The Nintendo 64 is one of those consoles that, if you played with it, will be unforgettable. Not only because of the futuristic gameplay it had at the time, but also because of the great catalog of games it had.
In my case, I had the opportunity to try the best known games of the console. And in my opinion, without a doubt, my favorite game of the N64 is undoubtedly Super Mario 64. For that time, it was impressive to have such an extensive game, with a large number of scenarios, and excellent gameplay.
Although, I must also highlight one of the precursors of Baseball games that set the trend for its time, and this is Major League Baseball featuring Ken Griffey Jr. I invite you to search on YouTube the game, and you will know why I also highlight this game. A Baseball game way ahead of its time that to this day is very enjoyable.
I’d say Conker’s Bad Fur Day is my favorite N64 game.
I played it when I was like 11. A friend of mine had a N64 that his brothers left once they left for Uni, and I believe it had Mario 64 and Conker, but the latter we used to have a blast with. We would either take turns playing the campaign 'til we beat it, or we would sink hours into the multiplayer.
And the multiplayer of that game I don’t see being talked too much about, and it was great. You had the “War” mode, with the Squirrels battling the Teddiez, the “Heist” mode with 4 duos of weasels trying to rob a bank, another one where cavemen fought dinosaurs and tried to steal the dino mama’s eggs to eat, and another one where squirrel refugees tried to run past a bunker of teddiez on their way to France. At least those are the ones we played all the time.
I understand that maybe it is not the most impressive game of the console, but still, the good memories you make with the games are always most important to me.
Super Mario 64 and Conker are both great games in their own right. In fact, Super Mario 64 was my first real exposure to the Nintendo 64. I remember playing it at a demo booth in the electronics department at our old Target store. It blew me away and sealed the deal on wanting to get an N64 over a Sega Saturn. That Christmas I ended up getting an N64 with Super Mario 64 and ended up hooked to the console for the rest of the '90s.
My favorite game on the N64 though is GoldenEye. We’d spend hours playing the split-screen multiplayer with friends and undoubtedly arguing over who was looking on who’s screen. I recently saw that a museum came up with a solution for screen looking. Too bad that wasn’t an option in 1997! The single-player campaign was just as fun and introduced me to the James Bond movies.
These are very good games. It’s amazing what Nintendo achieved with the N64 at that time. It was simply unthinkable that games could reach such a high level of graphics. And, the RPG games, had a new rebirth thanks to the expansion of the maps by the power of the console.
Although Nintendo has put a lot of effort into emulating the retro games that have come with the Nintendo Switch Online; I don’t think they will be able to convey the same essence by bringing N64 games to the Switch.
That’s only the case if you define games like Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as an RPG rather than an action-adventure game. You could certainly argue it’s an action RPG. Anyway, OoT is my pick for the best N64 game. It is still amazing today. GoldenEye and Super Mario 64 haven’t aged nearly as well.
I recently saw that a museum came up with 