The Nintendo 64 had hundreds of games released since the system first went on sale in 1996. It can be difficult to choose which games to buy. Below is a list of the top ten must-have games for Nintendo 64 and why they should be in your collection.
10. Perfect Dark – The successor to Goldeneye 007. The developers kept the same great game but added additional multiplayer features. Customizable bots to fight against if you don’t have enough friends. Six different multiplayer modes. Four human players and eight computer players playing at the same time. Perfect Dark is the best multiplayer first person shooter game you will find.
9. Conker’s Bad Fur Day: A surprise game for Nintendo 64 because it was not aimed at the typical young audience of N64. The game has curse words and adult themes, but it is one of the funniest games ever released. And the gameplay is great too. The same developers who made Goldeneye and Perfect Dark also made Conker, so you know the multiplayer action is perfect.
8. Mario Golf: play 18 holes with Mario and company. This arcade-style golf game isn’t the most realistic you’ll find, but it’s fun for hours on end. Play single player and beat new characters in a round to unlock them. And then play against your friends with your newly unlocked characters. I personally played this game hundreds of hours when it first came out. A friend and I played a round of 18 every day after school for a whole year. It must be fun if you can keep it coming back for so many hours.
7. Star Wars Racer – A racing game based on the racing scenes from Star Wars Episode 1. Run in the same events Anakin did, and many more. Choose different ships, some faster, others more closed in the corners and try to beat the competition of a galaxy. Any Star Wars fan will have a blast with this one.
6. Super Smash Bros. – A simple but fun fighter with all Nintendo characters. Fight as Mario or Bowser and even some of Nintendo’s darkest characters, including Ness from the Earthbound series. The fighter only uses two buttons for the most part and the joystick, making it much easier to start playing than other fighters on the market.
5. Mario Party: the game that started the party genre for video games. A board game for your television. Roll the dice and try to move around the board to collect stars. After each turn, players play with each other or in teams to earn coins that they can spend on special items. Great for four-player action with your friends, especially if you keep losing the dice with your Monopoly set. You cannot lose these dice.
4. Mario Kart 64: A sequel to Super Mario Kart on Super Nintendo, Mario Kart 64 is faster than the original and is in 3D. Try to run around the track and get to the finish line first, but watch out for the attacking items your opponents can use. Red shells, stars and even the dreaded blue shell that will hit you anywhere on the track. This is the multiplayer game that all my friends want to play when we play Nintendo 64.
3. Goldeneye 007 – Before the release of Halo in 2001, Goldeneye was the best in-person shooter on the market. The best controls for any FPS with a joystick and a story that follows the movie made this a great first person game and also a fantastic multiplayer.
2. Super Mario 64 – The flagship launch game for Nintendo 64 and showcased the system’s 3D capabilities by bringing Mario into the third dimension for the first time. Consistently rated one of the top ten games of all time for its contributions to gaming, this is a title fit for any gamer. The first 3D game with a free mobile camera, first game with the use of the analog joystick so that Mario can change his speed. This is the game that all 3D action games are compared to.
1. Zelda Ocarina of Time – What Mario started Zelda Ocarina of Time perfected. This game is rated the best game of all time by countless magazines and websites because it was a seamless transition for Zelda from 2D to 3D. Fun gameplay, intriguing story, and hours of entertainment. It’s no wonder it has the best review scores of all time.
With these ten games in your Nintendo 64 collection, you should be entertained for hours on end and definitely enjoy purchasing your N64 system.