Nintendo 64 Memories

I would never call myself a hard core gamer. I am not, nor will I ever be, at that level. I call myself a casual video game player. I think video games are a really cool medium, and I even support the cause that says that video games are art. Despite many of the video games in my possession still being unbeaten, video gaming was a huge nostalgic part of my childhood, from getting my Game Boy Advance SP for Christmas to going over to my friend's house and bonding over Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. However, nothing gives me a sense of amazing sentimental value than going over to my grandparents' house for a visit, and playing the Nintendo 64 that was kept in their basement.

Being born in 1997, my facts of how the N64 was decided to be a part of my grandparents' visiting experience are somewhat hazy. As a result, I'll try to go into the backstory as best I can. What I can say is that it was bought as another piece of awesome "entertainment" for the grandchildren whenever they visit. While I don't know at the moment who actually bought it, I believe that whoever did was a complete genius. With that dark piece of plastic with its oddly shaped controllers waiting down in the basement, this kicked off a lot of fun memories from the three games that were bought with it.

One of the games that was with the system was the classic Super Smash Bros. For those who don't know, this is a fighting game where up to four players can fight to knock their opponents of the stage, utilizing Nintendo characters as fighters. I don't have any specific events I can recall, but I do know that this made for the ultimate party experience during the mass visit from my nine cousins. When there's time to play a great game, what's more fun than taking control of characters with a variety of skills and taking each other out on uniquely hazardous fighting grounds?

The second game that was part of the bundle was Mario Kart 64, a basic racing game. Going against my two siblings on the four Battle Mode stages and trying to be the last one left with their balloons is still enjoyable to this day with ever new incarnation of the Mario Kart series. I also still find it funny how my sister would always pick the character Peach (by her own admission that it was because she was a girl), and I would pick Bowser due the latter being a Heavy type, and Peach being a light type. Type comparisons is a huge feature in Mario Kart games that still exists today. Whether racing around the track trying to get first place, or destroying your opponents in vehicular combat, Mario Kart 64 was another classic game for the collection.

The final game of the three was Mario Golf, which doesn't have the same amount of memories that the other two carry for me. I'd probably even be willing to bet money that my siblings and cousins would admit the same things. This probably has to do with the fact that golf in general is rather slow and the other two games allowed a more fast-paced, intense competition. There were still always plenty of previous rankings in the game's options that the other grandchildren had performed, and one of my Birdie performances made it onto those rankings. Despite not carrying any close memories to me, I remember the game still being fun despite its slow gameplay.

A time even came when I was younger when two of my cousins temporarily lent some of their N64 games to use on the system at our grandparents'. Of these included a game version of Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue that I felt I had powered through, before getting stuck on around the seventh level. The famous Star Fox 64 was even included, and I remember watching my older brother plow through space in that interesting and interstellar game. A version of Tetris was also included, and my biggest memory was watching my brother go into a four player competition with some of the other cousins. I even remember a little tidbit of one of my female cousins using the name "Carmel" for the game. Although these only lasted one visit, they are still fun to look back on and see what kind of fun can had with just 64-bit graphics.

Playing games for that system (which now currently temporarily sits at my parents' home) is something I will always look back on fondly from my childhood. We fought to the death with our favorite Nintendo characters in Super Smash Bros. We raced around colorful tracks and popped each others' balloons in Mario Kart 64. We lazily hit golf balls in creative courses in Mario Golf. We even took stabs at some games belonging to other members of the family. The Nintendo 64 still resonates with me as a great gaming console, and I will always look back with gratitude on all the fun times I had with my cousins and siblings when we all visited our grandparents.