With winter right around the corner, gamers can always turn to tried-and-true classic games to bolster their holiday spirit. A sure-fire way of getting in the mood is to revisit the frigid, snowy levels from games of the past. For those that grew up with the PlayStation 2, a trip to Kingdom Hearts 2's classic Christmas Town level might be just what the doctor ordered. For others, a visit to the Gorilla Glacier section of Donkey Kong Country may be necessary. However, arguably the best place to go for winter nostalgia is just about any classic title on the N64.
Perhaps it's merely a coincidence, but nearly all of the consensus best N64 games happen to have at least one winter level, and there's probably a good reason for that. Not only is an icy level a fairly simple way to introduce a bit of difficulty into any platformer or adventure game, but they also happen to be a quick way to inject a bit of playfulness into any title.
The Best Nintendo 64 Games Have Unforgettable Winter Levels
Cool, Cool Mountain from Super Mario 64 may stand out immediately in gamers' minds as one of the most memorable stages on the N64, but it's far from alone in its prestige. In fact, a quick glance at the lineup of top N64 games reveals that an excellent winter level is more the rule than the exception. Take, for instance, Freezeezy Peak on Banjo-Kazooie. It oozes holiday spirit with collectable presents, giant ice cube-like enemies, and a polar bear with a proclivity for sledding. Even in GoldenEye 007, the ultra-short Surface stages, which pit players against the Siberian Special Forces, remain memorable since they are among the few stages that take players outdoors.
A few quick examples are hardly convincing, so instead, it might help to fire off a couple more classic N64 games that contain at least one winter-themed experience: Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask,Mario Kart 64, Paper Mario, GoldenEye 007, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, Star Fox 64, Harvest Moon, and so on and so forth. The existence of a wintery, icy level is so ubiquitous across quality N64 games, that a list of the greatest N64 games and a list of N64 games with at least one wintery level are more or less interchangeable with one another.
Nintendo 64's Winter Levels Offer A Different Experience
The low-hanging fruit here is Hoth from Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. Not only is Hoth one of the most memorable planets in the Star Wars franchise, but the stage in Shadows of the Empire boasts one of the more unique experiences on the N64 when it allowed players to recreate a famous scene from The Empire Strikes Back where an AT-AT is taken down by having cable wrapped around its legs. If that wasn't already enough, the Hoth level also gave players the chance to face off against the damage-resistant Wampa—a traumatizing experience for any kid in the late 90s.
The beauty of the winter stage is its versatility. It can be used as a light-hearted reminder of the holidays, as in Banjo-Kazooie's Freezeezy Peak, or it can be refashioned to offer an isolating, somewhat disturbing experience. The Ice Cavern stage in Ocarina of Time is one of the better examples of the darker side of icy levels. While it usually ranks low among all of Ocarina of Time's levels due to its tedious nature, the Ice Cavern serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of Link skipping forward in time. It is unusual in Ocarina of Time because it is one of the few places that remains largely unchanged over the 7 years, as it was literally frozen in time. While it is not the best snowy level when it comes to gameplay, it does show just how common this type of level design was among the N64 lineup.