N64 Connoisseur

In Stunning 3D

Ya know, I am aware that it seems like I just have a never ending well of Nintendo 64 related topics to preach on for these pieces. I am going to let you in on a little secret. I have no such well. In fact, sometimes I have no idea what I am going to write about until I am half way through the opening paragraph. This time, I was drawing a blank. I decided a little inspiration couldn’t hurt, so I headed to my favorite game shop. I was walking around, purely for research purposes and in no way looking to add to my collection, when I came across the DS and 3DS games. Then it all came to me. I have both Ocarina of Time 3D and Star Fox 64 3D for the 3DS. What other N64 classics would be good on the 3DS? I made a wishlist.

Aerofighters Assault

I so very much love aerial combat and this game did it really well on the N64. It seems like a great fit for the 3DS. The 3D would be really well suited to make each level seem enormous. It would add depth to the skies and give you a great gauge of depth to see how far away your enemies really are. Add in the capability to control your fighter with the 3DS motion detection and online multiplayer and you suddenly have all of the makings of an amazing 3DS title. Plus, this game was very realistic on the N64 at the time. You could shut up the critics that say the 3DS only has cartoony games.

Beetle Adventure Racing

This was one of the best racing games on the N64 and no one ever even talks about it. Well, I want to do more than talk about it. I want to play it again. In 3D! It would be less work than normal racing games to design. Do the 3D model of the Beetle. Then just palette swap it repeatedly. The tracks would get a nice visual overhaul from the N64 with more depth and detail. The 3D would truly make it seem like you had track in front of you. Again, online multiplayer would become a possibility and suddenly you have yourself a nice complete 3DS racing game with the possibility of cross promotion with Volkswagen. You’re welcome, Nintendo.

Milo’s Astro Lanes

When I reviewed this game *pauses to appreciate cheap plug*, one of my gripes with it was that it had monotonous, boring animations. Well, here is a chance to add a bunch more in with the mountain of extra storage space on the 3DS cartridge. Besides, space looks awesome in 3D. This game was fairly pretty back on the N64, imagine what it would look like on the 3DS. Also, there would be a chance to correct the horribly unfortunate sound issues that plagued this game, as well as finally let us save without that darn controller pak. This was a a game that featured a lot of unique gameplay elements. Perhaps some creative use of the second screen would be in order?

Clayfighter 63 1/3

This admittedly is not my favorite fighting game on earth, but it does have a cult following. Also, it was really funny. Here we would finally get a chance to have all the characters from this game and Sculptor’s Cut together, without cutting any of the gameplay features out. It would look amazing, and you know that some of the more humorous things from this game would only be made better by the use of 3D. The only downfall I can see to this plan would be the lack of 3DS buttons for combos, but I am sure they would come up with something. They always do. Crafty Nintendo…

Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

Zeldamania is running wild right now so it would almost be expected that I would want this on the 3DS just like everyone else. Here is the thing though: Ocarina of Time 3D was an absolute masterpiece. It might be the best game on the entire system. As a man who has played Ocarina of Time an obscene amount of times, playing it on the 3DS made it seem like I was playing it for the very first time. It was one of the greatest gaming experiences I have ever had. The amount of work, love, and detail made me borderline emotional as I played through it and relived memories and saw things brought to life on the 3DS that the N64 wasn’t capable of. They took worlds that I had to fill in with my imagination and made them look exactly how I’d imagined. I want that fate for Majora’s Mask. I think this is the most overlooked game in the series and it deserves better. It deserves a second life, it needs to be experienced by Zelda fans, it should have that same level of work, love, and detail. It could bring this game, which a lot of people like even more than Ocarina of Time, in front of a whole new gaming generation. Just maybe those people get curious about what else the N64 had to offer.

As usual, this is not a complete list. I left off all of the Rare games because, why get our hopes up? Nonetheless, how about you? What N64 games do YOU want to see remade on the 3DS? Sound off in the comments below. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am 2 Decades Late for my next piece at 1 More Castle…