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My mother blessed me with a magical grocery bag this past weekend. Its contents? A mint condition Nintendo 64. Accompanying it were of course the cables, an original gray controller with an analog stick still in great shape, Rumble Pak, Controller Pak (memory card), the console Memory Expansion Pak, and a plethora of games.

I had a Nintendo 64 before this present of pleasantness, but the addition to the library has got me into the spirit of wasting countless hours on an age-old console again. I often compare the Xbox 360 with the Nintendo 64 – I’ve spent many hours playing and swearing. 🙂

Behold a listing of the games below. Be careful to not get as excited as I did since… you know… they’re not actually yours or anything. An asterisk (yeah, the proper word for that grand little “star” that sits above your ‘8’ key) indicates a game that made it’s way into my inventory recently enough to inspire me to write this.

	Super Mario 64 A ground breaking step for gaming into the 3D realm of consciousness. There were plenty of 3D games before Mario broke the official seal, but none took the stride in freedom of control that equipped this game to become such a powerful launch title for Nintendo’s new baby. It remains one the top 5 Mario games on my list, but where wouldn’t it?
	Pilotwings 64 * Waterbury rented this back when it came out, but I was tool enthralled in the new Mario universe to give much more than 15 minutes or so to the free-flying gyrocopter stages. In popping it in to test it out, it was pretty reminiscent of the original for SNES.
	Wave Race 64 * I remember wanting to get closer to the television and look into the water in this game to try to see my reflection. The techniques used to generate such a realistic wave effect were thought to be nearly impossible to reproduce at the time of development, let alone have it in a video game.
	Shadows of the Empire Ah, the notorious Snow-Speeder opening level and ridiculously difficult levels thereafter; this remains the best Star Wars title to date in my opinion. A similar scruffy-looking nerf-herder to that one character played by Indiana Jones in the actual movies, Dash Rendar became the hero of the Star Wars universe in my book.
	Mario Kart 64 * The pinnacle of the Kart series untouched until now (maybe) by Mario Kart Wii – but only because it does such a fantastic job of emulating the older levels. I’ve logged so many in the Battle Mode of this game. I’m… untouchable.
	Turok * Ah yes, Midway’s quantum leap into the past with this ludicrously blood-ridden paranormal caveman FPS platformer. I don’t think they could have found a better way to make up for the insane difficulty of jumping from cliff to cliff than with the satisfaction of obliterating those bastard nightmare-inducing raptors that plagued my dreams during the Jurassic Park-craze. “They move in herds!” Fuck you! They’re ripping my guts out!
	Blast Corps * I guarantee you’ve mostly likely probably never really heard of this game. No, not “corpse” – “corps”, like “core”. Idiot. The same folks that gave us Donkey Kong Country filled my N64 days with much deathless destruction of buildings and path-clearing for the all feared explosive red tanker truck. The later levels of this game were impossible for me, but I came back and raped it on an emulator a couple years ago. Take that… uhh… just… fuck…
	Doom 64 * A stupid remake of the Doom series using sprites seen in the original titles, only filtered to give it that cool “Nintendo 64 blurry screen-garbage” look. I held onto it for unknown purposes other than it being a familiar part of Waterbury’s library back in the day.
	Starfox 64 * I remember Waterbury renting this from Blockbuster, and his cousin who worked there hooked us up with the Rumble Pak that comes with the cart. This game lived up to and exceeded every expectation I ever had for it. The opening paragraphs of talking alone had my hair on end. The best Starfox… ever.
	Goldeneye I would love to talk about how this game could’ve done one thing differently and it’d all have gone to shit. I love this game, as does everyone else who’s ever played it. If you’ve played and you don’t love it… then no one loves you. Sorry. 🙁
	Quest 64 The first RPG for the N64. I’ve never touched this game myself except to make sure that it works. Meepe requested it be a part of the library, though…so…as she wishes.
	Banjo-Kazooie Actually never played this one either. I’ve always heard really great things though, so I thought I’d pick it up and give it a whirl.
	Cruisn’ World * The most ridiculously simple, graphically deprived, repetitive, annoying, yet underrated arcade racing series ever created. I’ve pumped a few dollars worth of quarters into the arcade version of this title, but never bothered with the console port. It looks the same. Another game added at the request of Meepe.
	F-Zero X * Ah… 60 glorious frames per second of gloriously fast races in a glorified future in this sequel to the original SNES version of glory. Without even trying, F-Zero X set the stage for fast paced racing games.
	Ocarina of Time * I questioned Waterbury’s motives when he pre-ordered this game. The Pinochio look of Link in the early previews and concept shots was an extreme turnoff for me. Add that to the pansy fairy opening and childish tune of the Kokiri forest opening and I was determined to not play this piece of shit. A year or more later and I finally decided to see what the hell everyone’s obsession was, only to realize an obsession of my own. Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess continue to duke it out for best Zelda game in my book.
	Turok 2 * Never played this. Popped it in to test out the cart and was immediately impressed by the games use of the Expansion Pak. Crisp, clean graphics are a big welcome from the previous title’s 6ft draw-distance.
	Resident Evil 2 * Always loved the PS1 version of this game; rented it a plenty when it came out. To be honest I never even knew it came out for the 64. It also makes use of the Expansion Pak. And that analog control is a definite win.
	Majora’s Mask * Last of the newly expanded library that I’ve never played. That might be surprising from a Zelda fan, but I always knew it wasn’t a true entry in the series – more of a collection game to my knowledge. Both Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask carts are the special gold editions, so of course there’s no way I could let go of either. So take your damn hands off!

So far, Blast Corps and Ocarina of Time have consumed a few nights this week. This console RAWX! This also makes N64 console #2 in the retro gaming inventory. That means that one of these babies has just been volunteered by unanimous vote to be converted into a portable Nintendo 64. I shall design the unit and provide detailed schematics in due time. Now LEAVE!

Thanks Mom!