Pilotwings 64

About Pilotwings 64

Pilotwings 64 (1996) is the Nintendo 64 launch flight game built with Texas simulator firm Paradigm, in which six pilots earn licences by hang glider, rocket belt and gyrocopter over four islands, one a miniature United States.

Pilotwings 64 in Depth

Before each mission the player picks one of six pilots, whose weight and other traits change how they handle, then takes licence tests scored on time, damage, fuel, accuracy and the softness of the landing, earning bronze, silver or gold. Each of the three main events has its own controls on the Nintendo 64's single analogue stick. Hang gliding means flying through rings or photographing scenery before landing on a target, riding wind currents and climbing in thermals. The Rocket Belt is a jet pack that can hover, tilt and rotate, used to pass through rings, land on floating platforms and pop balloons. The gyrocopter takes off and lands on a runway after flying a course of rings or destroying targets with missiles.

Good results unlock bonus events: skydiving, a human cannonball and the Jumble Hopper, spring-loaded boots for bouncing across the landscape. Birdman mode puts the pilot in a bird suit to explore the four islands freely. One is a miniature United States with the Statue of Liberty, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and a Mount Rushmore on which Mario's face replaces George Washington's.

Making Pilotwings 64

Nintendo approached Paradigm Simulation in 1994 because of its experience with Silicon Graphics workstations, making it one of the Nintendo 64's "Dream Team" developers. Paradigm spent nine months building a technology base with Silicon Graphics, and work on the game began in June 1995, with Nintendo designing it and Paradigm handling the technical side. Makoto Wada directed, Genyo Takeda was the technical contact, and Shigeru Miyamoto produced from Japan, though less closely than on the SNES original because he was making Super Mario 64. Paradigm started from a physics-based approach but aimed for "a more arcade feel", building the islands in its own Vega UltraVision tool and leaning on the console's level of detail, mipmapping, z-buffering and anti-aliasing.

It launched with the Nintendo 64 in Japan on 23 June 1996 and was one of two launch games in North America that September, selling about 90,000 copies in its first few days there. Critics praised its 3D visuals and flying, though some called it a mere tech demo and mocked its lounge-music soundtrack. EGM named it Flying Game of the Year, and it had sold over a million copies worldwide by early 1998. A Nintendo 64 sequel Paradigm announced in 1997 was cancelled.