Your favourite N64 3-D Platformer (non-Nintendo/Rare)

[Sumez | 2,930]

Castlevania 64 is way more of a platformer than Bomberman 64 for sure, if nothing else at least out of not having the ability to jump at all. Not really sure how to classify BM64 honestly though, outside of "painful to play".

Mischief Makers is tough to categorize as a 3D platformer given it's entirely 2D  

[TDIRunner | 2,721]

I didn't know the N64 had games that weren't made by Nintendo or Rare.  

[Matchbook | 194]

1 hour ago, RH said:

I liked Mischief Makers as a kid.  Looking back, that's the only one I ever played and it's 2Dish, so does that even count?

I was gonna ask the same haha!  That was my very first N64 game. Hoping to clear it off my backlog list this year.

[RH | 4,895]

9 minutes ago, Matchbook said:

I was gonna ask the same haha!  That was my very first N64 game. Hoping to clear it off my backlog list this year.

Yeah, I've been meaning to pick up a copy for ages.  I felt it was a pretty fun sleeper title.  Enix was off my radar back then, and later when I seriously started collecting RPGs I was surprised and glad to see if was an Enix title!

[OptOut | 8,881]

17 minutes ago, RH said:

Yeah, I've been meaning to pick up a copy for ages.  I felt it was a pretty fun sleeper title.  Enix was off my radar back then, and later when I seriously started collecting RPGs I was surprised and glad to see if was an Enix title!

Developed by Treasure, and the only one of their three N64 titles to get released outside Japan. The other two are Sin and Punishment and Bangai O... Pretty impressive three game line-up right there! 

And no. It doesn't count, jeez... 

[Sumez | 2,930]

Imagine  Sin & Punishment  exists and the game they choose to bring over is effin mischief makers 

[Gloves | 11,759]

3 minutes ago, Sumez said:

Imagine  Sin & Punishment  exists and the game they choose to bring over is effin mischief makers 

[Tanooki | 4,929]

10 hours ago, DefaultGen said:

My favorite that I've played is Bomberman 64. I've played all the Nintendo/Rare stuff, but only dabbled in others. Bomberman 64 is my favorite BM both single and multiplayer, but especially single player because of the newly added weird platforming and exploration, and yes I've played the Saturn, SFC, and Turbo games, and no I'm not going to replay BM64 and ruin my nostalgic opinion of it.

I can agree with that, I'm holding out for a copy to pop up locally.  The funny yet sick thing is, I have 2nd attack and it's so much better but stylized the same, the sick being the horrid price of entry I thankfully largely dodged just a few years ago.  I didn't like it then paying $80 but when it was at times pushing $300 even like 4 years ago it was an easy grab.  I had been tempted to sell it but it's just too good.

 

 

Mischief Makers, got it when it was new.  I've had it once or twice since, but the end result is I get demotivated badly by it and just stop.  The ending is great, but it's also held hostage to a large number of gold gems you have to go out of your way, more often not doing some pro league level moves to get at just so you can complete the story.  It was a 100% dick move on their part.  And if we're taking swings at Treasure...don't forget Bakaretsu Muteki Bangaioh is on N64 and that game we got denied, unless you had a Dreamcast.  I'm glad I have that one.

Edited May 4, 2022 by Tanooki

[glazball | 168]

Goemon's Great Adventure gets my vote.  One of the best games on the console, by any publisher and of any genre.

edit: oops, just noticed 3D platformer.  Oh well, it's 2.5D so just round up.

Edited May 5, 2022 by glazball

[fox | 1,665]

Mischief Makers and Goemon’s Great Adventure are both solid 2.5D entries

[OptOut | 8,881]

4 hours ago, fox said:

Mischief Makers and Goemon’s Great Adventure are both solid 2.5D entries

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Tarzan, seeing as that game actually DOES have some 3D levels, along with the regular 2D platforming.

So, yeah. I mentioned it. Good game! 

[Nintegageo | 582]

So actually this thread had me consider Castlevania. Is there a reason to do the 1st or only the 2nd? I own the 2 games so that is not an issue.

[rdrunner | 422]

52 minutes ago, Nintegageo said:

So actually this thread had me consider Castlevania. Is there a reason to do the 1st or only the 2nd? I own the 2 games so that is not an issue.

I've actually played both and liked the first one better in certain ways.  Legacy of Darkness is good too, but I recommend starting with the first.

[Tanooki | 4,929]

1 hour ago, Nintegageo said:

So actually this thread had me consider Castlevania. Is there a reason to do the 1st or only the 2nd? I own the 2 games so that is not an issue.

Well nope, unless you like bugs, progression stopping ones no less, collisions that kill despite not happening (ie: invisible to where you stand vs what is seen) broken jump physics where you can't make the same hop twice (great for posts over death pits), and cameras that'll turn and just make you release your grip to fall into a chasm.  It's lots of joy.

Just play Legacy of Darkness, it was the intended game.  I just spent like 15min trying to google what I read over 20 years ago in a magazine from 1999, but EGM ratted out Konami for forcing out the delayed Castlevania64 incomplete to make the Japanese board/stock holders happy and it shows.

Some whine the game has frame rate problems, it's just as bad as CV64, except if you have the 4MB memory expansion then you can choose basically hi res mode which is slower or use the ram to smooth the experience more not bumping it up (like Gun-Nac on NES sprites w/no flicker vs speed.)

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

I remember playing through and enjoying both Chameleon Twist games when they were relatively new. I tried to play the first one a few years back and it was hard on the eyes lol... very blocky and foggy, but still fun for a few levels before I moved on.

[Radagast | 21]

A lot of good ones already mentioned so I'll add Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers to the mix. It's not my favorite by any means but a solid game for N64.

Edited July 8, 2022 by Radagast

[Lynda Monica | 350]

This is going to sound crazy, but we didn't own any 3D platformers for the N64 at all! The only platformer we had was Kirby 64, and I constantly rented Yoshi's Story.

We didn't get the N64 until Ocarina of Time came out, so we missed a lot of the early years. I've never revisited the system either, so I haven't played much more than what we owned to this day. (Though I did make a point to play Mario 64 much later on)

I guess looking back, we had a pretty strange selection of N64 games.

Goldeneye (FPS)
Perfect Dark (FPS)
Pokemon Snap (Photography)
Pokemon Stadium (RPG Battle Simulator)
Pokemon Stadium 2 (RPG Battle Simulator)
Pokemon Puzzle League (Puzzle)
Hey You! Pikachu (Virtual Pet/Life Sim)
Star Wars Rogue Squadron (Flight Combat)
Zelda Ocarina of Time (Adventure)
Zelda Majora's Mask (Adventure)
Super Smash Bros. (Fighting)
Mario Tennis (Sports)
Paper Mario (RPG)
Dr. Mario 64 (Puzzle)
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (2.5D Platformer)

Edited July 12, 2022 by Lynda Monica

[Koopa64 | 51]

Definitely gotta be Rocket: Robot on Wheels, such a fun game with its incredibly advanced physics engine and its carnival theme. There’s so much to do in the first world, between the different simple carnival games to test the physics engine, a dune buggy to drive, there’s even a rollercoaster mini-game where you can construct a little track! 
 

not sure if this other game counts as a 3D platformer, but I also gotta mention Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine. It’s an excellent port of the PC original and is just a great game all around, lots of fun and makes great use of its Indiana Jones IP. It plays like the earlier Tomb Raider games which the N64 has none of so, it’s like this game helps to fill that hole in the N64 library. only word of warning is this game is known to crash and softlock sometimes, make sure you’re saving occasionally during levels. I’ve only had it crash during a couple of the early levels, the later ones seem fine.