pissed about that. Focus: Most of my favorites have been mentioned already. Super Maro Kart, Super Mario World, Counterstrike, Pokemon. But two franchises that were two of my biggest time wasters in my teenage years, yet to be mentioned: Spoiler Crash Bandicoot is, IMO, the most underrated Mario knock-off that has come out. I'm actually surprised it didn't become Playstation's Mario. That shit got so addicting. I remember spending hours on the one jet pack level at my friend's house. Getting so frustrated and slamming the controllers against chairs and walls. The ooga-booga masks, all the different gems and crystals to collect, trying to get all the peaches, dodging TNT and Nitro boxes. God does that bring back good memories. The Tony Hawk series ate up so much of my time in high school. Every time I started a career I swore that I'd do it with no cheats. But then after the second or third level, I'd get fed up and enter in Perfect Balance and destroy all the point objectives and beat the game in a matter of days. Still so much fun busting that out and playing a game of Horse with friends. ***BTW*** Me and a friend just tried hooking up his N64 to his HD Projector recently. It's top of the line. HDMI inputs, HDPVR, surround sound, all that jazz. Unfortunately he doesn't have the Red, White and Yellow plug-ins for his N64, just the cable connector. We tried it on channel 3, 4, about every other configuration we could think of and couldn't get anything. Has anyone every done this successfully?
Wow, a double call out, I feel giddy. a) It's Mario Kart, with a K, for Kooky-Japanese-Designers b) Mario Kart 64 is not the original Mario Kart. Super Mario Kart is: If you don't know about jump feathers, pipe down and get educated son. I recently played Super Mario Kart with a few friends, with the loser of each race taking a shot of tequila. That was not one of the smartest ideas we've ever had, but damn it was fun to jump a corner on the last lap to pass my friend and then trash talk while hammered.
I'd have to say the original Grand Theft Auto series. My brother and I would spend hours playing GTA, GTA2, GTA London when the games were only available for the PC. They never got old.
Yeah, when I said Mario Kart I meant Mario Kart (full name Mario Kart 64). I never played Super Mario Kart and could care less about it. Where in the focus did it ever say we had to limit this to originals? Not to mention, If you couldn't tell whether I meant Super Mario Kart or Mario Kart 64 I thought the screen shot would make it obvious.
Well, for 4-player games, I think this HAS to be close to the top of the list for any N64 owner (I realize that there were ones before this, and that it was also on playstation and dreamcast, but this one I maintain is my favorite): YELLOW WIZARD HAS GAINED A LEVEL Also, you can make this a pretty good drinking game, especially b/c you should always play this game with 3 other friends. Basic rules: Level up, take a drink. Find one of Skorne's runestones, take a drink. Forget to find one of Skorne's runestones, take a drink. Finish a level-finish your drink. Badass voice comes on the screen (you know which one I'm talking about, the one I put in caps below the picture), take a drink. This will destroy you. And make the game even better. It's what we like to call a vicious cycle.
This game and bubble hockey were the life blood of any hockey rink. I was mostly used to the arcade version but there was a NES version available, I guess. The way to win is to knock the toothless fucker on the other team in the nuts and then take the biscuit down and send it into the basket. It's kind of cute how video games influence the youth.
So many wicked games I loved Starcraft and Diablo. Mario cart, Bond and Perfect Dark had the best multiplayer ever cause you could go with only two people and heaps of bots. No one has mentioned the original halo yet which we used to get massive groups of guys hungover ona sunday morning doing shotgun battles. A couple of the really old ones I got into were Balderdash and Gauntlet. But I can't believe that this thread has gone this long without this one.
Blades of motherfucking Steel man. Also did anyone ever play the Mutant League Football or Hockey games? Those games were fucking sweet. Like regular football and hockey but you played with mutants and actually killed the other team/refs. There were also landmines and shit on the field that would kill your team and cause fumbles. Hockey was the best though. I'll let the wiki describe it. Spoiler
I'll second the shout out to Syndicate someone posted before. That game was utter awesome. I really need to figure out a way to play it on a modern computer. It's too good. Then there's Romance of the Three Kingdoms 2 for NES and SNES. I *still* bust out the emulator and play this game from time to time almost 20 years later. Turn based strategy to conquer ancient China while reminding yourself that Lu Bu is the flakiest badass in the world. Less old, but not modern anymore, Deus Ex. One of the best games ever made, hands down.
Oh wow I can't believe I forgot one of my original time wasting games..... I can remember playing this game endlessly on loop trying to perfect my time. Also it didn't hurt that when you finished you got to look at Samus in a bikini. Sigh.....I miss that little spinach green game.