Back in the year 2000 (what do you mean that was 25 years ago… surely not!), I was a student at university taking a degree in Film, Television, and Radio Studies. Whilst i had myself a lovely if somewhat underpowered Win 98 PC (a Cyrix MII based system with a Voodoo Banshee graphics card), I wanted a way of gaming that was quicker and more “plug & play”.

So one Saturday afternoon, I found myself in the local branch of Game. And I started looking at the pre-owned consoles they had. Frankly, the PlayStation didn’t appeal to me at the time, and the Saturn was basically dead at this point. So I decided to go all in on a Nintendo 64. I picked up a console that came with 3 games: FIFA Road To The World Cup 98, WWF War Zone, and Mystical Ninja starring Goeman.

And I was hooked. Not by FIFA or the WWF game (both of which were, in my opinion, boring), but by Goeman. It was a brilliant game. Colourful, cheerful, and with an incredible soundtrack. The games intro was sung! By an actual human! on a CARTRIDGE! And it played excellently. Better than Mario 64, IMHO.

Needless to say, I soon traded in the FIFA and WWF games in favour of some titles more suited to my preferences. I grabbed WCW/NWO World Tour and a baseball game (because I’d played it and enjoyed it at a friends house). I also began to rent an awful lot of games from my local Blockbuster rather than buying new games (Hey, I was a student. That beer doesn’t buy itself you know). I think I pretty much rented everything they had. Castlevania, Ocarina Of Time, Mario Kart, GoldenEye, Turok… I played them all.

Eventually I finished uni and returned home. Once I had a job, I did buy a few more games, such as Starfox 64 (AKA Lylat Wars) in it’s ludicrously oversized box, WWF WrestleMania 2000, and more. It was great time for me as a gamer. Sure, the PS2, Xbox, Dreamcast and Game Cube were all on the market around this time, but I stuck with Nintendos grey slab of fun. Games were easy & cheap to pick up pre-owned. And there were plenty to games to choose from.

Indeed, I loved my N64 so much that I still have the very console I bought all those years ago, and I still use it frequently. It holds a special place in my heart alongside the Mega Drive and 3DO as systems I will return to again and again.

29 years after it’s launch, and 25 years after I bought mine, the N64 is still an brilliant machine. Long live the N64