Welcome back to the Definitive 50! On season three of the show, we’re counting down the 50 best and most significant games that defined the Nintendo 64. Brace yourselves.
1. Ocarina of Time
Ocarina of Time borrows the dual world concept established in Link to the Past and puts a clever new twist on it. Rather than warping between alternate worlds, you can travel back and forth 7 years…. Continue Reading
2. Super Mario 64
With 3D graphics, the way that games were made before no longer applied. In order to make a Mario sequel – Nintendo would have to completely reinvent its most famous series – and they managed it…. Continue Reading
3. GoldenEye 007
As James Bond himself, you’ll travel the world trying to unravel the mysteries of the Janus crime syndicate and the GoldenEye satellite weapon… Continue Reading
4. Majora’s Mask
Majora’s Mask begins with young Link as he ventures deep into the woods searching for his fairy Navi following the events of Ocarina of Time. But he’s met with a terrible fate. He’s ambushed… Continue Reading
5. Perfect Dark
Imagine a complete game overflowing with features and content. Then double it. That’s Perfect Dark. The game includes both a lengthy and challenging campaign and an outlandishly feature-packed multiplayer… Continue Reading
6. Super Smash Bros.
Smash Bros. brings together Nintendo’s most iconic characters for one simple reason. To have crazy, all out, frantic brawls. It’s a fighting game like none other. It takes the strength of Nintendo’s all-star cast… Continue Reading
7. Banjo Kazooie
Banjo Kazooie isn’t “just another” Rare collectathon. It was the first. It took the basic framework for 3D platforming games laid down in Mario 64, and evolved it, building a story driven, adventure focused… Continue Reading
8. Star Fox 64
Borrowing elements from the original Star Fox as well as the unreleased Star Fox 2. Star Fox 64 is part remake and part sequel, but it’s all awesome. From the first glimpse of the calm waters of Corneria to… Continue Reading
9. Paper Mario
Development of a Mario RPG successor was handed to the geniuses at Nintendo studio Intelligent Systems, and they gave us Paper Mario in return… Continue Reading
10. Mario Kart 64
Mario Kart 64 features some of the most iconic and straight up best courses in Mario Kart history. Who could forget the train of Kalimari Desert, the twists of Yoshi Valley, the bats… Continue Reading
11. Banjo-Tooie
Gruntilda the witch has been freed by her sisters after being stuck under a boulder for two years following the original Banjo-Kazooie – but her body’s not what it used to be. She’s nothing more than a skeleton… Continue Reading
12. Wave Race 64
The realistic water physics that blew minds back in 1996 still hold up today, and the clear blue water looks good enough to drink. Taking your jet ski out in the tropical settings… Continue Reading
13. Conker’s Bad Fur Day
Originally, Conker’s N64 game was going to be Conker’s Quest, and then it was Twelve Tales: Conker 64. Either way, the title looked to follow the Rare formula of furry, family friendly… Continue Reading
14. Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
Quest’s legendary Ogre Battle franchise started out on the SNES with Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen. It got a similarly long-named sequel on the N64 with Ogre Battle 64… Continue Reading
15. Sin and Punishment
Coming in 2000, so close to the end of the N64’s life, Sin and Punishment wasn’t even originally released in North America or Europe… Continue Reading
16. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
The N64 is known for a number quality Star Wars based titles. This began with the early Shadows of the Empire, and continued with Episode I Racer and Battle for Naboo, but it’s Rogue Squadron… Continue Reading
17. Mario Party
Mario Party is yet another series that grew out of the N64?s 4 controller inputs. The system was made for live, in-person multiplayer gaming, and Mario Party is one of the best examples… Continue Reading
18. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
Turok is actually based on a comic that dates back to 1954. Acclaim picked up the rights to Turok when they bought Valiant Comics in 1994… Continue Reading
19. Diddy Kong Racing
In the same way that Rare built on Nintendo’s Mario 64 success with a number of 3D platformers of their own, they also followed Mario Kart 64 with Mickey’s Speedway USA and Diddy Kong Racing… Continue Reading
20. F-Zero X
The original F-Zero made for a stunning demonstration of the Super Nintendo’s Mode-7 technology – and so too does F-Zero X show off its system’s capabilities. Not with more detailed graphics, but by… Continue Reading
21. Donkey Kong 64
Although it was Mario 64 that kicked off the 3D platformer craze – it was Rare that really took the ball and ran with the concept. After the fantastic Banjo Kazooie, the developer returned to the franchise… Continue Reading
22. Blast Corps
So here’s the story – some advanced nuclear missiles are being transported to a location to be safely disposed of. Except the missiles start leaking, which triggers the transport vehicle’s entirely foolproof… Continue Reading
23. 1080° Snowboarding
Extreme sports were all the rage in the N64 era. Hit up the ski lodge, pick your favourite snowboarder, and grab a board, it’s time for 1080 snowboarding… Continue Reading
24. Pokemon Snap
If you were trying to dream up a Pokémon spin-off to make, first-person on-rails shooter probably wouldn’t be your first idea, but it turns out the concept is pure genius. Pokémon Snap is the most fun… Continue Reading
25. Mario Tennis
Following their good work in bringing Mario Golf to the N64 and GameBoy Color, Camelot moved on to doing the same for Mario Tennis… Continue Reading
26. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
Pro Skater 2 picks up right where the first revolutionary game left off. Rather than racing – you explore intricate skate parks. Learning the locales and mastering the gameplay at the same time… Continue Reading
27. Jet Force Gemini
Jet Force Gemini features three truly stylish futuristic heroes. Two humans: Juno and twin sister Vela, and one dog: Lupus. The trio are the last remaining members of the Jet Force, which has been… Continue Reading
28. Mario Golf
Mario Golf’s fundamental mechanics should be familiar to anyone who’s played a golf game before. Timed button presses determine the power and accuracy of your shots, while direction must be… Continue Reading
29. Pilotwings 64
Pilotwings 64 closely follows the formula of its SNES predecessor. The game leaves you largely on your own to work through a series of challenges for various flying vehicles on a quest to earn your… Continue Reading
30. Beetle Adventure Racing
Volkswagen made the Beetle cool again when it reintroduced the car with a new design in 1997… so why not make a racing game featuring the cars exclusively… Continue Reading
31. Pokemon Stadium
Pokémon Stadium allows you to free your pocket monsters from the bonds of Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow, and battle with them in glorious 3D… Continue Reading
32. Harvest Moon 64
Harvest Moon 64 puts you in the role of a young man who has just inherited a farm. It’s your job to fix up the old place, overrun with weeds, tree stumps, and rocks as it is, and get it running with peak efficiency… Continue Reading
33. Excitebike 64
Excitebike 64 is a highly technical motocross game that demands players embrace the culture of 90s era EXXXTREME sports, and live it digitally. The game’s unforgiving physics and controls require… Continue Reading
34. WWF No Mercy
The popularity of what was then known as the WWF was at its peak in the late 90s and early 2000s thanks to superstars like The Rock and Steve Austin. The N64?s lifespan matched perfectly with… Continue Reading
35. Tetrisphere
Polygon powered graphics led to some interesting innovation in unexpected genres. Even Tetris was re-imagined to take advantage of the new technology. Tetrisphere is unlike any other Tetris game… Continue Reading
36. Wipeout 64
Super-fast futuristic racer. How many times have you already heard me say that on this list? The N64 had plenty of them, and Wipeout 64 is one of the best… Continue Reading
37. Quake II
Rather than simply porting id Software’s 1997 masterpiece, developer Raster Productions basically made their own Quake II. The N64 version is really like a wholly new, albeit reminiscent game, featuring… Continue Reading
38. Rocket: Robot on Wheels
As Rocket, a robot on – err – wheel (singular), you must recover the lost items and reclaim the park from the nefarious animal… Continue Reading
39. The World Is Not Enough
Following the massive success of GoldenEye, it only seemed obvious that Rare would continue with the James Bond license, but the developer opted to work on its own, original FPS property instead… Continue Reading
40. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Kirby 64, with its remarkably simple, bold, colourful, and basic style, still holds up. What’s there to say… Crystal Shards is a Kirby game, but that’s kind of the joy of this… Continue Reading
41. Star Wars Episode I: Racer
In the lead up to 1999?s Star Wars Episode I, one thing was clear: this was destined to be the greatest movie of all time. How could it not be? This was the return to Star Wars we had all been waiting for… Continue Reading
42. Goemon’s Great Adventure
While Mystical Ninja took the Goemon series to the third dimension – with mixed results, thanks largely to camera issues – Great Adventure (mostly) returns the series to its traditional 2D roots, choosing… Continue Reading
43. Pokemon Puzzle League
Pokemon Puzzle League is actually a sequel to the Super Nintendo’s Tetris Attack – and is part of a franchise of sorts that has continued on with the DS’s Planet Puzzle League, with all games using… Continue Reading
44. Body Harvest
Body Harvest is the story of genetically engineered soldier Adam Drake, who hails from a future where humankind has been ravaged by a series of ruthless alien attacks which occur every 25 years… Continue Reading
45. WinBack
Jean-Luc Cougar is a member of the elite Strategic Covert Actions Team, which has been dispatched to the GULF security complex. The installation has been taken over by the Crying Lions terrorist organization… Continue Reading
46. Mischief Makers
Shake shake! Mischief Makers is called a 2D platformer – and, yes – it does have you running and jumping through a series of 2D stages – but don’t let the label fool you, this is no Mario game… Continue Reading
47. Dr. Mario 64
The Dr. Mario series has been a staple of Nintendo consoles since the NES, but it’s the N64’s version, with its numerous modes and 4-player option that make this the one to play… Continue Reading
48. Extreme-G
Extreme-G places you in the cockpit of an extreme motorcycle, demanding extreme precision and extreme reflexes just to navigate its extreme courses… Continue Reading
49. BattleTanx
So get this, in the distant future of 2001, a truly horrific disease has killed 99.9% of all the women on Earth. This catastrophe leads the world into another disaster… nuclear war. After which, little of civilization remains… Continue Reading
50. Yoshi’s Story
Unfortunately, fans of classic Super Nintendo platformers, including Yoshi’s Island, probably didn’t find much to enjoy in Yoshi’s Story. This is a deeply flawed game that bares little resemblance to its stellar SNES predecessor… Continue Reading