50 Best Nintendo 64 Games Of All Time

Absolutely gutted for Gex

So, so many good games in that top 50. I have a different top 25 but admire all of the ones in this top 25 anyway! Ocarina obviously should be top.

Would personally have had Rayman 2 & Mario Tennis in my top 25, but....hey ho.

In before someone says DK64 is far too low. The game is an 8 at best, deal with it!😝

Lots of talking points in this one. Reminds me that I need more pilot wings 64 in my life. Switch please! Xxx

WHY IN THE LORD'S NAME IS DK64 RANKED HIGHER THAN WORMS ARMAGEDDON!?

Ah yes... Ocarina of Time up in first place. Can't forget about those Iron Boots!

Diddy Kong Racing behind MK64 is weird. Also DK64 and Banjo-Tooie are way too low. Rareware defined the 64 but yeah with people like Spoony_Tech downvoting these games it's hard to make an objective list.

Shocked that 1080 isn't on this list. It's top 10 for me. I actually think it may well be the best aged N64 game. Been playing it recently and it feels amazing.

Nice list (though I prefer MM to OoT myself). The N64’s is about the only system known for having so many memorable wrestling titles. They were great, especially in multiplayer.

Good to see OoT winning, it’s probably still the best game I’ve ever played. WWF No Mercy in the top 10 is brilliant too, love that game. One thing though... where’s 1080!?

1. Sad to see Pokémon Stadium 2 only at #41... it's one of my favourite N64 games - actually it was the first one that I bought for my console, back in June 2001.
2. Tony Hawk 2 at #11, great! My neighbour had the PS1 version and I like it so much that I bought it for my N64 as soon as it was released.
3. Mario Tennis should be at a higher position.
4. Ocarina at #1 and Majora's at #3, I couldn't agree more!

Didn't No Mercy release broken?

Anyhoo, I would be very happy owning all of these but...where the heck is Sin and Punishment?

Mario 64 at number 6 is crazy to me.

The game is top five best ever on any console to me.

Goldeneye, whilst fun at the time, is basically unplayable now whilst Mario 64 is still so much fun.

Solid list. I’ve played most of these back in the day. I forgot just how many wrestling games there use to be. I will say the following gen had more fun wrestling games with Def Jam and Backyard Wrestling.

Also stoked to see San Fran Rush 2049 made the list! I played sooooo much of that on 64, Arcade and then Dreamcast.

Lots of great games on the system and it's good to see so many of my favorites on the list. Maybe I missed it, but I loved Gauntlet Legends as well for all the classic arcade style dungeon crawling action. Great time with friends.

“this list is not set in stone“

People can still rate the games.

“Hyrule Field feels decidedly smaller (more like a field, in fact)”
That’s why it’s called Hyrule Field. Because it’s a field. It’s supposed to be like that.

No Tetrisphere? No MK Trilogy?

Nice article. Some good picks. Surprised not to see any Turok though! (Unless I missed it)

N64 lineup so strong, the 50th best game has an 8. an EIGHT

@GrailUK yeah im pretty sure the first shipments wouldnt save or something. had to return mine. my #1 n64 game and one of my top 5 of any game ever

N64 had a small but powerful library. Aside from JRPGs almost every genre was represented on this system. Still one of my favorite systems.

I wonder how many people rated games that they hadn't played on this list out of curiosity?

Mario 64 is better than Banjo for me and would be in the top 3 with the current top 2

SO many Wrestling and Skateboarding games. I guess that's how the votes shook out (which is likely a rather charming reflection of where the gamers on this site were when N64 was the console under the television set), but it is clearly not a reflection of the best content on this system. Games like Jet Force Gemini, 1080 Snowboarding, Kirby 64, Glover, etc. all — to my mind — are a better representation of the breadth of gameplay N64's wee-but-wonderful library had to offer.

@GrailUK I had the original broken copy and I honestly didn't expect to actually find a fixed copy. It came across a copy one day in WH Smiths when I went in looking for stuff for college and ended up spending far more than I was expecting because I didn't think I would ever see a copy again living in a town that had very few places that stocked games at the time.

Merrily checks the position of F-Zero X in the top 10...

Goldeneye and Perfect dark are just not fun to play anymore imo. Shouldn't be in the top 10 at all

Missing 2 from my top 5: Jet Force Gemini and Road Rash 64.

@PickledKong64 Totally fair to find them not playable with the benefit of modern perspective, but I think the idea with these polls is to reflect not just on how they look to a newcomer or someone revisiting them today, but what they represented to gamers / the system when they came out. Both games were genre-defining titles, in their time. So while I would agree I am much more eager to pick up several lower-ranked (or omitted) entries than those two, I think it's legitimate that they were given such pride of place.

Id swap diddy kong for mario kart in a heart beat.

needs battletanx

Blast Corps, 1080, And Jet Force Gemini all deserve a spot. As does the oft overlooked Extreme-G, which was super impressive at the time. Honorable mention for weird stuff like Forsaken 64 which arguably didn’t belong on that system! Also played a ton of World Cup ‘98, whose real-time commentary was pretty impressive back then.

N64 games are like the fit girls you went school with......great at the time but look dog rough now. Relish the memory to save yourself disappointment!

Honestly, after seeing DK 64 so poorly ranked, I skipped directly to last page. Nice top10, though

*skips article, goes to page 5, looks at #1..

*nods.... carry on

@NGNYS N64's issues ironically had little to do with its cartridges, the 4KB texture cache was far too small to use leading developers to stream texture data straight from the cartridge and its RAM had horrible latency. This coupled with Microcode that developers simply didn't have access to caused most N64 games to run as poorly as they do. There are a couple of 60fps games such as F- Zero and I think World Driver Championship which both run at 60fps and gave a glimpse of what the hardware would have been capable of with some design tweaks and better access to Microcode

Too many mario party and soccer games in this line-up for my taste. The top ten is reasonable though. Hope people keep rating to kick them party and soccer games out and replace them with gold classics like Jet Force Gemini, Turok 2 and 1080! Surprised and pleased to see Beetle Adventure Racing just made the cut!

Just happy to see Ogre Battle 64 receive the praise it deserves!

Wow! That top 10 takes some beating...!!

Delighted to see Goldeneye in its rightful spot as Ocarina's wingman. I'd personally swap Banjo and Mario 64... but that's a minor gripe - I think the NL community smashed this one out the park.

Glad Kazooie got a high rank. Finished it again on Gamepass couple weeks ago. Just as good as I remember. Started Tooie straight after ... nowhere near as good. Overcomplicated interweaving levels, spent hours trying to get one Jiggy, not knowing you can only get it once you visit later levels. Decent list. Great top 10.

... Edit. Really don't get the praise for Beetle Racing. Loooong, boring, empty tracks. Surprised it didn't place higher with the way people go on about it.

Absolute disgrace dk64 is so low!

@Zach I too watch Scott The Woz

How is it that 1080 isn't on this list? Easily one of my all time top video games and the best snowboarding game ever made IMO, it's what made me want a N64 as a kid.

@LilMuku what’s that?

Three football games? I love football but these three were not classics then and they Are not classics now.

And someone saying goldeneye doesn’t stand up now??????

Drugs are bad kids.

Goldeneye is still a brilliant game and playable and so much fun many current FPS could look at Goldeneye for tips on how to make a game fun and replayable..

Glad to see Beetle adventure on there....

One of the top gear games deserves a nod, at least one of the other Star Wars games.
1080 too.... the madden games were more groundbreaking and playable than the football choices.... I can’t believe so many people rated multiple football games so highly from these choices....

This Top 5 is superb!
(Edit: Swap Perfect Dark with Goldeneye and it would be even better 😌)

A few incorrect placements, naturally, but nothing worth complaining about. Good job, folks.

This just makes me want a 64 mini.

Lol Majora's Mask is way too high. That game was DLC before there even was DLC

Lets see:
No Turok
No Extreme G
No Star Wars Episode I Racer
No Resident Evil 2
No Carmageddon
No Duke Nukem 64

@Jakiboy resi 2 is in there mate... but yeah other ones

I guess I’m the only one who loved killer instinct gold 😅

@luxoricious I love MK Trilogy on N64. To me it gave me a MK2 vibe due the graphics.. and friendships with huge balloons.. on ps1 all small due the low 2D graphics. On N64 it really came close to arcade (except the sound quality) but till today the music and sound effects still in my head and made bigger impression than any other port of MK trilogy. This one rocks

Y’all seriously need to vote Hybrid Heaven into one of the top spots! Don’t wait vote now!

Snowboard Kids 1 but not 2?????!!!!!! And 1 is at the bottom of the list??????? I guess people really don’t know how good these games are?????

Why in earth would Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 get a higher place than Mischief Makers??

I may be a minority here, but I think the 64 was overrated. There really wasn't much beyond the 1st party games, PS1 had the best 3rd party support at that time. But Nintendo's 1st party was very solid at least

Ocarina of Time is overrated garbage. Probably the game that has aged the worst from the N64 library.

No Blast Corps is disappointing...

Even though I gave it a high rating as I love the game, I'm really shocked to see Goldeneye rated at #2, simply because you always see people saying how bad it holds up. I expected it to be closer to #7 or #8.

Only things about this list I would really change is putting Kirby 64 on it (shocked its not even here!), Mario Tennis in the top 15, F-Zero X in the top 10, and Paper Mario in the top 5. Otherwise this is pretty good

@TG16_IS_BAE
Quite frankly, OOT has aged better than nearly every N64 game that came out before OOT. Stop saying obviously untrue things.

Spacestation silicon valley needs to be on the list, that game was pure creative genius!

Beetle Adventure Racing would be in my top 20, so much personality and crate smashing fun.

Also shout out to another absentee: Robot Rocket on Wheels. Sucker Punch's very first game, the guys who went on to make Sly Cooper.

I see a lot of you all slept on Killer Instinct Gold and Rocket: Robot on Wheels. For shame.

Yes, both Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie well deserve to be in the top 10. Although the N64 had many great games, these two have always been my favourites. ❤️

So many issues...

For a start...

DKR > MK64 (Mario‘s tracks are too big and empty; Diddy gets airplanes, open world exploration and boss battles)

SM64 > BK (Mario’s mission-based structure provides useful hints, evolving stages, and the option to replay our favourite bits without having to replay the entire game)

DK64 > BT (Banjo 2 has the worst frame rate on the system; Kong includes Arcade DK)

(For the record, the frame rate on Goldeneye’s Frigate level is a close second worst).

I remember battling final Wizpig on Diddy Kong Racing many times - that son of a bitch used every trick in the book.

Even a perfect run meant his character model was clipping into the frame right up to the finish line - which was massively distracting. Good memories!

@NathanTheAsian Fans have modded the game so you can put on boots and take them off at a press of a D-Pad button. This makes the game so much more playable, no having to go through the pause screen for that, especially in the Water Temple.

This list doesn't much resemble my own, but it's fun seeing an amalgam of everyone else's favorites. I do enjoy these lists, Nintendo Life. They have a way of influencing my retro purchases.

For me, Rare's platformers deserve a higher place on the list. I love DK64. Mario 64 is my absolute favorite N64 game, closely followed by OoT.

I feel like people like Majorca’s Mask purely on story and concept. Gameplay-wise that game is not good. Its literally just fetch quest after fetch quest through space and time - making everything twice as tedious. It’s based off of a neat concept and it has a great story, but I’ve tried to replay it a half a dozen times and it’s unplayable for me.

@LilMuku It’s the anti-ziplash

@LEGEND_MARIOID "Ocinara should obiously be top" Super Mario 64 is SIXTH?!?

@Tchunga I wish all DLC was about as long as the main game and as good quality.

"five playable Kongs"
Actually four because one of them is dead.

@RudyC3
Of course said issue would be fixed on a mod of an emulated version on PC. I'm talking about the N64 version straight-up. If we threw in the rest of the versions of OoT including the 3DS version, then I wouldn't even bring it up in the first place.

Kirby 64 deserved better and Mario 64 was just a few places too low

But otherwise, good list

I feel like most of these games are ranked way too low, but then again this is a top 50 games, so I guess I should be grateful so many of my favorites are on here. But seriously, Ogre Battle 64 needs to be higher.

Im the only person who likes Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness.

Love the n64 my favourite console off so time
And one I can go back to again and again
Good to see banjo goldeneye Zelda there .
But I now this is not one peoples favourite But we're is castlevania it's one of my favourite
But not a bad list

@Clintos no, i loved it too

hey, i liked the crusin games too

Omg this brought back soooo maaany long forgotten memories. Thank you lol.
Was turok , turok 2, or turok rage wars on there, did I overlook them? I'll just assume they were and I missed it. Castlevania 64, Quest 64....too, I'm sure I overlooked those as well.
But even so, great article, it was literally like a cliche video montage in my head as I had flashes of so many awakened memories. I had no PS until the reissue tiny PS1 came out, so my first resident evil game was RE:2 and it is still one of my favorite memories of my younger days. I must've beaten that game 20+ times with both characters. With the early "mercenaries" type mode...tofu man square, H.U.N.K....
I'm just gonna stop now because I could ramble on and on and it's your fault "Nintendo life" for reawakening a vault of memories

I completely disagree with this list. Paper Mario should have been #1.

Turok 1&2 didn't even make the top 50. Wtf

Doom 64, Mario 64 and WaveRace are all lower than they should be. Plus what’s with all those wrestling games? Are they actually any good?

Spoiler: There aren't 50 good N64 games

Am I the only one who thinks majora's mask is just OK? The concept is amazing but the gameplay is below average.

What the hell, "the first time nintendo dropped the ball" this was a great system. And if we wanna talk about,Nintendo dropping the ball what about virtual,boy? That came out before the 64

@breathe_easy I did play it when I was a kid, on CRT. It was good for it’s time, but it’s so out-dated, mechanically. Graphically it’s fine, but gameplay-wise it is screaming for an update. It’s so janky!

@kkslider5552000 Graphically, it’s fine. Gameplay, it’s god-awful. Large, empty maps with long treks for meaningless quests, confusing camera controls and dungeons, over-simplified “hit this boss in the weak spot 3 times,” encounters...just a bad game. Original Zelda, Zelda 2 and Zelda 3 aged far better. Those games were simpler, but packed with things to do, with no emptiness.

No Mercy is the height of console wrestling games and I don't understand how someone hasn't replicated it yet for a newer system. Instead the wrestling gets seem to get prettier but worse to play

SUPER MARIO 64 is better than BANJO-KAZOOIE. Switch 'em.

@TG16_IS_BAE So you've admitted you're clueless about other N64 games, ok, that's nice.

Glad the Mystical Ninja games made it!

@ALinkttPresent exactly! That and the fact that it’s comparatively empty is now seen as a criticism. Yo me that’s not true at all, The field is still as enchanting and engaging as it ever was. It’s lucky to have been able to experience it all at the time- new gamers will never understand

@kkslider5552000 I only mentioned talking about Zelda. Are you inferring something incorrect about me or are you replying to the wrong person?

I liked the Bomberman games and Chameleon Twist. I'm guessing not a lot of people played Chameleon Twist, but Bomberman 64 multiplayer was something my friends and I couldn't get enough of.

@Steo The issues with the N64 are well-documented. It's still great! But among other things, it was difficult for third-party developers (something that is frequently associated with nintendo) and many people think that cartridges were a mistake. I think the system was right for nintendo fans though, and I love it.

@TG16_IS_BAE You’re missing something re ocarina. It’s not your fault - it just doesn’t gel with you and that’s fine. There’s something that makes the game much much more than a sum of its parts - there’s a reason this is still held in extremely high regard - and you can’t fathom why. Be at peace with it. There’s lots of games I don’t relate to that I know are amazing, but just don’t suit me - that’s the beauty of life, follow what you love.

Majora's Mask, Pefect Dark & F-Zero X clear top 3 for me. Would have liked to be able to vote for Mega Man Legends & StarCraft 64. Yeah would have liked to see 1080 in top 50, also Duke Nukem: Zero Hour and maybe Pokemon Puzzle League (Panel de Pon still best though!).

what an interesting lineup. Not at all like id expect.

how did Shadows of the Empire not make this list? It was beyond awesome.

I’d put Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey in the top 50

Why the heck is DK64 so low.

But Goldeneye is in the top 2 so that more then makes up for it

Nice! The only one on my list that didn’t make it was Blast Corps. I put so many hours into that game.

@saiyantrunks79 agree on Shadows of the Empire. That and Mario 64 were my first two game’s. I vividly remember battling IG88 in the junkyard.

Honestly? Pretty good list. I would probably swap some mario party and THPS games in favor of 1080, Yoshi, Shadows of the Empire, but most deserve the spot.

@Glamdring64
My man! I’m with ya, gauntlet legends was definitely a favorite with friends.

With all the great games the system had, you could easily make a Top 100.

@Marioman2020 I'd have Mario 64 2nd

Great list but could have done without the soccer games. Still the list needs:

Cruis'n USA (World and or Exotica), also 1080 Snowboarding. Also Ken Griffey Jr had two great baseball games on the system. And NBA Hangtime got the best port on N64.

@Monmoya Legends and Starcraft likely didn't make it because it's a users list and most people didn't get a chance to play them on 64.

It's a shame Sin and Punishment never made it out of Japan. Would've made this list easily.

GoldenEye is obsolete. I'd much rather play Doom 64, or the Turok games.

@Gradius I'd have that in my top 10. Though the first time I played it was on Wii VC!

@AJDarkstar that’s valid. DKR’s multiplayer could do with more battle stages. The plane and hovercraft arenas add unique play styles, but there’s not enough variety within those options (if that makes sense).

You know, top 50 N64 games means that about 1/6 of the entire library made the cut. (that's a larger proportion than the top 50 NES, SNES or Game Boy (let alone +GBC) lists. )

Wait WWF No Mercy is over Mario Kart 64! You would think more people have owned and played Mario Kart 64.

Where’s Bangai-O?

When you see Super Mario 64 at #6, you know you can probably guess the remainder of the list.

But how can Majora's Mask make the #3 spot... I could never finish it despite attempts to. It is the most repetitive (by design!) and melancholy game I have ever tried to play. (why even try to save the world if it's just going to undo itself in under an hour. Even faster if you play the Japanese version which lacks the quicksave feature!)
(not sure if a good thing my cheap knockoff Expansion Pak would also regularly crash the game)

Well, this list is mostly "what I liked to play back then", which is fine. But I don't think many of you would actually enjoy Golden Eye and Mario Kart 64 today. There are a number of N64 games that still hold up IMO (apart from the obvious Zelda, Zelda and Mario), but Golden Eye is not one of them.

Really surprised Turok isnt on the list... surely one of the best non first party console exclusives?

I think the football and wrestling games appearing so much is a reflection of how much they were played by those that owned them.

Also, N64 game shopping was a bit of a strange experience at the time. I remember going down electronics boutique(!) each week (when you went to town pretty mich every Saturday...!) and it would be the same games on display week after week - especially in the first couple of years. This genuinely put titles like ISS high on the temptation/impulse buy. I mean FIFA 64 came out pretty close to launch if I remember rightly, and that must have sold a ton of copies in the UK despite being very average (and genuinely not feeling a lot different to 16bit era football games) simply because for 60 quid it offered huge replay value and there wasn't much else to choose - especially if you already had some games.

No Extreme-G or Blast Corps?! It’s enough to make you chew your own foot off (>_<)!!!

GAMECUBE LIST PLEASE

No SWE1R?!? Not legit! +1 to author for noting its omission!

Diddy Kong Racing and Snowboard Kids should be higher than Mario Kart 64.

So many great titles not even present, especially from the Japanese market.

Nice to see both European and American favorites represented among the universal classics!

@andykara2003 I am at peace with it, that’s why I’m able to calmly talk about it. Don’t know why talking about Ocarina triggers people so much.

I guess no one has played Space Station Silicon Valley

@carlos82 i would have put banjo in 6, mario at 5 and Perfect Dark at 4

@nocdaes Turok is so underplayed- these people don’t know what it was like to be a chicken being chases by raptors (allegedly, there’s a story along with the amazing multiplayer 😂)

@Strumpan goldeneye and perfect dark are still fun once you remember how to strafe those corners and turn off auto aim

I'm not surprised my beloved Road Rash 64 didn't make it on the list, but I am surprised that Turok didn't get a single entry here.

Ocarina of Time and Majoras Mask should be one and two. Why is Paper Mario 64 above Mario 64?

Great list. One mistake in article. You said no Get Force Gemini at the end and it was in top 50????? Also only one I have to disagree. I love the Tony Hawk's games. Hold dear place in my heart as I never had PS1 and N64 was first experience. But TH3 was a dog of a port. They couldn't get it to work on N64 and I don't think it even had all the levels. On GameCube! Yes N64 no.... I'd replace it with 1080! Best snowboarding game of that error I believe. Otherwise awesome list guys loving your work!!!

Only an 8 for Jet Force Gemini? That game has some of the best gameplay, and soundtrack of any game I have played. The worlds you can go to are also incredibly varied and interesting. The game was ahead of its time. Just my opinion!

Heads-up: The Mario Tennis banner art is incorrect. You may want to change that.

"With five playable Kongs (you know them well), huge worlds and an abundance of mini-games (including emulated versions of the original arcade Donkey Kong and Rare's Jetpac),"

(likes mentioning of the version of the arcade Donkey Kong game included in Donkey Kong 64 in this part of the article)

"DK64 was one hell of a value proposition back in 1999 and we think it probably deserves re-evaluation after 20 years of bashing."

(dislikes profanity in this part of the article)

A lot of changes in the ranking since yesterday:

• Pokémon Stadium 2 climbed 7 positions (yay!), DK64 climbed 6 and Pokémon Snap, 5;
• Tony Hawk 2 fell to #16 (well, at least it's still in the top 20...);
• Jet Force Gemini, Episode 1: Racer and Turok 2 finally showed up.

@GannonBanned Haha so true. My earliest memory of Turok was watching my friends (and I had the same experience when I first played, but safely out of sight of my friends and laughter!) struggling to get to grips with using the C Buttons and Analogue stick together whilst we rinsed them for it! Of course it soon clicks into place and off you go on an, certainly at the time, incredible game - but those first 5 minutes or so... lol

Gee, I never would've guessed Ocarina of Time would take the top spot. 🙄

@breathe_easy oh that's awesome didn't realise it's evolving. Love that idea. How do we vote?

I do think its funny when people on here say "nice list" or "game x should have been higher" as we the fans voted on the list!

I laughed at the Wave Race 64 description. Personally I don't care if they release any sequel. The Gameboy original isn't my favorite game, the GC sequel is good - and neither evoke the same feeling as this does. I think it's silly to wish for sequels to these unique games to be honest. Even when they do happen, I wouldn't want more or the same.

I wonder what it would take to re release N64 titles on the the switch that they sold on the Wii u store? I would definitely buy quite a few of them for sure

No love for 1080 Snowboarding?! What's up with that?

@TexanSansei its one of my top 5. Absolutely brilliant. That's what they call challenge!!

@TG16_IS_BAE its all personal opinion.

The mechanics may be outdated now, but still fun, the dungeons are some of the best in the franchise.

OOT was also as much about running around a massive 3D world, this was still novel in 1998.

@liveswired I think it goes without saying that we are all sharing opinions.

Sad that the Gex titles didn't make the list, I also say that Glover and the Bomberman titles didn't either. I'd also have to say that Quest64 and Aidyne Chronicles were some other good ones. Star Wars Rogue Squadron too. Other than that, some of these were not that great either. It seemed that the N64 was overrun with sports and racing titles. I loved the console, I hated the controller and some of the games didn't age too well. Even playing Super Mario 64 now, I found out why I threw the controller so much...the camera was horrible and Mario would do things that you didn't want him to do. Other than that, Mario 64 was a great update!!! My favorites for the N64 was still Mario (Which Mario Golf got me to purchase the console) and Conker's Bad Fur Day (which I played through to beat) and Legend Of Zelda Ocarina Of Time (which I also beat). Sorry to say, that I was more into the Dreamcast at the time, but I swapped back and forth a lot...just couldn't take the N64's controller.

As lame as the box art and title were, I think Fighter’s Destiny deserves a spot in the top 50. It was a pretty involved fighting game for the time.

Goldeneye is still a good laugh and the best James Bond licensed game ever made, but The World is Not Enough should make it to the top 50 as well.

But overall Star Fox 64, Wave Race, and Ocarina are crown jewels of the 64 are still some of the best in their genre.

How about 1 page next time. Thanks

Disappointed not to see Body Harvest on there. Real hidden gem of the N64 library.

No 1080 Snowboarding is an absolute disgrace.

@TexanSansei you can't just "that's just my opinion" your way out of a terrible opinion; DKR is an absolute classic with a game type all its own never copied, and arguably beats MK64. And yeah the bosses are hard AF but that's part of the appeal because it's a proper challenge.

@GannonBanned Well... there are better shooters to play today.

Tetrisphere is one people should check out that is not on this list.

I did forget to rate Mario Tennis which is probably still the best one? Glad to see it on the list.

Diddy Kong being high up is very good to see, MK 64 was more popular and would be hard to beat.

1080 off the list is surprising even though it wasn’t one of my favorites. I get why it’s low on this list but Pokémon Snap is another one that shouldn’t be skipped.

Mario a little lower thank expected.

DK64 and Banko Kazooie Tooie both suffered from artificially extended game time (with boring repetition or travel over long empty spans). It was the first of bad turns at Rare. Perfect Dark was almost unplayable due to frame rate so after I acknowledged some of the cool ideas I just stopped playing. We were a year late or so on that one.

Anyway fun list.

I can only assume that the only reason why Rocket Robot on Wheels isn't in this list is because sadly not enough people bought or played it.

@Arkay where did you get your avatar? It’s from the computer screen in bunker 2 right?

@ Strumpan @PickledKong64 @jaglufc I still play Goldeneye and Perfect Dark regularly. They still are very fun games.

@InAnotherCastle Their sequels would be in the form of a fleshed out career mode, online, customisation, leaderboards, tournaments - all the perks of todays racing games. Definitely a market.

@aaronsullivan Perfect Dark got away with it... played through recently on real hardware and had no issues, it simply works on the hardware, though perhaps having a hdmi modded console helps, there is always additional lag through all other methods converting for modern tvs.

In terms of Banjo Kazooie - it was about exploration. Back in 1997/1998 the thing that won me over was huge worlds to run around and simply explore. I wasn't racing to complete these games, they are simply unique to that era.

Donkey Kong 64 has a patch now for all Kongs anywhere, by pressing the d pad on N64 so it actually makes the game fun to play through.

@Username64 in my eyes DKR beats MK64 in all areas INCLUDING multiplayer.

DKR is arguably the best game on the system and JOINTVENTURE rocks.

@Trajan You sir, are correct. That's where I got it from.

@liveswired When I played Perfect Dark it was on a CRT. It was, I think, a year after initial release, and I did find it almost unplayable, myself (ultimately, I did give up on it, even though I was a huge fan of even single player Goldeneye). But everyone values different aspects of games, I'm glad others could enjoy it!

I adored the exploration and refinement of the new 3D, third person action game that the original Banjo nailed (along with it's unique Rare charm), it was the sequel that turned me off by forgetting to make it interesting to play — I'll admit I didn't give that one much of a chance, though (was busy with other things in life at the time, I guess). Donkey Kong 64 I played through to the end and that felt like indulging in a sort of masochism. The beginning and the very end were great, though. Interesting about the mod, though!

Always fun discussing it all. Cheers.

@Trajan if you have nostalgia I'm sure, but compared to literally any shooter after it, it's kinda buns.

@PickledKong64 What good FPS have come out in the last 10 years? MW2019, CSGO, Seige, and that’s about it. Yes, I said it, Doom and Wolfenstein aren’t any good anymore.

Goldeneye and PD are both fun in single player, and multiplayer.

@Trajan nostalgia got the best of you lmao

@PickledKong64 if I still play it and enjoy it, that isn’t nostalgia...

I still play Halo 2 when my brother comes over. Fun games are fun.

Not so sure if those sports games and wrestling games even really deserved to be in the top 50...But for the most part you had some really solid games on the list...probably would of been a different top 20 for me...but pretty solid choices for the top 10

Favourite console of all time for me.
Glad to see Snowboard kids and Pokemon Stadium 2 get some love

@palatinus okay I didnt know that exactly, thank you. I just had a problem with that "first time" statement, they definitely made mistakes with the powerglove, power pad, that weird headset, and like I said the virtual boy was a huge flop right before the 64 release

No KI Gold...no legitimacy

If the public isn't able to add games to the list, but can only rate the existing list, I'm afraid there's a large bias still. I know NO one would rate tetris higher on any list that would contain: 1080 Snowboarding, Killer Instinct Gold, Cruis'n World, Rush series, Shadows of the Empire, Quake 2. Even Excitebike 64. Who wrote this list in stone, and why can't we rate some of the better games available?

Decent list but Excitebike 64 and 1080 Snowboarding are both worthy of places in the top 20, and F-1 World Grand Prix and Ridge Racer 64 should have made it into the top 50 too.

In a just world, no Mario Party game would be above Blast Corps...

Blast Corps is a little low.
Jet Force Gemini too low.
Episode I: Racer too low.
DK64 is probably right.
S&P is fine.
Diddy Kong Racing should be above MK64, not below!
Rogue Squadron needs to be higher.
How is Smash only #11?
MK64 should be below Diddy Kong Racing, not above!
SF64 is fine.
Top 4 are fine.

Also, where are 1080 Snowboarding, Bomberman 64, Excitebike 64? Honorable mentions to Battle For Naboo and Shadows of the Empire as well.

Still have no clue what that banjo rubbish is doing in the top ten.

Sorry this list misses far too many games to be any good!

Turok, Mario Kart, WCW vs NWO, WrestleMania 2000, Doom. So many gems!

Pretty acurate list.

So many good games and great to see the wrestling games on there, loved them. Never considered the n64 to be failure myself, the switch on the other hand....

Bleh Ocarina is really good but Majora was better overall because of the time travelling dynamic and the crazy amount of stuff there is to do, most people are turned away because there is a learning curve.

@carlos82 that, and another hit was their using the CRT scanlines as a form of anti-aliasing...brilliant idea at the time, but now with our flatscreens, contributes to the blockiness & graininess of the graphics.

For better or worse, most people would be better off playing the N64 games on an emulator. The problem is, not all run satisfactorily (still). Hopefully over the next 5 years, more can be done to make sure every game is emulated adequately.

the n64 made me fall in love with video games. I still have mine here with all my games and the box

I think by this time I had a PS1 and couldn’t afford having two systems 😭 But, there’s something about this low-poly era...it doesn’t have the same appeal/nostalgia for me as the 8-bit & 16-bit days.

One of my least favorite Nintendo consoles of all time. After this one, I skipped the Gamecube and got the PlayStation 2 instead. I basically quit Nintendo until I won a Wii U at a holiday party. My gf (now wife) had a Wii that I thought was ok. It wasn't until the Switch that Nintendo won me back over again.

The games just haven't aged all that well. Mario Kart 64 I liked as a kid, but Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is so much superior to it, I wouldn't go back now. Same with Super Smash Bros. I played Mario 64 on the 3D Collection and found it lacking in comparison to the Galaxy games and Odyssey. Ocarina of Time comes off clunky now. Goldeneye set the precedent of multiplayer shooting games, but it's tough to revisit now.

I know lots of people love the N64, but to me it is one of the Nintendo consoles I don't frankly care to revisit.

An embarrassment of riches.

1080 Snowboarding though? 🤔 🏂

Super mario 64, the mario sports and party games (they are still considered the best of their series after all) and banjo tooie should be higher imo. Good to see F-Zero and paper mario getting recognition tho.

The fact that Star Wars: Episode I: Battle for Naboo isn't on this list is a joke. It's essentially another Rogue Squadron game without the name, and it's the best game based on Episode I.

I’m utterly shocked Castlevania didn’t make it to the list in any form. I know… there’s some awkward moments in the game with controls and stuff but it’s enjoyable! Source: I recently played through them both — the first time in years, since probably around the PS2 era when all I had was an N64 and GBA— and I enjoyed them every bit as much as when I was a “kid” back then. I played the crap out of Castlevania and Star Fox in the summer. I hold the Castlevanias and Star Fox 64 very close to my heart.
Oh well, the people have spoken I suppose, but I personally would love a re-release or something of those games in some form. They’re not as bad as people make them out to be.

The Nintendo 64 was my first Nintendo home console, and Super Mario 64 is the console's best IMO.

Side-scrollers have a particularly difficult time adapting to 3D - leaders in that field of gaming like Castlevania, Mega Man, or Sonic, either shied away from 3D or had trouble adjusting. Nintendo's own Kirby, Yoshi and Metroid avoided 3D too (the fact that they couldn't do a proper Metroid 64 is the reason the series languished between 1994 and 2002). Mario tackled the issue head-on (how could he not? He was Nintendo's main mascot, and in the mid-90s, 3D was no longer the future, it was the present), and he succeded, reinventing platforming in the process.

In comparison, Ocarina of Time is a straightforward translation into 3D of A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening (top-down games generally have it easier compared to side-scrollers, Metal Gear Solid also borrowed a lot from the 2D Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake), and had the advantage that games like SM64 and Star Fox 64 had already broken ground for Nintendo in 3D gaming; its real achievement is that it integrates a lot of things (first-person shooting, target locking, context-sensitive buttons, etc.) into one neat package. Not that it isn't a monumental game, but, personally, I think SM64 accomplished something more difficult.

Goldeneye 007 is an excellent game too, evolving first-person shooters from "kill everything on sight, get out of the maze", to something closer to action-adventure games, focused on completing different tasks in each level. Rare's greatest achievement in the N64, IMO.

That's my Top 3: Super Mario 64 first, Ocarina of Time second, and Goldeneye 007 third. All three giants of gaming, among several other great games (both Banjos, Star Fox 64, Diddy Kong Racing, etc.). So happy anniversary to the Nintendo 64, home to such gaming masterpieces. And happy anniversary to Super Mario 64, one of the most important games in Nintendo's entire history, up there with the likes of Super Mario Bros 1 and 3, the first Legend of Zelda and A Link to the Past, and the arcade Donkey Kong.

Worms Armageddon and Gauntlet Legends deserve to be on this list, I think they are waaaaaaaaay too many Mario Party and ISS games (one per franchise, come on people!) pushing out unique and brilliant games absolutely worth a shout!

My favorites:
1.- Ocarina of Time.
2.- Star Fox 64.
3.- WCW/nWo Revenge (should had been higher on the list, after all, it's the best selling 3rd party game on the N64, and the quality of it is just so amazing).
4.- Goldeneye 007.
5.- Super Smash Bros.
6.- Perfect Dark.
7.- Mario Kart 64.
8.- Mario Party.
9.- Neon Genesis Evangelion.
10. Castlevania.

Poor Kirby 64. So underrated. =(

@ChromaticDracula The Castlevania games on the N64 are still the best 3D Castlevanias. I'm surprised as well to not see them on the list. I'd love a re-release, I'd buy that day one.

Goldeneye is overrated. There, I said it. It's not a better FPS than Doom 64

@Stubborn_Monkey
Couldn‘t agree more, the fact that they hit the nail on the head with what was basically the first 3D platformer is unbelievable. It is one of my favorite games of all time because it is still so fun to play. Every game developer that makes 3D games needs to play through it at least twice (and I hope this is the case!).

I understand WaveRace, MK64 and Beetle Adventure Racing being above 1080 but not the rest of the racers. What?! There hasn’t been a snowboarding game since the original 1080 that has recreated the same feel of boarding down a mountain. Yes there have been a lot of fun snowboarding games since but they don’t come close to 1080. I am mad and sad at the same time.

I don't get why Perfect Dark doesn't beat Goldeneye for anyone who's played both.

Mario 64 behind Banjo Kazooie?

Excitebike 64 is the big miss from this list for me, though the quality on the list just shows what a great (and underrated by many) console the N64 was/is.

I had a surprising thought recently that it was the best console of its era for sports games:
ISS
Wave Race
1080
NBA Courtside
Excitebike
No Mercy
F1 World Grand Prix II
Not forgetting the Mario sports games

Then there are excellent quirky games that didn't make the list like Space Station Silicon Valley and Wetrix.

@Stubborn_Monkey I agree with almost everything you say, though I think Perfect Dark was Rare's greatest achievement. I also didn't really like any of Rare's 3D platformers on the N64 for some reason. Blast Corps, Jet Force Gemini and Diddy Kong Racing were great.

@Duffman92
I think the merit of Super Mario 64 is that it had to basically rewrite core Super Mario gameplay, mostly on two things: health bar, and power-ups now being crucial to get stars. Super Mario 64 has a more "strategic", puzzle-solving gameplay compared to the "hop 'n' bop" obstacle courses that 2D Super Mario games are made of, where power-ups give an optional advantage to beat the levels. On the other hand, the open-world level design could be seen as a natural extesion of SMB3 and SMW's overworld maps: instead of worlds with different levels, it has courses with different stars, and a hub world hosting those courses - it's an already existing idea taken one step further.

That necessity to reinvent the game from scratch is what I think makes it the console's greatest achievement. I mean, it's not the first 3D game, but it sure has influenced 3D gaming through the years.

@AlexHarford
Perfect Dark, while pushing the machine to its limits, stands upon the shoulders of Goldeneye - it didn't have to break as much new ground as Goldeneye did, and therefore is inferior IMO, but it's still a great game, easily within the Top 10 for the console.

I'd probably swap the places of Banjo-Tooie and Banjo-Kazooie. There's something about the second that makes me prefer it over the first. Maybe it's the fact that the notes are permacollected, unlike in Kazooie.

Also maybe Diddy Kong Racing and Mario Kart 64. The latter gets old (and cheap) for me rather quickly.

Other than that. That's a solid list, however I'd also give an honorific mention to Doubutsu no Mori, the original Animal Crossing. You can still enjoy it despite not understanding what's going on.

My top 10 64 games would be (in no particular order):
-Conker's Bad Fur Day
-Super Smash Bros.
-Pokémon Stadium 2
-Banjo-Tooie
-Super Mario 64
-Bomberman Hero (no mention for it)
-Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
-Donkey Kong 64
-Goldeneye 007 (despite the fact I suck so hard at shooters not called Metroid Prime)
-Mario Party 2

Runner-ups: Pokémon Snap, Mario Party 3, Diddy Kong Racing.

This isn't based on nostalgia, I played them very recently with an almost fresh feeling after not playing them for so long, and, in the case of Conker, for the first time.

N64 was my fav era of nintendo

Perfect Dark is my favourite on the system, then F-Zero X. For the record, X is better than GX. Anyone that says otherwise doesn't understand the ethos of F-Zero games. It's about pure racing and sustaining speed, not flash graphics and dealing with track gimmicks.

Yay, Rocket Robot on Wheels is in 50th - the game made it!

Haha, I just caught myself being that guy: "What? Mario 64 is not number 1? How dare you?"

Guess it makes sense. I have a strange affinity for the N64 and its high quality but limited launch lineup, Waverace being another title that is hard to explain my fascination with.

But I suppose it's time to man up and try out the other top titles - Banjo-Kazooie might be a good first 'new' game to try

Blast Corps being 48th is almost criminal.

Wave Race 64, Banjo-Tooie, Blast Corps and Diddy Kong Racing should be higher than others (Mario Party, Mario Kart 64...) but the top 5 is perfect:

1. Ocarina of Time
2. Majora's Mask
3. Goldeneye 007
4. Banjo-Kazooie
5. Super Mario 64

What are you thinking?!?
Wave Race should be in the top 5.

No Superman 64?????????? 😂😂😂

@jaglufc Agreed. Should be no1 - its aged brilliantly compared to the Zeldas and certainly shouldn’t be behind Banjo, I was tired of collecting crap after 10 mins of that one

Mario Golf at 25 invalidates the entire list.

Needs more silicon vally

No Space Station Silicon Valley?

Edit @KnightsTemplar beat me to it!

I have recently got my hands on Golden eye and Perfect dark, well my friend found them for a dollar at a thrift store, I traded him some stuff for them and now I have them. These games are still a ton of fun Goldeneye is still a fun couch coop and Perfect dark the same department but they are still fun games.

And this is where I'd put Earthbound 64...

IF I HAD ONE

I must be the only person in the universe that thought that the N64 was a sh**ty system. The horrible graphics was the first thing that made it bad, then add in that stupid ass expansion pak, those god-awful controllers. Yeah a real sh** show from day one.

Great top 50! Just like so many other gamers I'm sure we that will all have a different order.
But just wanted to say how awesome the N64 was . So many classics including ones not in the list. Great memories.
It's about time Nintendo released an N64 mini!
Come on Nintendo how about it? . Im Sure Xbox would allow DKR to be released on it.

Perfect Dark was like Goldeneye but much more advanced. I would switch places with the two games. Otherwise, the top 10 list is pretty much spot on.

For me, Majoras Mask should be number one over OOT and Blast Corps is too low on the list.

I'll never forget, in early 2001 I was 7 years old and my father was convinced by someone that whatever game store he went to to buy conkers bad Fur Day for their young son. I got the game and I put it in LMFAO and I was playing it and I was confused about a bunch of the words that they were talking about in the game so I got my dad to come see and help me with it and he saw some of the cutscenes and some of the things they were saying and he got pissed and he immediately took the game away and returned it I think it was so funny but so funny to me I wish he wouldn't have now.

The library was bigger than 50?

Resident Evil 2 is my favorite game of all-time and the N64 port was stellar. Capcom didn't show the console the love it did to NES and SNES but at least we got that game.

Goldeneye, Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time knock nearly all other games out the park, imo.

I do hope they go farther than just Banjo for the Rare integration on NSO. That'd really win me over, I'm still on the fence with the higher price at the moment.

Soooo many fond memories of so many of these games, but in my unpopular opinion, most have not aged well and aren't fun to play these days.

Shadows of the Empire didn't even make the list!? Actually that's not all that surprising, I just happen to really like that game.

Yeah, f ya'll for not liking Castlevania

Turok 3 is better than Turok 2 in every way and Rocket: Robot on Wheels should be on the list.

You should all check out a lad from America on YouTube called vanburen20 he did a couple of vids already & I agree with him 100% top 10 games to come to N64 NSO! Oooohh Turok 3 has to be on there just like No Mercy & Diddy Kong Racing!!!

Don't you think WCW/nWo should have been No.33! Hahahahaha
Ted Turner! Hahahaha

@PickledKong64 I got the native XBLA port of Goldeneye recently and damn, that is fun to play.

No love for Fighters Destiny?

Banjo is too high and Sin and Punishment is WAY too low

Always preferred Perfect Dark over Goldeneye back in the day, but admittedly I missed the Goldeneye multiplayer experience. I played far more Perfect Dark with friends. And of course, Perfect Dark had a far richer single-player offer than Goldeneye.

Still, I would definitely like to replay both. They were my first FPS titles and back then I didn't really have the context I have now (having played Marathon, Doom, Quake, Dark Forces, Half-Life, and Unreal) about what the genre was like on PC and Mac during the late 90s.

I still own them all.
1080 is the best snowboarding game ever.
Should be higher.
Recently picked up a new manual for snowboard Kids 2, it is now mint and complete.
Such a great console.
Glad others will get to enjoy its games, albeit at a slow trickle.

@Thesharkfromjaws You got that right. Best snow boarding game ever created.

Majora's Mask too low

Blast Corp should be higher. Grossly underrated game.

@PJOReilly Hahahaha How did you remember that 1? I completely forgot that! That was super bad!!

I’m not sure wether to buy these games physically for my n64 or wait to play them digitally through nso

Here’s my collection and order of preference, with the Nintendo Life ranking in brackets;

1. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1)
2. Perfect Dark (7)
3. Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (2)
4. Goldeneye (3)
5. Banjo-Kazooie (4)
6. Banjo-Tooie (16)
7. Conker’s Bad Fur Day (12)
8. Donkey Kong 64 (37)
9. Super Mario 64 (5)
10. Mario Kart 64 (9)
11. Mario Tennis (23)
12. Super Smash Bros (11)
13. F-Zero X (10)
14. Jet Force Gemini (43)
15. Mario Golf (25)
16. Mario Party (28)
17. WWF No Mercy (20)
18. Star Wars Episode 1: Racer (45)
19. Pokemon Stadium (n/a)
20. WWF Wrestlemania 2000 (39)
21. ISS 2000 (n/a)
22. ISS 98 (n/a)
23. Excitebike 64 (n/a)
24. International Track & Field: Summer Games (n/a)

My thoughts? DK64 gets hated on way too much on the internet. I loved that game back in the day. Four of my top-5 is also in the NL top-5.

Only ones in the NL top-10 that I didn’t play/own were Star Fox and Paper Mario.

No mention of Fighters Destiny?! You get to play as a cow!

Smash bros is to low ranked same with mario cart and mario 64 they really should be were Zelda is ranked that's my opinion tho

When I was a kid, I didn't have the 3D accelerator card needed to play podracing, so when I found out it was on N64, I was STOKED! Then I realised its not nearly as good on N64 and was sad again

road rash 64 never gets love

Never saw this list, but boy am I pleased to see that Mischief Makers has a fairly good spot on this list. I was always under the impression that it had become one of those obscure cult classics rather than one of the more memorable N64 games.

Im just glad Conkers Bad Fur Day Made The Top 20

❗️My Top 5️⃣ N64 Games:

1️⃣TLOZ:OOT
2️⃣JB:007-GoldenEye
3️⃣JB:007-The World Is Not Enough
4️⃣Super Mario Kart 64
5️⃣Xena: Warrior Princess-Talisman Of Fate

@HamatoYoshi Not even close! N64 games are as fun as ever.

@Bearzilla823 You've missed out.

I'm glad to see Snowboard Kids on the list, but too bad that Bomberman 64 and Top Gear Rally aren't.
I think it was very redundant including the whole Mario Party trilogy. You should have picked only the best one so as to give space to other games.

If only Gauntlet: Legends was on this list. I LOVED that game!!