In the latest update of our Top N64 Games list, originally written more than 21 years ago, we continue to celebrate the N64 games that have left the biggest mark not just on our lives, but on the industry as a whole.
As always with any kind of list like this, it’s important to establish our criteria to explain as best as we can why some games made the list and others didn’t. First, while we didn't have a hard rule on only including games that were exclusive to the Nintendo 64, we also didn’t want to include games that are just simply better on other platforms of that era, like Resident Evil 2 and Rayman 2.
Second, we tried to consider a number of factors, including historical significance, how good it looked and played at the time, in addition to how well it holds up today, y’know, just in case you’re still able to dig your old N64 out of the closet. The games toward the top of this list are the ones that we feel have the best combination of those three criteria, while the ones towards the bottom, or the ones that didn't make the cut, might be strong in one of those aspects, but lacking in the others. Honorable mentions include Conker's Bad Fur Day, Mario Party 2, Excitebike 64, Pilotwings 64, Rocket: Robot on Wheels, Mario Tennis, Turok, Wrestlemania, No Mercy, BattleTanx, Episode I: Racer, Snowboard Kids, Mischief Makers, ISS98, and many, many more. There are just too many greats to fit into a list of 25.
Finally, one last note, because our staff is mostly made up of people who played Nintendo 64 games released only in North America, we decided to keep this list import free.
25. Banjo-Tooie
The followup to Banjo-Kazooie expanded on what made the first great, adding 8 more gorgeous (if stuttery on the Nintendo 64) levels to keep the collecta-a-thon going while not shaking things up too much. In addition to picking up right where Kazooie left off, Tooie was also a continuation of Kazooie in another creative way: While the original plans to link the cartridges by physically swapping them back and forth in the N64 was nixed by Nintendo, unexplained mysteries from the first game including very well-hidden, literal Easter eggs and the bafflingly inaccessible Ice Key did make appearances in Tooie, and helped the pair of games feel like one adventure.
Banjo-Tooie was up against some beloved platformers in our selection process including Conker’s Bad Fur Day and Donkey Kong 64, both from Tooie’s developer, Rare. But Tooie’s platforming, augmented by goofy transformations and endless new moves, was refined compared to DK64, and its explorable areas dwarfed Conker, giving it the edge. - Samuel Claiborn
24. Pokemon Stadium 2
Like the original Pokemon Stadium, Pokemon Stadium 2 did not have a story of its own, but provided an awesome expansion of sorts to Pokemon Trainers with Pokemon Gold, Silver, or Crystal on the GameBoy Color. The transfer pak for the Nintendo 64 controller allowed you to battle with your own Pokemon from the GameBoy Color games in the Gym Leader Castle and most of the tournaments in the Stadium, see 3D Pokemon models at the Lab, play the Pokemon GameBoy games at double or triple speed once you unlocked the Doduo or Dodrio modes, and more.
The 12 new mini-games and quiz mode provided hours of entertainment with friends, and new to Pokemon Stadium 2, the Pokemon Academy was like a built-in strategy guide that taught useful tactics with tests in the form of actual Pokemon battles. Overall, Pokemon Stadium 2 was just an incredibly welcome addition for Pokemon fans on the Nintendo 64. - Casey DeFreitas
23. Blast Corps
Rare’s inventive Blast Corps, about clearing a path for a runaway nuclear missile carrier, is one of those glorious games from the period that looks like one thing, but is actually another. While the assortment of destructive hardware like giant bulldozers, dump trucks, and mechs with evocative names like ‘Thunderfist’ or ‘J-Bomb’ seem purely focused on cruising around and blowing stuff up, Blast Corps is as much a puzzle game as anything else.
At the time, we praised its disaster movie vibes, imaginative bonus games, and sharp graphics, while only criticizing its brevity, which at 11 hours for the story and side missions according to How Long to Beat, really isn’t that bad by today’s standards. As with many games on this list, Blast Corps still holds up remarkably well today and begs the question of why there haven’t been more games since that borrow from it outside of the occasional giant monster game. - John Davison
22. Space Station Silicon Valley
Although Nintendo 64’s library is defined by its strong first- and second-party efforts, you’ll find some genuine third-party gems from some of the best developers of the day (and also today) if you dig a bit deeper. We greatly enjoyed Sucker Punch’s strong debut with Rocket: Robot on Wheels or Paradigm/EA’s Beetle Adventure Racing, but we want to highlight an oft-forgotten little treasure called Space Station Silicon Valley. DMA Design’s 1998 puzzle game casts players as the remains of a damaged robot -- a walking microchip -- who could take over a variety of robotic animals to solve smart and often hilarious puzzles.
Each animal, from super-speedy mice on wheels to missile-firing hyena hot rods, brought unique controls and abilities to take down enemies and overcome tricky levels. Space Station: Silicon Valley’s designers and its lead programmer, Leslie Benzies, stumbled on an interesting formula: a sandbox filled with “vehicles” that all felt differently and were just fun to mess around with. Ultimately, its low sales ensured that we never saw a sequel. The team, however, wasn’t discouraged and started work on Grand Theft Auto III. We shall forgive them for never returning to Silicon Valley. - Peer Schneider
21. Beetle Adventure Racing
It would be easy to dismiss 1999’s Beetle Adventure racing as a cynically-motivated licensed game created only to showcase Volkswagen’s New Beetle, released the previous year. To do so would be to overlook a key moment in the evolution of racing games that has led us to where we are today with the more playful Need for Speed or Forza Horizon games.
What it lacked in car variety, it more than made up for in its level design. Thanks to EA Canada’s collaboration with Pilotwings 64 developer Paradigm Entertainment, it was able to focus on six huge tracks that featured so many shortcuts and sideroads that exploration was an important element of successfully winning races. - John Davison
20. 1080° Snowboarding
Pre-dating the seminal SSX by two years, 1080 was a rare example of Nintendo taking a swing at a more serious sports game and delivering something special. While its graphics were utterly gorgeous, its focus on realism made it truly stand out. Much like Wave Race 64 managed to convey the feeling of water, this captured the feel of moving over (and sometimes through) snow in ways that hadn’t been seen before.
Enthusiastic reviews at the time lauded how satisfying it felt, but many players found it punitively challenging at first due to its demanding control scheme that had you absorbing impacts with a squeeze of the Z-trigger. - John Davison
19. WWF No Mercy
It’s telling that one of the main selling points of the upcoming AEW video game is that it will be largely inspired by WWF No Mercy, even going as far as bringing its director, Hideyuki Iwashita, on board for its development. Why? No Mercy represented the pinnacle of an era of wrestling video games. Its simple fighting mechanics made it super easy for even casual wrestling fans to jump in, select their favorite wrestler, and have a great time with minimal onboarding.
It was one of the rare four player games that didn’t require split screen, making it an excellent party game, but in addition to that, it also had one of the better single player story modes of any wrestling game, even to this day. One where your choices and performance in a match actually made a difference in the direction of the story. Wrestling games have since become better at simulating the experience of professional wrestling, but No Mercy represents the peak of how fun a wrestling game can be, even at its most basic level. - Mitchell Saltzman
18. Mario Kart 64
Mario Kart 64 built upon the pixelated Mode 7 gameplay of its SNES predecessor and introduced fully 3D courses for the first time, ingeniously blending polygons and 2D sprites for a fantastic array of huge, sprawling raceways packed with tunnels, giant ramps, and iconic Nintendo characters and locations. By the end of a few laps around a stage of this chaotic kart racer, the roads are usually littered with discarded banana peels, ricocheting turtle shells, and eight intensely competitive players all vying for the #1 spot. The result is equal parts challenging and hilarious; landing a perfect blue shell projectile on an unsuspecting player and nabbing a narrow victory at the least second is a feeling like no other in video games.