The Nintendo 64 is well-remembered for a number of reasons, but graphical excellence isn’t really one of them. Despite this, some of the games that found their home on the console have managed to hold up over time. If not always graphically, the fun or powerful writing and even the beautiful color palettes will leave fans smiling as they replay some of the classic games from this console.
The Nintendo 64 was a place where many of the franchises belonging to the most famous game company of all time were housed for years as video gaming really began to take off on another level previously unseen. As such, some of the games created during this time remain the most famous and beloved of all time.
6 Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Some video games achieve greatness through excellent writing. Some do it with fun, adorable characters, delightful music, a bright color palette, and the simple joys of fun gameplay and a happy world. Kirby does this often, but not only did The Crystal Shards bring an element of 3-D to a franchise that almost exclusively stays within 2-D bounds.
The game also had some incredibly fun cutscenes. Using the capabilities of the platform, characters and animation were redesigned from previous games to add a more polygonal-friendly landscape to the entire game. This didn’t do enough for the cutscenes to look grandly designed by today’s standards, but the simplicity of them and the overall fun nature of the game makes this a worthy entry on any best games and cutscenes of the Nintendo 64 list.
5 Turok 2: Seeds Of Evil
While Turok was a fun game that is well-remembered today, the sequel went bigger in some interesting ways for that time. The story this time around (which only contained six levels, but they were massive) brought a new Turok into conflict with the Primagen, a powerful entity imprisoned within the Turok’s lightship.
While it involved the secret agendas of dinosaurs, Turok 2 was an extremely fun game that also had a much beloved multiplayer mode. There are a number of cutscenes throughout the story that has great animation, well ahead of their time on the Nintendo 64. These helped to enhance the story of the game far beyond what it would otherwise have deserved given the ridiculous nature of the collected enemies the Turok squared off against.
4 Perfect Dark
A truly impressive game graphically for the N64, Perfect Dark is considered an unofficial sequel to the infamous Goldeneye 007 game that went down in gaming history after being released on the same console. Joanna Dark is a secret agent on a path to stop an alien conspiracy in this first-person shooter. While there are a lot of fun things about this game, including an action heroine in gaming which was rare for the time, the graphics and cutscenes are some of the very best elements.
The team at RARE behind Goldeneye didn’t get to flex their story muscles too much, since the game had the same story essentially as the film. However, they made an intriguing game with high-quality graphics throughout. The N64 expansion pak that gave further graphical quality to many games which supported it made Perfect Dark look ridiculously good for the time it was from as well!
3 Conker’s Bad Fur Day
Not only is this one of the few games made for the N64 that is far more for adults than for children, but it is also one of the most hilarious games of all time. Outrageous and ridiculous, the game has solid, colorful graphics in the cutscenes, but it is the writing that takes precedence and makes it worth a replay today no matter how the graphics hold up.
The game is about a cute squirrel named Conker that appears to be innocent but is horribly crude and lets his mouth constantly get him into trouble. His journey is simply to try and get home to his girlfriend, and much of the style and gameplay is reminiscent of Banjo-Kazooie, it is the writing and adult-oriented flair that sets this one apart and makes so many of the cutscene moments so memorable.
2 The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
Ocarina of Time is considered by many N64 fans to be the very best game that was ever released on the console. It is also considered by many to be the best game in The Legend of Zelda franchise, which is high praise considering how many great games have come under that umbrella. Ocarina of Time had a grand, sweeping story that despite not having voice acting, became hugely memorable for the cutscenes featured throughout.
Link’s adventure to stop Ganondorf after he takes over Hyrule is a unique and hugely compelling story, one of the best told throughout gaming history. It is also filled with color, great writing, and incredible music. All of these elements, in addition to the gameplay, make Ocarina of Time one of the most beloved games of all time.
1 Paper Mario
It is, admittedly, easy for a game that used the artistic style of 2D Paper Mario to remain great graphically today. However, Paper Mario did far more than just bring a fun RPG element to a 2D mushroom kingdom. It also had a great story and an incredible sense of humor worked into every element of the game.
The delightful music and memorable art add to the story of Bowser stealing the star spirits, lifting Peach’s castle into the stars and stealing the star rod from star haven. The story is insane, but Paper Mario could make this or any other story work with the unique, not-too-serious writing and the adorable artwork.