4. Nintendo 64 (N64)
One of the greatest and most memorable consoles the Nintendo 64 (N64) ushered Nintendo into the world of full 3D games when it released in September of 1996. While the SNES fought well against the Sega Saturn and the Sony Playstation Nintendo knew it had to do something to maintain its position. Although it wasn’t the first to market with fully 3D rendered games Nintendo’s expertise in quality software helped the N64 find success.
What the N64 may have lacked in power when compared to its competition it more than made up for in innovation and creativity. The introduction of a joystick alongside the tradition directional pad and the added Z trigger allowed for new control options. Allowing developers to chose which input best supported their game or giving players the option to go with what was most comfortable. The controller wasn’t the only improvement presented by the Nintendo 64, this new console allowed to bring their classics to a whole new realm.
Launching alongside the N64 was Super Mario 64. This entry in the series presented Mario, friends and enemies in full 3D and added a whole new dimension to the gameplay. Not only that but it set the standard for how a character should be controlled in a 3D space, something a lot of games had issues with at the time (looking at you Resident Evil).
the Nintendo 64’s ability to support 4 simultaneous players without any other peripherals other than controllers was not to be overlooked as well. This made Nintendo’s N64 one of the go to machines for entertaining guests at home. Though, the presence of stellar games such as Star Fox 64, Goldeneye 007, and Super Smash Bros. might have had something to do with that as well.
