The Nintendo 64 is a console which tends to divide gamers. Launching back in 1996 (or 1997 in PAL regions) as the gaming industry's bread-and-butter switched from sprites to polygons, the console represents — from a certain perspective — the first time Nintendo really dropped the ball. Tired of the platform holder's licensing terms, many developers jumped ship to Sony's PlayStation, attracted by fairer deals and cheaper disc-based media. In the meantime, Nintendo doubled down on an esoteric piece of hardware with confusing, kiddy-coloured controllers that were arguably out of step with gaming's maturing audience.
On the other hand, for many gamers the N64 evokes some of our very warmest, strongest gaming memories. It was while brandishing this console's three-pronged pad that many of us took our first steps into a three-dimensional Mushroom Kingdom or Hyrule, and the unrivalled excitement of four-player split-screen Mario Kart or GoldenEye sticks in our mind like few other multiplayer experiences.
Thanks to the User Ratings submitted by readers, we present to you the top 50 N64 games ever. There's no doubt that we've got a fine selection of 64-bit lovelies below, but remember, this list is not set in stone . The ranking will continue to evolve automatically according to user scores submitted to the Nintendo Life game database , so don't worry if you missed out on 'voting' — you can still do so by simply scrolling down and rating them now!
And should the fancy take you, you can do the same for each of Nintendo's consoles with our top 50 best games lists , including NES , SNES , Game Boy , GBC , GBA , Nintendo DS , 3DS , GameCube , Wii , Wii U and more.
If there's a game bubbling under the top 50 that you'd like to rate, feel free to find it using the search tool below and give it a score out of 10. Otherwise, plug in your Rumble / Controller / Transfer / Expansion Paks and get ready for the best N64 games of all time...
Note. In order for games to become eligible, they need a minimum of 50 User Ratings in total.
Most people who played Beetle Adventure Racing! Pilotwings 64 F-1 World Grand Prix
As a quintessential PlayStation franchise, seeing Ridge Racer on N64 gave us a similar sensation as playing WipeOut on Nintendo's console — it was very welcome, but it still felt weird . While Ridge Racer 64 features tracks from previous games in Namco's racer series, it was actually developed by the Redmond-based Nintendo Software Entertainment and later ported to DS as — wait for it — Ridge Racer DS . You're better off sticking with the 64-bit original, though.
An Atlus-published Mario Kart-alike which subs out karts for 'boards, Racdym's underappreciated Snowboard Kids is the secret best multiplayer racer on the system. It added goofier characters, extra tension, and comedy to the familiar formula — the end of a run usually produces hilarious pile-ups as you scramble for the ski lift and the next 'lap'. With subtle stick controls and great music, it's a real gem.
And it gets extra respect points for not swapping out 'Kids' for 'Kidz '. Classy.
Quake II excels at providing a fast-paced first-person shooter experience on N64, and one which feels quite different from system stalwarts GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark . The single-player is a gruelling task, if only because of the enemies’ resilience to almost all kinds of weaponry, not to mention that hitting them is a bit difficult when you move so fast that your shots don’t line up with your crosshair. That’s not to say that it isn’t fun, but it does nevertheless require some patience. These last two issues are also present in the multiplayer mode, but given that each player is at the same disadvantage, it isn’t as big an issue. Moreover, the multiplayer feels surprisingly nippy for an N64 game and usually maintains a playable frame rate even with four players. It may not be as memorable or as deep in terms of gameplay as its Rare competition on the system, but Quake II is nevertheless entertaining, and especially worth experiencing if you miss the glory days of the arena multiplayer shooter. Playable on Switch via the remaster , too.
The first game released following THQ's takeover of licence holder duties from Acclaim, WCW's loss was very much WWF's gain. WWF Wrestlemania 2000 WCW/nWo Revenge
An underrated entry in the Rareware library, Jet Force Gemini coupled cute design with chunky, gungy third-person blasting in a world-hopping quest to defeat insectoid overlord Mizar. Juno, Vela and trusty good boy Lupus' adventure is not without flaws, but JFG is a surprisingly deep and satisfying one that's worth investigating if you're a Rare fan looking for gems that passed you by around the turn of the millennium.
Midway's console port of Atari Games' San Francisco Rush 2049
Based on the best bit of The Phantom Menace (apart from the Darth Maul bits and all the soundtrack), Star Wars Episode 1: Racer tapped into the same vein of high-octane antigrav racing as WipeOut and F-Zero X . While not quite as smooth or accomplished, it utterly captured the energy of the movie sequence and threw in a deep upgrade and trading system and a dual-handed, two-pad control scheme more closely mirroring the onscreen pod controls, which really let you relive the thrill of boosting past Sebulba, Ben Quadinaros, and... erm, the rest.
The Game Boy Color got a limited top-down version, but the N64 iteration is one of the best games ever to bear the Star Wars brand. Watto’s banter and post-race rendition of the Cantina theme is also excellent. Happily, a Switch port of the game is now available with some HD spit polish and a lovely smooth frame. Utinni!
The N64 was notoriously underserved in a handful of genres — RPGs and fighters among them — but Ogre Battle 64 was a stellar strategy game. Following on from the series' previous appearance on SNES, it doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's a fantastic example of the genre, a real all-timer. It also features possibly the finest post-colon subtitle in gaming.
Edge of Reality's port of Neversoft's first Tony Hawk game arrived around six months after the PlayStation version. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Tony Hawk's Skateboarding as it was known in Europe) stands up very well gameplay-wise on Nintendo 64, although the reduced storage space on a cartridge versus Sony's discs means texture quality and, more importantly, audio both take a hit. It's still a fine way to play the first game, though.
