Author Topic: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?  (Read 45110 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Chozo Ghost

  • I do want the Wii U to fail.
  • Score: -431
    • View Profile
Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« on: June 26, 2012, 05:46:13 PM »
The other topic made for some interesting discussions, but what about the N64? How well did that console stack up to the Gamecube (or even the Wii, if you want to compare it to that as well)? In terms of 3rd party support both consoles seem to have been more or less on par, but the N64 was more commercially successful, and I think it had more high calibur A+ 1st party games, but that is totally a matter of opinion.

Anyway, discuss!  :P:
is your sanity...

Offline Kairon

  • T_T
  • NWR Staff Pro
  • Score: 48
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #1 on: June 26, 2012, 05:50:23 PM »
N64. Hands down. I think of it as a Nintendo Golden Age.
Carmine Red, Associate Editor

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Sega and her Mashiro.

Offline Evan_B

  • Formally known as Bevan Ee
  • Score: 5
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #2 on: June 26, 2012, 05:59:59 PM »
The N64 had wonderful platformers and a slew of games that transitioned into the 3D era very nicely.

But the Gamecube had a better variety. AND ROGUE SQUADRON 2 LOL.

In all seriousness, though. The N64 is one of the best platforming consoles, ever. Other than that, Goldeneye, and maybe a few other games, it didn't do much for me.
I am a toxic person engaging in toxic behavior.

Offline Stogi

  • The Stratos You Should All Try To Be Like
  • Score: 18
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #3 on: June 26, 2012, 06:47:31 PM »
Huh Zelda OOT and MJ was on the N64. Nuff' said.
black fairy tales are better at sports

Offline Louieturkey

  • Terrifying fantasies
  • Score: -3
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #4 on: June 26, 2012, 07:14:59 PM »
I liked them both.  I owned more cube games.  Does that mean I liked it more?  Or that I had more money to spend during the cube era?

Offline Stogi

  • The Stratos You Should All Try To Be Like
  • Score: 18
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #5 on: June 26, 2012, 07:16:55 PM »
Considering that some N64 games costed upwards of $70, it could mean neither.
black fairy tales are better at sports

Offline lolmonade

  • I wanna ride dolphins with you in the moonlight until the staff at Sea World kicks us out
  • *
  • Score: 29
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #6 on: June 26, 2012, 07:18:27 PM »
I was primarily a Sega Genesis and Playstation 1 gamer at the time that the Nintendo 64 was in its prime.

That being said, I have a fondness for the Nintendo 64 if just for the sake of first seeing Ocarina of Time at Electronics Boutique as a youngin.  I remember walking in there to see their demo case, and flipping my **** when the person playing walked out into Hyrule field.  It just seemed endless when I saw someone walking around in this 3D space!

That and fond memories of playing the original smash bros with my cousin, endless 4 player MarioKart 64, and getting whopped in multiplayer Goldeneye because my cousin memorized the respawn pattern comprise so much of my youth that I'm too biased to say anything but Nintendo 64.

As a side note, who wants to start the thread "Which was better, Super Nintendo or Nintendo 64?"?  :D

Offline Ian Sane

  • Champion for Urban Champion
  • Score: 1
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #7 on: June 26, 2012, 07:23:37 PM »
The N64's third party support was crap for largely the same reason the Wii's was.  But Nintendo's first party output was never stronger.  I think the SNES is Nintendo's best system but the strong third party support is part of that.  The best games on the N64 are virtually all Nintendo games.  Super Mario 64, Goldeneye, Star Fox 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Ocarina of Time, Super Smash Bros., Perfect Dark, Majora's Mask, F-Zero X, Paper Mario, Conker's Bad Fur Day... should I go on?

The N64 had lousy third party support but it was like Nintendo KNEW they had to support the system themselves and stepped up to the plate.  When you're it, you have to try to deliver with every game.  Nintendo's Cube and Wii output feels more like the sort of output Nintendo would have done if they had good third party support.  It's like they just pretended the third party support was fine and continued on their way.  On the N64 it really felt like they were busting their ass trying to fill the void.  "Quality over quantity" is just PR speak but if there was ever a time where you might think Nintendo tried to fulfill that, the N64 was it.

The switch to 3D really helped.  They pretty much got to reboot every one of their existing franchises.  I feel like a lot of Nintendo's older franchises started to feel stale during the Cube era.  Sequels are easier to do early in a series.  You can put in the ideas that were left on the cutting room floor into your sequels.  In those days the hardware boosts also helped.  A Link to the Past and Super Metroid get praise for being some of the greatest games ever.  But how else would you make those games?  They have the exact enhancements over the NES games one would expect from the new options the SNES would provide.

The N64 had that more than any system because of the switch to 3D.  It was obvious that Mario 64 wouldn't just be Super Mario World Part 2.  The polygons are there so they're going to use them.  Each sequel could be approached with "now in 3D!"  Though that era was full of failed transitions from 2D to 3D.  Nintendo was probably the only company to NEVER **** any of them up.  That took talent and creativity and very careful design.  That was a tremendous achievement.  And it allowed every sequel to feel really fresh and new.  One of my favourite Cube games is Metroid Prime and because there was no N64 Metroid it got the same "instant freshness" the rest of Nintendo's franchises got, only a generation later.

On the Cube there were times where it seemed like Nintendo knew they had built up a reputation as the guys that make each sequel count and stand out, but the new ideas were not so obvious as they were in previous generations.  So we got stuff like the water pack in Mario and two man karts in Mario Kart and toon shading in Zelda.  They needed to be creative and innovative so they came up with kind of lame, forced ideas.  And then you get the Wii where the whole CONSOLE is a forced idea as the typical hardware upgrade did not have such obvious advantages that previous console generations offered.  For Nintendo is went rough 2D->polished 2D->rough 3D->polished 3D-> :confused;  Uh, motion control I guess?  Now let's try a tablet controller?  The obvious upgrade doesn't exist anymore for both hardware and existing Nintendo franchises.  This is why I suggest they create new IP because that's the best way for them to offer new and fresh gameplay experiences.  It isn't like the N64 gen where they can take all their existing IP and apply the same general update to all of them.

Though since the N64 is the "rough 3D" generation a lot of the games can be hard to look at now and have some wonky framerates.  Gamecube and Wii games are typically more polished, they just lack the genre-changing impact of the N64 games.  I think for a younger gamer there is a certain "you had to be there" factor.  OoT isn't specifically better than TP, it's just that OoT was groundbreaking stuff at the time and TP in comparison was very conventional.

Offline LOZman

  • Score: 1
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #8 on: June 26, 2012, 07:53:47 PM »
I would have to go with the Gamecube. It had a lot more third party support worth playing, and that is yhe main reason I give it the edge over the N64. In terms of first party support, I would say the Gamecube is also better in my opinion. Of course the N64 had better Mario and perfect Zelda titles, but other than that, most other franchises had better appearances on the Cube to me. With Double Dash, both Metroid Primes, Animal Crossing, Smash Bros. Melee, both Pikmin, Wind Waker, and Sunshine to name the best, I think I'm going to go play my Gamecube now.  :D

Offline ejamer

  • Does he even know Khushrenada?!?
  • Score: 24
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #9 on: June 26, 2012, 08:46:38 PM »
This is a tough choice. The Wii vs GameCube fight is easy for me: Wii wins out on nearly all counts.  But with N64 vs GameCube I'm divided... N64 has a small number of truly excellent titles, where GameCube has fewer lasting classics but much better overall support.


In general, I look at GameCube and see a more polished experience of what was pioneered on N64.  Many of the games didn't seem to have the same impact because we had seen similar designs before, but the graphics and controls and sound effects were all improved.  In the end, that's enough for me to tip my hat in the direction of GameCube... but just barely.  If N64 just offered more diversity in the games library then it could've won this fight.  Unfortunately it takes more than first party excellence to really carry a system... plus, I can't think of a single RPG that I enjoyed on N64.
NNID: ejamer

Offline Kairon

  • T_T
  • NWR Staff Pro
  • Score: 48
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #10 on: June 26, 2012, 09:31:40 PM »
Quest 64. *pumps fist*

And what's this about there being no third-parties on N64? Gauntlet Legends, Turok, The Bomberman Games, Chameleon Twist, Rogue Squadron, Duke Nukem 64, Mission Impossible... okay, so there's not as much as on the other consoles, but there were still some great third party gems on it!
Carmine Red, Associate Editor

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Sega and her Mashiro.

Offline Spak-Spang

  • The Frightened Fox
  • Score: 39
    • View Profile
    • MirandaNew.com
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #11 on: June 26, 2012, 09:39:41 PM »
Nintendo's Golden Age was Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 combined.  But the Nintendo 64 had cracks and wasn't perfect...which is what lead to eventually the misconceptions the general market has for Nintendo.

I hate the Nintendo is kiddie and casual line...that was always marketing by the competition and people eventually believed it.  Which is just stupidity in the highest.

Offline ejamer

  • Does he even know Khushrenada?!?
  • Score: 24
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #12 on: June 26, 2012, 09:58:02 PM »
Quest 64. *pumps fist*

And what's this about there being no third-parties on N64? Gauntlet Legends, Turok, The Bomberman Games, Chameleon Twist, Rogue Squadron, Duke Nukem 64, Mission Impossible... okay, so there's not as much as on the other consoles, but there were still some great third party gems on it!


Ogre Battle is the closet thing to a real RPG I could think of, but I never played the game during the N64 years.


As for third-party games, BattleTanx is all I need to say. That game - and its sequel - was epic fun with a full complement of people playing.  (Ok, maybe The New Tetris needs to be mentioned too.)
« Last Edit: June 27, 2012, 08:41:28 AM by ejamer »
NNID: ejamer

Offline Kairon

  • T_T
  • NWR Staff Pro
  • Score: 48
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #13 on: June 26, 2012, 10:01:40 PM »
Oh man, how could I forget The New Tetris? I LOVE that game! I also wish I'd gotten to play Battletanx, I never did get a chance to...
Carmine Red, Associate Editor

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Sega and her Mashiro.

Offline rlse9

  • Score: -1
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #14 on: June 26, 2012, 10:40:32 PM »
That's a tough question, both were really good systems and it's hard to choose.

Pro N64
Mario 64 is one of the greatest games ever made
OOT was obviously an amazing game
The N64 really introduced great mutliplayer gaming
Harvest Moon 64 was the best game in the series
Wave Race was an amazingly fun game
The AKI made wrestling games were amazingly fun
The Rush games were a blast

Pro Gamecube
Wavebird was innovative at time
Controller in general was most comfortable of any controllers in my opinion
Wind Waker was highly underrated and in my opinion more fun than OOT
Resident Evil 4 was amazing
Animal Crossing was the most addictive gaming experience in a long time
Pikmin was brilliant, both the first and second game
Eternal Darkness had such a great mix of atmosphere, story, and gameplay
The first Super Monkey Ball was a blast, both the challenging single player and frantic multiplayer

N64 negatives
The controller just wasn't comfortable
Price of the games
As amazing as Mario 64 was, it seemed like a shame not to have a sequel in the same generation

Gamecube negatives
I just couldn't get into Mario Sunshine
Harvest Moon games were a disappointment after how great Harvest Moon 64 was
As great as many of the games were, none of them had that "wow" moment like playing Mario 64 for the first time

It's basically a tie for me, both were great in their own ways and both had definite weaknesses.  If I had to choose just one I'd probably give N64 the slight edge but it's very close.

Offline Kairon

  • T_T
  • NWR Staff Pro
  • Score: 48
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #15 on: June 26, 2012, 10:46:56 PM »
Oh geez how could I forget HM64... I'm ashamed of myself.
Carmine Red, Associate Editor

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Sega and her Mashiro.

Offline Chozo Ghost

  • I do want the Wii U to fail.
  • Score: -431
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #16 on: June 26, 2012, 11:54:00 PM »
As far as RPGs go, how about Paper Mario?
is your sanity...

Offline Kairon

  • T_T
  • NWR Staff Pro
  • Score: 48
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #17 on: June 26, 2012, 11:58:32 PM »
As far as RPGs go, how about Paper Mario?

Man, I played the 64 version when I was in the hospital, so it has a place in my heart. Strangely enough I NEVER got into any of the sequels...

I give up. My memory is horrible.
Carmine Red, Associate Editor

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Sega and her Mashiro.

Offline Kytim89

  • Only question I ever thought was hard was do I like Kirk or do I like Picard?
  • Score: -156
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #18 on: June 27, 2012, 01:00:33 AM »
The N64 was better because it had more games developed by Rare. ;)
Please follow me on Twitter at: Kytim89.

Offline Chozo Ghost

  • I do want the Wii U to fail.
  • Score: -431
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #19 on: June 27, 2012, 01:23:56 AM »
The N64 was better because it had more games developed by Rare. ;)

But conversely, it has zero developed by Retro, so maybe it balances out?
is your sanity...

Offline ejamer

  • Does he even know Khushrenada?!?
  • Score: 24
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #20 on: June 27, 2012, 08:44:11 AM »
As far as RPGs go, how about Paper Mario?


I know people love the Mario RPG games, but I can't get into them. They are just too easy and too boring... even though the writing is clever and they have some fun ideas, they always fall flat for me.
NNID: ejamer

Offline S-U-P-E-R

  • My Butt is Ready :reggie;
  • Score: -63
    • View Profile
    • oh my god
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #21 on: June 27, 2012, 08:53:16 AM »
I think I spent more time playing the N64 than any other system, mostly because of GoldenEye, Mario Kart 64, Smash Bros, Bomberman 64, Killer Instinct Gold and well, lots of other stuff. Yeah, Rush 2! And like every game Rare put out that wasn't DK64.

Seriously, N64 probably still has the best local multiplayer lineup in history.
 

Also, I liked N64's controller better than the GameCube's. More face buttons meant more Killer Instinct flexibility.

Offline Adrock

  • Chill, Valentine
  • Score: 138
    • View Profile
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #22 on: June 27, 2012, 08:57:32 AM »
This is a bit more complicated than the other thread, mostly due to time. I'm trying to remember how I felt back then. Again not counting absent franchises, N64 did almost everything first but more importantly, better even if they don't hold up as well. It's the only generation I've been a part of where the technical limitations of the hardware were noticeable and didn't contribute its games' charm. There is probably only 1 game could go back an play unaltered: Paper Mario. I would add Ocarina of Time in there but the 3DS version kind of ruined it. I know how contradictory that sounds because of what i said in the other thread about RE4. I think it has to do with the fact that I can play the original RE4 on Gamecube and I don't feel the same about Ocarina of Time on N64. The touchscreen made that much of a difference. It's the only Nintendo remake/update that renders the original obsolete to me.

I remember trying to go back and play N64 games back in the middle of the GameCube years and it was hard to get into them. I would attribute it mostly to the frame rate. Maybe the graphics too because they don't have that retro chic look that NES titles have. N64 games just look bad by today's standards. Judging the consoles strictly by the era in which they were released, I'd probably give the edge to N64 for 1st party titles. GameCube had better 3rd party support but in terms of Nintendo games, it only really did Smash Bros. better. GameCube games hold up way better and are more refined, but the games were better on N64 at the time. For example, Double Dash runs extremely smooth and still looks nice but it's almost unplayable to me. All that extra processing power and the AI is 1000 times more infuriating.

Overall, I would still give the edge to GameCube. I bought more 3rd parties games. And while 1st party titles were generally better on N64, they were still good on GameCube (Double Dash not withstanding).

Offline Tanookisuit

  • Score: -4
    • View Profile
    • jeremytinder.com
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #23 on: June 27, 2012, 09:10:36 AM »
Cube.

Offline Sarail

  • That Starlink makes me wet.
  • Score: 10
    • View Profile
    • Sarail's Safe Haven
Re: Which was better: Nintendo 64 or Gamecube?
« Reply #24 on: June 27, 2012, 09:16:22 AM »
The N64 is home to my favorite game of all time - Jet Force Gemini.

So, yeah. That console holds a really special place in my being. I think my imagination was most expanded during the N64 years... 3D graphics blew my freaking mind. And the multiplayer.... !! So good. Never will there ever be another era with AKI/Asmik's wrestling games, the awesomesauce that was Killer Instinct Gold, all of the sleepless GoldenEye/Perfect Dark multiplayer nights, and fascinating, unique experiences like Diddy Kong Racing and Majora's Mask.

Plus, the N64 has Body Harvest. One of the most ambitious games of its time. And I loved it. :)
I like Nintendo more than j00!
Jet. Force. Gemini. 'Nuff said.
Muh Backloggery!