Topic: Was the Nintendo 64 incapable of doing sprites?

[Nile Boogie Returns]

So I found my old N64 and 20 games in a storage locker that I have (that was about to be sold at auction no less) and all the games are polygon based. Even the 2d platformers like Yoshi and Mischief Makers are using 3D models. So my  question, could it not do sprites or was it just easier to develop 3d titles since the hardware was a bitch? I can't think of 1 sprite game, I feel like I'm overlooking something obvious.

[ShyGuy]

Mario Kart 64 used 2.5D sprites, right?

[Mop it up]

Yoshi's Story uses sprites, so does the aforementioned Mario Kart 64. They're just taken from pre-rendered images (like the Donkey Kong Country games) so they look a little different. But they are indeed 2D sprites. Then of course there's Paper Mario, which is almost nothing but sprites.

I believe the problem with the N64 is something about how it doesn't have a dedicated 2D processor or doesn't process 2D images well for one reason or another. I think the sprites are actually just a single large, flat polygon, and so the detail suffers a bit from having to do that.

[Br26]

Paper Mario was pretty 2D.

[BranDonk Kong]

Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, Clayfighter 63-1/3...


...come to think of it though, those might be flat polygons, which may explain why 2D N64 games look horrible in almost any emulator.

[broodwars]

Ogre Battle 64 used 2D sprites for everything except the world map and spell animations.

[Nemo]

Dr. Mario 64, I think.

[Nile Boogie Returns]

Ogre Battle 64 used 2D sprites for everything except the world map and spell animations.

I've been confusing this game with "quest 64" for the past 15 years. I have never seen any gameplay of Ogre Battle until 5 mintues ago. I am dumbfounded at my profound ignorance.

[Ian Sane]

I figure the emphasis on polygons was Nintendo wanting to push them as the hot new thing in videogames.  Funny to think how anti-2D they came across as then when now they seem to LOVE 2D gameplay.

I know that the Playstation sucked at 2D because it had no dedicated sprite processing hardware.  You created a 2D sprite game by making a flat polygon and texturing it with the sprite image.  I don't know if the N64 had a similar limitation.

[Mop it up]

Quick! Let's get someone else in here to say the same thing we've all said!

[Khushrenada]

So I found my old N64 and 20 games in a storage locker that I have (that was about to be sold at auction no less) and all the games are polygon based. Even the 2d platformers like Yoshi and Mischief Makers are using 3D models. So my  question, could it not do sprites or was it just easier to develop 3d titles since the hardware was a bitch? I can't think of 1 sprite game, I feel like I'm overlooking something obvious.

Mario Kart 64 used 2.5D sprites, right?

Yoshi's Story uses sprites, so does the aforementioned Mario Kart 64. They're just taken from pre-rendered images (like the Donkey Kong Country games) so they look a little different. But they are indeed 2D sprites. Then of course there's Paper Mario, which is almost nothing but sprites.

I believe the problem with the N64 is something about how it doesn't have a dedicated 2D processor or doesn't process 2D images well for one reason or another. I think the sprites are actually just a single large, flat polygon, and so the detail suffers a bit from having to do that.

Paper Mario was pretty 2D.

Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, Clayfighter 63-1/3...


...come to think of it though, those might be flat polygons, which may explain why 2D N64 games look horrible in almost any emulator.

Ogre Battle 64 used 2D sprites for everything except the world map and spell animations.

Dr. Mario 64, I think.

Ogre Battle 64 used 2D sprites for everything except the world map and spell animations.

I've been confusing this game with "quest 64" for the past 15 years. I have never seen any gameplay of Ogre Battle until 5 mintues ago. I am dumbfounded at my profound ignorance.

I figure the emphasis on polygons was Nintendo wanting to push them as the hot new thing in videogames.  Funny to think how anti-2D they came across as then when now they seem to LOVE 2D gameplay.

I know that the Playstation sucked at 2D because it had no dedicated sprite processing hardware.  You created a 2D sprite game by making a flat polygon and texturing it with the sprite image.  I don't know if the N64 had a similar limitation.

Quick! Let's get someone else in here to say the same thing we've all said!

There you go.

[Nile Boogie Returns]

I figure the emphasis on polygons was Nintendo wanting to push them as the hot new thing in videogames.  Funny to think how anti-2D they came across as then when now they seem to LOVE 2D gameplay.

I know that the Playstation sucked at 2D because it had no dedicated sprite processing hardware.  You created a 2D sprite game by making a flat polygon and texturing it with the sprite image.  I don't know if the N64 had a similar limitation.

Question? I've always heard the same thing about ps1 but is that "sucks" vs saturn or in general? Street Fighter looked solid,  Castlevaina looked good, well to me back then it did. Plus they had all those shumps that used sprites. 


Damed newfangled polydusits, thank Hylia for the Ds family.

[Mop it up]

Probably vs. the Saturn yeah. That thing was a 2D beast at the time.

[NWR_insanolord]

The Saturn was designed to be the next generation of 2D hardware after the Genesis and SNES. That's part of what killed it, because they didn't see 3D coming and then slapped it on top of the 2D machine late in development, resulting in a console that was hard to develop for (and borderline impossible to emulate).

[Phil]

Blast Corps poops on this thread.


















































Wait. What?

[Nile Boogie Returns]

I made a drunken post about Blast Corps on this board a very long time ago.

[Phil]

We must be kindred spirits!

[Traveller]

Mario 64 used sprites for the trees etc

[NWR_insanolord]

Lots of stuff was sprites in Mario 64. The coins, for instance, were all sprites. Compare them to the DS version of the game where they're polygonal.

[bustin98]

Hexen64 always amused me with it's sprites.

[Mop it up]

Don't forget DooM 64.

[Nile Boogie Returns]

So I could do sprites. Albeit the absolute worst type of sprites in the history of media. Then why didn't N64 get Street Fighter alpha, Darkstalkers, Castlevania or any other sprite based 2d game? Am I missing the connection the sprites and side scrolling games. Maybe my real question:




Was the Nintendo 64 incapable of doing true 2D games?

[pokepal148]

The ps1 also had some struggles with sprites, at least in games ported to it.

[NWR_insanolord]

The N64 didn't get Castlevania because the cartridges couldn't do the CD soundtrack.

[BranDonk Kong]

That's just an excuse. Mortal Kombat Trilogy used CDDA for the soundtrack, as did MK3 and MK4, and N64 got all of those games.