CD64 and Doctor v64 : N64 CD backup (picture fix)

Welcome to a special segment of my blog. There was an 8x CD-ROM add-on for Nintendo 64. Awesome! UFO, a 3rd party manufacturer, added a CDROM to the bottom slot on the Nintendo 64 called the CD64. It comes with a backup function so you can backup your N64 games to CD. Probably a ROM format used in today’s Windows emulators. If Nintendo did business with UFO 5 years ago, we might have seen N64 games on CD-Format. The CD64 is now used as a place to emulate Super NES ROMS and other emulators. From the looks of it – it has a standard CD-ROM built in a hardware hub. On the official website…it reads that for some games…you can’t download them directly off the cartridge because of software encryption. The device needs a patch be downloaded onto it.

CD64 Backup Device

But think if N64 games based on CD – think of the improvements the N64 could-of had. Final Fantasy VII could have been on it. Square left Nintendo because they couldn’t put FFVII on a cartridge at that time. It was too small of space. And if they would-have had the space for the game then they could never have had movies on it. But it wouldn’t sell millions of copies if it was released in 1998. Perhaps Nintendo never thought of doing business with UFO because with the Sega 32X, a cd add-on of Genesis only had 1 or 2 good games and it failed to market well. Plus the Saturn was less than a year away.

On my second subject I also have downloaded the 1964 N64 emulator and it works better then Nemu 64. I was excited to be able to play Goldeneye on the computer. I have a CD full of Nintendo 64 Roms – 16 in all. Back then I forgot about them because I used Nemu64 0.7. This was the best there was in terms of emulation in 2000 and 2001. However 3 years have passed since then and well….graphics have very much improved. Even N64 games run in high resolution! Whoa! I first realized it today when I downloaded 1964 for Windows. The newest version .99 supports Internet play and community graphics Direct X 9.0 plugins. I can say when Nemu64 only ran Super Mario 64 and not anything else…that was the truth. 1964 runs Goldeneye and Perfect Dark very well. I got my Nuko Air Flow Pro Controller to work with the default controller plugin. Okay Goldeneye and Perfect Dark now run at 1600x1200 where on N64 they just ran on 640x480 res. There is a noticeable difference from what I can tell and they run in high res. Maybe because they run in high resolution that there is a noticeable difference? Now if only someone could develop a plugin that makes PSone games run in High Resolution on my pc? Right now, I’m in the process of downloading Turok II Seeds of Evil off Emule 0.42g. You can get all the plugins off http://NGemu.com.

And I guess this isn’t the only CD backup device for N64. There is also Doctor V64, which is more stylish version. It’s manufactured by Bong. The device apparently has 128 MB of internal memory. Remember that most carts weren’t above 128 MB anyways. Super Mario 64 was only on an 8 MB cartridge. Goldeneye was on a 32 MB cartridge. The games were very compressed. Anyways here are some screenshots of Doctor 64


Doctor V64 (no longer manufactured)

Yes, in case you’ve been wondering, I have heard of the Nintendo 64 Disc Drive. It had Legend of Zelda Master Quest and Mario Paint and Simcity 64 on it. I hear it was on CDs, but the lack of games outweighed the cost of the disk drive. Failed to sell well in Japan. This is officially Nintendo’s first adaptation to the CD disc. A little too late. And this article is about the only CD-ROM for N64 on all other continents (and islands) other than Japan.

Here is a list of ROMS I had from my 2000 disc.

• Super Mario 64 – works excellent, no pixilated edges.
• Legend of Zelda Orcania of Time – No missing Frames and it runs in higher resolution than the Gamecube Bonus Disk that came with Wind Waker. That’s fricken awesome!
• Mario Kart 64 – No missing frames and in high resolution. No pixilated edges.
• Turok – some missing frames but it’s playable
• Legend of Zelda 64 – Majoria’s Mask – works as well as Orcania of Time
• Madden 64 – sound and graphics work.
• Goldeneye 64 – works Excellent
• Perfect Dark – works Excellent
• RUSH! – works good some missing frames
• Extreme G – works, a little buggy with the graphics engine and the game pops up every 10 seconds, put that didn’t stop me from playing one of my favorite N64 games!
• Extreme G 2 – does work too well. Foggy. Sound is good though.
• Beetle Racing – Works Excellent
• Glover - works
• Bomberman 64 – works
• Doom 64 – engine works, sound works, it’s old and the best looking doom
• Kirby 64 – works beautifully
• Forsakken 64 – not tested yet
• Banjo and Kazooie – sound and graphics work. Control of course works cause it's also emulated. A few minor glitches here and there.
• Top Gear Rally 2 – not playable because of the massive empty frames but works.
• Star Fox 64 – Very playable, Works excellent – sounds a problem though
• 1080 Snowboarding – Rocks! Runs in High Res. Sound works beautifully
• Crusin USA – Works Excellent Sound Great, Graphics on par

Actually I’ve been playing 30 minutes of Super Mario 64 with my gamepad. It’s an oldie but it plays like a dream, and it’s in high resolution. Remember this improvement came as a surprise. Nemu64 didn’t let any N64 game run in High Resolution at 60 Frames Per Second (FPS). I don’t know maybe it’s 30 FPS.

I finished the final battle with Adult Riku in Kingdom Hearts at 4:30 AM today. I’m surprised, the phrase Kingdom Hearts comes from multiple worlds each representing a heart. I thought that Hearts came from Alice in Wonderland. The ending was what I’ve expected it too be (big hint in first part of the game). I knew Riku was going to be evil. The heartless come from that movie, Fantasia, I see. I beat the game in just under 29 hours. It was more fun then I expected it to be. The game definably was cheesy at times. The Star Fox style rail shooter in-between worlds seemed out-a place to me. It’s one of the mini-games in Kingdom Hearts. KH seemed to be an action platformer instead of a RPG - kind of like Ratchet and Clank. It had some RPG elements like the parties, exchange items, customize items, gaining experience. But it seemed to be as much as a hack ‘n slash game as a role playing game. The difficulty of this game is about medium to my skill level. The last part was a challenge that I’ve mastered after 5 tries.

I'm starting to play Summoner 2. Summoner 2 is a role playing game…not as good as Final Fantasy…but equally as fun as Kingdom Hearts. I’ve had time to waste. When I’m not playing Summoner 2, I’m playing Unreal Tournament 2004. Except today I was playing around with Super Mario 64. Today I didn’t’ have too much to do. I’m accomplished Kingdom Hearts. I only beaten Diablo 2, Neverwinter Nights, Final Fantasy X, Legend of Dragoon, Chrono Cross and Final Fantasy 8 in the RPG genre. I know many of you whom play games regularly beating more RPGs, but I agree that you know the battle system more. I have a hard time adapting to new battle systems. I, however, picked up on Kingdom Hearts within the first 10 minutes. See I’m not dumb when it comes to RPGS!!! Message me and we can talk RPGs sometime.

Find N64 Roms off P/P unities: Emule, Overnet, iMESH or Limewire.