This is one of the last revisions of the Nintendo 64 hardware and packaging – the Donkey Kong 64 set. I purposely waited to buy this system until both the price dropped far enough and Nintendo offered something a little more compelling than the plain old greyish-blue console with no pack-ins, and while DK64 is hardly the best N64 game, it’s something, at least. And it’s a “real” Nintendo pack-in, unlike the Star Wars system that was also out at around the same time.
I do like the look of the DK64 set, especially with the banana-colored DK64 cart in there (you may notice this is the only system I’m showing with a cart actually in it). It’s a nice match. Even the green system by itself, though, looks a lot more exciting than the standard N64. Nintendo also released some very late models in other colors besides green – my guess is these are probably the rarest of all N64′s as they came right at the end of the system’s lifespan and couldn’t possibly have sold all that well before the system was discontinued.
I’m not a big fan of the N64 – I don’t know too many people that are. But it does have a few good games, and it’s worth owning if for nothing else than the Treasure-developed, Japan-only game Sin and Punishment, one of the best rail shooters ever made and easily the best N64 game. Pick up an import converter and you’ll be set for life.
Now that’s a game. If the title alone doesn’t give you an indication, one look at the box art and you know you’re dealing with some serious business here.
The N64 Donkey Kong set also comes with the N64 “Expansion Pak”, which is basically just an extra couple MB of VRAM for games that can use it.
My feeling is this thing is pretty much a required peripheral for the N64 – almost all of the best games look a lot better with it, and some of the later games (like DK64) won’t even work without it.
I don’t have a lot of N64 games and probably never will. Still, there are a few more that I want – I don’t even have most of the “essentials”, such as Perfect Dark, Goldeneye, or Super Mario 64. I need to pick those up at some point.
Buy Nintendo 64 hardware and games on eBay
7 responses so far ↓
1 Alex // Aug 5, 2008 at 12:38 am
Yeah, unless you have the real Classic games, the N64 sucks. Get GoldenEye, Super Mario 64, Zelda: Ocarina of time and Mario Kart. Those are 4 well-rounded games and are a great place to start.
2 Greg // Apr 19, 2009 at 9:10 pm
lolz no wonder u hate the N64 so much, you havent even bought the good games! what alex said, get goldeneye and zelda and ur opinion will totally change.
3 Josh // May 10, 2009 at 10:25 pm
This is a great website about games and game systems, I love it. But I must disagree with your opinion on the N64.
4 Eric // Jul 17, 2009 at 9:34 pm
I love the N64; it’s just awesome.
5 Kawaiipikachu // Sep 24, 2009 at 7:50 am
The Nintendo 64 is a nice system I got 10 great games on it including the underated Tetrisphere.
Sin & Punishment is great & I have it on my Wii’s Virtual Console.
Still there be many games that won’t make it to the virtual console like Goldeneye & Perfect Dark.
6 Cooper // Sep 4, 2011 at 7:46 am
The Nintendo 64 is my favorite system of all time!!!! Goldeneye, Mario 64, Zelda, and Mario Kart are all great games, but not the only good ones. What about Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Banjo Kazooie, Glover, Fighters Destiny, Mace The Dark Age, Diddy Kong Racing, Mischief Makers, Bomberman 64, 1080 Snowboarding, Wave Race 64, Pokemon Stadium, Pokemon Snap, Magical Tetris Challenge, Buck Bumble, Quest 64, etc..
7 John // Jan 27, 2012 at 1:21 am
Donkey 64 is one of the greatest games. Any Legend of Zelda game on 64 was great.. all the Mario games were great… the pokemon games, banjo kazooie, diddy kong racing…. this system is one of the best systems ever if not THE best.
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