Happy Twentieth, N64!

  2016 is a hell of a year for video games. There are a lot of nerdly milestones going on.  

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of Resident Evil’s release. It’s also Sonic the Hedgehog’s twenty-fifth birthday. Then there’s the much beloved, pimped-out-like-no-freaking-other fighter, Street Fighter 2, which hit a quarter century old back in February too. Lara Croft is twenty this year, as is the immortal cash cow that is the Pokémon franchise. And so is Crash Bandicoot, for the three people worldwide who still care about that little orange asshole.

Sometimes there’s a logical explanation for this stuff. If there are a lot of babies born in November, you can chalk it up to all the Valentine’s sextastic. But this? I’ve no clue what the hell was in the water back in 1996.

Here’s another milestone. Today, June 23, is the Nintendo 64’s twentieth birthday. Back then, I was more of a Sega guy, but everyone knows what a sexy console this was. The N64 brought us some of Nintendo’s best first-party offerings; the likes of Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time are still considered among the best games ever made.

So, the question is: How best to mark the occasion, to salute the system? The obvious answer is, with the legendary N64 Kid. Take it away, you still-terrifying little bastard.