My Top 20 N64 Games

I spent much a lot of last couple of weeks playing random N64 games with one of my friends. We really enjoyed it. It got me to thinking, and after I think, I tend to ramble! What do I think are the best N64 games? Hmm... it's like I'm kid in a retro gaming candy store, or perhaps just a kid in a retro gaming store. Keep in mind that this list is just off the top of my head. I'm probably forgetting a few games that I think are worthy of being on here.



20: WCW vs. NWO Revenge

I remember getting this for Christmas a decade or so ago. It's pretty sweet. It's a sequel to World Tour, which kind of sucks in comparison. The simple control scheme is what makes Revenge so much fun. It's pretty fun on single player, but you could spend days playing it on multiplayer. Also, the game has some knowledge of wrestling rivalries as they were at the time, and allied wrestlers will run in and help their buddies if they're losing too badly.

19: Doom 64

I love the way N64 FPS games conduct themselves. There's no online mode, so the campaigns are seldom linear. People would boo that stuff back in the day. From what I understand, Doom 64 is actually not the same game as the original Doom on PC. It's a sort of side story game that's made by Midway. Whatever the case, I like the way you have to explore the corridors and how enemies will pop up whenever you find something.

18: Snowboarder Kids

I don't have as much experience with this game as I'd like to, but I rented it several times back in the day. It's kind of like a kart racing game, except that it's on snowboards. I only recall that I really enjoyed it.

17: Gex 64

Gex is a one-liner delivering lizard. What's not like about that? I like all of the Gex games for N64 and PS1.

16: NFL Blitz

It's one of those games that's fun to play with friends. It's a shame that Midway couldn't get the NFL license for several of the later entries.

15: Starfox 64

Starfox is pretty nifty. The controls are nice and loose. I think Star Wars: Rogue Squadron is a much better game, but that's not to say Starfox is bad.

14: BattleTanx: Global Assault

Finally, you can blow up a buildings with tanks!

13: Mario 64

I have a confession: Aside from Gex, this is the only 3D platformer for N64 that I like (unless you could Zelda). I'm not big on Banjo Kazooie, and I hate Donkey Kong 64, so...

12: Wrestlemania 2000

This game is much better than the very-good WCW vs. NWO: Revenge. From what little I've played of No Mercy, I can safely say that I think it sucks when compared to this game. This has a Create-A-Wrestler mode, the ability to create little factions comparable to DX or whoever, a story mode, theme music for every wrestler, and is all around a fantastic game.

11: Mystical Ninja: Starring Goemon

It's kind of like Zelda meets Mario 64. I'm always eager for games that are sort of like Zelda. I like the other N64 Goemon game too, but not as much.

10: Duke Nukem 64

Like Doom 64, it's fairly non-linear. But Duke Nukem 64 has humor, and also a nice multiplayer mode.

9: Star Wars: Rogue Squadron

I'm a big fan of the movies. In some ways, I think of Rogue Squadron as a sort of sequel to Starfox 64. It's like not-on-rails version of that game, with better graphics, better sound, and generally better everything. It could have used a multiplayer mode, though.

8: Mario Golf

There are lots of unlockables in Mario Golf. You could spend a good bit of time just unlocking all of the courses and characters. The multiplayer is what's so fun about Mario Golf, though. I'm told you can actually create your own golfer if you have a GBC, a transfer pak, and Mario Golf for GBC, but that's a lot to hunt down. Heh.

7: Pokemon Stadium

Speaking of transfer paks, here's the only game I ever used that thing on. Pokemon Stadium is another good multiplayer game. Of course you can battle your Pokemon via Gameboys and Link Cables, but it's much more fun to do it in 3D. The graphics on this game are in 3D, it has commentary, and you can also play Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow from the transfer pak (with the games running four times as fast!).

6: Pokemon Puzzle League

I forgot how much I liked Pokemon when I was a kid. This game is basically Tetris Attack, but it uses the license of the Pokemon cartoon. There's lots of soundbytes, good midi renditions of the cartoon's music, and so forth. I honestly think that Tetris Attack is more fun in this form.

5: Goldeneye I prefer Perfect Dark, but I like the Golden Gun mode.

4: Majora's Mask

Majora's Mask is a really impressive game, mostly due to its sidequests. There are many of them. Termina's society is far more realistic than Skylofts. Given that 12 years have passed in-between these games, that's kind of sad.

3: Diddy Kong Racing

The game that led to this list. The actual game is fantastic, but it's better when you use cheat codes. You can actually unlock co-op campaign. How badass is that?

2: Perfect Dark

It's the perfection of the already-near-perfect Goldeneye. The campaign mode is intense, has heavily non-linear progression through the levels, there are a variety of guns (all of which have dual firing modes). There's a Combat Simulator mode with bots that you can play against. There are Challenges that can be completed by yourself or with friends. Perfect Dark is better than many newer console FPS games that I've played, and that's taking into account their online modes.

1: Ocarina of Time

What could be better than Ocarina of Time? Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time are both phenomenal for their own reasons. I like OoT more because of the actual quest, though.

There you have it, gentlemen. Sounds about right. 10-1 are all pretty close.