5th Gen Love

[Logan Ruckman]

You know, a lot of people seem to hate the 5th Generation. Retro gamers dislike it because 3D became all the rage and 2D was soon considered to be outdated, while modern gamers hate it because they focus on the bad, like bad cameras and blocky graphics. This topic is different. This topic is a tribute to my 2nd favorite generation. Where would 3D platformers be without the revolutionary Super Mario 64, which is still the best 3D platformer ever? And games like Diddy Kong Racing and Mario Kart 64 were some of the best racing games ever. Ocarina Of Time gave us a huge open world to explore and a brilliant time traveling aspect, while it's darker sequel, Majora's Mask gave us a darker, more emotional experience, while also giving you the ability to control time, and the masks were amazing. Super Smash Bros. gave us items, 4 player, and a unique percent damage system, thus changing the way we thought fighting games should be. The N64 itself revolutionized gaming by including four controller ports. And you can't forget the PS1. Yaroze allowed the indie developers a chance to make their own console games. Resident Evil was a great scarefest that revolutionized survival horror games. Metal Gear Solid placed more emphasis on stealth and went down in history for it's contributions to the stealth genre. And even though I've never played one, I can practically guarantee that the Saturn was great, too. Arcade and PC gaming was awesome, too. And all the "2D died during 5th Gen" talk was exaggerated. Look at the Game Boy Color, for example. The greatest generation of Pokémon, Gold, Silver, and Crystal came out for the GBC. Oracle Of Ages and Oracle Of Seasons were worthy additions to the Zelda series. And there were the compilations, like Namco Museum. Don't forget the 2D originals for home consoles, like Yoshi's Story. Hell, games like Paper Mario combined 2D and 3D graphics. Why don't we all remember the good things the 5th Generation brought us instead of remembering the bad?

[Calysma1]

Resident Evil was a great scarefest that revolutionized survival horror games. Metal Gear Solid placed more emphasis on stealth and went down in history for it's contributions to the stealth genre.

Don't forget GoldenEye for the N64; it was a giant leap forward for console first-person shooters, four years before Halo came out.

Don't forget the 2D originals for home consoles, like Yoshi's Story.

Hear, hear. Some of my favourite fifth-gen games are 2D: Oddworld and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, for example.

[JesusSaves]

The 5th generation was my favorite generation. It was one of the most creative generations IMO.

[Jon1]

It's my favorite generation too. Add the Jaguar and 3do. You have 5 consoles with something for everyone. I like 5th the most because the 3d games were the least complicated and difficult games of 3d era. I love 3d, just simple 3d. The less buttons the better. And don't give me games where it takes months to see everything it has to offer, that's disgusting. Everyone talks about the PS1 early polygon games (1995) looking ugly, but there were some classics from that period that didn't look ugly. And I too love the N64 platformers. Another great thing about the 5th generation is that it was the last generation with 2d games. Come 6th generation it all ended, I will never forgive the industry, why get rid of 2d? It was just reaching its potential and they zapped it. Do you know how good it could've been. They could've had Metal Slug type games with a million things on screen at once with no slowdown, with things blowing up everywhere. Just when they were able to get unlimited sprites on screen they stopped 2d. I also wasn't ready for the end of 2d platformers.

[0-Storm]

I still think Twisted Metal 2 (PS1) is the best vehicle/combat game. The graphics aren't pretty, but everything is clearly defined. You can see enemies from a good distance away. So in that sense the graphics are better then a lot of newer games who try to focus on dark shadows or dull "realistic"
colors.

Tactics Ogre, Brigandine & Ogre Battle are my favorite Tactics games (known to some as rpgs). All are on the PS1. Another good version of Ogre Battle is on the N64.

[Logan Ruckman]

Don't forget GoldenEye for the N64; it was a giant leap forward for console first-person shooters, four years before Halo came out.

I should have, I know, but I only have access to a computer when I go to my dad's house or at school, and I usually don't have the chance to get on a computer for anything but work, so I had to type this with a DSi, which for some retarded reason, has a text limit.

[N64Dude1]

What's worse most threads seem to be made just to bash the 64 for "blurriness" when it's clearly better looking if done right,the best game on the 64 still looks better than that Omega Boost game. No one has gone out of their way to do the same to PS2 even though originally Dreamcast games looked better

We blame the cameras,the controls,but that is transition.The 5th gen was a transition and good and bad come out of it

Also the best Mario game,the best Star Fox,and the controller vibration came from here.Finally I can't help but love all those platformers and skateboarding games like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater,the other generations just don't have that.
The 2D generations couldn't handle such a game and the 6th and 7th generation games just had too much going on [Seriously after Underground came out the genre died]. The turn of the millenium also had games like PaRappa and Samba de Amigo and Seaman

The other generations lack variety in comparison,especially the overrated SNES generation.

[JWK1]

This will sound hilarious, but I always thought the "blur" on the N64 was charming.  I never minded how the systems graphics looked.  This was ten years before HD, so a little "soft edges" on the graphics never hurt the games.

That said, unfortunately I have to agree with the haters.  5th gen was, by FAR, my least favorite generation of gaming.  Everyone was in a made dash to make 3D games, thereby mortally wounding my two favorite things in video games: 2D and platforming.  I understand that the ideas that have lead to refined 3D games had to start somewhere.  But there's no denying that the camera, physics, textures, and polygons in those early PSOne titles are terrible. Now, if they had stuck 2D it could have possibly been my FAVORITE generation ever.  Klonoa, Mega Man X4, Oddworld are all great games and look great too.

It wasn't all bad for me personally.  Not by a long shot.  I played Mario Kart 64 and Golden Eye to DEATH.  I still consider MK64 as the best mulitplayer racer of all time.  But I didn't like Mario 64 at all and have only given it a second chance in recent years on the DS.  N64Dude and I agree on quite a few things, but this clearly isn't one of them.  The SNES is my favorite system and 5th gen is my favorite as the SNES, Genesis, and PC Engine are three of the greatest systems ever.

[Logan Ruckman]

You also can't forget other innovations from this period: Memory Cards (I preferred cartridge save, though), Rumble, Analog Controls (Okay, this was technically around since the 80's), Lock-On Targeting, 3D that didn't look like one, giant, blurry polygon, Consoles able to play music CDs, Rythym Games, Bullet Hell SHMUPs (Well, there were some before, like Recca on NES), 2.5D Graphics, 3D Fighters, Cinematic Cutscenes, 3D Platformers, MMOs, 3rd Person Shooters, and Stealth Games, to name a few.

[Blueguy93]

Ever since I got an N64, I loved it. I have fond memories of playing Pokemon Snap, Super Smash Bros, Super Mario 64, Paper Mario, Goldeneye, Star Fox 64, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Mario Kart 64, Hot Wheels Turbo Racing, Kirby 64, Mario Party, and of course Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Some of the best games I've ever played, and still play to this day.