The Batlord

And like I'm fine with Xbox and PlayStation controllers but just something about the ergonomics of the N64 controller made my brain bluescreen.

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Banjo-Kazooie Promotional VHS Tape

This is one of those things where I'm actually surprised to find that I have a very vivid memory of this. I typically bring up this VHS tape whenever I talk about Banjo-Kazooie or the N64 in general because I honestly find it interesting. And especially considering there were many of its kind, I must have only gotten a small taste of it.



I remember just continuously putting the tape in the VHS player and watching it over and over again, and I think what was so fascinating about it was you were seeing gameplay from another source that you weren't doing yourself. And I have always sort of been fascinating with watching other people play games as much as I enjoy it myself. It's always interesting to see what kinds of tricks and turns other people can take when playing games, either older or newer. But we're focusing on the older. I also think this is one of the first times I'd ever seen anything akin to a video game trailer. And one that actually shows a decent amount of the gameplay. Gets you a pretty good idea of what it's about. Though I guess the term promotional is there for that exact reason.

Honestly, I must have watched this particular tape more than 1000 times because my memory of this is so vivid that it's almost as if I watched it just yesterday. Thank god for Youtube because otherwise I never would have found it again and now I can enjoy reliving the nostalgia over and over again.

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Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

Man I love this game. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards has everything, in my opinion, to make it one of the best 3D Kirby games of all time. You get different powerups and you can combine two powerups to be even more powerful. You can float around in typical Kirby fashion to traverse through various levels. You can fight bosses and suck up items to throw back at them. It all feels like genuine Kirby at its best.

I have played older Kirby games on the original Game Boy, but I think I honestly had the most fun playing Kirby 64 because the first time going through it was a complete mystery. You didn't know what certain powerups did nor did you know which enemies even gave powerups. You sort of just had to figure it out on your own but once you did, you were just beating levels left and right and collecting everything you can along the way. It's a really fun game to go back and play again because the replayability is definitely there. Despite knowing what the powerups do, I think if you play it now, you'd probably enjoy it more than you did back then. You understand how these kinds of games work now, and there's a whole layer of potential enjoyment that wasn't there solely due to just being too young to understand the mechanics fully.

All the levels are super fun to go through once again, because you can combine powerups to get certain items, or just make note of which powerups you need so that you can come back later and finish the collectible part of the level. Despite having to back track though, it is really fun to go through the levels again just to make sure you've got everything. I don't usually mind going through levels again anyway so maybe it's a gripe with some people but I don't mind it.

Surprisingly, despite the N64 controller being the way that it is, the game still feels really natural to play and doesn't really feel like the controller hinders it much, if at all. Kirby floats and does everything he needs to do very well to where controlling him just feels good, again despite the ridiculous design of the controller. I never really found myself getting too terribly frustrated at the game, although some parts are definitely tougher than others. I think this game for me would fall around the same enjoyment I got with Glover. It's a great game to play from time to time, but it's definitely a little on the tougher side if you don't know what you're doing.

Boss fights are certainly all unique and come with their own arsenal to throw at you and while being unique and creative in their own rights, they all have weaknesses that you can figure out during the fight to put you in the advantage. I don't really remember if I ever had any trouble with the bosses in this game, but I do remember having a blast fighting them because they were all so different and unique to what they can do. The stages themselves were also really cool in boss fights because sometimes the stage would just change around you and you had to control yourself from getting kicked off the stage in some way or killed by the boss that you are currently fighting. A lot going on seemingly though never seemed too difficult once you figured them out. Glad the game does have boss fights though as it's sort of a way to test your skill at certain parts of the game. Which is always a plus in my book.

I remember just having good memories playing through this one and I would certainly play through it again if I were to acquire it in some fashion. I have watched people play through it since I played it for the first time and it still looks like fun to go through.

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Grunty's Furnace Fun from Banjo-Kazooie

One of many of my favorite things about Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie is how many different sorts of styles they went for when thinking about the progression of the games. Different levels need different powers to progress, or certain levels involve more creative thinking when the duo split in Banjo-Tooie. The two games combined, there are so many different ways to tackle the adventure ahead of you to the point that the games never feel boring. One of my all time minigames is in the original Banjo-Kazooie though there are a lot in Banjo-Tooie that I love as well. I'm talking of course of Grunty's Furnace Fun.

To me, this is the way to do it. Have the adventurer get through every level and collect everything you can along the way and learn whatever you can as you go. Then at the end of it all, before the final showdown with Gruntilda herself, they quiz you on what you just did. You go through Grunty's Furnace Fun either replaying minigames that appeared in levels that you played prior, or they ask you questions pertaining to certain events that happened on your adventure. At first, it seems like it'd take a while to get through everything, but with such a variety of different tiles on the board, it's actually really fun to try and do everything so that you can collect everything that is available on the board. Of course, you could also just beat the challenge then run across the whole board afterwards. What fun is that though. You've already experienced 100% of what the game has to offer up to this point, you may as well experience the rest in its entirety.

My next point should really be no surprise if you'd been reading my thoughts on Banjo-Kazooie thus far, but one again, the music that plays along with this part of the game just adds more enjoyment on top of what it is already accomplishing. It fits the sort of chaotic yet fun theme that it has going for it, and really truly adds to the experience of going through it. The first time I ever played through the game this part was a little tough but once you do it over and over, you pretty much know what to expect which sort of lets you enjoy it a little more and sort of put yourself to the test of what you know about the game.

I would also like to add that I think it's neat that they have this where it's at because it's simultaneously right after you progressed through each level and right before you take on the final fight and finish the game. It just adds a nice addition to the already excellent pacing of the game as a whole, never making it feel like one thing is a chore. It all blends together nicely.

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My Favorite Characters That Appeared In Games On The Nintendo 64
some of them

Lemme tell ya, whoever was making games for the N64 back in the day all had one thing in common - creativity. When I look back on games that I played on the system, I continuously find myself diving deeper into remembering dialogue moments between characters or remember a specific character for a specific reason. I know it should be obvious but it is great that not only were the games for the system built with love and care, the characters within them were also treated with the same respect allowing both to harmonize and make great gameplay for us to enjoy. And while I'm sure this list could be endless, I'm going to mention a few of the standout characters for me that appeared in games that I played.

T.T. from Diddy Kong Racing
If you so chose to, after you had completed the game, you could do time trials of all the levels. And if you managed to beat the time that T.T. completed it in, which includes getting the twists and turns almost perfect and never losing momentum, you'd unlock this character. The reason why I like this character so much is because I think for me, it was one of the first times I'd experienced working on something in a game in order to unlock some new content. And boy, when you unlocked T.T. in game, you were basically unstoppable at that point. T.T. comes with nearly perfect stats in turning, speed, everything. He's basically the best character in the game and from what I remember, beating all the time trial levels was actually quite difficult because as I said, T.T. is a near perfect character who manages to beat every level perfectly. You have to try and try again to find the most time saving moments that'll allow you to then beat his time in every level. It's worth it though.

Bowser from Super Mario 64
I think this would only fall on this list if we're talking specifically the Bowser from Super Mario 64, which I am in this case. While not just being an amazing villain in an already amazing game, I simply hold the final fight with Bowser in that game with high regard at all time. It is such a good conclusion from the trials and tribulations that you put yourself through to get to that point, and Bowser is certainly difficult and gets more difficult as the fight goes on. The added fact that the stage turns into the shape of a star is just a nice additional touch.

Jinjo from Banjo-Kazooie / Banjo-Tooie
There are two separate reasons as to why I like this character. One being that you get to see a massive jinjo finish the fight with Gruntilda in Banjo-Kazooie, which is still badass in my book. But also Banjo-Tooie sheds a whole new light on them and it's actually amazing to watch the village fill up again with jinjos that you find throughout the levels. And some of them are tough to get. Also when the almighty jinjo gets his life sucked out of him in Banjo-Tooie, still one of the creepiest characters in either games combined. Absolutely love both games and absolutely love the use of jinjos in both. Even though they are technically just another collectible.

Glover from Glover
When I mentioned creativity earlier, this is specifically what I was referring to. Glover is literally that - a glove. Yet in a game filled with wonder and magic and platforming and whatever else, Glover feels alive and you actually come to care about the character even though it is just a walking glove with a face. Whether that's creative or not in your eyes is a toss up but I think to bring life into something lifeless and have it work very well is a nice thing to see.

Metal Mario from Super Mario 64
I'm choosing specifically metal mario out of the bunch of marios in the game simply because of the music that plays when you pick up the metal cap. You just feel unstoppable when you run through levels with the metal cap and the added bonus adrenaline that the music is pumping out just makes it all the better. I like the other versions of mario certainly, but I get the most enjoyment out of metal mario. I know a lot of people like flying cap and I actually think that would be 2nd in my book, but metal mario is just a little better.

Ganondorf / Ganon from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
I'm sure this one gets chosen a lot when it comes to choosing your favorite characters for this game specifically, but I just want to add my 2 cents to the bunch. I absolutely adore all the characters from this game because they have so much individuality that you come to love them all for different reasons. You meet a lot of people throughout your adventure yet none of them ever feel the same. All different motives, all different feelings towards them. When it comes to choosing my favorite, I have to go with the deadly duo of Ganondorf then turned Ganon. You meet this menacing dude from the start of the game but it's filled with so much mystery that you can't even imagine the type of person this will be. And much like Bowser from Super Mario 64, the boss fight against the two of these is one of my favorite gaming experiences of all time. I think it has everything it needs to be a near perfect if not perfect boss fight to finish your adventure off. Everything you have gone through so far has led you to face off with him and man, it really is rewarding when you get the final blow on Ganon and subsequently save the land of Hyrule. Just a stellar set of characters in a great setting to wrap it up nicely.

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Yoshi's Story

I enjoyed this game a lot as a kid and I still enjoy it now despite having not played in for quite some time now. However that doesn't change the fact that I do adore this game quite a bit. Sure it's a little easy and yeah it's got a simple premise but it's also unique in the sense that it takes those qualities and puts it into a little storybook for you to unfold. Literally, the worlds you will go through are pages in a storybook. Games name makes sense now huh?

Anyway, yes, you will go through several different kinds of levels that require you to either fight off some baddies, or land some tricky platforming. The nice thing about the platforming aspect is that you're controlling Yoshi. And if you've played as this character before, you'll know what I mean. Yoshi controls really well in this game and especially given that it's a 2D platformer, it's almost guaranteed a make or break if the character you're controller doesn't do its job well. I never really had any issues with it anyway, but to each their own. While you may run into some challenges throughout, I don't think the game is meant to be or is necessarily that difficult. Which to me is a plus. For a game like this, it's nice that it has a bit more of a relaxed approach when it comes to difficulty and uses that creativity to create cool looking levels and each some really neat transitions as the pop up storybook turns its pages. Everything just has it's own unique charm and really works well together imo.

I like Yoshi as a character a lot but I think he's had his hit and misses when it comes to video games. This one to me despite it not being received well overall is one of my favorites. Nothing wrong with just having a good time going through a relatively easy yet fun experience for old times saks.

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Some More Musical Tracks From Various Nintendo 64 Games

There's no doubt in my mind that the Nintendo 64 came not only jam packed with a lot of great games, but also some of the best video game soundtracks ever made. I'd like to highlight a few that I seem to never be able to get out of my head:

First we'll start off with an easy one and I'm sure it's to no surprise but - Gerudo Valley from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time



Next up we have the theme from the first level in Turok 2. It's a theme that I always find great to come back to because it really sets the tone for the rest of the game. While the rest of the soundtrack is also pretty great, nothing to me is more satisfying to listen to then this.



Of course, I'll throw in the theme from the Dam level in Goldeneye: 007 as it's definitely up there with tracks like the previous one where it perfectly sets the tone for the rest of what you are about to endure.



Both of the previous songs I mentioned are both of equal caliber when it comes to quality in my book. Perfectly setting the tone and making the games feel epic for the time. Really made both Turok 2 and Goldeneye: 007 a true joy and experience to play. Will always remember these soundtracks fondly.

Going back to Diddy Kong Racing, did you know that this game also has an amazing if not perfect soundtrack truly making the game feel alive and just an absolute joy to play through? Well, it does. And this track right here is to further that point. This particular track is just excellent and really makes the later part of the game feel like an experience and just a joy to go through. Star City from Diddy Kong Racing



I had also mentioned the Grunty's Furnace Fun part of Banjo-Kazooie a few posts ago, and I just wanted to post the theme here for your enjoyment:



A fun yet menacing theme to go along with the challenge that awaits you.

We'll continue this later with part 2.

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The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

This one is always interesting to talk about because depending on the time, either this or Wind Waker would take the spot as my 2nd favorite Legend of Zelda game right under Breath of the Wild, which still sports the helm of my favorite Legend of Zelda game of all time. I would say these definitely take the top 3 spots, and even sometimes I'll switch this out with Ocarina of Time.

Majora's Mask is in a league of it's own as far as I'm concerned, even though it looks a lot similar to Ocarina of Time. Given that they were released on the same console doesn't really make that an enormous surprise. However, if we're talking similarities as far as gameplay and world building, I would relate Ocarina of time closer with Wind Waker. Majora's Mask though takes it's own leaps and in my opinion, is rewarded for it. It takes a much darker tone akin to games like Twilight Princess and often times even moves into the more creepy aspects of life and the world collectively. It's an experience all it's own to go through and it leaves you wanting more each time you play. Storywise, the game of course is excellent but that should be no surprise given that this was release on the N64 which had a good number of great experiences altogether. This just further cements that fact.

When I was younger, the most daunting thing about Majora's Mask that sort of still hold true today is the 3 day mechanic. It's part of the reason why I finally played through this game later in life because I think I was just too young to understand how the game worked mechanically which put me off of it. But, that allowed me to play through Ocarina of Time instead which wasn't a bad trade off. Both are worth playing for their own special reasons and both still hold up pretty good today despite the graphics looking a bit dull. It still works for Majora's Mask though because it meshes well with the darker theme as a whole. Not sure I would think the same if the game looked shiny and brand new.

The thing that I also really like about Majora's Mask which was evident in many other games, is the fact that the developers don't mess around. If they wanted you to know that this game is going to pull at your heart strings, they would tell you outright. Majora's Mask starts you off in a dark forest and you subsequently lose your horse and are basically left to die. Instead though, you're morphed into a deku scrub and have you traverse through the first bit as a character you never played. Thus introducing you to do the mask mechanic which this game does exceedingly well. There were masks in Ocarina of Time, but Majora's Mask takes it to a whole new level which transformations for Gorons, Zoras, Deku Scrubs, etc.

By not only creating an alternative way to go about the game, it just adds more substance to an already great game which makes it greater in my opinion. I don't know what the game would have been like without the addition of masks, but the game basically revolves around them and their unique mechanics so I guess the game would be entirely different. Interesting to think about nonetheless though I like Majora's Mask the way it is. Hell, the whole idea of masks is in the name itself.

As far as difficulty goes, for me, Majora's Mask is definitely on the more difficult side for a variety of reasons. One of course being the 3 day mechanic but also adding in the fact that you have to learn new mechanics with new characters as well as beating the game in its entirety, which is it's own reward. From boss fights to dungeons, this game certainly takes the cake. Hell, anything Legend of Zelda has been at least decent, but Majora's Mask is definitely up there with the greats.

Like I said, I rate this one very highly to the fact that it is in my top 3 along with Breath of the Wild and Wind Waker. That wasn't always the case as I always defaulted to Ocarina of Time. But over the years I have warmed up more to Majora's Mask for how much depth they managed to get into this game to create a unique experience all it's own.

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Star Wars Episode I: Racer

I think I talked about this game somewhat recently due to the fact that it has a re-release on the Playstation 4 and yes, it still holds up. I won't go too heavily into it, but Star Wars Episode I: Racer is possibly my favorite racing game of all time. And there are several fairly simple reasons as to why:

First off, level design is absolutely top notch. I knew this back then but it was further held true when I played the re-release but man, the level design in this game is most certainly a peak for the time. Although some level designs get repeated, the game does a really nice job in submerging you into a Star Wars atmosphere to do nothing other than get you to really believe you are the one in the podracer and this is your fight. The game also comes jam packed with an excellent staff of characters whom you can choose to race as at any given time. Some have better stats than others as is typical in games like this, but they also still feel very unique and individual given that they are all so completely different than each other. Though that's more due to the source material than anything else, it's still used quite nicely here to give you a nice selection of racers to choose from. Even the racing aspect that the game is focused on feels really nice to play, and even felt nice to play back on the Nintendo 64 with that janky controller. You basically control your character going as quickly as possible while also dodging oncoming obstacles. You can get a power boost that furthers your lead in the game thus leaving your enemies in the dust. You can cause them to blow up by tricking them into running into a wall. And...you'll do this a lot too. At least I did. Sometimes the speed gets to be too much and you lose control of your character. So...go fast. But not too fast. Fortunately reviving your character doesn't take too long and you can continue to race. Never feels like a chore to wait for your character to come back. It's just done and done.

Star Wars Episode I: Racer is also one of those titles that people absolutely loved back when it released originally, and then people still love the re-release. I know I'm one of those people, and I tend to feel that way because even throughout the years we've had racing games come and go. To have a game like Episode I: Racer still hold up to today's standards is pretty remarkable. When I played through this game recently, I had nothing but an absolute blast. It felt simultaneously amazing to control it on a normal controller but also it was really nice to feel the nostalgic rush all the way through. The re-release to me just further cements the point that this is one of the best games of all time, and certainly falls in my top 10 games on the console altogether. Maybe even top 5.

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WWF: No Mercy (pt.1)

Ever since this one came out, I haven't since then bothered to touch any of the releases that came after it, despite knowing that the franchise still seems to be going pretty strong. Unfortunately, I do not remember as much as I thought I would when it came to talking about this game, because there really isn't a whole lot to it. It's a wrestling game, so you wrestle other people. Pretty simple, really. However, there is a little bit more that could potentially keep you coming back more and more. I know I played more than my fair share of this game.

Upon searching more information about WWF: No Mercy, I was surprised to find that I'm not the only person that seems to have had a good if not great experience with it. More specifically, it seems like it's recognised as a gold standard when it comes to wrestling games. Not too surprising when I remember the good times of creating custom characters and having them fight with each other. Whether it be a cage match or just a simple 1,2,3 pin. Not to mention the entrance music that you could add to your character. That along with so many other things allowed this game to shine when it came to its customization. I honestly don't think I ever made a character that looked like a different character, given that there was enough to add in that made the characters different from one another. It's not too in depth, but it's enough there to keep it interesting. I remember one character I made was simply a bald guy with nothing but tights on and his name was M Mini W Wumbo. I know, real clever and original but don't blame me, blame my innocent young mind.

I was pretty into WWF growing up as a kid thanks to my older brother always watching it, so I knew the likes of The Undertaker and Kane and others, so it was always cool to see them represented in the game. It also always felt cool to use the people you liked and learn how they play to achieve cool combos and the like. I will always cherish the memories of playing this with my two other brothers and learning the way the characters worked. I would always use Jeff Hardy, my brother would use Kurt Angle, and I honestly don't remember what my older brother used. He was good though so it was sometimes not the most fun playing with him, but I digress.

As much as I would like to say I'd enjoy this game if I were to play it today, but I also remember the controls being somewhat clunky given that you were playing a wrestling game on a controller that didn't work well it.