My brothers and I grew up as gamers (like many of you, I’d wager). The three of us loved nothing more than to plug in the good ol’ Nintendo 64 every weekend, and engage in hours-long battles to the death on our favorite multiplayer games. We played all the best multiplayer games, of course; I’m sure you all fondly remember the days of Goldeneye 007, or Super Smash Bros, or Mario Party, or Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey, or Star Fox 64, or Perfect Dark. Our virtual avatars battled each other across countless battlefields, equipped with all manner of weapons that ranged from the badass to the ridiculous. Those were good times, and some of my fondest moments from my childhood have materialized out of particularly epic matches. And not the kind of “epic” that is uttered by that nerdy kid back in high school whenever something slightly interesting occurred. Truly epic, legendary memories that remind me of my most stunning victories, and my most abysmal failures.
But when tempers flared, there was only one recourse. When egos clashed, only one game could put conflict to rest. When the stakes were high, there could only be…
Welcome to Mario Kart!!
Yes, Mario Kart 64 was the game. My brothers and I clocked more hours on that fine piece of engineering than perhaps anything I’ve ever played (except for Golden Sun, but that’s a tale for another time). Nothing can truly compare to the surge of adrenaline you feel when neck-and-neck on the final lap of Royal Raceway with your greatest foe. Not all the kung-fu movies in the world can pump you up nearly as much as when the last item box bestows upon you that crucial red shell at just the right time to clinch the victory on Luigi Circuit. And there is no more potent rage to experience when you get smacked with a blue shell… and lightning… and a star… and two green shells… and go from 1st to 8th in a heartbeat.
There is also no greater test of skill. Item rolls aside, the only way to settle a grudgematch among my brothers and I was to duke it out on everyone’s favorite karting game.
You see, it was not enough to pick up the right items at the right times, though that certainly decided more than a few races back in the day. No, in order to achieve victory, you needed to make split-second reactions toward whatever item your foe just sent hurtling your way. You needed to know how to use all the shortcuts on each map, and how to prevent your opponents from doing the same. Most of all, you needed to be able to giggle maniacally when you got a lightning while in second place, because that crap is so irritating to everyone else.
Of course, racing is not the only test of one’s ability in Mario Kart. There’s also the Battle mode, which is arguably even more intense and exhilarating than the Grand Prix mode. Three balloons, a multitude of shells and bananas, and a hefty dose of the ever-necessary trash talk. Whether that trash talk will be followed up by triumphant gloating or angry scowls depends on your ability to evade pursuing red shells, to maneuver around banana minefields, and essentially drive like a pro. Oh, and bottomless pits are a problem if you play on Skyscraper.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end someday. The joyous summer afternoons of innocent banana-chucking and balloon-popping are over. Responsibility as an adult in the real world has taken the place of mirthful boasting. My brothers and I now live apart, only seeing each other again every five or six months.
But every so often, when I’m feeling nostalgic…
… I dust off the good ol’ Nintendo 64 and relive the memories of my past. Just for a little while.
Oh my goodness I loved the N64 Back when we were just kids and didnt care about anything but having fun, stuff like graphics, pathing, made no difference to us
I still remember my insane love for Rainbow Road <3
As sick as MK64 was.... I still maintain that Double Dash took everything to another level. Me and my brother spent years playing that game. We were unbeatable. I did the driving and he did the punching. Come to think of it, I might start playing it again. See if I still got it...
The good old days when my cousin and I used to battle on Big Donut and both of us get Star after Star after Star... Yes really. Continuous invulnerability.
As a hardcore PC gamer the N64 is the only console I would ever consider buying. I, too, have so many awesome memories playing with friends. Remember all the good Mario Party games? And Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. and all the great platformers and the list goes on and on. I seriously should buy one.
Such good times, I remember playing all of those when the N64 first came out, so many hours on MK64 Golden-eye, Perfect Dark, Mario party, and super smash. I was lucky enough to get the pokemon edition console to haha, I lived very near six of my cousins, and we must have logged 30 hours a week after school I love these kinds of posts!
But one thing that always puzzles me is why not a single post I ever seen on-line about Nintendo nostalgia mentions Snowboard Kids? it was completely on par with Mario kart for getting items like a parachute or hand, crystals at the perfect time and stealing first! plus you had fantastic tracks, the feel of jumping just at the right time to dodge a hand or parachute now that was awesome , annnnnd you got to do a dozen different tricks with each character, it was also an amazing game I've never seen it mentioned though! it needs credit I feel like no kids played it, Think I might blog about it or do a streaming marathon for it lol
For me and my brother+cousin, it was SSB when we wanted to compete, and Perfect Dark when we wanted to go zombie mode.
SSB's competitiveness was just so awesome back in the day. If you turned off items and picked a non-cheesy stage (Temple, Fox's ship), then it was a pure skill match, man vs. man, mano y mano. I can't remember how many games we clocked in SSB, just pounding on each other.
Perfect Dark was something special; I feel that it didn't get enough credit for the fact that it had fully working bots!! I remember we would play 3v9 or so (forgot the max #of sims), and just fight for our lives against an onslaught of bots. Laptop gun FTW
I really don’t need to explain why this game is all the way up here, so instead I’ll just make a list of superlatives for this game: Best Character (based on stats): Wario Best Shortcut: Wario Stadium wall-hop Craziest Level: Toad’s Turnpike in Mirror Mode Most Useful Item: Lightning Most Useless Item: Triple green shells when you’re in first place in Rainbow Road Most Annoying... Annoyance: Thwomps in Bowser’s Castle Guiltiest Pleasure: Annihilating Toad, just to hear him scream like a baby The “FML” Award: Getting ready to drive off the big jump in Wario Stadium... and then noticing that second-player has a Lightning... The “You’re an asshole” Award: Placing a string of bananas on the zig zag, rail-less bridge in Banshee Boardwalk. The “This is so bullshit” Award: Getting hit by a truck in Toad’s Turnpike... and then immediately getting hit by a bus... and then a car... and then another truck...
5/5 for loving Mario Kart 64 and posting an awesome blog about it :D
On May 27 2012 14:04 Thrill wrote: Mario Kart 64 aint got shit on CTR.
On May 27 2012 13:12 r.Evo wrote: One day I'll buy a N64 just to play this game again*. So many memories. ♥
GO AND WIN K THX
*And maybe a little Mario Party. And Mario 64. And... that damn spaceships game with that foxy fox. Oh gawd. WTB N64. =S
I went back and played Lylat Wars a year ago and to my surprise the game took me like 25-30 minutes rofl. I remember it taking forever as a little kid. Still awesome though, I fucking killed Slippy, didn't let that weak link pull me down.
On May 27 2012 20:42 craz3d wrote: I played a shitton of Starfox and Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey in addition to MarioKart. Before that it was Super Mario and Donkey Kong on the SNES.
Then came SC and CS when my parents got decent net.
Oh good god, don't make me nostalgic. Crash Team Racing.......man I get chills just remembering it. It felt like an absolute adventure; it was just so crazily good.
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/3kH8r.jpg)
I love these kinds of posts! 
