For kids who grew up in the 90s (and yes, I realize how annoying this article already sounds by starting with talking about "90s kids"), we were subjected to massive growth in what technology was capable of. From computers to phones to film effects, everything advanced at a lightning quick pace. And one of the most influential leaps forward was 3D gaming.
While the N64 wasn't the first video game console to give the world 3D games, it was the first time players were able to experience Mario, Link, and the world of Pokémon in a wholly 3D space. And the games featuring those characters were some of the best in their respective franchises.
The goldmine of classic titles on the Nintendo 64 were staples in the childhoods of many. Whether it was the groundbreaking multiplayer of GoldenEye 007, the platforming genius behind Banjo-Kazooie, or the sheer scope of adventure that could only be found in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, there are so many games that are fondly looked back on.
And with this new spectrum of gaming, clever developers chose to hide a bevy of details, easter eggs, and references throughout their work for eager fans to stumble across. Without the help of the internet, many of them could be quite difficult to find or even understand. Some of these details were passed around on schoolyards with the highest of bragging rights, while others took more than a decade to discover.
Here are 25 hidden details in Nintendo 64 games even real fans completely missed.
25 Ocarina Of Time's Fallen Soldier
There isn’t too much to do in Hyrule’s Market after Zelda flees the castle with Impa, so this detail may have gone missed by some players. In one of the alleys off the side of the main area, you can find a wounded soldier who speaks of how Ganondorf betrayed the King.
After he begs for Link’s help in stopping the villain, the soldier collapses and stops moving. While it’s only a minor moment, it does show Ganondorf’s wickedness on a smaller, more personal scale.
24 Different Color Palettes In Pokémon Stadium
The original Pokémon Stadium came packaged with the Transfer Pak, which let players transfer data between N64 and Game Boy Color games. The purpose being that you could bring over your Pokémon from Red, Blue, or Yellow into Pokémon Stadium.
But if you happened to nickname your Pokémon, they would be a different color in the N64 game.
How they look exactly varies depending on what you name them. For example, if you named your Pikachu Thunder, it would take on a dark orange tint. But if you named it Sparky, it would be a bit more gold.
23 An Unnecessary Warning In Super Smash Bros.
With Super Smash Bros., Nintendo unknowingly graced the world with one of the best fighting franchises of all time. Not only was the gameplay fun and unique, but the concept of your favorite Nintendo characters duking it out provided hours of fun.
We all know that instead of health bars, characters have percentages. The higher percentage, the easier it is to get knocked out of bounds. On the single unlockable stage, Mushroom Kingdom, there is actually a DANGER sign at this point. You can see it if you pause near the edge and position the camera to look behind you.
22 A Hidden Reference To The Future In Majora's Mask
The Zelda series is host to a multitude of Easter eggs, whether they be references to games within the franchise or to other Nintendo titles. But Majora’s Mask also featured a small reference to the future of Nintendo.
Only, players probably didn’t realize what it was at the time.
While heading to the Astral Observatory, you’ll come across the Scarecrow on the lower floor. Next to him are a few pots, and underneath one is a simple drawing of a dolphin. The Dolphin was the original name for the GameCube, which was being developed at the time.
21 Misplaced Lab Equipment In GoldenEye 007
Back when Rare was still developing games for Nintendo, they loved to include hard-to-find details in their projects. One of their most popular titles to this day is GoldenEye 007 and it was no stranger to secrets or hidden details.
While the secret island in the first stage has become infamous by now, there were other smaller secrets that cropped up throughout. For example, after going through a certain door in the Facility stage, you could look up and see lab equipment sitting on top of a vent. Why is it there? Your guess is as good as mine.
20 A Hefty Penguin In Super Mario 64
While you can find Yoshi on the roof of Peach’s castle after collecting all 120 stars, there’s another occurrence that isn’t as widely known. One of the many stars comes from racing a big penguin down a slide in Cool Cool Mountain and you can race him for a second time once you’re done collecting.
But this time, he’s twice the size.
He says he hasn’t been using the slide and is out of shape, but it makes the race much more difficult as he can easily push Mario off. And you don’t even get anything the second time.
19 Secret Games In Mortal Kombat Trilogy
The Mortal Kombat games have been grossing out parents for decades now with over-the-top violence. And it’s a bit surprising that several titles have made it onto Nintendo consoles given the company’s usually squeaky-clean image.
But in the 90s, everyone wanted a piece of the fighting franchise. And when Midway ported Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 to the N64, they decided to include some hidden features. If you play 50 multiplayer matches in a row, you’ll be treated to a round of Pong. Better yet, if you play 100 you’ll be able to play a round of Galaga.
18 A Lecture On Behavior In Perfect Dark
Rare’s spiritual successor to GoldenEye 007 didn’t fare as well without the familiar face of James Bond, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a fantastic game. And with Perfect Dark being developed by Rare, it, of course, featured a number of hidden details.
One of the more time-consuming ones came in the Carrington Villa level in the wine cellar. After shooting all the bottles of alcohol (of which there are A LOT), you can hear Carrington’s voice say, “Act your age, Joanna.” The easter egg was also made into an achievement in the version seen in Rare Replay.
17 A Familiar Theme In Mario Kart 64
If there’s one game that could rival GoldenEye 007 with the number of multiplayer hours people put into it, that game would be Mario Kart 64. The second entry is still thought to be the best in the series by some just because of its impact.
While many future installments would make references to previous games, Mario Kart 64 featured one of the first.
The music for Banshee Boardwalk samples the theme for Ghost Valley from the SNES game. Since many racers started with the N64 game, and since it was more popular, this sample may have gone unnoticed.
16 Unfamiliar Voices In Pokémon Snap
Pokémon Snap tasked players with capturing the creatures in pictures instead of Pokéballs and was more fun than it sounds. But the nature in which Pokémon products were released made for a hidden difference in some of the voices of the creatures in this game.
It took sound design from the anime. But at the time of the worldwide release, some of these creatures hadn’t appeared in the American dubbed version. They had, however, appeared in the Japanese version. Thus, some of them use voiceover from the American anime while others were taken from the Japanese one.
15 A Cameo In Conker's Bad Fur Day
Conker’s Bad Fur Day, if you haven’t played it, is an outrageous and hilarious spoof on the cutesy platformer genre that Rare had already perfected. And it is absolutely packed to the brim with references to pop culture and other games made by the company.
The menu is set in a bar, in which you can see Banjo’s head mounted on the wall. But a smaller reference to one of Rare’s games comes when you stay still long enough. Conker has several idle animations, one of which sees him pull out a Game Boy Color to play Killer Instinct.
14 A Hidden Reference To The Past In Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
While many games connected to film universes usually turn out poorly, Star Wars has seen a lot of gems. One of these gems was Rogue Squadron for the N64 and it contained a hidden reference to The Phantom Menace.
The secret was unobtainable until developer Factor 5 announced it was there as it took two codes to unlock. On the passcode screen, you have to enter HALIFAX? and then !YNGWIE! and hit enter. It will tell you this is an incorrect passcode but hitting enter again will give you access to the Naboo Starfighter, piloted by Anakin in the prequel.
13 8-Bit Mario In Paper Mario
As we all know, not every Mario game is a platformer. Though it’s the genre that made him a star, he’s ventured into several other genres as well. One of his most beloved was his take on the RPG formula developed by Intelligent Systems.
The first Paper Mario game is an underrated classic, and the developers chose to include a hidden reference to Mario’s past. In the game’s third chapter taking place in Boo’s Mansion, you can find a hidden room with a rocking horse and a pot. Jumping into the pot will turn Mario into his 8-bit self.
12 A Different Kind Of Ride In Wave Race 64
While not as popular as Mario Kart 64, Wave Race 64 was still an insanely fun jet ski racing game that let players perform all kinds of stunts and tricks.
But these stunts and tricks could lead to an awesome secret if you did them correctly.
By choosing Stunt Mode in the main menu and Dolphin Park as your track, you would then have to complete a specific series of tricks to unlock this secret. The secret being that if you chose Championship Race afterward on the same track, you’d then be riding a dolphin.
11 Cheating In Kalimari Desert In Mario Kart 64
As if there weren’t enough friendship-ruining aspects seen in Mario Kart 64, one of the tracks can actually let you skip a lap if you know how.
Kalimari Desert features a dangerous hazard in the form of a train. But if you have a star as your item, you might want to turn down the tracks and head towards its tunnel.
Once Lakitu signals for you to turn around, you can activate the star while doing so. This will trick the game into thinking you’ve completed the lap you were on once you exit the tunnel.
10 Classic Tunes In Majora's Mask
Some of the most interesting characters of Majora’s Mask can be found in the Great Bay, but there are also several fun references to the Zelda days of old.
Three members of the Zora band, The Indio-gos, can be found playing music from older titles in Zora Hall.
The most obvious track is the one that Japas the bassist plays, as it is the dungeon theme heard in many Zelda games. Tijo, the drummer, plays the cave theme from A Link to the Past and Evan, the pianist, plays the game over theme from The Legend of Zelda.
9 The Impossible Coin From Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 has become a fascinating entry for the speedrunning community as collecting everything as quickly as possible is quite the feat. But what makes it a bit more special than others are hard to reach coins, such as this one seen underground on Tiny-Huge Island.
It can only be seen if you position the camera just right so it’s likely many players would have totally missed it. It was long thought impossible to get until in 2014 when one player was able to do so through some very precise jumping.
8 Rebecca Chambers In Resident Evil 2
Throughout the history of gaming, developers have come up with some pretty clever ways to hide easter eggs in their titles through means which most gamers may not think to do. Such is the case with this secret from Capcom’s zombie franchise.
Rebecca Chambers, a minor character from the first game and eventual star of Resident Evil Zero, makes a very small cameo in Resident Evil 2. By going to the S.T.A.R.S. office and searching Wesker’s desk exactly fifty times, you’ll receive some film. Upon development, you’ll find it is a picture of the young Rebecca.
7 Paper Mario's Hidden Messages
While some secrets require players to do certain things in certain orders, there are others that can only be found through glitches. In the Toad Town section of Paper Mario, it is possible to glitch yourself into a part of the area you aren’t supposed to have access to yet.
The dialogue of the NPCs then completely changes.
Some will say things like, “This message should not appear. I’ll be scared if it does.” These hidden messages were discovered 16 years after release, which makes you think about all the other hidden details we have yet to stumble upon.
6 A Chinese Proverb In Pokémon Snap
One wouldn’t expect something deep to be found in a game that revolves around taking pictures of Pokémon, but here we are. There is an ancient Chinese story that speaks of carp swimming up river and leaping into a magical waterfall known as the Dragon’s Gate and reemerging as dragons.
And in Pokémon Snap, you can force Magikarp to do exactly that.
On the River stage, you’ll find Magikarp jumping out of the water in front of a waterfall. Knocking it in forces it to evolve into Gyarados. While not really a dragon type, the inspiration is clear.