Editing Nintendo 64 (section)

== Games ==
{{See also|List of Nintendo 64 games|Nintendo Selects#Nintendo 64|l2=List of Nintendo 64 Player's Choice games|List of cancelled Nintendo 64 games}}
A total of 388 Nintendo 64 games were officially released, with just 85 exclusively sold in Japan. For comparison, the [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]] received [[List of PlayStation (console) games (A–L)|4,105 games]], the [[Sega Saturn|Saturn]] got [[List of Sega Saturn games|over 1,000]], the [[SNES]] got [[List of Super Nintendo Entertainment System games|1,755 games]], and the [[NES]] got [[List of Nintendo Entertainment System games|716 Western releases]] plus [[List of Famicom games|over 1,000 in Japan]]. The considerably smaller Nintendo 64 game library has been attributed by some to the controversial decision not to adopt the CD-ROM, and programming difficulties for its complex architecture.<ref name="nintendo3" /> This trend is also seen as a result of Hiroshi Yamauchi's strategy, announced during his speech at the Nintendo 64's November 1995 unveiling, that Nintendo would be restricting the number of games produced for the Nintendo 64 so that developers would focus on higher quality instead of quantity.<ref name="NGen14">{{Cite magazine |date=February 1996 |title=Ultra 64: Nintendo's Shot at the Title |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |issue=14 |pages=36–44}}</ref> The ''Los Angeles Times'' also observed that this was part of Nintendo's "penchant for perfection [...] while other platforms offer quite a bit of junk, Nintendo routinely orders game developers back to the boards to fix less-than-perfect titles".<ref name="Curtiss wonder">{{Cite news |last=Curtiss |first=Aaron |date=September 30, 1996 |title=New Nintendo 64 is a Technical Wonder; Leisure: The Cartridge-Based Game Machine Boasts Blistering Speed and Super-Sharp Graphics |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-09-30-fi-49002-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=January 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150124004751/http://articles.latimes.com/1996-09-30/business/fi-49002_1_n64 |archive-date=January 24, 2015}}</ref>

Although having much less third-party support than rival consoles, Nintendo's strong first-party [[List of video game franchises|franchises]]<ref name="nintendo2"/> such as ''[[Mario (franchise)|Mario]]'' enjoyed wide brand appeal. Second-parties of Nintendo, such as [[Rare (company)|Rare]], released groundbreaking titles.<ref name="videogameconsolelibrary90" /> Consequently, the Nintendo 64 game library included a high number of critically acclaimed and widely sold games.<ref>{{Cite web |title=IGN N64: Editors' Choice Games |url=http://ign64.ign.com/index/choice.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509153954/http://ign64.ign.com/index/choice.html |archive-date=May 9, 2008 |access-date=March 27, 2008 |website=IGN}}</ref> According to TRSTS reports, three of the top five best-selling games in the U.S. for December 1996 were Nintendo 64 games (both of the remaining two were Super NES games).<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=April 1997 |title=Nintendo Boosts N64 Production |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]] |publisher=[[Ziff Davis]] |issue=93 |page=22}}</ref> ''[[Super Mario 64]]'' is the best-selling console game of the generation, with 11&nbsp;million units sold<ref>{{Cite web |title=Super Mario Sales Data: Historical Units Sold Numbers for Mario Bros on NES, SNES, N64... |url=http://www.gamecubicle.com/features-mario-units_sold_sales.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001050618/http://www.gamecubicle.com/features-mario-units_sold_sales.htm |archive-date=October 1, 2017 |access-date=November 12, 2015}}</ref> beating ''[[Gran Turismo (1997 video game)|Gran Turismo]]'' for the [[PlayStation]] (at 10.85&nbsp;million<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 9, 2008 |title=Gran Turismo Series Shipments Hit 50 Million |url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/145675/article.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505142105/https://www.pcworld.com/article/145675/article.html |archive-date=May 5, 2019 |access-date=November 12, 2015 |website=PCWorld}}</ref>) and ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' (at 9.72&nbsp;million<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 7, 2010 |title=Masterpiece: Final Fantasy VII |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2010/05/masterpiece-final-fantasy-vii/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504111719/http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/05/masterpiece-final-fantasy-vii.ars |archive-date=May 4, 2012 |access-date=November 12, 2015 |website=Ars Technica}}</ref>) in sales. The game also received much praise from critics and helped to pioneer three-dimensional control schemes. ''[[GoldenEye 007 (1997 video game)|GoldenEye 007]]'' was important in the evolution of the [[first-person shooter]], and has been named one of the greatest in the genre.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 4, 2012 |title=GT Countdown Top 10 First-Person Shooters of All Time |url=http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/view/gt-countdown/99449-Top-10-First-Person-Shooters-of-All-Time |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160212030418/http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/view/gt-countdown/99449-Top-10-First-Person-Shooters-of-All-Time |archive-date=February 12, 2016 |access-date=February 5, 2016 |publisher=GameTrailers}}</ref> ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]'' set the standard for future 3D [[action-adventure game]]s<ref name="Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time">{{Cite web |title=Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time |url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time/critic-reviews/?platform=nintendo-64 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121132259/http://www.metacritic.com/game/nintendo-64/the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time |archive-date=November 21, 2010 |access-date=February 3, 2010 |website=[[Metacritic]]}} Metacritic here states that ''Ocarina of Time'' is "[c]onsidered by many to be the greatest single-player video game ever created in any genre..."</ref> and is considered by many to be one of the [[greatest games ever made]].<ref name="Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" /><ref name="1up_ocarina">{{Cite web |title=Ocarina of Time Hits Virtual Console |url=http://www.1up.com/news/ocarina-time-hits-virtual-console |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110629031529/http://www.1up.com/news/ocarina-time-hits-virtual-console |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |access-date=February 2, 2010 |website=1UP.com }}</ref><ref name="best_games">{{Cite web |title=The Best Video Games in the History of Humanity |url=http://www.filibustercartoons.com/games.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20100921125121/http://www.filibustercartoons.com/games.htm |archive-date=September 21, 2010 |access-date=September 12, 2010 |publisher=Filibustercartoons.com }}</ref>

=== Graphics ===
The most graphically demanding Nintendo 64 games on larger 32 or 64&nbsp;MB cartridges are among the most advanced and detailed of 32- and 64-bit platforms. To maximize the hardware, developers created custom [[microcode]]. Nintendo 64 games running on custom microcode benefit from much higher polygon counts and more advanced lighting, animation, physics, and AI routines than its competition. ''[[Conker's Bad Fur Day]]'' is arguably the pinnacle of its generation combining multicolored real-time lighting that illuminates each area to real-time shadowing, and detailed texturing replete with a full in-game facial animation system. The Nintendo 64 is capable of executing many more advanced and complex rendering techniques than its competitors. It is the first home console to feature [[trilinear filtering]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nintendo DS vs. Nintendo 64 |url=http://purenintendo.com/2008/12/26/nintendo-ds-vs-nintendo-64so-whats-more-powerful/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228144341/http://purenintendo.com/2008/12/26/nintendo-ds-vs-nintendo-64so-whats-more-powerful/ |archive-date=December 28, 2008 |access-date=January 15, 2009}}</ref> to smooth textures. This contrasts with the [[Sega Saturn|Saturn]] and [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]], which use [[nearest-neighbor interpolation]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saturn Game Tutorial |url=http://www.rockin-b.de/saturn/saturngametutorial/SaturnGameTutorial.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204184623/http://www.rockin-b.de/saturn/saturngametutorial/SaturnGameTutorial.htm |archive-date=February 4, 2009 |access-date=January 15, 2009}}</ref> and produce more [[Pixelation|pixelated]] textures. Overall however the results of the Nintendo cartridge system were mixed.

The smaller storage size of ROM cartridges can limit the number of available textures. As a result, many games with much smaller 8 or 12&nbsp;MB cartridges are forced to stretch textures over larger surfaces. Compounded by a limit of 4,096 bytes<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nintendo 64 |url=http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1242&st=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204190329/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1242&st=2 |archive-date=February 4, 2009 |access-date=January 15, 2009}}</ref> of on-chip texture memory, the result is often a distorted, out-of-proportion appearance. Many games with larger 32 or 64&nbsp;MB cartridges avoid this issue entirely, including ''[[Resident Evil 2]]'', ''[[Sin and Punishment]]: Successor of the Earth'', and ''Conker's Bad Fur Day'',<ref name="hardware1" /> allowing for more detailed graphics with multiple, multi-layered textures across all surfaces.

=== Emulation ===
{{See also|Nintendo Classics|Virtual Console|List of Nintendo 64 emulators}}
Several Nintendo 64 games have been released for the [[Wii]] and [[Wii U]] [[Virtual Console]] (VC) services and are playable with the [[Classic Controller]], [[GameCube controller]], [[Wii U Pro Controller]], or [[Wii U GamePad]]. Differences include a higher resolution and a more consistent framerate than the Nintendo 64 originals. Some features, such as Rumble Pak functionality, are not available in the Wii versions. Some features are also changed on the Virtual Console releases. For example, the VC version of ''[[Pokémon Snap]]'' allows players to send photos through the Wii's message service, and ''[[Wave Race 64]]''{{'}}s in-game content was altered due to the expiration of the [[Kawasaki Heavy Industries|Kawasaki]] license. Several games developed by Rare were released on Microsoft's [[Xbox Live Arcade]] service, including ''[[Banjo-Kazooie (video game)|Banjo-Kazooie]]'', ''[[Banjo-Tooie]]'', and ''[[Perfect Dark]]'', following Microsoft's acquisition of Rareware in 2002. One exception is ''[[Donkey Kong 64]]'', released in April 2015 on the Wii U Virtual Console, as Nintendo retained the rights to the game. Select Nintendo 64 games have been re-released via the [[Nintendo Classics]] service as part of the "Expansion Pack" tier of the [[Nintendo Switch Online]] service.<ref name="verge n64 genesis">{{Cite web |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=September 23, 2021 |title=Nintendo Switch Online is getting an 'expansion pack' with N64 and Genesis games |url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/23/22688780/nintendo-switch-online-expansion-pack-64-sega-genesis-controllers |access-date=September 23, 2021 |website=[[The Verge]] |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924083217/https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/23/22688780/nintendo-switch-online-expansion-pack-64-sega-genesis-controllers |url-status=live }}</ref>

Several unofficial third-party emulators can play Nintendo 64 games on other platforms, such as [[Windows]], [[Macintosh]], and [[smartphone]]s.