All N64 Vs Arcade Games Compared Side By Side
Вставка
- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
- 0:00 - California Speed
0:45 - Cruis'n Exotica
1:30 - Cruis'n USA
2:15 - Cruis'n World
3:00 - Densha De Go! 2
3:45 - Gauntlet Legends
4:30 - Hydro Thunder
5:15 - Killer Instinct 2
6:00 - Mace: The Dark Age
6:45 - Magical Tetris Challenge
7:30 - Mortal Kombat 4
8:15 - NBA Hangtime
9:00 - NBA Showtime: NBA On NBC
9:45 - NFL Blitz
10:30 - NFL Blitz 2000
11:15 - Off Road Challenge
12:00 - Puyo Puyo Sun
12:45 - Puzzle Bobble 2
13:30 - Puzzle Bobble 3
14:15 - Rampage World Tour
15:00 - San Francisco Rush 2049
15:45 - San Francisco Rush Extreme Racing
16:30 - Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth
17:15 - War Gods
18:00 - Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey
A huge thanks to my cousin Travis for getting the footage on the more CPU intense arcade games! - Ігри
This video showcases just how competent the N64 was with arcade ports. Obviously not a 1:1 representation, but damn good efforts most of the time! You know, everyone knocks the N64 version of Cruis’n USA, but they look almost identical to me. I loved the N64 version! Some really cool games here I haven’t tried also, that now I will be. Fantastic video idea man! Thanks for covering this!
Thank you so much for watching! On that note, I've got your GBC video up in queue and I can't wait to watch:) I hope I can get to it tonight or tomorrow at the latest.
I was thinking the same thing with Cruis'n USA. In my head I always pictured the N64 port as being way worse but they look and play very similar. The only thing I remember being disappointed by when it came out was not being able to run over the animals. Does that make me sadistic lol? And also to your point I was shocked at how well the N64 handled these games. You always hear stuff about the Saturn & PS1 when it comes to arcade ports but very seldom does the N64 get its just due.
Did you watched the video on a cellphone?
IMHO the N64 version of cruis'n usa looked better than the arcade on all fronts. it had track elements fade in (with zero fog) instead of the abrupt pop-in of the arcade version. all the textures were filtered on the N64 version whereas the arcade version's were not. and then of course the home version had all the car upgrades, unlockables, way more replay value, etc. i swear most mainstream reviewers back in the day who gave it low scores were just on crack. it's a great port - the first game i got for my N64 back in the day - and it was everything i had hoped the "ULTRA 64" advertised on the arcade machine would be. there's nothing wrong with it.
@@ActuallySanFrancisco I agree with everything you said, plus the soundtrack is also better on the N64 version.
People may have felt a bit insulted by the censorship in Cruis'n USA, which is the subconscious reason why they would knock it.
6:25 -- Mace: The Dark Age was a lot of fun on my N64.
The N64 had really amazing arcade convertions
Most definitely!
The real frustration with this comparison is that it is a reminder that no matter how good and close to the arcade the Midway Games ports (which includes Atari Games which was bought out or merged or something) were that Midway Games should not have rushed many of their ports like Mace the Dark Age and San Francisco RUSH as well as they should have tried to polish and use the N64 hardware better for those games as well as when the disappointing Hydro Thunder because that game had utter crap water graphics years after Nintendo's WaveRace 64 make the next gen water splash in 1996
I'm normally an arcade version or nothing guy, especially in the age of MAME being so accessible. But, War Gods looks decent enough on N64 and has simplified the fatalities to a level where a normal person can pull them off. The arcade fatality inputs have got to be the most complicated of any arcade game ever.
At least for single player experiences it is hard to justify anything other than the arcade originals in modern times but having said that I am impressed with how the N64 handled a lot of these with its limited hardware. War Gods was well done though I'm not super familiar with it besides doing the recording for this video. You've got me curious on this with the arcade fatalities, I'm going to have to look those up. I have enough trouble with smaller combos nevermind a really complex fatality button combo.
The N64 does a pretty good job most of the time!
Yeah I was pleasantly surprised at how well it handled these arcade games.
I played "Re-Volt" on SEGA Dreamcast like 23 years ago and I have seen the game on N64. The N64-version was terrible.
@@MrZillaswhat was terrible about the N64 version? did you not like the audio, graphics, music, sound, visuals?
Great job dude. Yeah the cruise 'n series were first 2 especially were practically perfect and the puzzle games and fighting games. Mk4 fun fact MK community and tournament guys consider the N64 the best port of Mk4 for home ports. It looks literally nearly identical you can barely tell the difference but also plays perfectly. I almost forgot about KI2. Nice vid! Rampage a classic.
Thanks so much! I love those Cruis'n games so much. To this day one of my fondest arcade memories was playing the original Cruis'n USA on vacation with my parents who up to that point and since have never had interest in video games. That N64 port of MK4 is way better than I thought it would be. It really holds its own compared to the arcade so I can see why the community would rate that version so high. Thanks for watching my friend!
@@RetroComparisons Yeah for sure plus with MK4 it freezes and loads alot longer on psx. I jave both versions and its just not as fun as on the n64 imo. Yep same lol my friend and I would play for hours every summer for years on cruise n world good times. We played so much we unlocked the secret super car called the speed demon! Some don't know about it haha but it takes a lot to unlock haha😃😅
@@MKF30 It's easy to forget about how dreadful the load speeds could be on the older CD-based consoles. That was the big thing the N64 had going for it. Lol you guys must have sunk some serious hours into that game to unlock that car!
@@RetroComparisons Oh yeah for sure, I mean Nintendo in general one of the pros for them over time has been minimum to no load times. GC had pretty quick ones though was mini disc so had to load but I don't recall the GC loading as much as PS from my memory. I seem to remember reading way back someone explaining how mini disc load faster than standard size? But I would think it depends on memory how big the game is? IDK lol maybe a bit of both. Wii and Wii U loaded pretty fast for the most part, PS3, Xbox 360, One etc all the newer ones past 15 years pretty good. But yeah at the time N64 was like the only cartridge console at the time everyone else was Disc. N64 was supposed to have that attachment with Disc but apparently only Japan got that, I forget the name atm lol
But yes! I should make a video of it haha. I'm sure it's on here though by someone showing off that car. haha have you played Cowabunga collection? Man brings me back, so much fun!
@@MKF30 Oh that would be awesome! If you make a video on that I'd be all over that.
I think the Nintendo thing was the N64 DD which probably goes for a fortune now. I still haven't played the Cowabunga collection but I've got to get on that soon. I recently started to learn how to program so between that, this channel, work and family time I've been burnt out. Some TMNT beat em ups though sounds like a much needed reprieve.
California Speed looks great, Cruis´n was a major dissapointment when I was a child and now I´m 40 still is xD
Yeah California Speed is a fantastic game and a really good port overall.
I'm going with thr arcade but I am impressed with how close the N64 looks with these games. My personal favorite is the Crusn games.
I was super impressed too, I expected the arcade to mop the floor with these games but the N64 provided a great home experience in this generation. The Cruis'n series is my favorite too. Cruis'n USA is my either #1 or #2 favorite arcade game of all time depending on which day you ask.
I'd say if all the racing games were ported using the insane engine Eurocom developed for Rush 2049, they would all be arcade perfect ports. But sadly that didn't come until late in the N64s life cycle.
Wow I was expecting just the Crusin series I never knew about other games having a Arcade version, when side by side with the N64 some of these Arcade ports seem to have a Grey fillter over them.
I would pick the brighter looking games since my old eyes can't see darker colors all to good.
Crusin looks pretty much the same. (except for that poorly emulated one)
Killer Instinct 2 Arcade has a beautiful background filled with details (not sure if it's 2D or 3D) while N64 looks pretty plain it does have a 3D environment and with a very dynamic moving camera.
I never knew Gantlet for the arcade was a thing and I say just by looks it's only Arcade version that I like visually over the N64 version - has better lighting and a good camera angle with better view distance to take a good look at the action.
Wait, wait, wait, wait isn't Puyo Puyo a SEGA IP??
I think Cruis'n World in particular is fantastic on the N64. I didn't know about a lot of these others either until doing this video. So for Puyo Puyo I'm not sure who owned it back then. There was even Puyo Puyo on Nintendo consoles going back to the SNES and Game Boy. It is always weird though seeing stuff like After Burner or Altered Beast on the NES. It just doesn't feel like that should exist.
@@RetroComparisons Yes I agree and this video was pretty eye opening, thanks for putting it out.
@@Nintendude. Thanks so much for watching:)
Though not as massive as all SNES vs Genesis games, this is still a large undertaking. Great work as usual, Bill (and Travis)!
I love the N64, and though it's not filled to the brim with arcade ports like the Saturn and PSX, if you like Midway/Williams/Atari-Games mid-90s-to-early-00s arcade games-and I do-then the N64 was a pretty good console to have at the time.
California Speed - I quite like this game though because of the environment design, though I feel there's less love (or at least nostalgia) for this one out there on the Internet. I only played the arcade version a few times in the front entrance of a Wal-Mart, but I enjoyed it. Unlike the Cruis'n games, this was a later pickup for me on the 64 in '01 or maybe even later. I did still like the N64 version, but it doesn't really hold up as well compared to the Cruisn' World or Rush/Rush-2049.
Cruis'n Exotica - I've still only played the N64 version once since back when I rented it and never owned it. Though the arcade version of this was pretty fun back in the day and had some really colorful graphics, I think this arcade hardware was just way too far away for the N64 to do justice to. I'd like to play the arcade version again sometime, but I don't have the same want for the N64 port. It's too bad the GameCube was too far off to get a port of this.
Cruis'n USA - I was absolutely in love with the arcade version of this, and though I don't emulate very many racing games in MAME, I do occasionally fire this up. I first played it at a bowling alley with my uncle and cousin, and said aunt&uncle bought the N64 version for my sister and I to go along with when we got the N64. So, being my first/second N64 alongside Tetrisphere, I have a lot of nostalgia for playing that port in 2-player. But...it's not up the the arcade version's quality for sure. Instead...
Cruis'n World - Cruis'n World is my favorite of the Cruis'n ports on the system. In fact, I like this port so much that it's in my top-10 N64 games and only Mario Kart 64 beats it for me in terms of N64 racers though Road Rash 64 isn't too far behind. I love the arcade version, and, yes, the arcade version is better, but this is such a better port than USA and Exotica that I have to give it some props, especially for 3-4 player racing. Hydro, Rush 2049, Rush, and Rush 2 are all great, but I have so, so many great Cruis'n World memories that it brings it up into my personal top 10.
Densha De Go! 2 - I'm ill-equipped to comment on this one. I've heard of the series and watched some videos years ago by RetroCore/Mark Smith/Yakumo, but I think those might have been for the Saturn. The N64 port here runs better it seems.
Gauntlet Legends - This-and Dark Legacy-is one of my favorite arcade games of all time right up there with Guantlet/Gauntlet II. It's a great translation of the idea into 3D. We had a Legends cab at the theater I worked at for a bit in high school, and the N64 port is only the 2nd game (after MK2 on Game Boy) that I ever got on its release day the first release-day game I bought myself. In most ways this version is superior to the PSX port, and though it isn't as nice looking as the DC port (and the DC port has some Dark Legacy content), I find the inventory system in the N64 version makes it superior. The Dark Legacy ports on the XBox etc is the better way to play, but the N64 version was a quite good. It's not arcade good, but it was great couch co-op.
Hydro Thunder - Another one that we had at the theater. Even the Dreamcast port doesn't quite make it to arcade perfection, so the N64 is bit behind technically. I sadly did not own the N64 version, but I borrowed it and played it at my friends' houses. Though it may not be as nice looking as the arcade or Dreamcast (or even PS1 in places), it does have the ultimate feature to hold against the DC and PS1 ports: 4-player split-screen. I've only ever played the single sit-down cab we had there of Hydro Thunder, and, though amazing, I'll take the multiplayer action on the N64 over playing the arcade by myself.
Killer Instinct 2 - I had zero experience with arcade version of Killer Instinct 2 at the time (or the first KI in arcades either), and I didn't play it until the XBox One Killer Instinct had a version bundled with it. On the other hand, my friend Matt got KI Gold close to day one, and was obsessed with it (and the original KI port on SNES). I'm not a bit fan of KI's gameplay, and KI2/KI-Gold is no different. I had fun playing KI Gold with friends on the N64, and I own a loose cart of it that I bought much, much later. But, I'd rather play something else. The arcade version wins this for me because I really like the FMV-style backgrounds of that version. I'm just "meh" about the Killer Instinct series overall though.
MACE The Dark Age - My friend Josh's little brother Jesse swore this was the greatest fighting game, but I didn't like it much. I've never even seen the arcade version, and it's been decades since I've played the N64 version at his house. The arcade version is definitely more graphically detailed, but the N64 version does seem to do an okay enough representation. Still not convinced it's a fun fighting game though.
Magical Tetris Challenge - This is what I was trying to think of earlier on the Next Tetris video. I think the graphics are pretty charming, and besides a little blur, the N64 is very accurate.
MK 4 - A lot of people seem to not care for MK4, but I had a lot of fun with it. I've never played the arcade cab, but I always felt the N64 did a good job here. It's not as nice as MK Gold on the DC, but it's pretty on-par with the PS1 version, maybe a little better. I like the N64 version of Trilogy more than MK4, but I certainly liked this game.
NBA Hangtime - The masterclass in how to do a good arcade port to the N64. The arcade Hangtime/Maximum-Hangtime is great though was too expensive to toss quarters in. The N64 port is great, and though it's not as sharp here, it looked great on a CRT and extending floor reflections to sprites was so cool. Though the Genesis and SNES ports of Hangtime are massively improved over the Jam ports, the PSX and especially N64 were were it was at for Hangtime at home. This is one of my top-3 N64 games because there's just so much pure, raw arcade 2-3-4-player fun to be had here.
NBA Showtime NBA on NBC - I only own the Dreamcast port of this, but I had fun with the N64 version over at my friend Matt's. I like it a bit more than Hoopz but less than Hangtime (again, the lack of CPU assist adjustment in Showtime outside of Tournament Mode). I even feel the N64 version is worse than the PS1 port by a little bit, but it still has that arcade fun.
NFL Blitz - Blitz is great fun on arcade and N64 (and PS1 for that matter). I think I only played a Blitz cab once and that was later on. Instead, I rented the N64 port, and my cousin also owned it. I played the PSX version a couple times, but I can't which friend owned it. The arcade looks and sounds better, but the N64 version's a lot of fun.
NFL Blitz 2000 - My cousin Ben also had this one on the N64, and that's the only version of it I've played. I always meant to buy the DC version for cheap after I got one, but I always passed it up (and I had bought Blitz 2001 pretty well right after buying a DC). Same thing thing: it's not quite there technically, but the N64 port was still fun. I do own the N64 and Dreamcast versions of Blitz 2001 though, and I feel the N64 version of 2001 looked a fair bit nicer than the ports of Blitz and '99/'2000. I liked the DC version of '2001 though more, simply because I actually had the VMU space for the game compared to just having two N64 controller paks total. ha
Off Road Challenge - I was disappointed that this wasn't in Midway Treasures 3 (Off Road Thunder was the main reason I picked this up on PS2, since I never saw that cab ever...) because I had only got to play the arcade cab once. I never did get the N64 cart, but my friend Otis was kind of big into this kind of stuff (he also had Monster Truck Madness), so I did get to play a lot. We didn't realize it at the time and had fun, but this port is really far behind the arcade. The single-player is choppy enough, but the 2-player was nearlly unplayably slow. This is by-far the worst port in this lineup, which is a shame because it's pretty fun. I'm not sure what happened here...
Puyo Puyo Sun - I've not played a ton of Sun-only a bit of the Saturn version-but the sun bean mechanic is fun, and it's just some good Puyo Puyo fun. The N64 port seems to be pretty close to the arcade too.
Bust-A-Move 2 - I'm not sure if I even realized the N64 had ports of either this or 3. Bust-A-Move Again (well, the whole series) was absent from any of the arcade-machine places I ever went to, and I didn't play the original on consoles except for a demo version of the DOS port . But, I do own Bust-A-Move 2 on the Saturn, which I think was just simply really cheap at Funco by the late 90s. And, though I've never tried this in arcades or even on MAME, B-A-M Again was on one of the Taito Legends collections. Besides the, IMO, better soundtrack in the Saturn version, the N64 version seems pretty close to it and the arcade just with a little bit of blur. It seems better than, say, the 3DO port of the original, which isn't bad but also not as good as it could have been.
Bust-A-Move 3 - I've never played any past the 2nd game. The spritework and sound seems alright in the N64 port, but I'm not sure about the background and frame changes...
Rampage World Tour - I didn't play the arcade version until Midway Arcade Treasures, so playing this on the N64 at a friend's house (who also got Rampage 2) was my only experience with it. It's another that's not arcade perfect, but still a whole lot of fun on the N64. There does seem to be more detail loss in the background than even some of the other Midway 2d ports though. Lots of fun though. I never played the other ports of this, so I wonder how they compare.
Rush 2049 - I did not get to play the arcade version of this nearly as much as I would have liked, at least compared to Rush. Now, it's definitely a step down from the arcade versin, but the N64 version was still a lot of fun. Yeah, it doesn't look as good and runs slower, but it was still fun. I just wished the N64 had more than 2-players for the main races instead of just stunt, but I imagine it would have ran too poorly. Of course, once I bought a DC and got a taste of that awesome Dreamcast port a year or so after I got the 64 version...well, there was no going back. It's even better than the Midway Treasures 3 port (at least the PS2 version, which was the one I bought).
Rush - I may have put more credits into a particular Rush The Rock cab than I did into any other arcade racer, even Cruisn' World and Daytona. It's just pure fun. I didn't own any of the original ports of the first game, and the Treasures' version was a little off. But, I borrowed the N64 version and played it and the PS1 version at friends' houses. Thought it doesn't hold up too well versus the arcade, I always liked the N64 port more than the PS1 port. I just wish this had came to the DC as a launch title or something alongside MK Gold, since the game really needs a bit beefier hardware to be really smooth.
Star Soldier Vanishing Earth - I'm not particularlly familiar with the Star Soldier games beyond playing Starship Hector (mainly this because I'm a fan of the composer) and Super Star Soldier. I've certainly never played or seen anything on Vanishing Earth here. The N64 version seems very, very close here besides the bit of standard blur.
"MIDWAY PRESENTS...WAR GODS!" - I played too much War Gods at one point haha. No one I knew had the N64 or PS1 ports of this, but I bought the the PC Windows 95 version in '98-'99 for a discounted price just based on random stuff I had read about it. It's alright, but I already had MK4 on the 64 when I got this and this isn't as fun. But, I had a yonger cousin (maybe 6-7 at the time?) who we babysat sometimes, and he took a liking to this game. I'd let him use the ole gravis gamepad, and I'd play on the keyboard. He didn't call the game by its name, but by "Tak and all of them" because he was obsessed with the Tak character. I really need to try the arcade version of this, but I have loaded up the N64 version a few years ago: I found it to be pretty nice and comparable to the PC version with a 3D card, though the Win95 version had a decent number of options including to ability to remove textures for a Virtua-Fighter-like experience for a bit of extra speed for slower-at-the-time PCs. I don't think this game is a bad as many people say, but that might just be nostalgia.
Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey - Besides NES Ice Hockey (or the "hockey" in Video Olympics), this is the only other hockey game I own. I rented this once and liked it, but I didn't actually get the cart until online in the 00s. I like it: it has that Midway arcade sports action pedigree. Looks like there's lower graphical fidelity in the N64 with definite texture quality cut-backs, but it still manages to run okay and be fun. I never have played the arcade version of this either.
Though many of the arcade to N64 ports here had either pared back graphics (especially texture quality or resolution) or lower performance (or massively lower with Off Road Challenge etc), many of these came out well enough, and a lot of them are extremely fun, especially the ones with 3-4 player support. And, for something like Hangtime, this was the best way to play it outside of the arcade, or the only way in the case of KI Gold and the Cruisn' games.
@@shotgunl That was a fun read! Excellent assessments and stories as usual my friend! Much like the SNES vs Genesis I'll add my 2 cents in for some of these:
I feel bad for California Speed because it's a great game and a really good home port but when you're competing with the Cruis'n games and Rush 2049 it's going to get left on the shelf more often than not.
I know I've said it before but Cruis'n USA is my all-time favorite arcade racing game and either my overall #1 or #2 arcade game ever (along with X-Men). Having said that though, Cruis'n World is easily my favorite of the N64 trilogy. Exotica is good too but there's something about World that is just that much more fun IMO.
I was thinking about you and your hilarious misadventure with Gauntlet Legends when recording. It's a super underrated game.
Hydro Thunder is another go-to for a game night. It's great on every system I've tried it on but sadly I don't think I ever had the chance to play it on the actual arcade cabinet. If I did it was only once.
KI2 & Mace I could live without. I'm not the biggest one on one fighting fan so they don't do much for me. MK4 on the other hand is better than I remember it being.
Magical Tetris Drop was way better than I expected and I liked how they threw in shapes I've never seen before in a Tetris game. Way better than the game from the other day on the PS1 & DC.
Hangtime/Showtime/Blitz are some of my favorites of any sports game on any system. Those games never get old. As a side note, I got to meet Tim Kitzrow at a convention a couple of weeks ago and he seems like the coolest and most down to earth guy. He's very humble and also hilarious.
I had never played Off Road Challenge and I loved it. The N64 port leaves a lot to be desired but the arcade port was great.
I'll use any excuse I can to play a Puyo Puyo game so I was happy that was on the list.
I don't love the Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move games but they're still good fun for a short time.
Rampage World Tour is cool but it just goes on and on and on. I played that with a friend one night and we went for over an hour and eventually we gave up because it's too damn repetitive. It's another fun for a short time games.
The Rush games are so freaking good. I'm partial to 2049 because that was what I played the most and the stunt modes provide limitless fun.
Star Soldier is ok I guess. Nothing too amazing but not bad either.
War Gods I thought sucked. Maybe I was eager to finish recording and I was getting impatient but I didn't care for it at all.
Wayne Gretzky was a great way to end it though. After playing it I realized that they should have put out a baseball game around this time too. Between this, Blitz & Jam/Hangtime/etc they really should have had a baseball and maybe even soccer equivalent.
電車でGO! Hype!
Pretty good most of them
Yeah I thought most of these ports exceeded expectations.
alguns são péssimos portes, porem outros tem apenas a resolução abaixo da árcade deixando as versões de n64 muito boas.
Cruis'n Exotica arcade isn't properly emulated so N64 is all there is, unfortunately. I'm going to experiment with upscaling in emulators, see how much better I can make the graphics.
Yeah I really wish there was a better version in MAME of Cruis'n Exotica.
Didn't knew so much arcade port N64 had
Me neither.
I wouldn't have included the emulator footage where half the environment isn't rendered. Doesn't give an accurate comparison
Are you talking about the arcade games? If so I don't have an option other than to emulate those. If it's for the N64 it's real hardware using an Everdrive for the games and an UltraHDMI output to get the 1080p footage.
Off Road Challenge looked to be the loser in the group.
I think the aquatic race and the Asian train game didn't emulate correctly so those for sure go to the N64!
I actually kind of liked Off Road Challenge, at least more than War Gods. Even 20+ years later some of these games aren't fully functioning with MAME emulation. I think Densha De Go was one of them but the worst offender was Cruis'n Exotica which may sadly never get to 100% perfect emulation.
@@RetroComparisons i still enjoyed the video even with the few glitches. Oh and I was just speaking graphics on the off road challenge... I've played games at 10fps or less and still enjoyed them!
@@f.k.b.16 Oh yeah the graphics on Off Road are the shits lol! Oh you may enjoy 10fps games but how about the intense racing of Hard Drivin' at an incredible 4fps? That game is the bane of my existence and I swear that or Race Drivin' were ported to every console known to man.
@@RetroComparisons I used to play Microsoft Flight Navigator on my Tandy 1000EX. I am pretty sure it was 1 FPS or maybe even lower. As a kid, I just thought that was how it was but then I got a Packard Bell with a 100MHZ Pentium and for fun put in that 3.5" floppy again. It was running I'd guess at 60FPS! I was blown away as up to that point I figured each frame was somehow hand drawn. I assumed it was always going to look the same no matter what system it ran on lol!
@@f.k.b.16 Lol that's hilarous! I could totally see myself thinking the same thing when I was younger. Honestly I don't even remember hearing talk about FPS until the 2000s and now it's one of the selling points of the PS5. I guess once you've seen 60fps or higher it's hard to go back to even 30.
The Arcade Version of Cruis'n Excotica's Graphics don't capture so good on the MAME Emulator
Yeah unfortunately that's one of those games that's far from being complete on MAME.
No Podracing? :(
Is that the Star Wars Episode 1 racer? If so the N64 game is similar but unrelated to the arcade game, they're considered completely separate entities.
How can you say “ALL” and yet leave out super obvious titles like Namco Museum 64 and Midway’s Greatest Arcade Hits Vol 1??
Ridge Racer?
Blurry textures, fogging and clipping apart, some ports are pretty good on the n64. Even the colors are brighter most of time. However, I still believe (n64 fans, please don't pay attention, it's only my personnal opinion) this Nintendo console really sucks. Great job and another piece of video games history in the archives.
A lot of these look pretty good on the N64 but in many cases it's liking taking the arcade game and smearing vaseline on the screen. Lol ugh oh, shots fired. You may get some wrath from the Nintendo crowd on here.
N64 fan boy here. Blurry textures, fogging and clipping were all things that N64 magazines complained about in the day. I wouldn't say the games in this video represent the best looking or playing games on the console. (Aside from Go By Train! I love that game) Every console has its best games that are worth playing. Given the standards in the 90s there were far worse consoles on the market when the N64 appeared. One thing that still makes it popular to this day is the lack of load times. Thanks for sharing your opinion though! It's always nice to read other view points!
@@darkjapan It's a totally valid point to look at the N64 from modern standards and say that a lot of the games in the library didn't age particularly well. However, when the system was relevant me and my friends had some of our best gaming experiences from the console and I don't remember anyone complaining about the graphics being blurry. Back then it was absolutely incredible looking especially after having played only 2D games prior to this. Yeah those load times were something I'd always rub in the face of my PS1-owning friends. "Ha, I can give 2 Stone Cold Stunners in Warzone before your PS1 copy even loads the match!" Having said all that I totally get the criticism of the console overall.
crusin series got lazy after USA.
USA is my favorite but I do love World too. Exotica is kinda meh even though it's technically superior.
Not sure if there is any truth to it, but Electronics Boutique once told me that NFL Blitz arcade machines actually had N64 memory card slots that you could save your game and play it at home or continue it at the arcade. I recall thinking, what is the point? If N64 is that identical to the arcade, why shell out the cash? Just play it at home.
If that's true that would be quite interesting to learn about.
@RetroComparisons If they were there, I couldn't find them. Our NFL Blitz machine in our mall had conspicuous metal plates on the front of it where you would expect the find such ports. I asked about them, but the arcade said the machine arrived that way.
@@Monkey_Slasher That's so weird they had the metal plates like that. I remember playing it a lot at my local arcade but I can't for the life of me remember what it looked like.
@RetroComparisons I found a post on reddit with a picture. It's true. Some arcade machines had cross platform capabilities. I tried to post it. UA-cam kept deleting it because of the link.
@@Monkey_Slasher Oh that's cool! I'll look for that in a bit. Yeah I always run into that on youtube too whenever I try posting a link.
Entre que de Sega y Namco no iba a recibir ports siendo las reinas de los arcades 3D y de Capcom y SNK que eran las reinas del 2D pues tampoco, entre otras cosa por las limitaciones del formato cartucho la pobre se tuvo que conformar mayormente con las mediocridades de Midway.
Not wanting to bash the N64 but I always thought something was wrong with it even back then. For what the hype promised, we were to expect a very powerful home console, but in the end, even with its supposed super CPU of almost 100MHz compared to the PS/SAT and its unique GPU, it should surpass all previous systems, but in actuality, it was rarely the case. Some arcade ports shown in this video are good, 3D sports titles share a very common side-effect of the console that is a very low framerate of around 20 or even lower, but that's not only that, even 2D titles are stretched and blurred (as well as basically any other 3D game).
The standout title in my opinion would be DOOM 64, a game that couldn't be replicated in its full glory in either the Saturn or PS1, but this and a few others are few and far between, for what was hyped, we were expecting something like the Dreamcast delivered, which is weirdly enough much like a Super Nintendo 64 of sorts, as it also has tons of very blurred textured 3D games, but the performance is very high most of the time.
I like the system and the Cruisin' series, but I would never replace a Saturn or PS1 with this if I can choose.
At the time I was blown away by the 64 but I think I was more wowed by some of the games than the console itself. I'm still a huge fan but it may have aged worse than almost any other popular console. The fact that S video was the best option in 1996 when the Sega Master System had RGB Scart in 1986 is pretty unforgivable.
Thank you so much for checking this video out and taking the time to share your thoughts on it! I love seeing everyone's take on these older systems. BTW I'm going to shamelessly self-promote but speaking of the Dreamcast in case you're interested, I'm currently putting out episodes where I compare every single PS1 and N64 game that got a Dreamcast release.
@@RetroComparisons Like I said, I think it's a good console, but if you take into account the context on how it was hyped, basically like the Jaguar before the 32-bit era really began with its 64 bits and so on, the end product was so that many, many people who fell for it ended up selling it to buy a PS1 instead. Specially if you take into account what the NES/SNES were, third party dominance, Konami, Capcom, Square, Enix, Sunsoft, Atlus and more, jumped out of the Nintendo ship also because they kept using cartridges. The hardware itself could barely keep up with the then weaker 32-bit consoles, that weren't nearly as hyped as being killer machines as Nintendo's console was, the Ultra 64. I remember and you still can check magazine letters from readers at the time asking "Is the N64 really more powerful than the Playstation?", in all honesty, Nintendo chose the Silicon workstation as a base for its next console, because of the Donkey Kong/Rare intimacy they developed towards the end of the life of the 16-bit era, while this may not mean much, those workstations were designed for pre-rendering and rendering CG, not exactly for 3D polygons, it shows in most of the N64 games, on paper, summing only the Mhz from the Saturn and PS1, the N64 alone would eat both for breakfast, but then again, it didn't happen as overall the machine has subpar 3D rendering performance, but this was always the case, with rare exceptions, as I find PC first person shooter ports such as Quake I and II, Hexen and others to beat the PS/Sat in this regard. That's video games for you, much hype, many ongoing franchises since we now live out of what we already know contrary to what was in the 90's, where everything needed to be new and exciting.
Sure, I'll check the Dreamcast comparisons you're working on, thanks for taking the time to read/reply as well!
@roberto1519 the main difference between n64 and ps1/saturn was the ability to render complex 3d environments, if you recap the library of ps1/saturn the games that represents a full 3d environment are just a few, and even those has lots of tricks and lacks of elements and interactivity if you compare just with Mario 64, if you go for conker or banjo tooie there is not a point of comparison. You can tell for instance that ff vii was impresive and in 3d, and it is, but it was not a full 3d world, there was prerender images and characters with a very low polycount tied with a non dynamic camera (except in battles). Also the power of n64 was the multiplayer, to handle 4 players required more ram and processor.
@@rickynotengo7718 Yes, on paper both Saturn and PS would be no match for it, but in practice, few games show the advantages the N64 has over their competitors, it had basically 2 years plus baking and still it wasn't that far ahead as promised, much like the SNES wasn't superior in all aspects over the Mega Drive and even the TurboGrafx-16, the latter being released in 1986 (Japan). Sure the N64 (obligatorily) should tramp other consoles, but this is not always true, Gex 3 is better on the PS1, graphically and has actual FMV, the last Crash Bandicoot and Spyro games on the PS1 honestly are superior than Mario 64 and specially Banjo games, most Nintendo 64 games regrettably had to sacrifice a lot of performance to deliver a somewhat more complex area, Zelda games run at 15FPS, but this was common for the console. Like I said, the first title that comes to mind I don't think either the Saturn or PS could pull off as elegantly as the N64 does is DOOM 64. Great and clean visuals with very solid performance. This caliber is what the N64 should have provided since it was launched. If you can, please check magazines of the era and you'll see many then N64 owners sending them letters asking if the console is actually more powerful than their competitors.
@@roberto1519 the main issue of n64 respect 2d games never was the console hardware, was the cartridge capacity, because 2d sprites takes more memory than a polygon model. You can check this if you compare neogeo (still better for 2d in that generation, even when was a console of a previous generation) latest games size, with the latest n64 games the difference is huge, and this is because animation 2d frames takes a lot of memory. But over paper, except for the amount of memory ( because neogeo actually uses cartridges but super expensive due to the memory space) N64 is far superior.
Respect what you comment on crash and spiro, is not fair compare with Mario 64, but even comparing, the big adventage over ps1 and saturn is the ability to render a full 3d environment with a free camera ir real 3d, no tricks. Crash is a pseudo 3d platformer, is a platformer on rails, and spiro is closer to Mario but with toons of gameplay limitations due to ps1 hardware restrictions. Is true both games are great and maybe, (not for me) better looking than Mario 64 what is a launch title, but the art direction preferences is something personal. But there is not point of comparison between whatever game you pick of saturn and ps1, and for example, Banjo Tooie or Perfect Dark, there is nothing even close of this two games. And I know, because I have the 3 consoles, big fan of saturn by the way.
The arcade version has superior graphics
I always preferred ps1 ports over n64 of arcade games ,maybe it was sound quality idk
Yeah when it came to sound the N64 couldn't compete. During the 5th gen console wars I'd brag about the N64 to my PS1 friends that there were no load times but I was secretly jealous of the CD quality soundtracks and stuff like abundant audio commentary on sports games.
@@RetroComparisons I didn't like the blurry n64 graphics neither I prefer the boxy PS1 games lol
Por un lado bien por que son buenas conversiones. Pero en el caso de cruins usa y killer instinct la gran n dio a entender que las conversiones iban a ser mejores que los originales. Afortunadamente nadie se acuerda nunca de las mentiras de nintendo, ni de sony
All these people saying the n64 held up? Yeah not even. Hold these nuts up.
Now I see why the N64 lost the console war! totally disappointing... 64 bits threw to the thrash, where was all that power? what a shame! with the exception of 2 or 3 cases but all the others look like shitty games. I think the PS1 and Saturn did it a thousand times better and supposedly had less power.
Not only that, but on the racing games specifically, Sega's racing games were so amazing that they were pretty much ahead of their time. Games like Daytona USA are evident of that.
@@nascarfanatic2425 Exactly! Something that made the PS1 and the Saturn special was that they knew how to convey the Arcade sensation, because even with their resources they often managed to do it.
@@Crystallums It's just a shame that Sega ended up losing to Nintendo and others in the 2000's, because I can only imagine what consoles Sega would have long after the Dreamcast, and the USB steering wheels you could have for those systems. Sonic Team Racing I could especially imagine being fun to play on a USB steering wheel for a Sega console.
Awesome video!
Some notes:
*California speed on N64 could had been Arcade-perfect, with more effort.
*Cruis n' Exotica Arcade board was more powerfull, but N64 port is stll good.
*N64 is far more powerfull than Cruis n' USA Arcade board, so kinda
bad port, fun game.
*Cruis n' World has really good N64 version, technically better, as it should, but cencored.
*Densha De Go! 2 has lower screen resolution on N64.
*Gauntlet Legends is very much playable on N64.
*Hydro Thunder is a good port. All geometry, drawing distances & level features remain intact. N64 compares to DC here.
*KI2 or Gold is a good port, but no FMV. Polygonal backgrouns on N64 require more power than prerendered found on Arcare.
*Mace The Dark Age was ported on - 97, so N64 - version was slower on framerate than would had been possible, on later point of time.
*Magical Tetris has perfect port, if you play direct Aleck -Arcade -version on real N64.
*Mortal Kombat 4, nearly Arcade Perfect. With Expansion Pack -support - it would had been 100% port. (Mortal Kombat trilogy -ports are missing on the list).
*NBA Hangtime, a good port.
*Showtime is not.
*NFL Arcades were not ported well, but N64 has other, better looking NFL -games than those Arcade.
*Off Road Challenge is lazy cencored port from inferior machine into N64. Good fun thought...
*Those 2D puzzle -games of course run well on N64.
*Rampage runs well on N64.
*RUSH 2049 runs on more powerfull Arcade system than N64, but somehow, N64 managed to run all those levels with all same amount of polygons, and features. Great port, comparable to DC -port in fact.
*First RUSH - game was ported on -97, so it didn't push N64 enough.
*Star Soldier is a decent port to play.
*War Gods was on inferior Arcade board, than N64, but at least the port is not too bad.
*Gretzky's 3D Hockey was N64 game from -96. While gameplay & speed is top, the perfect port could definitely had been possible, but N64 was too new system to develop maximum out.
Thanks so much for checking this out! I think you hit the nail on the head with all of these assessments. You also made a great point on some of the underwhelming ports that they were still fun like with Cruis'n USA. A lot of people will crap all over stuff like that these days just because they don't match the original but the fun factor is still there and it's easy to forget that back in 96 having even a halfway decent port of an arcade game like that was still an incredible experience.