Pilotwings 2

Pilotwings 64 is a flight simulator in which the player must complete a variety of missions involving different airborne vehicles and air sports. Before each mission, the player must choose one of six character pilots, each with their own advantages and disadvantages based on factors such as weight. Tests before each event require the player to complete an objective in order to earn a license for the event. Depending on the mission, points are awarded or deducted based on time, damage, fuel usage, accuracy, softness of landing, and similar criteria.

The player is awarded a bronze, silver, or gold license based on the number of points attained. More difficult tests become available as the player progresses.

Pilotwings 64 was co-developed by the Texas-based graphics company Paradigm Simulation and Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis & Development (EAD) and Research and Development No. 3 (R&D3) divisions. Due to Paradigm's experience with Silicon Graphics workstations, Nintendo contacted the American company in 1994 concerning it becoming one of the Nintendo 64's "Dream Team" of first developers. Paradigm worked directly with a team at Silicon Graphics and spent nine months developing a technology base for Pilotwings 64 and Paradigm's other Nintendo 64 releases.

Development on Pilotwings 64 began in earnest during June 1995, with Nintendo working on the game design and Paradigm working on the technical production. Nintendo's Genyo Takeda and Makoto Wada acted as Paradigm's primary technical and design contacts individually. Wada, the game's director, was also involved in design aspects such as modeling and animation. Shigeru Miyamoto, the producer of Pilotwings for the SNES, reprised his role for Pilotwings 64 and oversaw the project from Japan.

Pilotwings 64 was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, as one of three Nintendo 64 launch titles, the other two being Super Mario 64 and Saikyō Habu Shōgi. Pilotwings 64 managed to sell about one unit with about every tenth Nintendo 64 console, with regional sales totaling 136,986 copies by the end of the year. The game was one of two original releases for the system during its September 26, 1996 debut in North America, which was a few days earlier than the date set by Nintendo. While Super Mario 64 initially sold at a one-to-one ratio with each console in the United States, Pilotwings 64 sold an average of one copy with every fourth console.

Despite selling out, some store locations for Electronics Boutique and KB Toys reported few or no units of the flight simulator being shipped to retailers. About 90,000 copies of Pilotwings 64 were sold in its first few days on sale in the country, putting the game at number four on the NPD Group sales charts for that September. It went on to become the sixth best-selling Nintendo 64 game of 1996 in the United States. Pilotwings 64 saw a release in European nations on March 1, 1997, when it was one of three launch games along with Super Mario 64 and Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire.