The 32-bit era was a turning point in gaming that would shape the industry's future and weed out the competition with established companies such as Nintendo and Sega taking on gaming newcomer Sony. Unfortunately for Sega, several ill-conceived decisions caused the Saturn to fail spectacularly in the market - leaving the Nintendo 64 and the PlayStation to duke it out.
While the N64 was responsible for landmark games, its cartridge format alienated third-party developers and its attitude towards the industry was starting to get long in the tooth. Many of the classics on this system are absolutely worth a look, but it's important to adjust expectations accordingly.
10 Many Of Their Games Saw Some Censorship
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It's hard to believe, but even in a post Doom and Mortal Kombat world, Nintendo was still implementing some mild censorship to their versions of certain games. Despite the box sporting a big ol' M for Mature Rating, the Nintendo 64 version of Duke Nukem 3D saw some bizarre edits when compared to prior ports.
The adult video store is changed to a gun store while the strip club is changed to a prison. Gex 3 and the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games had some mild profanity and blood removed from their versions - bumping their respective ESRB ratings from the PlayStation's T for Teens to an E for Everyone.
9 Many Games Were Just Too Much For The Console To Handle
Developers such as Rare deserve credit for pushing the N64 to its absolute limits, but many of their titles suffered from performance issues as a result. Games like Banjo Tooie and Perfect Dark were graphical powerhouses, but the frame rate could dip down to as low as 15 FPS at certain sections - especially in multiplayer. Donkey Kong 64 was a game that was so badly optimized for the system that it required the Expansion Pak just to alleviate a game-breaking glitch. Some games like F-Zero X managed to achieve a performance of 60 FPS, but many concessions had to be made towards the game's visuals.
8 The Controller Was Great For Mario And Zelda, But Not Much Else
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While its 360 rotating analog stick made more precise movements possible on games such as Mario 64, and Ocarina of Time, the ostentatious design of the controller makes it hard to play with other games. Some games developed for the console such as Sin & Punishment accommodated the controls, but many ports just felt off. Despite most of the content from Resident Evil 2 remaining intact, players might be more inclined to stick with the PlayStation version because the controller is just better suited for a survival horror game of its kind. Likewise, performing tricks on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was so much easier on the PlayStation controller.
7 Many Classics Don't Hold Up
It may be hard to believe, but in their initial releases, Castlevania and Legacy of Darkness for the Nintendo 64 were well-regarded despite some gameplay flaws. Nowadays, both N64 Castlevanias are looked at as examples of how not to bring a franchise into the third dimension. While WinBack's third-person cover-based shooting was a novelty at the time, the game's dull environments and cookie-cutter plot have been surpassed by efforts such as the Uncharted series. Goldeneye may have revolutionized shooters, but its controls and visuals make it really tough to go back to.
6 Third-Party Support Was Lacking
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The Nintendo 64's hardware was notoriously hard on third-party developers. While Square provided the NES and the Super Nintendo with some of their greatest games, they parted ways with Nintendo when they realized that the cartridge-based system wouldn't be powerful enough for more cinematic endeavors such as Final Fantasy VII. Capcom supplied the PlayStation with plenty of heavy hitters, but they only released three games on Nintendo's platform. The console would net some decent third party exclusives such as Treasure Co's Mischief Makers , but there must have been some envious eyes cast at Sony.
5 Many PC And Arcade Ports Were Scaled-Down Considerably
As with the PlayStation, the Nintendo 64 was home to a multitude of PC and arcade ports. Predictably, the cartridge format of the console meant that many concessions had to be made in the transition. Ports of RTS titles such as StarCraft and Command & Conquer had much of their music, cutscenes, and in-game voice acting stripped out.
Mortal Kombat 4's pre-rendered cutscenes were redone entirely in-engine to hilarious results. Carmageddon 64 stripped the original games of their edge, featured unresponsive controls, and looked unspeakably bad; earning a reputation as one of the worst games of all time.
4 Some Games Require The Expansion Pak
Depending on what titles they wish to play, gamers who are playing with the OG hardware have to find out if their console has a standard jumper pak or the expansion pak. There are certain games that require the expansion pak to run, such as Donkey Kong 64 and The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask. Users with the jumper pak can enjoy the multiplayer of Perfect Dark, but the main campaign is locked. Players might wonder why they'd need to keep the jumper pak, but while the expansion pak can run and improve certain games, the resolution can constantly switch on games like Resident Evil 2.
3 Low Polygon Counts And Fog Were Common Place
While the Nintendo 64 might have been better at 3D than the Saturn and the PlayStation, many of their games still show their age in the graphics department. Iguana's Turok games did their best to showcase the power of the system, but they were notorious for masking their limited draw distances with an inordinate amount of fog. F-Zero X may have boasted great speeds and a rock-solid frame rate, but there's no hiding its low poly models and fog. Even classics such as Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time are showing their age, which is probably why Nintendo had them remastered for the DS and 3DS, respectively.
2 The Cartridge Format Limited Certain Games
Cartridges may have featured less loading times than games on CD, but their limitations made certain games the inferior way to play. While Neversoft's Spider-Man for the PlayStation featured fully-voiced CG cutscenes, the Nintendo 64 port had to settle for still images with text.
The Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games featured a highly diverse licensed soundtrack that included songs from Rage Against the Machine and Public Enemy, but they were highly compressed and cut down when they made the transition from CD to cartridge.
1 Many Genres Were Almost Absent From the Console
It's hard to think that the successor to the console that was home to Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, and Earthbound would be lacking in games of this ilk, but that was, unfortunately, the case with the N64. In the fifth generation, players who wanted to get their RPG fix were better off investing in a PC, PlayStation, or even a Sega Saturn. Despite a phenomenal port of Resident Evil 2 for Nintendo's console, it was still lacking in survival horror games when compared to the competition. Yes, even the Saturn. Other emerging genres such as rhythm games were nowhere to be seen.