When the Nintendo 64 launched in North America on Sep. 29, 1996, many of us only had eyes for a portly plumber.

He was all over our television screens, using brief ad spots to entice us with his beautiful 3D worlds and jumps of joy. Our overwhelming desire to get our hands on Super Mario 64 was intensified by the fact that other than Pilotwings 64 , there weren’t any other options available when the console came out.

Then, just over a month later, Nintendo launched Wave Race 64 to keep those other two games company.