Random Gaming Thoughts

[PretentiousHipster]

I've read countless times (Giant Bomb, the retro gaming discord) that the Saturn destroys the N64.

[Golgo 14]

The fifth generation was the first time I had my own money and because of that I could buy all the consoles and games I wanted. I bought the N64 first and followed that up with a PS1 and a Saturn. And... I hated them all. Still do. Imo, practically the entire generation was dedicated to tech demos, and those kind of 3D games didn't really become playable until the Dreamcast.

There were some solid 2D titles on the PS1 & Saturn, but they were few and far between, and not enough to justify me still owning those consoles.

[MrPopo]

I've read countless times (Giant Bomb, the retro gaming discord) that the Saturn destroys the N64.

Little known fact; all those articles and messages were written by Maru under various pseudonyms.

[Gucci]

Imo, practically the entire generation was dedicated to tech demos, and those kind of 3D games didn't really become playable until the Dreamcast.

That... actually makes a lot of sense. I think 6th gen is where we started to see that transition from tech demo-like to something akin to what we see today.

[opa]

I still say that Ogre Battle 64 is an excellent reason to own the 64, but I suppose if it's only that one game, it might be better emulated. The N64 controller is definitely not optimal for that gameplay.

Other than that, I'm keeping mine precisely because of those fond memories. While we eventually moved on to the 6th generation, the N64 stayed a 4-player powerhouse among my friends well into the mid-00s. We probably didn't switch to the Xbox until 06 or something. And while it doesn't get any real play time from me anymore (it's one of 3 consoles I own that's not hooked up, the other two being the Coleco and the C64), and most of the games I used to have for it I long sold off, I will eventually return to my favorite RPG and will one day again host another Mario Kart 64 competition.

Ogre Battle is good. I'm not really into the turn-based strategy games but I can see how others like it. A lot of the best N64 games have been ported at this point. Heck, I think you could pirate the VC releases for the Wii and not need the actual system. I think the Wii got the heavy hitters, iirc.

This surprises me. The N64 is far from my favorite console, but I can't think of a time in the last twenty years that I've heard someone say that the PS1 was better.

I have a PS1 but I've never even hooked it up. I think the only PS1 game I have is the inferior port of ChronoTrigger. I'm not going to pretend to be very PS1 knowledgeable. What genre of games do you like that you feel has better representation on PS1?

If you want to play RPG's you basically need a PlayStation. I like the Final Fantasy releases and Chrono Cross. Survival horror gets some good representation (Silent Hill, Resident Evil's). I also like quirky stuff like Intelligent Qube and the Oddworld games. I also like the Need For Speed titles.

I've just always played PS1 games. It doesn't hurt that the PS2 and PS3 were backwards compatible so I've always had at least one system hooked up that can play the discs. Maybe that accessibility has kept me coming back to the system. Emulation is easy as well.

[marurun]

The Saturn was good for RPGs, too, even in the US, though collecting those after the fact is no affordable thing. If you can read Japanese it’s a smorgasbord.

[alienjesus]

I barely played the 5th gen of games when they were current. I had a single year where the N64 was my main console before I moved onto to Gamecube, and before that I was still rocking a Mega Drive. I only had 5 games for the system: Yoshi's Story, Pokemon Snap, Ocarina of Time, Donkey Kong 64 and Smash Bros.


That said, the 5th gen of gaming is probably my single favourite one. There's certainly some janky stuff, but it's also a generation full of interesting ideas, experiementation and unique IPs, and I think there's a lot to love on all 3 of the main systems of the generation. For my money, most of the best experiences of the gen are on N64 (although there are certainly some standouts on the other systems too!), but I think you get a much more interesting variety on the CD based consoles.

Either way, it's come up before that a lot of people on racketboy don't care for that era of games, but I'm perfectly happy to pick up the slack for the rest of you

[o.pwuaioc]

I barely played the 5th gen of games when they were current. I had a single year where the N64 was my main console before I moved onto to Gamecube, and before that I was still rocking a Mega Drive.

This was me, but without later favoriting the gen. I was playing Genesis and SNES up until probably 2000, when I finally had enough games for the PS1 and N64 to play those more completely. Even after then, though, I still brought out the old games every once in a while, and now 8/16 bit consoles are my favorites and the N64 and PS1 rarely get any play. (Saturn gets a hard pass because I love 2D shooters.)

[PretentiousHipster]

There's a video game store like a 20 minute walk away from my place. I was right beside there in a walk-in clinic getting some wart treatments done. I thought, hey why not I'll see what's inside.

The resellers and stores here tend to be too ridiculous, but they actually had some decent prices there. I ended up buying Blinx for $6 CAD. It was hopeless for cartridge games. The few games they had that mattered are more expensive than ebay, even with shipping, but I think I found a good source for PS2/Xbox era stuff.

They had deathsmiles which I've been recommended a ton of, especially here, but I'm not really a fan of its aesthetic. I'll definitely go there more often when I save up for my tattoo, and get the last 3 zelda games I need. It's nice to see a decent source that's not open only one day a week and is a 2.5 hour bus ride away.

[RCBH928]

Speaking of difficulty:
Whoever here said once its my game I will enjoy it however I like, non-conventional thinking but it works! Some games are just too frustrating and difficult, especially those strategy ones like SimCity that you have to create a perfect balance between like 40 variable or whatever. I really wanted to play Dungeon Keep and enjoy building torture dungeons but getting gold(resources) was really difficult. I cheated with like infinite gold and had a blast!

"Cheat to win!"- Eddie Guerrero

Speaking of save states:
I don't see saving states as cheating , its saving the work that I already have done, more joy less frustration. Albeit I might consider it cheating if you use it mid-boss fights. None the less its the perfect response for the evil developers unfair tactics, you battle a boss for 15min and when you have 10% left of your life he suddenly transforms into his second more powerful form. MY STRATEGY IN THE BATTLE WAS BASED THAT HE HAD 1 FORM! That is not to mention 2d platformers that will have you jump on a stick then platforms or have the floor below you crumble and disappear into a pit right before you reach the save point. If that was your last life, now you have to repeat the 9 or so levels that you fair and square completed!

I don't have time for these mindless challenges, why should I finish Sonic in 1 go? Not to mention there is no way you will know the strategies to beat the bosses , you will have to meet them few times to figure it out with each time you have to replay the whole game up until you get to that boss again. Paying attention and calculating your jumps and hits take a lot of mind energy and causes stress (rage quits) .

If you want the challenge fine, but I am not winning an olympic medal here with multimillion dollar rewards. The way I see it, you wrote an essay in 1 day I wrote it over a week. In the end both you and I got the essay published.