My Favorite Nintendo 64 games

      If you were a kid growing up in the 90’s, you had to love the Nintendo 64 entertainment system. Not only was this one of my favorite pastimes as a kid, it’s the very first video game system I ever played, the one that started it all, and even though it’s out dated, I still love it. It’s like a museum relock, I just can’t get rid of it, those games captured my imagination in a way that no-other gaming council has ever done before, no matter how updated they are. So taking a break from movie or TV related topics, here’s a list of my favorite Nintendo 64 games.      

11. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 

   I’m actually ashamed to admit that I never owned any of the Legend of Zelda games (not including Super Smash Bros.). However I played several of them with cozens and friends at their own Nintendo sanctuaries. Of all the different Zelda games I played, the one I loved the most was Majora’s Mask. Just like with Super Mario 64, this was the game that introduced me to Link, Zelda and it’s always the first one to come to mind when I think of a classic Zelda game.   

10. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire 

   When you have a combination of both Nintendo and Star Wars, your child hood pass time is set for life. This is where Star Wars video games got really good and proved that they don’t always have to follow the linier stories from the films. Instead it just takes place in the Star wars universe, further expanding on it, fighting classic enemies and occasionally reliving some of the famous battles from the films. The best example by far was the battle on Hoth, it was amazing and it was a rare feeling that one of my favorite scenes from a movie came to life and allowed me to experience it. I grew up with many good Star Wars games, and this one still stands as one of the best.    

9. Disney’s Tarzan 

    I played a few Disney themed games on the Nintendo and owned several including “A Bugs Life” and plenty others. But the most exciting by far was Disney’s “Tarzan” on N64. I was already of fan of the film (in fact it’s one of my favorite Disney movies) but the game took it to all new heights. It’s very unique because it’s the only N64 game (that I can think of) that would be played in a traditional side scrolling style, kind of like playing a classic Nintendo game just with better graphics. No problems with adjusting the camera, no worry about getting too lost (because there were times where you might miss something) and it was still plenty challenging but very rich and exciting all at once. Each level had its own unique style and difficulty setting but best of all is that it brought one of my favorite child hood movies to life in all new and exciting ways.       

8. Mario Kart 64 

   Oh yea, nothing like a fast paced racing game themed around Mario characters, really there’s not much to explain, it’s just fun racing with cool race tracks and a nice aroma of special items.

7. Star Fox 64 

    Sci-Fi space shootouts were huge on the world of video games and Star Fox was my personal favorite. There’s some cool back story to this game, great characters and an awesome variety of different worlds, space quadrants and different vehicles. The enemy bosses were awesome, every time I played a level I would always be getting excited when I reach the end, knowing that I’d be seeing some kind of giant monster, super powered space ship or massive robot. It’s just a classy Sci-Fi adventure on your home Nintendo system, I dig it.      

6. Super Mario 64 

     The legendary N64 game that always comes to mind when we think of Nintendo. Mario has always been my favorite video game icon and it all began here, this was my very first game I played on this system (the first I owned) and as far as I remember, it was the very first video game I ever played. The worlds were unforgettable, the castle setting with the different rooms that leed to different kingdoms was brilliant, the battles with Bowser were awesome, it’s just the classic Nintendo game that we all remember growing up with.

5 -3. The Mario Party Trilogy

   It seemed silly to just spread these three throughout a list, especially when there so equally great, so I just decided to put games 5 through 3 together on one spot. As you probably figured out, I’m crazy about different Mario games, but the three N64 “Mario Party” games just knocked my socks off. It wasn’t like “Mario Golf” or “Mario Tennis” where your just stuck with one variety of game play, no this was a calash of different varieties of games to play, with a central game board setting (that you had the option of changing to something different or special), we also had bones games, items, different ways of playing select games, it was haven for a child’s gaming mind. With so many different characters, so many different things to play and so many different ways to play them, this is one collection of games that held my attention for years to come.            

2. Super Smash Bros. 

   Tournament battle games will always be awesome and anything with Mario and company involved is always great, however this was more than just another Super Mario game, it was the Nintendo crossover game of my dreams that brought together just about every classic Nintendo character. It had Mario themed characters, Pokémon themed, Link, Kirby, Star Fox, Samus and many others (the only one missing is Banjo Kazooie). We have some great battle platforms, an awesome variety of weapons and special items. Team battle modes, free for all battle modes, linier one player games and so much more, as far as tournament variety games go, this was the best by far.  

1. Banjo Kazooie 

    Wow, not a Zelda, Castlevania, Donkey Kong or even a Mario themed game but a completely original idea that grew as the most cherished video gaming pass-time of my youth. It fallowed a very similar look and feel to the classic “Super Mario 64” game with the center of it being a big castile full of rooms that lead you to different kingdoms, as well as various levels and treasures to obtain. The only difference is that this one was a million, bazillion times more exciting and fun. We get to play as two characters as opposed to just one, you have a wide variety of different moves that you learn over the cores of the game, the worlds were unique, colorful and very creative, you could transform into other animals, the obstacles were a lot of fun and it was far more challenging (but never too challenging like the sequel “Banjo Tooie”, boy that was relentlessly hard back then). This game took me the longest to beat (2 years) but I loved every moment of it and still to this day, “Banjo Kazooie” packs plenty of charms, exciting game play and it’ll always be my favorite of the Nintendo 64 games.

         The End