If you've been purchasing a lot of Nintendo 64 games then you've probably gotten a few game cartridges that came in a different colour. We saw 296 games get released here in North America and 42 of them ended up coming in a different colour. This is the full list of colours that publishers had the choice of using:
- Blue
- Yellow
- Red
- Green
- Emerald Green
- Pink
- Beige
- Dark Grey
- Medium Grey
- Grey (Standard)
- Black
- Gold (extra $0.20 per cartridge)
- Silver (extra $0.10 per cartridge)
What makes that list very interesting is that some of those colour options that Nintendo provided did not get used for any commercial releases. If publishers wanted to do a coloured run, then they were required to order a minimum of 50000 copies and if they had chosen gray, then they could not change their mind. With the exception of the gold and silver colours, coloured cartridges did not cost anymore than gray ones. Coloured cartridges also did not take any longer to manufacture than the gray ones did. The limit of 50000 was as of late 1999 as this number was changed to be much lower in the following years.
Of the 42 coloured cartridges that did get released, 13 of them were re-released in a gray cartridge. Why exactly they were re-released in gray is unknown. Here is a full list of every coloured cartridge as well as which ones had gray re-releases:
Game | Colour | Gray variant? |
007 The World Is Not Enough | Blue | Yes |
Aidyn Chronicles: First Mage | Black | Yes |
All-Star Baseball 2001 | Red | No |
Armorines: Project S.W.A.R.M. | Black | No |
Army Men: Air Combat | Green | Yes |
Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2 | Green | Yes |
Bass Masters 2000 | Blue | Yes |
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker | Black | No |
BattleTanx Global Assault | Green | No |
Battlezone: Rise of the Black Dogs | Black | No |
Donkey Kong 64 | Yellow | No |
Earthworm Jim 3D | Yellow | No | ECW: Hardcore Revolution | Black | No |
Fighter Destiny 2 | Black | No |
Hydro Thunder | Blue | Yes |
Jeremy McGrath Supercross 2000 | Red | No |
Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask | Gold | No |
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time | Gold | Yes |
Madden NFL 2001 | Blue | No |
Madden NFL 2002 | Black | No |
NBA Jam 2000 | Red | No |
NFL QB Club 2001 | Red | No |
Nuclear Strike 64 | Black | No |
Pokemon Stadium 2 | Gold & Silver | No |
Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue | Black | No |
Rally Challenge 2000 | Black | No |
Rayman 2 | Green | No |
Road Rash | Black | Yes |
Rocket: Robot On Wheels | Red | No |
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie | Black | Yes |
Scooby Doo! Classic Creep Capers | Black | Yes |
Spider-Man | Red | No |
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six | Black | Yes |
Tony Hawk Pro Skater | Blue | No |
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 | Yellow | No |
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 | Black | No |
Turok 2: Seeds of Evil | Black | Yes |
Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion | Black | No |
Turok: Rage Wars | Black | Yes |
WCW Backstage Assault | Blue | Yes |
WWF No Mercy | Black | No |
WWF Wrestlemania 2000 | Black | No |
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