Episode 2 - N64 and Super Mario 64

Hello and welcome to That 90s Video Game Podcast - the show that takes a look back at the golden age of video games.

I’m your host, Fergus, and whether you are joining me for the first time or listening for a second time after my first episode, it’s great to have you here! If you haven’t subscribed already please do, so you can be notified of new episodes as soon as they are released.

In this edition we are taking a look at a game-changing system from the late 1990s, the Nintendo 64. Once we’ve covered the history of this console and its development, we’ll look at some of it’s best features and innovations - I think it’s fair to say that whilst Sony’s PlayStation outsold this console by a factor of 3 to 1, the N64 is widely regarded as introducing a number of lasting changes to the way we play video games. 

And of course, no console launch is complete without a star game, and that came in the form of Super Mario 64. We’ll see what all the fuss was about later in this episode.   

And as if that wasn’t enough, I’ll update you on some of the breaking news happening in the video game world around the time of the N64’s release in 1996.

Ready? Let’s get to it!

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The N64 was released in 1996 but development of this console started life as Project Reality in 1993, a collaboration between Nintendo and Silicon Graphics. If you watched a movie with CGI in the 1990s or early 2000s the chances are the effects were made on Silicon Graphics hardware. The design of the console was showcased in late 1994, by then named Ultra 64 - the 64 tag was important, the system was the first proper 64 bit console (the Atari Jaguar aside) and part of the folklore was that it was faster than the computers that took man to the Moon.

It wasn’t until November 1995 that the Nintendo 64 was unveiled with it’s new name, and in a playable state. Nintendo had announced earlier in the year that the release date of the N64 would be in April 1996 - the console debuted in Japan a little later than planned in June of that year, the rumour is that Nintendo know they would never make the April deadline…

A North American release in September was followed with a European release in March 97 - and that’s where I come in. Actually, I didn’t get the console straight away but at Christmas in 1997. It came bundled with a copy of Goldeneye 007 in the box, Pierce Brosnan aiming his PP7 against a backdrop of fire and explosion. Exciting stuff!

The console sold well in it first year but as I said at the top, Sony had stolen the thunder by getting the PlayStation to market first. It ultimately outsold the N64 by a factor of 3 to 1. 

One of the common reasons cited for this is the choice by Nintendo to use cartridges rather than CDs - the cartridges did have benefits, they allowed Nintendo to minimise the cost of the console but also meant there were almost non-existent loading times. Was it a mistake? I think the decision to stick with cartridges made Nintendo look stubborn and possible even old-fashioned. CDs were futuristic but also far less expensive to produce and as a result, developers and publishers favoured other systems. 

However, with 4 controller ports the N64 gained a reputation as a fun multiplayer console. And it had the games library to deliver on this promise - Perfect Dark, Super Smash Brothers, Mario Kart 64, Mario Tennis, Mario Party, F Zero X, the goes on and on. Oh, how could I forget! Goldeneye - that game probably deserves a whole podcast in its own right, and I’m sure it will get it’s own episode very soon. 

What made the N64 special for many are these multiplayer games - my console has certainly served me well in this respect. Being unplugged and hastily bagged up before being taken to friends well into the late 2000s it held its own against newer consoles, many of which had split screen multiplayer games that were few and far between. And that’s a trend that has continued and only adds to the nostalgia for the 90s era for me.

Of course, no discussion on 90s multiplayer would be complete without talking about screen watching or screen clocking as we called it. Is this regarded as cheating or part of the charm of split screen multiplayer games? The debate certainly rages on and its a topic I’ll be covering with my first guest in a few episodes time. Let me know what side of the fence you sit on, by dropping me an email to hello@that90svgp.com !

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It’s difficult to measure the impact of the N64 without talking about two of its major innovations. Both of these were a gamble for Nintendo at the time, but it is hard to imagine the video game world with them now.

I am of course talking about the Analogue Stick and the Rumble Pak. 

One of the main features of the N64 was the ability to move in 3D space, just look at games like Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time - actions like swimming, flying and jumping are natural with the newly introduced analogue stick. We are exploring Super Mario 64 in more detail later but I don’t think it is possible to talk about the Analogue Stick without talking about this game. 3D games at the time typically allowed players to control their character from a fixed perspective - the true 3D experience of this game where the player could navigate with a 360 degree range of motion with infinitely variable relative camera positions was revolutionary. This simply would not have been possible with a traditional D Pad.

And that’s not all - the analogue stick added the ability to control not just direction but speed of motion. A key part of moving Mario and Link in these games was easing the stick forwards to start a slow walking pace, rather than an immediate sprint. Aiming your fairy bow, tip toeing along a high ledge or riding your horse in Ocarina of Time became an immersive experience thanks to this feature. The level of control this gave the gamer was totally different to anything else, and these games served as the perfect showcase.

As I said at the top, it’s almost impossible to imagine gaming without this now. Just over 12 months later in 1997 Sony released their Dual Analogue controller, adding a second stick and ultimately cementing this layout as the de facto control scheme for years to come. 

Would this have been possible without Nintendo? Probably. But like all great innovators, the company certainly took a chance with the layout of the N64’s controller. The design was controversial - the legendary M shape stopped players from reaching all of the inputs from a single grip position. As a result, and following the release of Sony’s Dual Analogue design a number of third party pads in the same layout were produced for the N64. To be honest, I was not a fan of any of these at the time but now I think my mood has changed. The N64 controller holds a special place in my heart but it feels in many ways like an advanced stage prototype - just one or two iterations away from perfection. Ergonomically though it is still one of my favourites - certainly more comfortable than the PlayStation controller but let’s not open that can of worms today. Like all good playground arguments between kids, this was one where you definitely had to pick a side. 

A final thought on the analogue stick, and one of my favourites quirks was how it worked - using two optical encoding disks to determine your inputs, it worked similarly to a traditional ball mouse. Remember starting the console, setting up a game of Mario Kart only to find that someone had held the analogue stick when booting up? The controller assumes the stick is centred when powered on, and measures relative movement rather than the absolute position, this left you spinning in circles or staring at the sky. 

At the time I remember the sheer anger of having to restart the console to fix this issue, it was the only way we knew how - it was only a few years ago when I was sharing this frustration with an old friend that he told me you could re set the centre position of the analogue stick by simply holding L, R and Start at the time time. Years of anger and arguments could have been so easily avoided!

Anyway, moving on. 

Another feature, although I suppose this really counts as an accessory, is the Rumble Pak. Hitting shelves in early 1997 alongside the release of StarFox 64, this accessory slotted into the port on the bottom of the controller. Taking 2 triple A batteries it certainly gave the pad some heft. The weight wasn’t uncomfortable and I would say that having used the controller with the Rumble Pak for so long, it became quite natural. What started as an added extra has become a de facto standard in the industry. 

I think even at the time it was seen as a bit of a gimmick, but it was above all a fun accessory for the console - firing off shots in Goldeneye 007 felt more satisfying with the Rumble Pak clipped on. And again what seems very standard now, Ocarina of Time went a step further by making the Rumble Pak part of the gameplay mechanics itself. Once you obtained the Stone of Agony in this game, the Rumble Pak acted as a homing device for secret areas and items. Then, when you found the fishing rod, the Rumble Pak let you when you’d hooked and a fish and it was pulling against the line. In the futuristic racing game F Zero X the Rumble Pak was used to great effect to show different terrains and when you were travelling over the boost zones. This was definitely a killer for those 2 triple A batteries!

So sure it was a bit of fun, an extra dynamic to gaming, but I think it really underscores Nintendo’s zest for trying new ideas and and pushing the envelope. But above all, wanting to make games fun to play. 

OK so there are a few accessories I haven’t covered in this episode - the Controller Pak memory card, the Jumper Pak that makes way for the Expansion Pak - this doubled the RAM of the console to a whopping 8MB and was required for a few games to run at all notably Perfect Dark and Majora’s Mask. It also boosted the features or performance of some games. Then there was the Transfer Pak that allowed you to move Pokemon from your Gameboy games to Pokemon Stadium. There are even more, some that never made it out of Japan and some that were total flops.   

Have you got a favourite feature of the N64? Or perhaps one of its many quirks pushed you towards the PlayStation? Let me know by sending me an email to hello@that90svgp.com!

Next we are going to take a look at Super Mario 64, but before I do if you’re enjoying this episode then leaving me a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, would really help me out! OK, on with the episode let’s get stuck into Super Mario 64!

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Every console needs a decent launch title, players want a game to get their teeth stuck into and of course it’s a crucial marketing tool. Super Mario 64 was the first truly 3D outing for our favourite plumber, and wow was it good. At the time, many regarded it as one of the greatest games ever - and I think some still do. I am not sure if I quite share that level of enthusiasm, but it’s hard to think about this era of video games without this game being firmly in the picture. The game was developed at Nintendo by the now legendary Shigeru Miyamoto - what other games has he been responsible for? Star Fox, Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Luigi’s Mansion as well as a host of others.

Playing as Mario, you are (I guess at this point) somewhat predictably tasked with rescuing the hapless Princess Peach from the clutches of Bowser. With the Princess’s castle as a hub, there are 15 worlds to explore plus secret areas and bonuses, all huge and free format. There are 7 stars to discover in each world and this takes time - a great mix of exploration, puzzling and classic platforming elements. There’s lots of other ways to find stars - races, hide and seek, fights and of course collecting 100 coins in a world will get you a shiny star. The game is non-linear and you can explore worlds to find stars as you wish, and in any order - new worlds open up with the more stars you find. This is great as you can dip in and out of a tricky part and that keeps the game fun and enjoyable.  

One of the benefits of the cartridge format is that these massive worlds appear instantly, and there are no intermediate loading times either. You’re straight out of one area and into the next. 

The controls are very responsive and the game suits itself well to the control stick format. It really is the perfect game to showcase the capabilities of the new controller. 

Going back to this game for this episode was great, and if you haven’t checked out the recent release for the Nintendo Switch as part of Mario 3D All Stars then I highly recommend it. However, the game is not without a couple of issues. Most notably the camera viewpoint - it is not possible to get the camera in the exact position you want, and it rotates back round Mario as you move about the worlds. Modern games would adopt a fixed position behind the character that could be changed by the player to look around, but would keep a constant reference to the controller inputs. 

It certainly does not make the game unplayable but is something that you need to contend with - particularly on tricky jumps or narrow ledges or ramps. The camera will also occasionally disappear behind blocks or walls, which is frustrating. I don’t remember this as being a problem when I first played the game, and in this respect it is more of an endearing feature and part of the challenge for me when revisiting this one. 

The music and sound effects are great and rich in detail - the music fits each world well and matches the visual feel. Mario has a host of sound effects such as cheers, grunts and shrieks which add to the game’s sense of fun and personality. 

Visually, it’s colourful and appealing. The 3D worlds have a good sense of scale and perspective, and the draw distance is great for a game of this age. The famous ‘rotating trees’ and other sprites are a great bit of nostalgia for me, but also a good example of Nintendo making the most of the hardware’s capabilities. 

The difficulty is challenging at points and game takes around 40 hours to complete the story, but over 60 hours to collect all the stars. There are 120 to find overall, but you only need 70 to finish the story - so there is some great replay value even once you’d rescued Peach. 

So, how does Super Mario 64 hold up now?

I’m going to give this game:

9 for visuals

8 for music

10 for gameplay

10 for nostalgia

So that’s a score of 37 - that’s more than Road Rash scored in the last episode, and doesn’t leave me with much headroom for future games! But, this is one of the best games from the 1990s, not just by my judgement but critically this game was very well received on its release and subsequently this consensus has held up over time. 

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Well that’s the end of our special episode on the N64, thank you so much for joining me. If you haven’t subscribed already then please do you get the next episode first. A review on Apple Podcasts, or whenever you get your podcasts, would really help me out as well. Check out our website at that90svgp.com, and don’t forget to send me any of your thoughts or ideas to hello@that90svgp.com. 

I look forward to seeing you for the next episode of That 90s Video Game Podcast - thanks again for joining me, and see you again in a few weeks!