10 Best Nintendo 64 Games Ever Made, Officially Ranked

The Nintendo 64 launched in the United States on September 29th, 1996, one full year after Sony’s CD-based platform, PlayStation, was outperforming every other system on the market. This was also the year console manufacturers started discontinuing under-performing home consoles such as the Atari Jaguar, Sega CD and 32x, the Panasonic 3DO, and Phillips CD-i.

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To say Nintendo was the underdog going into 1996 with a cartridge-based system to take on the PlayStation behemoth is an understatement. In its first 11 weeks, the Nintendo 64 sold 1.5 million units, and by 1998 had shipped a whopping 7 million consoles in the United States alone. Fans were clamoring to own a Nintendo 64, and for a good reason. So, here are the best Nintendo 64 games that contributed to the console’s massive global success.

10/10 WWF No Mercy

Released in 2000, THQ and Aki Corporation‘s WWF No Mercy became the standard by which all subsequent wrestling games would be judged. Striking at the height of WWF’s Attitude Era, WWF No Mercy was critically acclaimed as one of the best wrestling games ever, thanks to its fluid controls, licensed characters, and overall fun gameplay.

The game featured over 60 playable characters for you to choose from to unleash hell on your friends or the AI. WWF No Mercy even came with a built-in character creator mode so fans of wrestling could live out their dream of executing the Stink Face on Vince McMahon.

9/10 Star Wars: Rogue Squadron

The Battle of Hoth combat level in LucasArts 1998 Star Wars: Rogue Squadron is one of the most iconic Star Wars moments in all of the video games. Rogue Squadron on the Nintendo 64 was controlled effortlessly with the N64’s innovative analog controller.

Flight combat battles feel intense, and the music and sound bring a sense of immersion hard to replicate at the time. Bullets, lasers, and towering mechanical giants all fill the ambiance around you, which was a real game design achievement at the time. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron has been viewed by many as the game that proved Star Wars games could be fun and innovative while remaining dedicated to the source material.

8/10 Pokémon Snap

Part of what made the Nintendo 64 so successful was some of the more innovative games to have been released on the console. Pokemon Snap for the N64 was an absolute joy for Pokemon fans and a wonderful surprise for Nintendo owners when it launched in the US in 1999. You play as Todd Snap and are conducting a special research mission for Professor Oak. The mission is to observe Pokemon in their natural environments and take pictures of them; What more could you ask for?

Today this entire game is more or less a common feature in modern video games in the form of a Photo Mode. Back then, the idea of watching a Charizard chilling in a volcano next to a passed-out Voltorb was sort of mind-blowing.

7/10 Paper Mario

One of the must-plays on this list is Paper Mario. Once again, Bowser has kidnapped Princess Peach, and it’s up to the two plumbing powerhouses, Mario and Luigi, to rescue her. This Mario, however, is a little different than how you may remember him.

Released in the US in 2001, Paper Mario is an important game for the industry because it was seen at the time as the perfect conduit for western audiences who may have never experienced or played an actual RPG before. The game features a fun story and hilarious dialogue. Even as a turn-based adventure RPG, Paper Mario on its own is a masterful piece of video game design.

6/10 Donkey Kong 64

Donkey Kong 64 hit the scene in 1999 in a BIG way and has since been known as one of the best Nintendo 64 games ever released. Developer RARE and Nintendo had a specific vision for Donkey Kong and his pals, and while there may be polarizing arguments on both sides of the debate, it can be argued that DK64 makes up for quality with its quantity.

Donkey Kong 64 is an open-world adjacent adventure game with a multitude of items and characters to collect. The game featured save slots and dozens of hours of gameplay. There are platforming levels, puzzles, racing, shooting galleries, and hours more on your way to one of the more iconic final boss battle locations in video game history.

5/10 Mario Kart 64

Nintendo has always been a company that focuses its efforts on multiplayer games just as much as it does on its single-player games. Mario Kart 64 is a kart racer featuring your favorite Mario characters and levels that were inspired by the games.

You and your friends can find random weapons and power-ups. The game featured a meaningful drift mechanic that added an extra layer of skill you could master. The AI in Mario Kart 64 is also well-designed as you never feel overpowered, and because of the power-ups, you are never really safe in the first place for too long.

4/10 GoldenEye 007

Speaking of fun, GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 became the best multiplayer game on the system and brought the FPS genre into a more viable form on home consoles. In GoldenEye, you take control of none other than James Bond himself and complete missions with various challenges.

Each mission plays out like a James Bond movie, complete with secret agent dialogue and drama. However, the multiplayer portion of 007 is where many have spent countless hours playing The Man With The Golden Gun! with their friends on a split-screen television. Hey, no screen peeking!

3/10 Super Smash Bros.

Holding the mantle of not only the fifth best-selling Nintendo 64 game of all time but also being responsible for ushering in an entire genre, Super Smash Bros. proved Nintendo creative directors were on a roll in the late 90s.

Super Smash Bros. is a platform fighter where you play as a character from the Nintendo library, such as Mario, Pikachu, Link, and Donkey Kong. Each character has its own set of moves explicitly tied to their in-game personality. For example, Pikachu can summon a powerful lightning bolt attack onto his opponents. Super Smash Bros. has since become a massive success for Nintendo with an absolutely die-hard fan base.

2/10 Super Mario 64

Not much can be said about the impact Super Mario 64 had not only on the industry but on Nintendo as a world leader in video games and console design. Taking a 2D character from a side-scrolling 8-bit platformer and transforming it into a fully rendered 3D platforming masterpiece is somehow underselling how Super Mario 64 changed the gaming landscape when it was released alongside the Nintendo 64 in 1999.

Mario controls fluidly and has much more movement options than his 2D counterpart. The environments and the world are all brilliantly stylized, and levels are smartly designed with just the right amount of challenge. Super Mario 64 reminded the industry why Nintendo was and continues to be the creator and innovator of fun.

1/10 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

If Super Mario 64 was an indication of how well 2D franchises can transfer over into 3D form on the N64, then The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time perfected it. Ocarina of Time is the type of video game that rarely gets to hold a video game title as prestigious as a Timeless Masterpiece.

Video games as recent as Elden Ring and Super Mario Odyssey have their DNA drenched in what made Ocarina of Time an instant classic. The dedication to the open-world detail, fun gameplay mechanics, and intelligent puzzles are clear indicators that the development team took their time and care in creating this game. Ocarina of Time shows clearly that video games are not just an entertainment medium but an amalgamation of various masterfully crafted art forms.