Top 50 and Bottom 25 Nintendo 64 games list

[Rob2600]

IMHO, the original San Francisco Rush which isn't in the top 50 was better/more memorable than Beetle Adventure Racing.

It's a shame Stunt Racer 64 didn't fare better in reviews. It's by far my favorite racing game on the platform

San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing and Stunt Racer 64 received good scores (7.9 and 7.2 respectively), but not quite good enough to make it into the top 50. There were many games I wanted to include in the list (Super Smash Bros., Goemon's Great Adventure, 007: The World Is Not Enough, Bust-a-Move '99, Snowboard Kids, San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing, etc.), but I stopped at 50.

One of these days I'll post a complete list of Nintendo 64 games and their overall ratings.

The only game noticably missing from the top list is Sin and Punishment if you're counting imports.

I was deciding whether or not to include Sin and Punishment, but I decided not to since it was only released in Japan. Maybe I should now that it's available on the Wii Virtual Console.

I don't mind personally.

Of course that is no more (or less) fair than someone else taking the very same list and removing one Zelda, one Turok and several of the Mario games

In all seriousness, though, you did the right thing by including the "highest" rated Madden, All Star Baseball, etc. Just so we can see what reviewers considered the "best" in each series. So I think you handled it very well actually.

Thanks. I think the Mario games, Zelda games, Turok games, etc. are a different situation because each version is a new, different adventure. With All-Star Baseball, Madden NFL, etc., they're basically the same experience every year, but with updated rosters and some minor tweaks. That's my reasoning.

By the way, every time I see your avatar, I think it's Steven Seagal for a second.

[roushimsx]

San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing and Stunt Racer 64 received good scores (7.9 and 7.2 respectively), but not quite good enough to make it into the top 50.

7.9 / 7.2 in N64-era ratings is like a 6.9 / 6.2 in today's ratings.

[Rob2600]

7.9 / 7.2 in N64-era ratings is like a 6.9 / 6.2 in today's ratings.

With PlayStation games, yes, I agree...but with Nintendo 64 games, I don't think so. Reviewers inflated the scores for a lot of PlayStation games, but were usually tougher on N64 games.

For example, the Madden NFL games received higher scores on the PlayStation, even though the N64 versions had much better graphics and much faster loading times. It didn't make sense.

[DigitalSpace]

Just for the hell of it, here's what I think are the 10 best N64 games I own (based on personal preference):

1. Mario Kart 64
2. Super Mario 64
3. Paper Mario
4. Diddy Kong Racing
5. Goldeneye 007
6. Pokemon Snap
7. Beetle Adventure Racing!
8. Banjo-Kazooie
9. Harvest Moon 64
10. Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth

[otaku]

this brings back some fond memories. Man I loved the 64 played the hell out of it mostly with a room full of friends.

[Kevin H]

Worst to me. Superman and Beast Wars. hands down

[rpepper9]

Seems like half the games on the "worst" list are games that make use of some licencing. Like the Olympics or Mike Piazza or Rugrats. Those games usually are the worst, due to the fact that the licensed characters are the selling point of the game, not the gameplay or even the graphics.

[Zebbe]

Wow... One third party game on the top 10. I wonder if that says more about the console players or the support of it.

[Sothy]

Top 3 N64 games


1 Pilot Wings 64
2 Blast corp.
3 Goldeneye

[Nukie]

Didn't Goldeneye help to solidify the fps on consoles? It was a great game back then, and I just had a night of multi-player fun, which included Goldeneye.

[Atari 5200]

Goemon's Great Adventure = greatest game ever!!!!!!!!!!

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Where are the RPGs on this list? The SNES had many RPGs so I think the 64 should have many RPGs as well. Even my Sega CD had more RPGs, and that was an addon. Maybe there are more RPGs on the 64DD addon?

If you're a die-hard RPG fan and dislike every other genre, then the Nintendo 64 is definitely not for you. There are only a few N64 games listed as RPGs:

Aidyn Chronicles: The First Mage - 5.1
Harvest Moon 64 - 8.0
Hybrid Heaven - 7.0
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber - 8.5
Paper Mario - 9.2
Quest 64 - 6.3

Wouldn't Gauntlet Legends qualify as an RPG? I don't know it's rating though. The worst N64 game I can recall playing in recent memory is Castlevania 64- which was too difficult initially that after a dozen tries to get past a very early part of the game- I threw it down in frustration.

[Ryaan1234]

Goemon's Great Adventure = greatest game ever!!!!!!!!!!

I wouldn't say the greatest game ever. Maybe the greatest 2.5D 2 player co-op game ever.

[Zora Mystery]

Didn't Goldeneye help to solidify the fps on consoles? It was a great game back then, and I just had a night of multi-player fun, which included Goldeneye.

It also showed that movie based games didn't always suck, they are just never done very well.

[BydoEmpire]

More proof that the n64 was unfarily criticized for having "only a handful of good games." There was a little magic in that curvy, dark gray box, particularly if you had friends to play with.

My personal top 5 in no particular order.
Goldeneye 007 - multiplayer staple for several years at parties, excellent 1p, too.
Paper Mario - fantastic writing, creative and fun RPG. Best of the series, imho.
Mario Kart 64 - took Mario Kart to the next level, great multiplayer.
Super Mario 64 - stunning at the time, and a groundbreaking game.
Wave Race 64 - no one had done anything like it, and it was fun, deep and addicting

[emceelokey]

More proof that the n64 was unfarily criticized for having "only a handful of good games." There was a little magic in that curvy, dark gray box, particularly if you had friends to play with.

My personal top 5 in no particular order.
Goldeneye 007 - multiplayer staple for several years at parties, excellent 1p, too.
Paper Mario - fantastic writing, creative and fun RPG. Best of the series, imho.
Mario Kart 64 - took Mario Kart to the next level, great multiplayer.
Super Mario 64 - stunning at the time, and a groundbreaking game.
Wave Race 64 - no one had done anything like it, and it was fun, deep and addicting

Your top 5 are all first party games and that was pretty much the case with the n64. It had killer first party games and a handful of great 3rd party games and everything else hovers from good to bad.


A few of my favorite game for the N64 were
- Killer Instinct Gold
- WWF No Mercy
- Blast Corps
- Conker

[TunaPhish]

What's funny to me is how the second best N64 game according to all these critics is Goldeneye. While that may have been the case back in 1998 (and I would still have disagreed) when I go back and play it now, it really doesn't hold up well. The FPS genre has come so far since then that Goldeneye seems very bareboned. So, this makes me question: how would we rank the best N64 games now according to current standards? The metacritic rankings only reflect the standards of when those games were released. However, many of them still play extremely well (e.g. Majora's Mask) while others were only revolutionary for their time but wouldn't be considered great if released in this day and age.

[wiggyx]

What's funny to me is how the second best N64 game according to all these critics is Goldeneye. While that may have been the case back in 1998 (and I would still have disagreed) when I go back and play it now, it really doesn't hold up well. The FPS genre has come so far since then that Goldeneye seems very bareboned. So, this makes me question: how would we rank the best N64 games now according to current standards? The metacritic rankings only reflect the standards of when those games were released. However, many of them still play extremely well (e.g. Majora's Mask) while others were only revolutionary for their time but wouldn't be considered great if released in this day and age.

I imagine pretty much all of the sports games would be gone (save for the "soft" sports titles like Tony Hawk).

I feel that Mario 64 is still the best 3D Platformer out there. For me, it's sad that one of the first 3D platformers ever is still the best. Even more recent Mario games just don't compare (IMO).

[A.C. Sativa]

WCW Nitro should have been higher. Or lower, whatever...

That game is a shitpile.

[SparTonberry]

Pokemon Puzzle League is good but missing one important feature: I'm okay with the music and the sound effects but there needed to be an option to mute just the voices. "I'm gonna win!" STFU Ash! :P