P-Wing

Nintendo 64 Recommendations

1080° Snowboarding

Gamblor – Still the best snowboarding game ever made. It’s the only 3D snowboarding game that has deep, 3-dimensional gameplay and thinking. When your character launches into the air, you can tilt the angle of your character/board giving you a sense of freedom and realism, and if you don’t hit the slope at the appropriate angle (which is different depending how steep the current slope is) then your character will tumble. This requires way more skill than other snowboarding games where all you have to do is not be pressing a trick button and your character automatically snaps into a landing which is dumb and easy. On top of that, you also have to press the kick button when you hit the ground, like timing a Mario RPG attack with every jump. It’s as if the game designers actually snowboarded or something. This is the Citizen Kane of snowboarding games, the smartest and most rewarding. Killer soundtrack too. It’s a shame the Gamecube sequel dumbed down the landing for casuals.

Beetle Adventure Racing

Gamblor – You’d think a licensed car game meant to sell Volkswagons would be garbage, but BAR has surprisingly great gameplay. Every race track is a lovingly crafted exotic environment full of secret paths and weapons that max out the potential of an N64 game. It’s one of the most popular and least-hidden hidden gems on any system.

Refia – ok well u would THINK this game is just some cheapo throwaway third party racing game, BUT it’s got really good controls and fun tracks, and a fun multiplayer mode where u can launch missiles n shit at each otha while you get ladybugs (or beetles i guess heh!!!)
What do you mean it only has one type of car in it??? When you start with the most epic one that’s all ya need!!!
There were other weird powerups too like i think theres one where you mess with other players’ screens n shit that’s pretty epic. It’s just a dang solid game!!! Honestly its probably objectively better as a racing game than Mario Kart 64 but I got da nostalgia!!!

Blast Corps

Mock – Name another game where you drive around construction vehicles and pilot bright-yellow mechs, clearing a path for an out-of-control bright red nuclear missile carrier? This shit is INTENSE. Why do I have to use this poorly-weighted drifting-dumptruck when our team has that precision front-end loader at our disposal?! Somehow that damned missle carrier only drives in a straight line, but manages to tour every corner of an entire PLANET? WTF! This is Rareware at peak british madness, this game would NOT be made in 2018 as a full price release, no chance. It would be made as download-only, $10, 4 hour piece of crap – with the same graphics, and 1/8th the charm and polish. It’s no accident that this game (and other Rareware gems) are the only titles worth playing on Xbox One.

Conker’s Bad Fur Day

Gamblor – A video game that’s legitimately funny. There aren’t a lot of those. Rare was smart to slam the brakes on the generic Banjo Kazooie knockoff and turn it into a mature comedy with movie references and toilet jokes that actually make me laugh.

Donkey Kong 64

Mock – Completely unrestrained game development, it nails the Donkey Kong atmosphere perfectly, and while frustrating at times, you can always go explore another area to cool down. LOADS of crap to collect, and you’re retreading these worlds more than any other 3D platformer or Metroidvania since. Controversial stuff, not everybody like this kind of gameplay. DK64 may even be responsible for killing the genre it’s that good!
It opens with the DK Rap, OK…some people expected it to be Donkey Kong Country moved to 3D just like Nintendo did for Mario and Zelda. Rare did not pull it off. Regardless, this is a hugely fun game! Haters gonna hate!

Excitebike 64

Gamblor – A fantastic translation of the NES game. Left Field did a great job by modernizing the franchise with realistic 3D dirt bike tracks while keeping the gameplay similar to the NES game by making you have to pull back at the top of hills to jump higher. There are a lot of crappy modern sequels that just take the original and turn it 3D visually (like the shitty Excitebike track in Mario Kart 8), but Excitebike 64 stands tall like an AAA N64 game with maximum effort.

GoldenEye 007

Mock – The game that solidified so many friendships and sparked so many rivalries in the game-rooms of the time. Some may point to Mario Kart 64, but this is the title that truly justified the inclusion of 4 controller ports on the machine. Get a pile of junk food, 3-6 friends, and watch the afternoon hours blend into the early morning in a fog pure elation and competitive spirit. The multiplayer side of the game could be sold separately, today, and command the full asking price of a AAA title, but Goldeneye on the N64 also had an inspired single-player campaign too! Real missions, with complex objectives never seen in an FPS, three difficulty levels. Every mission is memorable, there is no fluff here. After you’ve beat the game (or before, whenever you please), go back and take on the time trials to unlock RIDICULOUS cheats. Remember cheats? WTF happened to those? This is just a fun game, period.

Harvest Moon 64

Refia – Wow. Just. Incredible. The best game in the series???? And it’s on N64??? This game is a freakin masterpiece and it’s still fun as hell to play. Everything people like about the series is here and it is fun as heck!!! Karen is here, horse racing is here, cool town is here, EVERYONE IS HERE!!! Jk it’s not Smash so u cant use that trademarked thing but ummm its simply addictive epic fun and never gets old. Hell. Yeah.

Jet Force Gemini

Refia – This game is freakin incredible and honestly Rare was makin their best games ever on this thing. AMAZING worlds and fun gameplay that still holds up!!! Even though its a shoota!!! Some of the challenges are pretty hard too. I just love the atmosphere of this game and I could play it any time. It feels like the culmination of Rare’s other work into one EPIC game. Well ok a few games came out after that but this one is the best IMO. Also we don’t talk about DK64 round these parts!!!

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

Refia – Where do I even start??? WTF??? Okay well FIRST of all no other Kirby game really pulled off the combos of powers like THIS bad boy did. You can mix n match any powers you want!!! AND it’s a freakin great Kirby game!!! Whoa!!! The secret final boss gave me nightmares as a young fellow, and there’s just nothin quite like the variety and design of this game in the rest of the series IMO. Hasn’t been beat!!!

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

Refia – What needs to be said?? Epic game, shame they ruined it on the 3DS by destroyin the basic fundamentals of the game but ya know its a portable console what can ya do!!!! Epic characters, world, sidequests, atmosphere. Still pretty much the best dang Zelda game ever made.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Mock – This game totally engrosses you, even 20 years later you find yourself whistling the Lost Woods tune at work as you coast through your meaningless human existence. Ocarina melodies make up the subconcious of your being. All day you just want to break free and run through Hyrule Field to your next adventure. The graphics during the N64 era are not always the most detailed, so you end up filling in the blanks with your imagination – the world in this game, that you remember after playing, is not made of a few polygons and shit textures, it is a real living thing.
Castle Town after the rise of Ganondorf is scarier than any Resident Evil or Silent Hill scene. The Water Temple is a place you’ve literally explored with every friend who has asked for your help in it. You’ve actually stood on Bongo Bongo’s drum in that dark dark nightmare scene. You have felt uncomfortably warm exploring the fire temple. Lazily farting around Lon Lon Ranch makes you pine for simpler times. I could go on, this game is widely considered the greatest of all-time for all the right reasons.

Refia – You know it had to be here!!! Honestly I should just skip this one everyone else is gonna talk their face off bout it!!! Jk ummm it’s got a cool world and stuff and is still a fun game, and Adult Link’s world is pretty cool. Very solid Zelda game, but it feels worse than Majora’s Mask to me but hey that’s just how epic this system is, it has a game on it better than Ocarina of Time!!! ON THE SAME dang CONSOLE!!!

Mystical Ninja: Starring Goemon

Mock – This game captures the true spirit of the N64. A grand fully realized 3D adventure with a ridiculous plot and period setting. These days you only get to pick 2 of those things at best. Every N64 game had a terrible camera, so you can’t really complain about it here. We’ll be able to replay OOT and all the other big-name N64 games on future consoles for decades to come, leaving Mystical Ninja as one of the golden pillars of the physical N64 library. It’s got hilarious dialogue, with an amazing soundtrack, beautiful graphics, and inspired art direction. Add it to your collection, now!

Paper Mario

Refia – It’s freakin Paper Mario!!!! WTF!!!! Still one of the best ones and the new ones have been pretty disappointing but whatever!! This is the N64 and it’s simply Epic!!! Yes with a capital E no I didn’t just typo it and then leave it in!!! Hasn’t been beat!!! Except for the GCN one!!!

Pilotwings 64

Mock – Today when we think of mainstream games, we think of titles like Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, God of War, Halo, DOOM, Dark Souls, Grand Theft Auto, Battlefield, etc. What do these all have in common? They’re putting forward the idea that games must be violent, if copious amounts of blood are not being shed, how can we make an entertaining game? This has never been a weakness of Nintendo, and I consider Pilotwings 64 to be the top example of this design philosophy. This is a chill game all the way to the core, fly through some rings, pop some balloons, land on a little target, and explore the USA to one of the most relaxing soundtracks in gaming history. There is one mission where some kind of angry robot is stomping around the place, but you genuinely feel bad for taking him down. Going for all the gold medals is a proper challenge, so while the game is often extremely docile, it can also make your palms sweat profusely! Only for N64!

Pokémon Puzzle League

Refia – this is the GOOD OLD DAYS, back when Pokemon was only ONE thing: EPIC. This is still one of my favorite iterations of Panel De Pon, AND it has an animated intro! Very good gameplay and you can still go back and play it whenever. Puzzle games never go outta style!!!

Pokémon Snap

Mock – Another genre that will probably never be explored again – the on-rails photo safari. Here’s the 2018 pitch meeting for “Cabela’s and Nikon present: Tour Africa on a Monorail Big-Game Photo Safari” What do you mean we don’t get to plant a piece of lead in the creatures? We’re going to snap PHOTOS of them and get scored on composition and interest?! You’ve spent how many hours putting this demo together!?!?! You’ve convinced the juggernaut, Blockbuster video, to fail alongside you?! YOU’RE ALL FIRED!!!!!!!!!!!”
Even Nintendo had to think long and hard on this one, thankfully they have the brute force of the Pokemon franchise to squeak it into the annals of history. Everybody deserves a chance to play this game, it is great fun, and a real challenge that keeps you going back for more.

Refia – I don’t know, but I FREAKIN. LOVE IT. What a unique game concept shame they haven’t followed it up ever. Taking pictures of epic Pokemon??? Printing them out at my local Blockbuster??? Okay well you cant do that anymore unless u buy a machine n shit but still fun today!!!

Sin and Punishment

Refia – WOW. This game is incredible. I played it for the first time on the Wii, and it was simply incredible. Pure shootin’ action. Every stage in this game feels epic. Treasure’s track record speaks for itself!!!! This game is always overlooked and it’s probably cause it only launched in Japan. No clue why!!! This game should be everywhere at all times!!! Cmon now!!

Star Fox 64

Refia – Let me start by saying this is NOT worse than the remake, my GOD did they botch the CLASSIC voice lines…hey genius I’m on your side??? GET OUTTA HERE ITS HEY EINSTEIN I’M ON YOUR SIDE!!!! DUH!!! But anyway what else is there to say? This game has nearly infinite replayability, the lines never get old (to me), and the secret paths and shit are epic. The first and last playable Star Fox game in the series. Jk but ummm sf1 and 2 aren’t that great and most of the series isn’t either, weird thing kinda sucks, I was hoping Zero would fix it but now its doomed to crossovers in Ubisoft games or w/e lmmmfao!!! Oh well can’t win em all!!! First game with rumble EVER RELEASED!!!! Gotta respect dat!!! And boy did it shake the house down!!!

Super Mario 64

Choas -One of the best games in the Mario series and an extreme departure from the mediocrity that is most 3D platformers. Most of the levels are very well-designed, and having only seven stars per stage makes them short enough that they rarely begin to feel redundant or monotonous. The power ups are all interesting and useful, and for the most part fun to use; something that some later entries into this series seem to have struggled with. Despite being a launch game on a new console as well as a foray into unfamiliar territory, the controls are well-tuned and responsive, although the game loses about five points off my final score for the horrendous camera.

Mock – I’ll never forget the feeling, running through the bob-omb battlefield for the first time. An all-encompassing euphoria envelops you, by the time you run over the first bridge up to the second plateau you know that you’re actually playing one of the greatest gaming masterpieces of all-time. Mario runs and turns on a dime, your N64 control stick is still tight and responsive, the music plants you firmly in the Mushroom Kingdom and everything just feels right. You make your way up to the top of the mountain, around every turn a new challenge to test your 3D abilities – Nintendo doesn’t need to give you a lengthy text-tutorial, they set you loose on this new world and you just FEEL your way to success. You finally reach the top to face king bob-omb, never before has defeating the first boss in a game felt so rewarding. This feeling of discovery and conquest continues throughout the rest of the game as you tease out star-hints and gradually move on to conquer some of the most punishing 3D platforming available. In a word: Rewarding!

Yoshi – The pinnacle of 3D platforming…and it blows me away that this game was made nearly 20 years ago. My nostalgia for this game is incredible, and is probably surpassed only by Ocarina of Time. It is surprisingly only the first time since back when I originally did it in early 1997 that I got all 120 stars. It’s a fantastic adventure that every videogamer should have to play. The only downside is the camera, and it’s downside is greatly overstated. Every level is superb and I can only wonder what this game could have been if not for the N64’s limitations; I know Shiggy wanted like 36 worlds or some shit like that. Mario and Zelda both nailed the transition to 3D, and continue to this day to revolutionize and reinvent themselves on every single major release. The Super Mario Galaxy games are among the greatest platformers of all time, and this game completely paved the way for them to exist. I also believe the only way to truly experience Super Mario 64 is to get all 120 stars; anything less and you are missing out on one of the definitive gaming experiences of the 90s.

Super Smash Bros.

Mock – Creativity and the drive to take big risks in development. Take all of Nintendo’s mascot characters – and mash them all up into a game – but not something easy like a kart racer or sports compilation – but a balanced fighting game where they use all their signature techniques!? Let’s be honest, of course we were hyped when we first heard about it, but this could have been an awful game.
This is a game that proves even the big-boys could take a punt at a risky proposition and end up creating one of the most beloved series of games known today. Mario feels like Mario, Link feels like Link, Samus like Samus, Kirby IS Kirby, all on one stage. Melee, as a sequel, completely embarrasses the original, but the original was amazing fun when you were huddled around that CRT with your buds.

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter

Refia – Well the draw distance is only like 2 inches in front of ur eyeballs, but let me tell ya, it just added to the atmosphere for me!!! A dino or guy running at u or animal or who knows what could fuck your shit up instantly at any moment!!! Epic horror game!! Jk but umm its weapons all felt really solid to me, especially the one thats like a wand u charge up that I forgot the name of!!! Oh and there was an epic comic in the manual too!!! Shootin dinos with guns!!! Epic!! Like Monster Hunter except less fun!! Still epic though very fun game!!
Oh yeah and I liked at the time how you could overlay a minimap of the area at any time without pausing or anything so I never got taken out of the action!!

Wave Race 64

Mock – The N64 was initially a laughing stock with her five piddly launch games…WHO CARES? One of them is the top 3D platformer of all time, and another one is the premiere water-based racing game available, even today! After you sit willingly watching the title screen and grooving to the theme for what seems like a glorious eternity, you finally get to the racing… Welcome to, Sunny Beach! dadadadadaa da daaa daaaaaa! What are these magical sounds? Am I in paradise? WHRRRRRRRR! MAXIMUM POWER! YOU’RE IN FIRST! EVERYBODY’S BEHIND YOU!
Wait I’m getting ahead of myself – just look at the water physics here! This is an N64 game?! Has any game even nailed this since? Not even the Gamecube sequel feels this good. These waves toss you around like a boneless slab of meat, you must overcome the furious might of the SEA and three other merciless opponents to win. As usual for a Nintendo game, the difficulty curve is absolutely perfect, you’ll start in the calm undulations of Sunny Beach, gradually taming your machine and mastering the ferocious tempests of Port Blue and wicked shortcuts of Southern Island.
Playing Wave Race 64 is analogue to going on a pleasant beach vacation, it’s that simple.

WWF No Mercy

Gamblor – Still the best wrestling game ever made (although fire pro games are a close second). AKI got rid of the rapid button mashing and street fighter motions of older wrestling games and made simple one-button controls that’re easy to learn, like the Smash Bros of wrestling games. AKI’s WCW vs NWO and WCW/NWO Revenge were so popular that WWF enticed them to switch brands and make WWF games instead. This also coincided with the WWF Attitude era when it was at the peak of its popularity which makes WM2000 and No Mercy even bigger grand slams. All the AKI N64 games were great, but No Mercy stands on top with ladder matches and its much deeper create-a-wrestler mode. It still blows away the crappy WWE 2k games pumped out every year that are more like Acclaim’s WWF Warzone and Attitude games which were much less popular.