10 Favorite Moments in Nintendo 64 Games

[FOREIGN] Hey guys, David here. Today I'm going to go over 10 of my favorite moments in Nintendo 64 gaming. This is not a top 10 list, rather a sampling of some of the experiences I enjoyed the most on the Nintendo 64. These are of course my opinions, so I do not expect you to necessarily agree. However, I wanted to share them with you nonetheless. Starting off at number 1 is flying to the top of DK Island in Donkey Kong 64. I believe that Donkey Kong 64 is one of the most underrated Rare games that have been released. It's a collect-a-thon action-adventure game that's quite similar to Banjo-Kazooie. The hub world is Donkey Kong Island, which is shaped like Donkey Kong's head, and by progressing through the game different parts of the island became accessible, and you were always looking for clues about where the next hidden pathway or door was. So finally, when you unlocked the cannon on the back of the island, you were able to access Diddy Kong's Power Barrel at the top of the island, and you could fly wherever you wanted. I remember spending hours just exploring the area and flying to the very, very top just because you could. And I even tried to fly to the top of King K. Rool's boat, but the game never let me do that. Number 2 is escaping Gerudo Fortress in Ocarina of Time. Amidst all the amazing moments in this game, I cannot tell you how much fun I had escaping the Gerudo Fortress in the Gerudo Valley. I would often revisit this part in the game just to sneak around and take out Gerudos and explore the area. It was extremely fun to try to get past the guards, just sneak around, take them out, and even try to get places where you were not supposed to go, including facing the formidable invincible Gerudo that was guarding the place you weren't allowed to go to at that point in the game yet. And who could forget fighting those dual-wielding Gerudo warriors to free the carpenters from the jail cells? Number 3: The Challenger Approaching Screen in Super Smash Bros. Super Smash Bros. is easily one one of my favorite N64 games. I spent hours and hours playing this game with my friends multiple times a week. I will never forget the thrill of seeing the Challenger Approaching screen. Although there were only 4 unlockable characters, this was in an age where internet wasn't quite as commonplace, and so everything was an absolute secret. So when you unlock something, it just brought a whole new sense of brilliance to the game and added so much depth to it, even though one was revealed in the how-to-play video. Number 4 is discovering Peach's Castle in Mario Kart 64. Some of my earliest memories of gaming on the Nintendo 64 were Mario Kart 64. My brother and I played this game so much growing up, and we ended up exploring every nook and cranny of every map in this game. We played every game mode we could, and just when we thought we had discovered all the game's secrets, we came across Peach's Castle in the Royal Raceway stage. You can actually access the castle from Mario 64. There was a certain thrill to that. It seems like almost the entire castle is there, taken straight from the game. And so my brother and I would spend hours trying to get inside of the castle by, of course, repeatedly ramming the door to try to get in, and the few times we were able to glitch our way through, we were just greeted with a bunch of water. And, uh, even though that's all that was there, it didn't stop us from trying a— again and again and again. Number 5 is using Mario's Wing Cap for the first time in Mario 64. Almost as a light from heaven, I will never forget seeing that beam of light in Peach's Castle when you finally unlocked the Winged Cap room. Initially, you didn't know what it was for, so you went into first-person perspective and looked up, and it just threw you right into this cascade of clouds. And what Mario 64 did so well is it, is it really gave you a hub world that you liked and felt authentic and that you wanted to explore. And it would have a bunch of odd quirks in it like this. Just the experience of flying around with the cap on for the first time was so much fun, and presumably you were flying in the skies above Peach's Castle. As soon as you unlocked a cap, you wanted to try it in a level. Number 6: Perfect Dark's opening menu. Now, this may seem like an uninteresting or strange choice compared to the other ones, but something I consistently enjoyed when I turned on Perfect Dark was loading up the game, seeing Joanna turn on the computer, and having the menu start. And the big reason for that was the music that would play. It really got you in the mood for the game, made you felt— made you feel like you're part of some top-secret mission, and it just did such a great job of creating an atmosphere that made the game so much fun to play, whether it was tackling a tougher difficulty in the solo campaign or versing a friend in multiplayer deathmatch. Number 7 is destroying friendly things in Rogue Squadron. Rogue Squadron was a huge reason I got more into Star Wars. The game is fantastic, to say the least. It really took a deeper look into the Rebel Alliance, into Rogue Squadron obviously in particular, and did a great job of putting you in the action. Now, there were often missions where you had to protect or rescue friendly allies. Whether it was protecting a city or protecting a vehicle of some kind. And eventually it became more fun to just destroy the buildings or destroy the vehicles and help the Empire. One challenge that I would do is see how many things I could destroy before it forced me to get a game over. And honestly, it was very juvenile, but it was extremely fun. In particular, Rescue on Cassel, is a mission where I tried to blow up as many parts of the train I could before I would get a game over. It was really fun. Number 8 is unexpected cutscenes in Harvest Moon 64. Harvest Moon 64 was chock-full of delightful experiences, whether it came time that your cow could finally produce milk, or a particular crop you were trying to grow was ready to be harvested. There was always something to look forward to after the work that you put into it. The festivals are also fun, you got to get to know the townspeople, etc. But in my opinion, the most fun moments in the game would have to be the unexpected cutscenes that would start playing, and they were typically triggered by something like an increase in friendship with a townsperson. Sometimes it depended on when it was in the year, what season it was, but what made them so engaging was it was a chance to learn more about the people in the town. Town and kind of show more of a story. Sometimes it would be a conflict between two characters, sometimes it would be some kind of discovery. I just remember not wanting to miss a single minute of it. And in some cases, the cutscene could really steer the direction for that character for the rest of the game. Number 9 is the opening in Mario Party. Oddly enough, one of my favorite aspects of the original Mario Party game was its MUSIC. It had a killer soundtrack, and I remember playing through it, recording it on cassette player, and listening to it later. Sounds kind of weird, but I did really like it. The opening cutscene to this game was no exception. It had a great song, and it really represented a time when games were a bit more experimental in the intros they had. They were more inventive. They told this kind of backstory, and rather than using recycled gameplay footage or in-game cutscenes, scenes, Mario Party had a completely unique intro with a backstory. Even though this is simply a board game, a glorified board game basically, it gave these characters a reason for going head to head, and it was just inventive and fun, and I really appreciated it. Number 10: Getting "Mission Accomplished" in Star Fox 64. There was nothing quite as rewarding as unlocking the Mission Accomplished ending in a Star Fox 64 level. It basically meant that you had fully completed the level and that you had picked the best possible course of action to take rather than simply getting a Mission Complete ending. It also meant you could pick the left path rather than just the right path, and that meant that you could go to the planets. Some were more tough than others, but when you saw the "Mission Accomplished" text, you were confident you had discovered all of that area's secrets. Now the part where I offer gentle reminders that the like, commenting, and subscribing options are available to you. I would really appreciate it if you shared some of your favorite Nintendo 64 memories here, and if you enjoyed this, to check out my Twitch channel at twitch.tv/DavidVKimball where I'll be streaming more games like this and others. Thanks for watching!