Every N64 launch game for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack

Yoshi’s Story

Now, I know I could have picked a trailer that showed more gameplay but when presented with the option to expose people to that much 90’s advertising nonsense at once, I’m going to absolutely take that x-treme route.

Yoshi’s Story is honestly my favorite platformer for the Nintendo 64. Sorry, not sorry. Mario 64 is famous but I love side-scrolling platformers. This doesn’t make Yoshi’s Story fault free though. While I’ll always be thankful for this game for removing the constantly wailing baby from the original Yoshi’s Island for SNES, this game added other things that were equally obnoxious.

The camera is way closer to the action than you’d want in a platformer. The on-screen hud SUCKS. As you collect fruit, giant fruit fill up the top of the screen making it harder to notice things above you. And the color is SO heavily contrasted that it looks like a child messing around with Instagram filters half the time. I know that it was something they did to make the game look more 3D but oof does it strain the eyes sometimes.

It does have some really fun platforming moments. Riding on a dragon, figuring out how to deal with enemies on stilts, Yoshi’s fun floaty jump. And really fun and whimsical boss fights that require reflexes and thinking.

Legends of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

I’m sorry, there’s no other video I could possibly post for this that wouldn’t be the video where Robin Willaims describes how he named his daughter after Zelda from Legend of Zelda.

Okay so Ocarina of Time, oh my god I can feel the eyes of the future looking at me wondering how I’m going to cover this heavily protected game. Oof, let’s do it.

The game is alright. For the time it came out, it was absolutely a technical marvel and completely worth the price of the Nintendo 64. Even now, despite the fact that the game’s graphics haven’t held up all and the camera is very difficult by modern standards it’s actually still quite enjoyable.

The areas are very diverse with each area giving you some reason to reexamine how you navigate. One might require you to hookshot your way around, another may be an entire area that runs off boomerang strikes. It has a lot of variety that keeps the game lively and fresh.

The soundtrack is also exceptional. I honestly can’t think of a game, other Legends of Zelda games included, that features a more perfectly fitting soundtrack. “Lost Woods” let’s you know immediately you’re in a forest filled with mysteries. “Hyrule Fields Main Theme” is a game that’s as sweeping as the plains of Hyrule themselves. “Garudo Valley” gives you a feel for the world, the aesthetics and the people themselves. And you can’t ever tell me that there’s a Zelda song that is more of an absolute bop than the Song of Storms.

I’ll never forget this song indeed.

There’s a reason why this game is beloved. It’s not only a flagstone for the shape of the franchise but it’s also one of those rare flagstones that hold up on its own and is actually worth a revisit.