Today marks the 21st birthday of the North American release of the Nintendo 64. Happy birthday N64! Let’s celebrate this amazing console by looking back at some of its best games! To make things more exciting, I decided to recruit some of the other GameTyrant writers to really see just how the N64 library was appealing to different gamers.
Tommy
5. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
This was possibly my first introduction to an actual Kirby game. I loved how you could combine powers to get even more awesome abilities, and honestly, the graphics still look pretty good when you look back on it. It was a fun introduction to Kirby, and deserves a spot on this list.
4. Mario Kart 64
The second game to have Mario and friends race each other in go-karts! This was insanely fun to play with 3 friends in either races or battle mode. The addition of 2 more players from Super Mario Kart doubled the fun for everyone.
3. Pokémon Stadium 2
Pokémon Stadium 2 was a blast. I didn’t get to play it when it first came out, but when I got this game I fell in love. The mini-games are fantastic, Gym Leaders Castle was fun, and the other tournaments you could play were a blast. You could even play your Pokémon Gameboy games on the big screen!
2. Super Smash Bros.
This game is a classic! Fighting your friends with iconic characters from Nintendo started here, and it was the best multiplayer experience on the Nintendo 64. Simple enough, it was easy to have fun as a casual gamer, but complex enough for people to dive in and hold tournaments.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
This is one of my favorite games of all time, and is my favorite Zelda game. The story is phenomenal, the graphics were fantastic for the time, and it’s just fun. It’s no wonder they’ve released so many ports of this game! This is the epitome of the N64 for me.
Dean
5. Donkey Kong 64
One of the first games to provide the option to play as multiple different characters and show off how a team can work together to achieve the same goal using their own skill sets to complete different tasks.
4. Mario Party 2
A true party game that brought friends and family together in a viral board game full of twists and mini-games that had a variety of styles and challenges that everyone could enjoy.
3. Super Smash Bros.
The iconic brawler that started a series that now headlines many eSport competitions was always a fun party game that my friends and I could spend hours battling each other in hopes of becoming the champion.
2. Star Fox 64
This arcade style shooter had tons of secrets and paths to be taken, which gave it plenty of replayability. But it was the mix of skill and planning that kept me trying to do better.
1. Super Mario 64
One of my first games to ever 100% complete, twice. Collecting all the stars through all the various platforming challenges brought hours of entertainment.
Ryan
5. Army Men Sarge’s Heroes
Multiplayer parties are the greatest memories I have from the N64 era and one of my favorite games to play during that time was Army Men Sarge’s Heroes! Trying to have long range Mortar fights was the best! Though they would eventually devolve into a normal fight after a couple minutes.
4. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
I spent hours playing this game at my friend’s house! I was never able to beat him at this one but I did finally get revenge in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3.
3. Mario Kart 64
No one could beat me at this game! Every time a challenge was laid in front of me I made quick work of it… well that is until they started unplugging my controller. Punks.
2. Goldeneye 007
Not only did Goldeneye 007 prove that shooters could be done right on a console it did it in style with an awesome campaign, 4 player split screen and enough cheats to unlock to keep players going for months. If anyone wants to do a round of Slappers Only, let’s go!
1. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
I love flight games. I love Star Wars games. Put em together and you get one of the best Star Wars games of all time! I love the game so much I have spent the last year working on several different projects involving it!
Mick
5. Army Men Sarge's Heroes
Although Sarge’s face looked horrifying when he was at low health, I loved playing this game.
4. Goldeneye 007
My parents bought my copy used which was awesome because whoever owned the game before me unlocked all the cheat codes.
3. Mario Party
You ever meet anyone who played a 50-turn game on every map? You have now.
2. Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
A great game with tons of strategy and great story. turns out years later I was playing it completely wrong… Still a great game and super underrated.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask
I used to go back and forth between this and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I go with this now because I can still play this game and forget what I have to do next.
Its crazy to think this console is now 21 years old. I still remember when we brought mine home and I first played Mario Kart 64. Do you plan to play any N64 games this week to celebrate the life of this awesome console? Also let us know what your favorite Nintendo 64 games and memories are in the comments below!
