Nintendo‘s 64-bit console was first released in 1996 in Japan (and in limited numbers in the USA), and 1997 everywhere else.

The N64 was the third Nintendo video game console (after the NES and the SNES) and was a leap forward in technology that had a profound effect on the games market as a whole. It is a console suited to 3D graphics and gameplay, but also extremely capable with 2D graphics (although you’d be hard pushed to find a game on the N64 that was entirely made of 2D graphics).

Many classic video games were given life on the Nintendo 64 – a good proportion of them developed by Nintendo themselves, who seemed to go into development overdrive at the time, in support of the console.

Highlights include two amazing Zelda games; a lot of excellent driving games; GoldenEye (of course), and great games from every genre imaginable.

Here’s my tribute to – and celebration of – the Nintendo 64 and the games that make it special.

Games featured on The King of Grabs N64 Week:
Super Mario 64 (1996)
Wave Race 64 (1996)
Paper Mario (2000)
Star Wars Episode I: Racer (1999)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (2000)
F-Zero X (1998)

Enjoy,
The King of Grabs