2D Games on the Nintendo 64
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- čas přidán 2. 06. 2024
- Episode 388 - The 32-bit generation, which the N64 was part of, was primarily one of 3D polygonal graphics. It was the hot new trick that people loved to see. But 2D was still hanging on despite being disapproved of by much of the gaming press of the time. Let's take a look at what 2D games we got for the N64.
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I think my biggest issue with mid to late 90s 2D games was how so many of them ditched beautifully drawn sprites for early CG renders
yeah, they looked pretty ugly. honestly this entire gen of games was some of the ugliest.
At least 2D fighting franchises remained consistent (KOF, Street Fighter).
Donkey Kong Country was a mistake.
if done right it can be a game changer, look at kof 13 for instance. But you're right, most 3d render 2d conversions at that time looked much worse than ground up 2d sprites.
@@MagmaMKII Why? DKC actually pulled the look off well.
I love how humble Joe is. I mean, he keeps talking about Tetris, but not once has told us he plays Alexey Pajitnov in the Tetris movie.
The Bio Tetris mode in Tetris 64 is for the N64 Bio Sensor, packed with the game. The mode measures the player's heart rate and provides feedback in the mode. Tetris 64 is the only game to support it.
That's the most bizarre accessory of the n64.
Yeah, i had that couple of years back! I never noticed any difference with the Sensor!
That’s Nintendo for you
Can you imagine, if they somehow used that in, say, Resident Evil 2 on the system.
Or Doom !
A decade plus of incredible vids. We’re so spoiled, thanks Joe.
Spoiled, yet gracious.
Joe has an unbelievable amount of content straight from the sack.
I'd love more of it in physical form. I have the only two blurays he released and I'd be the first to buy any more if he puts them out
You're a legend Joe! After so many years i'm still amazed by your work here! Keep up!
Today's episode: How can ONE MAN be so bad at puzzle games?
It hurt my soul watching him drop those tetromino.
Puzzle games are hard af
@@NewportBox100s dawg...
@@archive3do769 Yes they are!!
But have you seen the man play a horizontal shooter? We all have our gaming skills. I’m pretty good at Tetris but can’t beat the first level of r-type lol
It's a shame we didn't get a Donkey Kong Country or proper 2D Mario for the N64. It could handle 2D sprite visuals quite well.
Absolutely
I absolutly agree.
100% I wanted a 2D DKC game on N64. Was so disappointed with DK64 back then.
It would've been very interesting to see a 2D Mario or DKC for the N64. On the other hand, seeing how badly they botched Yoshi Story, maybe it wasn't the right time for Nintendo to make 2D games
I've thought the same thing from time to time. DKC on SNES was very impressive for the time. I can only imagine what could've been achieved with the extra hardware capability.
I'm so happy to hear that you're going to do a separate episode on all the Mahjong games for the N64.
It’ll be the final episode of Game Sack. Joe’s magnum opus, if you will.
I love Mischief Makers. The controls are weird, but you do get used to them. The music is great, and I love the bosses. Also, there’s one golden gem in each level, and to get the full ending, you have to get all of them. Add a decent amount of replay value.
Shake! Shake!
There aren't many games with bosses that live up to the Mischief Makers standard. Top tier game.
"Through fire, justice is served!"
@@Arancil I can hear the voice in my head.
“Here’s Lunar!”
Wonder Project J2 shows the N64 had a surprisingly strong 2D potential.
The block sounds on New Tetris aren't lagging, they're meant for the little "integrating" animation after they land...
A very strange choice.
I figured that's what was going on. It helps if you remember reading the manual for the Elorg NES one.
Makes sense if you play any later "modern" tetris game, it's the sound of them locking in and no longer becoming interactable.
Ok, what did we learn today? I learnt that the N64 in 2d is a puzzle games machine as much as the NEOGEO is a fighting games one.
We learnt that the psx is still the greatest machine of its era. That's what we learned.
@@rickylovesyouas an overall performer, Yes.
@@rickylovesyouThat's why ps1 has 7918 total games while the mickeymouse machine had 388, but nobody talks about that.
ps: i dislike playstation 1
@gizaha Sega Saturn even had over 1,000 titles in it's library N64 is extremely limited
@@-Down-D-Stairs-Yeah, the N64 library is smaller, but all of the 3 machines have enough outstanding exlusives games to be a must buy/emulate. Back then most of the best games to play were exlusives.
Yes, you're sane. Your endings are the best and you have the best video game channel since the very beginning
Indeed, many came and went, some delivered and still delivers quality stuff, but GameSack is consistent all the way.
That disney tetris spritework is amazing. I wish there was so much more. Imagine a metal slyg style game on n64
I’m a simple man. I see a new Game Sack video, I instantly watch it.
The Tetris clone people have their day in the sun with this episode.
It’s a pity Joe is so bad at Tetris. New Tetris is so much better than this video makes it out to be.
17:27 - That "boom shaka laka" is the most 90s thing I've heard in recent memory. That really takes me back.
I love playing with my sack first thing on Sunday morning. It's the best way to kick off the week!
Best part of staying up late on Saturday night is new GameSack episodes.
The New Tetris has an AMAZING soundtrack! One of the best on the console. The songs are tied to which stage you’re playing on, and if I recall you unlock more stages by playing the Single Player mode, so I’m assuming Joe didn’t bother playing long enough to unlock more than what the game starts with.
And the Blocks you can make are an additional element for score. You can make a Silver block by using any combination of types of pieces, or a Gold block by using all the same type of piece. If I recall Silver Block pieces are worth 5 lines when you clear them, and Gold Block pieces are worth 10. It adds a huge strategy layer to maximizing your score by including multiple blocks as part of your line clears.
And I’m pretty sure there is garbage, but because of the Block mechanic, I think it’s significantly nerfed compared to many other Tetris games as a double Gold Block Tetris is worth an absurd amount of lines and would otherwise more than overfill an entirely empty board.
New Tetris is the best Tetris game! And has an incredible soundtrack!
The New Tetris sound isn't a lag. You just have a bit of leeway to adjust the piece's position and rotation before it's set. I assume you never use the Hard Drop feature.
Considering Joe never figured put what the blocks are for, or couldn’t even get garbage to show up in multiplayer, probably not.
I always wondered how 2D fighters such as street fighter and marvel vs Capcom would have looked on the N64?
Totally doable i think, but only if they aimed for the largest rom size (i think 64Mbytes), but background music and sound effects will suffer from severe compression.
Edited for the right timestamp
Cool video!
Around 18:10 the sound of the Tetris pieces is in sync to the pieces "locking in" or settling. Before that, you can still slide them around.
Bio Tetris supports a pulse sensor that plugs into the Controller Pak slot and makes the game speed up or slow down according to your pulse rate. IIRC, it clips to your ear. Maybe save that for an episode about weird N64 accessories (mouse, microphone, bio clip, AsciiPad64, transfer pak, etc)?
Also, they literally pronounce Puyo Puyo in the game as “Pee Yo Pee yo” ;)
One more 2D game that definitely deserved a mention is the Japanese Bomberman 64. It was the final N64 game released in Japan and because it has the same name as the American version of a different Bomberman game, many don’t even realize it exists.
It was a shame there was no 2d metroid for the 64.
Sakamoto was like "I have no ideas, the controller is too crazy" lol
@@VexX6 If I remember correctly, Metroid Prime was originally meant for the N64, but there was something that prevented that from happening. It was also going to be over-the-shoulder.
@Chaos89P I don't think Metroid Prime was ever meant to be an N64 game to begin with. It was only formed after Nintendo took over control of Retro Studio, and they're already shifted to Gamecube at that point.
@Chaos89P Metroid Prime was never a N64 title. Retro's story in those days is pretty wild. Their main guy was stealing money from Nintendo, he even bought himself a Ferrari with the money Nintendo was sending to make their first Nintendo game lol
There was "allegedly" a N64 Metroid 3rd person prototype but it never went anywhere because the technology was very limited at that time.
I often have thought that a 2D Metroid would have been perfect. The focus at times was too much on the early days of 3D
If I'm not wrong, Bio-Tetris mode had a sensor that could check your heartbeat, and the game speed would change according to it.
15:58
Poor Joe. He got the Charlie Brown kicking the football treatment. 😆
64 was good for 2D but the saturn was the true 2D monster, sega had the vision of 2D being the future of gaming for the 5th generation
Magical Tetris Challenge was a Capcom game directed buy Hidemaro Fujibayashi, who went on to direct Capcom's Legend of Zelda titles for Game Boy Color and GBA. Afterwards he went to Nintendo to work on the Zelda series, and went on to direct Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, and Tears of the Kingdom.
Yoshi's Story is so fun. My mom loved it totally and we even got the OST CD because she liked it so much.
As for Tetris 64, the reason there is a Heartbeat Mode is because it came with a sensor players could put on their fingers and depending on their stress level, blocks would change.
Now I want a Game Sack episode all about different versions of mahjong.
Another next level skit, Joe. I bought the Xeno Crisis ROM for my Everdrive 64 and it’s a great 2D game on the Nintendo 64!
Sunday Morning in Germany and a new episode of GameSack is on air. That’s what I call a proper start!
Ah yes, Mischief Makers, the game where everything has a scary face on it, even the planet itself. What were y'all at Treasure smoking?
I can’t believe I’ve been following gamesack for nearly a decade.
Thank you for all the Game sack Joe !! I appreciate you
My Sack runneth over
I can vouch for Mischief Makers as being an extremely fun game, especially if you like mastering games.
Love to see a new Game Sack episode while winding down on a weekend night. Mischief Makers is one of my favorites on the system. Awesome OST and some of my favorite boss battles in any platformer.
Nice to see you here Majuular!
Good taste, Majuular! Mischief Makers is an underrated masterpiece. Now go play Tales of Symphonia 2 again, before I go into Ratatosk mode, OwO
😮 ❤ I didn't know Majuular watched game sack.
I think ogre battle 64 can count as a 64 2D game, it has a few polygons on the overworld map mountains but that's it.
32:19 You can attach a Bio Sensor to your Nintendo 64 Controller's accessory slot, and Bio Tetris will make the game easier or harder depending on your heart rate. Your heart rate is measured by attaching the bio sensor's clip onto any of your ear lobes.
You really so sum up Mischief Makers well when you say it's a game worth trying and seeing if it clicks with you. For me it absolutely did, and it remains one of my favourite games to this day. Once you get a handle on the controls you can really get moving in a nice rhythm. Not for everyone, but if it is for you it's a special little adventure to enjoy
I still have my copy downstairs and havent touched it since the early 2000s. One day i decided to hook the 64 up and play a little and boy did i get sad when i saw the age i put it after all this time. I was 19 when i brought this....
@@ButtaMilkBiscuitsGamingI had literally the exact same experience with the exact same age (19). Fired it up a couple months ago lol.
I also felt the controls were totally fine and not hard at all. I think the double jump thing was kept to the D-pad so the boosting remained consistently on there. Using the booster to speed through levels is what the controls are all about and I didn’t see that done much in this video. It really didn’t click with him much, which is fine.
@@willybadonkatonka8465 Thats crazy... Im 45 now and surely wouldve loved just to step foot back then.. it was great times.
Mischief Makers is one of my favorite hidden gems on the 64.
My friends and I played the new Tetris all the time. The blocks falling and that delay is more of the block "solidifying" itself when it's finally placed cause you have a moment to move or spin it. Plus, in multiplayer, you can send garbage lines to you opponents, it's an option to turn on. And you can keep playing to build the seven wonders of the world. I still have my copy and we played so much that we got to the final wonder of the world as all the lines cleared are collectively tallied to build them. Plus the special blocks can be silver if it's random pieces into a 4x4 block and gold if it's all the same pieces. And those blocks act as multipliers for your line score.
If I recall because of the multipliers using multiple blocks, the garbage also takes a higher score to trigger as well. Had they left the “normal” garbage, a Tetris using 2 gold blocks would more than fill the whole screen from empty.
Yoshi’s Story is a great game. I think it’s worth having the fruit on the screen. It’s nice to see how close you are to finishing the stage. If you want to see more of the level, you can hold off on eating fruit to see it all.
Also, the melons (not the watermelons) are special because you can complete any level by only eating them. And I believe you get a point bonus for it. It also makes the game a little more challenging if you want that.
I dont know why he left out Kirby 64, its a 2D game with a very similar 2.5D look to Yoshi's Story.
@@dextersbeard3472 Kirby 64 is fully 3D game. Graphics wise. It is 2.5D, which means the characters are made up of polygons but it’s still a sidescroller. Yoshi’s Story is mostly sprite based. Not 2.5D. It may look 3D, but the graphics are pre-rendered. Similar to Donkey Kong Country.
This kind of game design ended up getting used by more recent Kirby games: beating the game is easy enough, but 100% is a legit challenge. Difficulty is determined by your goal, not some menu option.
As you probably figured, the reason Susume sounds so CD like is because the music was made by Konami's excellent sound team. Mystical Ninja 64 and Goemon's Great Adventure in particular has some insanely high quality music, and tons of it.
Ah yes. Long night at work and Joe comes in to save the day!! Thanks for your Channel buddy!!
What a great night when a new game sack episode is released!
Game Sack has been great for a long time. Should be at least 500k subs after so long.
What about the 2d goemon game that we did get? I liked the 3D (soft of) prequel better but it was quite good and worth a mention. Though it was more 2.5D I guess.
Great game but I believe just about all of the graphics were in 3D. It just had a side scrolling perspective.
The N64 port of NBA Hang Time is my all time favorite, even better than the arcade. An all time CLASSIC!
There is one thing i think people told you already in the comments: The New Tetris has an infamous message in the hex code by one of the programmers, criticizing the development of the game, and the people behind it...Sadly the guy passed away in the year 2000, but it has a really decent carreer in the industry
I like the new hairstyle.
Looks pretty awesome.
To me the real beast of 2d
is gonna be the Saturn but
the Rampage games look
really good for a Nintendo
console of that era.
Cheers mate : )
I absolutely adore the look of 2D games from this era, I wish more of the N64 ones got an international release
Let's tear into that Sack!
New Game sack AND Console Wars episode today! All is right in the universe.
Fun fact. I used to go to a bar in Bournemouth (southern England) that was owned by the creator of the Worms games. If you bought a drink and asked nicely, he’d do some of voices from the game for you. Was a really nice guy.
Capcom releasing Magical Tetris Challenge instead of ANY Street Fighter game on N64 is an all-time head scratcher
I like that the sound of the N64 has a lot of echo and\or reverb. I can recognize a n64 game just by listening to it.
That combined with the hardware-based antialiasing, and it really is a dream-like experience to play N64 games. Definitely a console best experienced with original hardware on CRT if possible.
Starcraft was a massive hit on PC. I never played the N64 version, but people said that the 4 players on the same screen (while on PC you can play 8 players on each own PC) offers a funny and different way to play!
There is a Japanese Bomberman 64 that uses sprite art and plays like the old Bomberman games on SNES and Genesis. The Bomberman 64 in the US is called Baku Bomberman in Japan.
I was hoping someone would mention this! I wonder if there are any others he missed.
@@davidscottheath I guess that game will show up on another left in Japan episode
Great episode! I never thought of the N64 as having many 2D games, but I was still surprised at the lack of 2D platform games. For me, at least, it really emphasized just how much 3rd party support was lost to the PS1.
That’s a great idea, the PS1 had some awesome 2D games unfortunately most were only released in Japan and it’s always cool to learn more about the Saturn
WHOA, they made sequel to wonder project!?? Loved the game on the SNES days. Thanks for the mention, I will look for it.
32:31 "A jagged piece that can't even be described" that's a nightstick
"Magical Tetris Challenge" was my jam growing up! Capcom used the N64 hardware like a CPS2 on steroids...amazing stuff, and it still holds up.
Nothing makes a Sunday better than a new Game Sack!
The big blocks in New Tetris is a gimmick to direct the player to get more points instead of simply building a stack and making tetrises. The game will often give you the same piece 4 times in a row in an attempt to make you build the big squares. There also is another gimmick where the stack is affected in different ways is you clear the lines with something like a t-spin, for example.
18:20 This game has lock delay when the tetrominoes hit the bottom, and you are given a short amount of time to turn or move them before they lock into position. Hitting Up triggers a Sonic Drop where it simply touches the bottom, but you have to be aware of the lock delay, so if you Sonic Drop by accident, make additional moves before the tetrominoes lock in place.
Axolotl spotting! The pink one looks like mine, that's named Kirby.
The music in that Disney Tetris game is awesome as hell, I was not expecting that!
The New Tetris has a way better aoundtrack; but poor Joe didn’t play the 10 minutes or so to unlock more than the starting selection of music tracks.
I absolutely loved Mischief Maker when growing up. I bought it when it came out as I thought it resembled the Mega Man X series at first. lol... But what I discovered was a wacky world with lots of of characters and things to do in. All the stages are pretty unique, each have their own different goals. In each stage you need to find the "Golden" gem, which adds up time during the ending! You cannot see the whole ending without all the gold gems. XD
You didn't mention the EPIC bosses and characters when you talked about it. Also, you talked about how the movement and the jumping doesn't make much sense but boy you're wrong -- The C-stick(all 4 buttons) controls Marina's Jet pack. If you jump, then press UP-C button, she'll boost up. You can jump and press right or left many times to make her "hover/fly", you can dash on the ground. It's amazing once you master it. Give it another try and try to get farther, it's worth it. :)
Thank Joe!!!!! We love you don’t stop
You always come through with a new video when I need it the most. Thank you!
Thats a awesome weekend when you got a new video from Game Sack and James Rolfe. How can it be better !!!
You are wrong about the sound in the new Tetris. When the block hits the bottom you can still move it left and right, when it makes that sound the block is locked in place. You can see it even has an animation when the sound plays to show it's locked in.
Thx joe for the always on time upload I stay up late on Sat for these!
Nice to hear a little Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon music play during the intro of the video. Game doesn't get enough love. One of my all time favorites for the system. Play it now if you never have.
Awesome vid! Awakened an ancient memory with Mischief Makers. I remember renting that from Blockbuster and having no clue how to play it.
KarugaKids should have been on your list. It is a great little 2D fighter that leaves you wanting a Capcom 2D fighter on the N64. After this I was wanting Street Fighter Alpha 2 on my N64. Wished this console had more support back then with more 2D games.
I kinda wish we could have seen a bunch of neo geo ports for the system, it would have been cool to see how such a powerful cartridge system could have handled them
Actually it would have been better to get ports from the HyperNeoGeo64 as the hardware is very similar.
That would definitely have been interesting.
Nice hair Joe! Thanks for your work! Love em!
I had N64 MK Trilogy that I ought back in he day- I remember it being pretty rough to play because of the controller and the scratchy muted sounds, but tolerated it.
New Tetris was mad trippy with the music and we had a blast playing 4 player modes
New Tetris was a blast. The soundtrack is amazing, but since Joe is so bad (or didn’t bother playing for more than a couple minutes) he probably never unlocked any of the other areas (time periods?).
This channel is awesome. I love the topics you cover, and you make them interesting to watch. Great stuff, keep doing your thing.
Did you ever try Bomberman 64? It was only released in Japan, not to be confused with the 1997 one.
The best part of Sunday morning is a new Game Sack episode
37:56 The twisty dragon from Super Mario Wonder!!!... or at least some variation of it!
I've always considered Mischief Makers the definitive Treasure game
Dito, the soundtrack is stellar, the stages are well designed, every single boss fight is memorable and the shake-shake mechanic is such a fun departure from what we're used to. On top of that there's figuring out how to collect all the yellow crystals. Easily one of my top games for the system.
Multiplayer is where New Tetris shines, especially with Hot Potato mode.
Also, the sound happens when the piece is locked in place. Prior to that, the piece can still be moved or rotated.
Command and Conquer was left out, but I'm sure there are others to be included in another video as well.
Bangai-O got a semi sequal on the DS as Bangai-O Spirits.
So many Japan-only games, no doubt in part due to how bloody expensive N64 games were to manufacture. Glad they rectified the whole cartridge decision with GameCube.
Fun fact: on the Dreamcast, you could get enough carnage going to experience slow-down. On the DREAMCAST. Like, single-digit frame-rate level slowdown. I was always curious to know how bad those same scenarios would get on an N64. I might try that when the MiSTer core hits completion.
The slowdown honestly made the carnage feel more epic.
Been waiting the GS subscriber count for a long time and I’ve noticed that they’ve gotten a few thousand in the last 2 months or so. Perhaps the algo has finally loosened its death grip on this channel a bit?
Happy for you Joe. Here’s to 300k!
thanks to you i have discovered a couple of new n64 games...those rintaro 64 and taisen dama games...thanks again!
The SNES was ditched to early. That system was amazingly customizable, architecturally speaking. Newer or upgraded versions could have been produced, because the SNES had horsepower for days, left in the tank. There was such inertia to produce polygonal games and I remember being blown away with the idea of playing a 3d game. In the end, it was overall a bit disappointing, with the halcyon days of the SNES not being very far in the past. The N64 is an important part of VG history, but Big N stumbled with it and largely the Game Cube as well.
Watching this makes me wonder what amazing 2D titles could have been developed for the N64, if only the public was interested. It especially hurts to think what they did with Castlevania on this console.
And what was worse was, when it was announced that the PlayStation would be getting a 2d Castlevania when the N64 would be receiving a 3D one, gaming journalists criticized the PlayStation game despite being the superior game in the end.
But i like the N64 Castlevanias. 😟
@@jsr734me too. I actually like the original more than Legacy Of Darkness. I love the atmosphere and the soundtrack is awesome. If you can get past some of its frustrating mechanics and challenging parts(like carrying explosives through the clock gears) it's honestly a really great game.
The N64 could have had some outstanding 2D games but because 3D was the new and hit thing, everyone made 3D games.
Imagine some cool 2D games with some 3D special effects.
What a fantastic episode! During this generation of the Nintendo 64 I remember how much 2D games were looked down upon. A few days ago I was playing Mischief Makers and I always found it to be a very unique game, especially the boss battles that used a lot of the Nintendo 64 hardware.
Oh, Bangai-o has a excelent Dreamcast version.
“In this game, Mario uses drugs to make problems go away” 😂😂😂
Haha maybe you made so many episodes about the N64 because it’s so quirky yet well executed at the same time. Wii U is like that too, so is Dreamcast.