The N64 is a console that's something of an enigma. It's been credited with providing one of the strongest platforms for multiplayer gaming by pioneering 4 player split-screen. It also holds some of the most revered games to this day, including Zelda: Ocarina of Time, GoldenEye, and Mario's foray into 3D, Super Mario 64. You also had the introduction of the thumbstick, which proved a terrific compliment for 3D-controlled gaming, as well as a back trigger optimal for shooting games.

Yet, for every bright spot of innovation and quality, there also seemed to be a blemish or weird quirk. The console's crude, blocky graphics haven't aged all that well, and it's been criticized for its odd, cumbersome controller design, as well as its restrictive use of cartridges when CDs were beginning to take off. It's true that Nintendo's first venture into true 3D has proven something of a mixed bag, with limited functionality, especially compared to its competitor, the PlayStation. Developers often snubbed the console in favor of Sony's more versatile machine, leading to the inevitable slim library of games. Though it went on to sell 33 million units worldwide, it was a notable dip from the 49 million the SNES managed to move.

It didn't help that outside of Nintendo's selling point of 64-bit 3D gaming, there didn't seem to be much in the way of versatility, secondary features or technological marvels fans could be excited about. Yet, as it turns out, there are a number of abilities, functionalities, and add-ons you may not know about, which begin to paint this console in a more interesting light.

Here are 25 things known only by the most diehard of N64 enthusiasts.

25 A Specialized Cart That Allowed For Cheat Codes

via: Shop.wfcgames.com

The 90s seemed to be the golden era for long and convoluted cheat codes. Game Genie was the go-to choice for many of the NES, SNES, and Genesis era, but Mad Catz' Game Shark took the reigns in the 3D generation. The N64's version came in the form of a cartridge that would be loaded into the console while the game would be fastened onto the top. Much like Game Genie, you'd be prompted to enter in a sequence of letters and numbers to activate and manipulate aspects of various games.

Then the N64 world was your oyster.

You could do anything from walking on lava in Super Mario 64, to making the walls move in GoldenEye. While it had its technical issues from time to time, Game Shark brought a new dimension of amusement to your games, and helped you overcome those tricky hurdles.

24 Its Controller Could be Used for PC Games

via: www.retro-emulation.com

Have you ever wanted to play PC games with the N64 controller? Well, turns out, you can, thanks to this handy Maytag adapter! The N64 controller is one of a kind, with its odd three-pronged structure, vast array of buttons, and bulky nature. While it has its downsides, it still holds an appeal for many. It certainly is a great choice for shooters, and its thumb stick is choice for 3D gaming.

This USB adapter proves quite easy to use and only requires you have the controller itself to function. So if you grew up on 90s gaming and don't fancy the keyboard and mouse setup, why not dust off the old controller and put it to use for some PC gaming?

23 The Add-On That Took The N64 To The Next Level

via: wikipedia.com

Back in the late 90s, Nintendo seemed to still be living by the mantra, "now you're playing with power", and was always looking to push technical boundaries. As a sort of stop-gap in between the N64 and GameCube, Nintendo looked to beef up its aging N64 with an add-on known as the 64DD. This peripheral would use magneto-optical disks for additional memory and enhanced gameplay performance.

The device was meant to act as a compliment to the Randnet internet service, and would be launched with Sim City and Pokémon titles. It was also meant to showcase the art-creation tool Mario Artist, which came with a keyboard and mouse. The product never took off however, and lasted roughly a year in Japan, before quickly becoming a footnote alongside the Virtual Boy.

22 Support for Third Party Rumble Packs

via: amazon.com (Madcatz)

You may know about the Nintendo-made Rumble Pak, which helped lay the groundwork for the more immersive vibration technology controllers use today. but what you might not know is that the back loader of the N64 controller also supported third party versions of this device. These included Razor's Shock Pak, and InterAct's Tremor Pak.

Perhaps the coolest variety of this is Mad Catz' Force Pack

Donning a slick and ominous black, this thing boasted a more powerful vibration, along with a hypnotic red glowing light that complimented the vibration.

21 Game Boy-To-N64 Communication

via: Nintendo64.wikia.com

Before the days of Nintendo Switch's seamless ability to switch from handheld to console display, there was this bulky device; the Transfer Pak. It was fastened to the back of the controller, and mainly used for bringing your Pokémon from Red and Blue to fight in Pokémon Stadium. It was compatible with a handful of other games, including Mario Tennis and Super Robot Taisen 64.

You could witness your Pokémon in all their color and 3D glory.

This thing was also a sort of Amiibo prototype, as it allowed you to unlock features and content from Game Boy games into their corresponding N64 versions. You could get a special cloaking device in Perfect Dark, and extra characters in Mario Golf, for instance.

20 One Of Tts Flagship Games Had A Blockbuster Tie-In

via: https://www.deviantart.com/jupital

As if the N64 wasn't distinct enough, the game Pokémon Snap, in which you traveled around (literally) on rails and took photos of the colorful creatures, had its own booth at Blockbuster Video. This station allowed you to load up your memory card with your best saved pictures and print out small rectangular stickers.

You gotta love the 90s...

Kids pasted these stickers just about everywhere - lunchboxes, trapper keepers, and in my case, even TVs and bookshelves. While this was a short lived promotion, it was sure neat while it lasted, and remains a charmingly unique blip in gaming history.

19 N64 Expansion Pak Support For Optimized Gaming

via: Thegameexperts.com.au

I suppose you could say this was like a toned-down 64DD. The N64's Expansion Pak, released in 1998, juiced up the console's performance quite a bit. It allowed for greater resolution, slicker graphics, and doubled the RAM. Users simply had to open the front compartment and load it inside, and the machine did the rest.

The add-on came bundled with one of Rare's flagship titles, Donkey Kong 64, as the game required it to play, along with Perfect Dark and Zelda: Majora's Mask. Most of N64's library could function without it, though it did enhance the experience for many in its library.

18 It Could Emulate The NES And Super NES

via: Reddit.com (u/RagequitLV)

Nowadays emulation and backwards compatibility is everywhere, but during Nintendo's first few consoles, such a luxury was virtually absent. Oddly enough, such a device did allow gamers to relive the glory years of the 8 and 16-bit era on their N64.

Just like that, the library of the N64 ballooned from hundreds to thousands of games.

This unlicensed add-on from Future Laboratory in Hong Kong, called the Tristar 64, was somehow able to slip under the radar of Nintendo's usually restrictive stance on licensing. Users could simply latch the device atop their N64 and load their NES or Super NES carts into the slots.

17 Pokémon Game Boy Games On The Big Screen

via pinterest.com

As if playing NES and Super NES titles on your 64 wasn't enough, there were also a couple of means to play Game Boy games on your TV, Super Game Boy style. One method was Intelligent System's Wide Boy 64. It could be loaded into the top loader along with a Game Boy title, and the game is displayed on the screen.

The rub here is that this device was only available to press and developers. But there is some good news. One little-known benefit of owning Pokémon Stadium is that the game allowed you to play Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow via the Transfer Pak. You could even customize the game's speed by two or three times with Stadium's Doduo and Dodrio modes.

16 You Could Talk To Pikachu Using A Microphone

via: https://picclick.com/

If you ever wanted to communicate directly with your cute and cuddly Pokémon, Hey You Pikachu allowed you to do so. An N64 peripheral was released alongside the game that could pick up speech, naturally dubbed the "Voice Recognition Unit", or VRU.

Pikachu is listening...

The experience is like a more passive version of a virtual pet, where you befriend Pikachu in the wild, gain its trust, accomplish objectives, and gain points. The device wasn't supported outside of this game, but Nintendo would use it as a template to play around with voice recognition in future generation games, including Mario Party 6 and 7.

15 It Has Mouse Functionality

via: Kotaku.com

While the thumb stick proved suitable enough for control in the 3D space, the short-lived online experiment of Randnet all but required the use of a mouse. Nintendo delivered with their own model, which naturally was to be used for games like the Mario Artist series, and Sim City 64.

We just needed a yellow Pikachu mouse...

The device is simply plugged into the controller port like a normal controller. And yes, you actually can play certain games with the device, at least on a basic level. Though because of its measly 2 buttons, only titles with minimal control schemes like racers are playable. Still, it's a fun experiment to play around with for kicks.

14 It Had Functionality With The Game Boy Camera

via assemblergames.com

With yet another accessory that could be played around with in Mario Artist,  the software could work directly with the Game Boy Camera. The peripheral would simply be loaded into the Transfer Pak and could take pictures, which were translated and could be edited on screen.

Look into the Game Boy cartridge and say cheese!

Apparently, Nintendo was also set to use this device as a way to slap a player's real face onto Perfect Dark characters. Though somewhere along the line, they likely figured it may not be in their best interests to encourage people to shoot virtual versions of their friends, and scrapped the project.

13 It Could Capture Video And Sound With A Capture Cassette

via: www.retrosales.com.au

As if the Mario Artist series didn't use enough peripherals, enter the super obscure Video Capture Cassette. This software came in cart form, and was loaded into the top loader like a game, after which component cables could be hooked up to the back and connected to a camcorder or VCR.

Now you're playing with film power!

The idea was to record composite video from games and even movies, which would be loaded and manipulated into a sort of basic animation software called Mario Artist: Talent Studio.

12 Keyboard Support With Randnet And MadCatz

via: assemblergames.com

To round out the PC getup, Nintendo naturally released an official keyboard to go along with their internet service. The keyboard could be used to email friends, surf the web, and input various commands in games.

In addition to the Randnet model, there was also another keyboard which was included with InterAct's Sharkwire, which was to be the US counterpart to the Japanese Randnet service. It's a shame the device never saw the light of day in the US, as it sported slick transparent look that would look great in anyone's gaming collection.

11 A Biosensor That Could Interact With Gameplay

via: https://jrra.zone/n64/

Before the never-released Wii Vitality Sensor, there was, well, the never-released Bio Sensor from the company Seta. It was meant to capture the player's heart rate by way of clipping a plastic clamp onto the earlobe, which would measure the rate of blood flow in the ear tissue.

This device would provide your N64 games with some heart.

Only one title was set to be supported by this strange contraption - Tetris 64. A game mode called Bio Tetris would adjust its speed depending on the heart rate of the person player. That would have certainly made for some heart-pounding gameplay.

10 Simulate Fishing with a Specialized Controller

via: www.lukiegames.com

What's a video game console without a fishing rod accessory? Since the N64 had a handful of fishing games, including Bass Rush, Bass Hunter 64, and Bassmasters 2000, it seemed only logical that third-party add-on extraordinaire, Mad Catz, would take advantage. They released a controller that allowed you to reel in your virtual fish with a controller that resembled a fishing rod.

They even kept rumble intact so you could feel those virtual nibbles.

Not to be outdone, ASCII also offered their own fishing rod variety, which was compatible with the Japanese fishing games.

9 The Controller's Thumb Stick Gave Mario Party Players Blisters

via: rebrn.com

Any diehard fan of the original Mario Party knows that their palms suffered mightily for competitively playing many of the title's mini-games. A variety of these games - like Tug o' War and Cast Aways - required the player to press down on the joystick and rotate it as fast as possible.

No pain, no gain.

Sounds harmless, but because of the carved grooves on the plastic nub, pressing down and rotating the thumbstick would eventually wear down the skin and give the player blisters. Most gamers didn't care though, as it made the hard-fought victories even more worth it. The blisters became a sort of badge of Mario Party honor.

8 You Could Play Games with a Glove

via: www.foregames.nl/

As if the Power Glove wasn't awkward enough, here we have the super rare Reality Quest glove controller. Although, the only thing "real" about this device is that it seems like a real convoluted mess to deal with.

For the one-handed N64 gamer...

Once you strap your arm onto this hodgepodge of movable plastic bits, you rest your hand atop the mitt-like shape that houses its buttons. The device contains gyroscopic technology that is anything but intuitive, rendering it pretty pointless unless you're a collector. It's clear that even in the late 90s, motion control technology for games was simply not ready yet.

7 Its Hardware Generated Several Millions Of Colors More Than SNES

via: wikipedia.com

When people look back on the N64, they often see some archaic, blocky graphics, limiting carts, and muddled displays. Yet for its time, the console really was a technical powerhouse, especially compared to the SNES. Outside of its lack of CG and storage, it even out-muscled its rival, the PlayStation, in most key technical areas including its CPU and RAM.

It not only boasted a 64 bit CPU, which was 26 times faster than the Super Nintendo, but also contained a color depth of 16.7 million, as compared to a mere 32,000 for the SNES.

6 It Came In A Seemingly Endless Array Of Colors

via: youtube.com (finngamer)

Speaking of colors, the N64 hardware itself took on more than its fair share. Nintendo's 64-bit machine was truly a gaming collector's dream. The console —and especially its controllers— came in a seemingly endless array of colors, from a glossy silver, to the slick, transparent "Atomic Purple."

There was even a specialized blue Pikachu console and controller, with a large plastic figure of the lovable yellow rodent propped onto the top of the console. No matter what your favorite color was, there was a good chance Nintendo had you covered.