#50. NFL Blitz 2000
August 17, 1999
Midway
Midway
$54.99 on Amazon
Blitz 2000 took Regular Blitz and added some shit (four players, more plays, more ways to give your opponent CTE) and made it a little better. Imagine that. While not realistic in the slightest, I think these are the best football games on the system. Other NFL titles from this era that focused on realism instead of murdering people after the whistle don’t have a pulse when revisited today. The games generally feel like lifeless scrimmages. Meanwhile, Blitz remains the closest thing humanity has produced to the Bonestorm game from The Simpsons. Play NFL Blitz or go to hell! — M. Roebuck
#49. Mega Man 64
November 22, 2000
Capcom Production Studio 2
Capcom
$102 on Amazon
Mega Man is such a resilient dude. As other franchises that have been running for decades like Castlevania and Sonic have seen soaring highs and crushing lows, Mega Man’s track record is closer to Metroid and Mario; not exactly bulletproof, but a staggering batting average. This first-wave 3D game was a port of a three year old PlayStation game when it came out, and that’s exactly what it feels like. But the charm of Mega Man peeks through every crack, and while the game doesn’t knock you on your ass like Mario 64, it’s a slow burn that grows on you if you let it. Also in its favor is the lack of RPG experiences available on the Nintendo 64, making Mega Man 64 quite worthwhile if you’re, oh I don’t know, playing every single Nintendo 64 game for some reason. — M. Roebuck
#48. Destruction Derby 64
September 1999
Looking Glass Studios
THQ
$59.99 on Amazon
Having played hundreds of terrible N64 racing games in the past two days, Destruction Derby is far and away the most stupid fun I’ve had. Highlights include slightly racist Italian color commentary, a banger soundtrack, and just a stupid amount of fun whacking into other cars. The decision to have a racing game where half of the players start going the opposite direction on the track so y’all are guaranteed to have a giant clusterfuck crash halfway through is brilliant.
It’s sort of poorly designed with janky collision physics and it’s certainly no Burnout 3, but it’s such a cut above similar N64 drunk driving simulators that I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend everyone at least try it out.
Also, when did games stop having hype ass dudes scream the titles? I guess Mario still does, but come on, even20 year-old shovelware racing games are getting me pumped. — N. Krause
#47. Shadow Man
Acclaim Studios
Acclaim Entertainment
August 31, 1999
$39.99 on Amazon
This game is so badass. It’s Tomb Raider meets Ocarina of Time meets Metroid meets Blade. You are Michael LeRoi/Shadow Man, tasked with stopping the apocalypse despite being too old for this shit. You travel back-and-forth between the world of the living (Liveside) and the world of the dead (I’ll let you guess what this world is called; let me remind you again that the living world is called “Liveside”). You advance by recovering Dark Souls—and to boost engagement on this list I’ll go ahead and say this is the best game ever made that requires you to do something like that. Shadow Man boasts an intricate story, excellent voice acting, non-linear gameplay, a chilling atmosphere, and combat that isn’t great but it doesn’t matter because your Shadow Gun has unlimited death-juice-ammo.
Now, does a huge chunk of the game’s playtime come from the fact that it’s usually unclear at any given moment what the hell you’re supposed to be doing and where the hell you’re supposed to be going? Perhaps. But no game, no matter how opaque, is any match for the old ‘just keep walking right until you’ve circled the full perimeter of the map’ strategy. This is also one of very few N64 games—maybe the only one?—to feature a Black protagonist. And with the remastered version of the game enjoying a second life on the Nintendo Switch, the time has come for me to begin the campaign for Michael LeRoi to become the first Black playable character in Super Smash Bros. Down-B to transform into Shadow Man. B to fire sick-ass skull-gun. No other moves necessary. — C. Dean
#46. Ridge Racer 64
February 14, 2000
Nintendo Software Technology
Nintendo
$33.99 on Amazon
This one is fun as hell. While other games struggled to load their levels a quarter mile in front of you, RR64 has planes and copters whizzing by flying around its fully realized landscapes. They might as well be flying a banner behind the plane that says “Fuck you Cruis’n USA!” A top shelf N64 game that delivers remarkable arcade style racing with enough unlockable tracks and cars to provide a solid amount of replayability. I play this game in first person mode, which isn’t something I do with a lot of racing games, but it just works here. A good racing game should make you feel like a madman, and that’s the only way I can think of to describe such irrational behavior. — M. Roebuck
#45. Rocket: Robot on Wheels
November 17, 1999
Sucker Punch Productions
Ubisoft
$254.99 on Amazon
You know Sucker Punch? The first party Sony developer behind Infamous and Ghost of Tsushima? Did you know they made a Nintendo 64 platformer game about a little robot running around a space theme park to rescue a Walrus from a Raccoon that looks a lot like Sly Cooper and you run around dodging evil robot clowns? This game comes from a better time for games, when you could just make games that feel like they were developed via free association rather than trying to be a boring movie. It’s actually pretty groundbreaking. This is one of the first games to have a dedicated physics engine, so everything you throw with your tractor beam actually move like real objects. The issue with this though, is that you are a robot on WHEELS, and wheels with real physics engines are not great at precision platformers. Sucker Punch, please make another one of these with the full power of the PS5 instead of making playable pitch reels for Amazon Prime Originals no one will ever watch. — S. Finkelstein
#44. Mario Kart 64
February 10, 1997
Nintendo EAD
Nintendo
$109.99 on Amazon
Tony Soprano played this game. He seemed like he was pretty much enjoying it. I wonder if he admired the way the game uses 2D sprites in a 3D environment, and the way the simple graphics suggest a wider world. He definitely found it easy to pick up, but hard to master. Who of the eight playable characters did he choose as his favorite? Did he think it was cool that you can drive off the track on Royal Raceway and go drive around the Peach’s Castle courtyard? All I know is that it’s a shame that Tony definitively died at Holsten’s after getting shot by the Members Only guy. He would have been able to see this series grow and expand on this version’s ideas, even if you might not want to pick this one up anymore. — S. Finkelstein
#43. Bomberman 64: The Second Attack!
May 28, 2000
Hudson Soft
Vatical Entertainment
$250 on Amazon
For a battle-hardened bombardier, explosives are everything. Bomberman 64: The Second Attack is no different, adding extra layers of complexity to the classic throw-n’-go flow of gameplay. Bomberman’s eponymous weapon of choice is both a combat ability and a puzzle-solving feature, integrated with a variety of environmental triggers. With the power of dynamite, you’ll be flipping switches, smashing pillars, blowing out doorways, and annihilating strange crystals with power-ups inside as you journey through the micro-galaxy. Don’t let his adorable little face deceive you — Bomberman interfaces with reality itself through explosions. And that’s metal as fuck.
Bomberman 64: The Second Attack! diverges from its predecessor with the addition of level-based dungeon crawling and a whole lotta bomb upgrades. Using the power of various Elemental Stones, Bomberman can augment his bombs with ice, fire, wind, and more for unique puzzles. From Game Planet Starlight to Ocean Planet Aquanet, the environments have a clear, crisp three-quarter perspective with a refreshing, non-foggy splash of color compared to many other titles for the N64. The Second Attack! also features Pommy, a cute, sassy new sidekick with a surprisingly complex tree of possible evolutions based upon which food items you collect in a given area. Much like espresso turns me into Hyper Writer, a good helping of fruit transforms Pommy into Knuckle Pommy, who can stun enemies with a single punch. Eevee could never.
There’s a charming dissonance between the game’s lofty story and its unassuming design. Bomberman finds himself thrust in the center of a cosmic battle between warring gods, and must collect the seven Elemental Stones to prevent a great evil from being reborn… you know how it is. At its best, the silly banter between characters and the corny but ambitious villains are reminiscent of Paper Mario. You might also be surprised to know that The Second Attack!‘s story mode just so happens to have been directed by one Naoki Yoshida of Final Fantasy XIV fame. Thankfully, the series plays to his strengths in “medieval diversity”, as everyone in Bomberman is either a robot, wearing a spacesuit, or has a peachy-white complexion.
While overall solid, the game does have its pitfalls. Levels like the Sky Planet Horizon made me want to shove nails in my eye sockets when paired with the game’s frustratingly long stun knockdown, making it very easy to tumble off the narrow platforms. Most disappointing are the boss fights, which are largely mediocre at best. The final boss is fantastic, however, and by far the most thrilling to play. Who doesn’t want to fight an ancient eldritch horror in space? — L. Fisher
#42. F-1 World Grand Prix
July 31, 1998
Paradigm Entertainment
Video System
$20.25 on Amazon
It’s easy to go back to older games and laugh at once blew our minds, but sometimes you can still kinda see it! This game rips. The presentation and graphics all hold up, and put simply its the best racing sim on the system. If you’re so inclined, you can do Friday practice, Saturday practice, qualify for the race, warm up before the race, and then enter the race itself. Then if you dick it up, you can redo the whole week. You absolute sicko. Add in the ability to customize the number of laps all the way up to the accurate number (something the later F-1 Pole Position couldn’t offer, capping off at 10 laps) and this could very well be the best desert island racing game the system has to offer. Good luck off that fucking island, man. Shit. — M. Roebuck
#41. Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon
Konami Computer Entertainment Osaka
Konami
April 16, 1998
$254.99 on Amazon
This game was so mysterious to me as a kid. I rented it from Blockbuster when it initially came out, and it was my first introduction to Japan when I was very young. When I finally visited Japan years later, I was happy to see it was all completely accurate. Time period aside, of course. Also I didn’t run into any ninjas or pickpockets, unfortunately.
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon is absolutely bonkers. It opens with an anime theme song, featuring the four main characters running around and doing ninja stuff. The gameplay is somewhere between Super Mario 64 and Zelda. It’s a 3D platformer, but you have an arsenal of weapons, items, and magic to use, plus dungeons to traverse and an overworld to explore. Eventually you will find yourself turning into a gigantic mecha version of Goemon. The giant robot even has its own theme song! Yeah, this game is severely underrated. Being able to switch between four main characters in a 3D platformer was pretty ambitious for the time, and the character designs, soundtrack, and old Japan were very immersive. Maybe including it higher up on this list will convince Nintendo to release this game on NSO for a wider audience to play at some point. — K. Podas
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