The timeframe between 1996 and 2002 was a completely different landscape in the world of video games. During these seven years, we saw the iconicNintendo 64console release every single one of their games. In total, this collection finished off with 388 games.
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If I had a dollar for every polygon…
To be honest, 388 total games seems almost comical by today’s standards. I mean shoot, the Nintendo Switch eShop probably drops that same amount in a week’s time. But at the turn of the millennium, it was more about quality, not quantity. The N64 made good use of this limited catalog and dropped some all-time classics along the way.
To celebrate my original favorite video game console, let’s take a look back at which game was the best from each of the seven years that the 64 was getting new cartridges.
To make this list, I’ll be taking the critical reception to find one champion per year from 1996-2002, then ranking them from there based on my own opinion/preference, as well as how the games have aged into the modern era.
I’ll be using North American release dates for each entry. I’m also using MetaCritic as the sole resource for critical reception since OpenCritic doesn’t typically go back as far as we need for this exercise.
72002 - Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3
MetaCritic Score: Unavailable
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3
By default,Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater3 is the best game to be released on N64 in 2002, because it was theonlyN64 game released in 2002. The console’s production halted a year earlier, which meant game carts stopped being made too. But Tony Hawk found a way to have one last hurrah on the N64.
Look, I love the THPS games, and there’s a real case for 3 being my personal favorite in the series. But let’s be real. No one played this game on N64, and the best option of the time was clearly the PS2 version withwaybetter graphics and controls overall. Looking at screenshots of THPS3 on N64 feels like a fever dream if you originally played it on PlayStation.
Still, this game was ultimately good. It just also didn’t feel like a massive progression from the first and second games on the N64 with the console rapidly becoming obsolete in 2002. The only people that actually have this game are N64 collection completionists that want to own the last ever game made for the console.
61997 - GoldenEye 007
MetaCritic Score: 96
GoldenEye 007
GoldenEye 007was an absoluterevolution. There are few games on the N64 that are more historically significant. Heck, I’m pretty sure this game is the reason I still play every video game with my Y-Axis inverted, because that was simply the default option in GoldenEye. If you were around at the time, you already know what this game meant to the culture of the day.
And yet,in the modern era, the game is… rough. I mean,reallyrough. For everything GoldenEye 007 did for the FPS genre on consoles, it’s a true challenge to go back for these days outside of players wanting a nostalgia shot to the arm or those curious about video game history.
Still, let’s give a shout-out to the 4-player split-screen multiplayer here, which gave me weeks of enjoyment with my older brother and a handful of friends growing up. The single-player campaign based on the movie of the same name is kind of hilarious these days, but also has a charm to it as well.
Other contenders for 1997 would be Blast Corps, Diddy Kong Racing, and Star Fox 64. While mypersonalpick might’ve been DKR or Star Fox, there’s no denying just how important GoldenEye was to a generation of gamers.
52000 - Perfect Dark
MetaCritic Score: 97
Perfect Dark (2000)
Perfect Darkwas made by Rare, who also happened to be the exact same team that created the previously mentioned GoldenEye 007. It is actually extremely impressive that this developer managed to make two shooters for the N64 that are still considered the best games on the console in the respective years they were released.
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Polished polygons
For all of GoldenEye’s jank and control wonkiness, Perfect Dark had three more years to learn from its spiritual predecessor and come back with something a little more polished. Sure, it’s still an FPS on the N64 without a second joystick for aiming, so it’s not going to blow anyone away these days. But back then, it was lightning in a bottle for Rare once again.
This game made Joanna Dark a new video game icon virtually overnight, though she never really wound up getting as much attention as she deserved – especially after themuch-anticipated Perfect Dark AAAA reboot got canceled, too. Still, none of that takes away the fact that the OG Perfect Dark in 2000 had a moment, even if my mom didn’t let me play it at the time.
The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask absolutely would’ve been my pick for 2000 if critical opinion was ignored for this list, but Perfect Dark is clearly a worthy Y2K champion too.
This is actually the last time I’ll disagree with the critics during this list. The remaining four games would’ve been my choices for these respective years, too.
41999 - Mario Golf
MetaCritic Score: 91
Mario Golf
While I have respect for everything we’ve talked about so far, the rest of these selections are certified bangers in my household. Toadstool Tour for GameCube is one of the best sports video games of all time, but we never would’ve gotten it without OGMario Golfon the N64 (yes, I know Mario golfed on the NES too, but not like this).
For the time it came out, Mario Golf still holds up amazingly well and is absolutely worth playing for anyone that has access. A nice little bonus with this one is the mini-golf mode, which is pretty basic, but sadly something Nintendo has never revisited for subsequent Mario Golf titles.
This N64 version also gave us some totally random and weird human characters out of nowhere, like Sonny in all of his cowboy hat glory. Sure, future golf titles ultimately surpassed Mario Golf, but it’s still super fun multiple decades later.
31996 - Super Mario 64
MetaCritic Score: 94
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64was a launch title for the N64 back in 1996, and you’d be hard-pressed to find any other launch game ever that was as good and as important for its hardware. The definition of a console-seller, Super Mario 64 quite literally changed video games forever and became thegold standard for all 3D platformers afterwards.
Young Ethan came home from a half-day of preschool back in ‘96 to find his older brother playing Mario 64 on the family’s CRT TV in the living room, and nothing was ever the same again. This was genuinely the first video game I can remember becoming truly obsessed with and mystified by.
Each new painting to jump into was a surprise, and I have dozens of core memories to this day, from the first time I threw a baby penguin off a cliff, to learning I could change the flow of time in Tick Tock Clock. Yeah, the camera here is pretty rough in the modern day, but everything else about Super Mario 64 holds up remarkably well and remains a must-play for genre fans.
22001 - Paper Mario
MetaCritic Score: 93
Paper Mario
The first time I saw a commercial on TV forPaper Mario, I assumed it was some kind of delayed April Fool’s joke. Fast-forward to when I got my hands on the game when it launched in North America in 2001, and I quickly realized it was no joke at all. Paper Mario is still one of my favorite turn-based games ever, and I’d also argue it kind of puts Super Mario RPG to shame in many ways.
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Never before had Mario been so unique, adventurous, and hilarious at the same time. Pokémon may have been my gateway to the turn-based RPG genre, but Paper Mario took my love for the genre to a new level and surpassed my wildest dreams as a kiddo. In the modern era, it still holds up in absolutely every single way and isone of the best JRPGs to date.
The badge system is sweet, the characters are so lovable, and the scale of the adventure still leaves me a bit awestruck whenever I revisit this game. Yeah, The Thousand-Year Door might be the definitive Paper Mario experience, but the OG game created a brand new artstyle and took Mario places I never expected. Regardless of year, this is a Top 5 all-time N64 game, period.
11998 - The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
MetaCritic Score: 99
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Was there ever any doubt? Not only wasThe Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Timethe highest-rated N64 game of 1998, it’s also the highest-rated N64 game in the console’s seven-year existence. Sort MetaCritic to show you the best games of all-time, and Ocarina stands alone at the top as the highest scored gameeverwith a staggering 99.
It is absolutely baffling that this game is from 1998. Not only does it still hold up today (aside from minor 1998-style controller jank), but it’s still quite easily argued asthe best Zelda game ever; a franchise that is known formanyquality entries throughout the ages. Nothing else comes close in terms of epic scale and narrative weight.
I still watch people stream OOT on YouTube all the time to see crazy challenge runs, no-hit randomizers, and bingo competitions. For a game from 1998 to still have this level of modern staying power is downright bonkers. Jabu-Jabu’s Belly is still trash, but the remaining 99% of Ocarina Of Time is truly timeless, and a 3D adventure title well worth experiencing for any gamer ever.
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