Nintendo 64 (1996)

The Nintendo 64 was one of the revolutionary steps for the company, jumping into the 64 bit during the fifth generation of the console wars. It revolutionized many of its games and IP’s into the 3D era, from the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64 and Many more. While many may argue the Virtual Boy was Nintendo’s first step into 3D, it was a rather messy step into it, taking the company a year to recover with the release of this console. It would be technically their last time using the bulky set of cartridges in their games, converting to CDs for the GameCube and others, then to smaller cartridges for the DS all the way to the switch.

Top Nintendo 64 Platformers

Out of all of Nintendo’s numerous platformers, it’s no surprise the most influential and popular would be Mario himself in his 3D debut, “Super Mario 64”, With Princess Peach’s castle invaded by the Koopa King Bowser, Mario was claim the 120 power stars scattered across the world within the castle paintings to save the princess. But it was not the only one. Developed by company Rare, “Banjo-Kazooie” was yet another smash hit platformer that came out of nowhere, taking the world by storm. Another game that while it was a cult classic platformer, was under appreciated due to the length of the game involving to 100% it; Donkey Kong 64, a collect-a-thon platformer with 6 playable characters, each with their own set of collectibles.

Top Racing games

Now Racing games are not often the most popular of games during this era of the consoles, few broke into main stream popularity and often it was these main IP’s that had dominated the category. Nintendos biggest taker of this trophy was easily “Mario Kart 64”, a Nintendo 64 release of the Mario brand racing game from the SNES days, a revolutionary series that has been getting new major releases to this day. For one of their amazing one hit wonders, much like its Nintendo 64 platformer series is “Diddy Kong Racing”, starring the side kick of Donkey Kong in his own racing game with karts unique from the Mario brand. However the undisputed gem of Racing games is “F-Zero X”, a high octane speed and difficulty racing game that tests your reflexes to its limits and pushes you to the edge.

Worst Nintendo 64 Games

Now while the Nintendo 64 was a strong pillar of the companies consoles, it definitely had a number of faults with its exclusives have give flashbacks of the Atari 2600. Olympic Hockey 98′, not a high margin for sports games but in the early days they were experimental games rather than a copy paste like NBA or Madden, however this was rather one of the weakest sports games in the library. Clay Fighter 63 1/2, ridiculous name aside, was one of the worst fighting games on the Nintendo 64, rivaling even Mortal Kombat Sub-zero Mythologies. And the last game needs no introductions, Superman 64, the worst game that was so bad, it was probably given away for free or you were given money just to take it. Damn rings.