I tried to find a list of reviews in N64 magazine, but couldn’t find anything with the full details, so I have made one myself. I have included import reviews, the verdict of the main review as well as the descriptions from the directory in issue 59.
A few extra reviews are taken from Super Play and all N64 games reviewed in NGC Magazine. Thanks to outofprintarchive.com for hosting copies of all the issues.
| Name | Score % | Score ★ | Release Date | Issue | Verdict | Description (Directory) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super Mario 64 (USA) | 97% | 5 | 1996-06-23 | Super Play #47 | Amazing, fantastic, drop-dead wonderful. All this and more applies to Super Mario 64. Miyamoto and his team have delivered just what they promised – an interactive cartoon. And, if ever there was a killer app to sell a new machine Mario 64 is it. Play it as soon as you can, and make little sighing noises quietly to yourseld. | N/A |
| Super Mario 64 | 96% | 5 | 1996-06-23 | 1 | Swahili holds up the only word to sum it up. SM64 is absolutely tsufufum. | Everything that’s made previous Mario titles great, fleshed out into 3D. Second only to Zelda. |
| Shadows of the Empire | 78% | 2 | 1996-12-03 | 1 | Basically solid, but lacking innovation and brilliance of Nintendo’s other launch titles. Get Turok before this. | Fab snowspeeder and space battles are ultimately let down by some lacklustre Doom-style bits. |
| Pilotwings 64 | 89% | 5 | 1996-06-23 | 1 | Pilotwings 64 is a breathtaking showcase for the N64. What Nintendo promised, they have delivered. Superb. | A supreme example of how to harness the N64’s immense potential. Absolutely stunning visuals. |
| Turok: Dinosaur Hunter | 91% | 4 | 1997-03-04 | 1 | Stunningly created by Iguana, Turok breaths new life into a tired old genre. Ludicrously violent, marvellously entertaining and another fantastic edition to the N64’s growing library. | Screen-filling dinosaurs, ludicrously bloody violence and some breathtaking weapons. Fantastic! |
| Mario Kart 64 (Japan) | 91% | 4 | 1996-12-14 | 1 | An extremely entertaining game, especially if you’ve got four controllers. | N/A |
| Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey (USA) | 70% | 2 | 1996-11-15 | 1 | Fast-moving, violent and intense. Ice Hockey as it’s meant to be played. | N/A |
| Killer Instinct Gold (USA) | 62% | 2 | 1996-11-25 | 1 | Guaranteed to please fans of the coin-op. And nobody else. | N/A |
| J-League Perfect Striker (Japan) | 89% | 3 | 1996-12-20 | 1 | A fantastic N64 debut for football, and April’s Europeanization should spell complete satisfaction. Superb. | N/A |
| Mortal Kombat Trilogy (USA) | 34% | 0 | 1996-11-12 | 1 | Vastly over-rated as a game and an extremely poor use of the N64’s powers. This really is best avoided. | N/A |
| Glory of St Andrews (Japan) | 58% | 0 | 1996-11-29 | 1 | It looks lie a travesty but plays pretty well. However, N64 golf deserves a better representative than this. | N/A |
| Cruis’n USA (USA) | 34% | 0 | 1996-12-03 | 1 | Basically solid, but a pale shadow of the much-better Mario Kart. | N/A |
| MahJong Master (Japan) | 69% | 2 | 1996-12-20 | 1 | Okay so it’s Mah Jong. What’s so wrong about that, eh? | N/A |
| NBA Hangtime (USA) | 52% | 1 | 1997-01-16 | 1 | Excellent basketball, but we’d rather play football. | N/A |
| Wonder Project J2 (Japan) | 55% | 1 | 1996-11-22 | 1 | An interesting attempt at something new, but it doesn’t quite come off. | N/A |
| King of Pro Baseball (Japan) | 68% | 1 | 1996-12-20 | 1 | Initially great fun, but the longer you play, the more annoying the players become. | N/A |
| Wave Race 64 | 90% | 5 | 1996-09-27 | 2 | A thoroughly innovative and successfully ambitious racer. Until you play it, consider your videogaming expertise incomplete. | Thoroughly realistic water effects and a scintillating two-player mode make this just as much fun as MK64. |
| FIFA 64 | 39% | 0 | 1997-02-28 | 2 | The more you play, the more you realise how thoroughly dreadful things are. Makes playing football a dreary task. Criminal. | Like a rash. Only not as enjoyable. |
| Blast Corps (USA) | 88% | 5 | 1997-03-21 | 2 | Inspiringly original, and fun from start to finish. Another reason to love your N64. | N/A |
| Doraemon (Japan) | 60% | 1 | 1997-03-21 | 2 | Although occasionally very good, Doraemon too often borders on the bland. | N/A |
| Human Grand Prix (Japan) | 71% | 1 | 1997-03-28 | 2 | F1 without the slick, licence-led ‘feel’, Able to provide sheer bouts of enjoyment nonetheless. | N/A |
| ISS 64 | 92% | 3 | 2000-08-03 | 3 | For obvious reasons, the fact that Perfect striker was in Japanese hampered proceedings a little. Now, ISS64 has truly been allowed to flourish. Constantly takes your breath away. | An almost flawless game which could only have been bettered with the addition of real teams. |
| Killer Instinct Gold | 62% | 2 | 1996-11-25 | 3 | One for the committed KI fan, really. Nintendo really have to come up with a Virtua Fighter 2 or Tekken 2-style offering to be taken seriously in this field. | Great in its time, but who wants a 2D beat-’em-up in the light of Tekken and even MK4? |
| Star Fox 64 (Japan) | 94% | 5 | 1997-04-27 | 3 | A showcase of the N64’s powers, and probably the world’s best shoot-’em-up to boot. | N/A |
| Doom 64 (USA) | 80% | 2 | 1997-04-04 | 3 | As good a conversion as we could have hoped for. Doom as a concept has been bettered by Turok, but Doom 64 takes an admirable second place. | N/A |
| MahJong 64 (Japan) | 65% | 1 | 1997-04-04 | 3 | Further your Maj Jong education, but watch out for the bony hands. | N/A |
| Power Pro Baseball 4 [Jikkyō Pawapuro Puroyakyu 4] (Japan) | 54% | 2 | 1997-03-14 | 3 | Hugely disappointing. And, once again, fails to explain the attraction of baseball. | N/A |
| Mario Kart 64 | 91% | 5 | 1996-12-14 | 4 | Months of racing fun packed into a cart the size of a crab. | A fab multiplayer and you’ll still be racing the one-player tracks long after you’ve beaten them. |
| Mortal Kombat Trilogy | 34% | 0 | 1996-11-12 | 4 | Once, we would have rejoiced. But with 65-bit technology at out disposal, we can barely muster a smile. Vastly, disturbingly over-rated | This is really poor. A wealth of options, cheats, extras and finishing moves can’t save it. |
| War Gods (USA) | 46% | 0 | 1997-05-20 | 4 | Another substandard beat-’em-up from Midway. Killer Instinct’s sprites are far more fun than War Gods’ polygons. Play with those instead. | N/A |
| Blast Corps | 88% | 5 | 1997-03-21 | 5 | Bold, brash and full of fire. Blast Corps is a blockbusting treat. Just great. | One of the most original games on the N64, and one you’re almost certain to enjoy. |
| Multi Racing Championship (Japan) | 81% | 1 | 1997-07-18 | 5 | Multi Racing verges on the brilliant, bus is ultimately let down by its walk-over computer opposition and slightly blurred graphics. Lots and lots of fun nevertheless, though, | N/A |
| Hexen (USA) | 69% | 0 | 1997-06-25 | 5 | Roper-looking and sometimes overly time-consuming, but plenty of medieval action and some nice touches. | Fun in a retro kind of way but, in the light of GoldenEye, hard to recommend. |
| Mischief Makers [Go Go!! Trouble Makers] (Japan) | 90% | 3 | 1997-06-27 | 5 | A magnificently entertaining, epically silly game. Bless Treasure. | N/A |
| Dark Rift (USA) | 72% | 1 | 1997-07-08 | 5 | Competent, if uninspired, this merely fills the gap between Midway’s atrocities and the game we’re all waiting for, | N/A |
| Shadows of the Empire (Japan) | 75% | 2 | 1996-12-03 | 5 | Tweaked for Japan, but they’re not the kind of tweaks UK gamers will like. | N/A |
| Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey | 75% | 2 | 1996-11-15 | 6 | Bullet-fast, liberally violent and enthralling in multi-player mode, Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey is the best ice hockey game on any system. | For sheer whizz-band, puck-zipping magic, Gretzky is hard to beat. |
| NBA Hangtime | 52% | 1 | 1997-01-16 | 6 | Boring, lazy and impossible to like. Hanging’s too good for it. | Two-on-two basketball gets very boring. |
| Shindou Super Mario 64 (Japan) | 96% | 5 | 1996-06-23 | 1 | Swahili holds up the only word to sum it up. SM64 is absolutely tsufufum. | |
| Shindou Wave Race 64 (Japan) | 90% | 5 | 1996-09-27 | 2 | A thoroughly innovative and successfully ambitious racer. | |
| Star Fox 64 (Japan) | 94% | 5 | 1997-04-27 | 6 | A stunningly good game that’s just as good in our own tongue. | N/A |
| Doom 64 | 77% | 2 | 1997-04-04 | 7 | On release it was a second choice behind Turok. With GoldenEye on the way, it must now be third. A good game but limited. | Solid and workman-like but, up against Turok and GoldenEye, it looks dreadfully old hat. |
| F1 Pole Position | 71% | 1 | 1997-03-28 | 7 | A workmanlike formula 1 game. Our N64s are capable of so much more, though. | Good fun in places, but obvious flaws include horrendous pop-up and stop-dead banks. |
| War Gods | 46% | 0 | 1997-05-20 | 7 | A paragon of money-for-old-(3D)-rope. | Once you’ve sampled all the character’s delights, and the silly moves, the novelty soon dissipates. |
| GoldenEye 007 (USA) | 94% | 5 | 1997-08-23 | 7 | Sheer, unadulterated Bond brilliance. You cannot buy better. | N/A |
| Ganbare Goemon (Japan) | 80% | 4 | 1997-08-07 | 7 | Brilliant and frustrating, ultimately lightweight, this devillish little platform/shooty/action RPG thang almost delivers the goods. | N/A |
| Tetrisphere (USA) | 71% | 2 | 1997-08-11 | 7 | Likely to polarise option twixt those who love it for what it is and those who reckon their N64s are capable of more. | N/A |
| Power League 64 (Japan) | 42% | 0 | 1997-08-08 | 7 | Don’t. Even. Think. About. It. | N/A |
| Janhou Sim Mah Jong 64 (Japan) | 69% | 1 | 1997-07-25 | 7 | Just, possibly, the N64’s best mah jong game. | N/A |
| ISS 64 (USA) | 92% | 3 | 2000-08-03 | 7 | As fine as it was on PAL. The finest football game to date, unspoilt in translation. | N/A |
| Lylat Wars | 91% | 5 | 1997-04-27 | 8 | I possibly like it less than anyone else ever in the history of all things, and I think it’s fantastically excellent. | Not as perfect as it could’ve been (it needed a level select) but another tour-de-force for Shigsy. |
| Multi Racing Championship | 71% | 1 | 1997-07-18 | 8 | A nippy, accessible and generally enjoyable racer. But it runs out of road all too soon. | The conversion job has done it no favours. |
| Top Gear Rally | 86% | 4 | 1997-09-30 | 8 | Annoying at times, but at last the N64 has a racer to be proud of. | Some of the fastest, most realistic driving to ever grace a computer game. Well designed tracks. |
| Bomberman 64 (Japan) | 50% | 1 | 1997-09-26 | 8 | Briefly diverting, but a genuine disappointment for Bomberman’s most devoted fans. They’ve really lost the thread this time. | Tedious one-player mode and awful multiplayer. |
| J-League Dynamite Soccer (Japan) | 66% | 1 | 1997-09-18 | 8 | Appearances can be deceptive. To start with this is about as much fun as a pulled hamstring. But after a while you’ll plod through it and maybe even anjoy it. A bit. | N/A |
| Jikkyou World Soccer 3 (Japan) | 91% | 3 | 1997-08-03 | 8 | Slightly inferior to PAL IS64 but still a breathtaking football game. | N/A |
| Mischief Makers (Japan) | 90% | 3 | 1997-06-27 | 8 | In a world where imagination is oft frowned upon, this breaks all the rules. | It’s retro but it’s totally rewarding. A perfect example of how to do 2D on the N64. |
| GoldenEye 007 | 94% | 5 | 1997-08-23 | 9 | We’re not joking. But this game. Here’s to Tomorrow Never Dies, eh, Rare? | Brilliant levels and scenery and a perfectly judge difficulty curve. About as good as it gets. |
| Extreme G | 87% | 2 | 1997-10-27 | 9 | Despite being hyped-up to the nines, Extreme G easily delivers the goods, not bettering Wipeout, but entertaining in its own right as the majestic, imaginative and classy game it is. | Impressive in its day with face-melting speed and beautiful tracks but somewhat displaced now. |
| Dark Rift | 69% | 1 | 1997-07-08 | 9 | A beat-’em-up by numbers, and one that wants to lighten up a bit. | Uninspiring special moves and similar characters. Nicely animated but, ultimately, really rather dull. |
| Mace: The Dark Age (USA)) | 81% | 2 | 1997-09-30 | 9 | An enjoyably slick assimilation of fighting fun that shows, finally, that we’re getting there. | A highly competent fighter that’ll tide you over ’til Capcom arrive on the scene. |
| ClayFighter 63⅓ (USA) | 24% | 0 | 1997-10-23 | 9 | If you want an amusingly poor beat-’em-up rather than an alarmingly rubbish one, then buy War Gods. | As painful a game where you have red hot needles shoved into your eyes. Very, very hard. |
| Diddy Kong Racing | 90% | 4 | 1997-11-21 | 10 | Diddy Kong corrects the faults of Mario Kart but develops new ones of its own. It’s a brilliant game, but somehow we still love Mario, Luigi and the gang just a tiny, tiny but more. | A massive adventure mode and three different vehicles. Not quite as food as MK though. |
| Madden 64 | 92% | 2 | 1997-10-24 | 10 | Everything you’d want from a US footy game – apart from the NFL licence. | The first 64-bit outing for the Madden series is a great success but it looks a bit dated compared to NFL ’99 |
| NFL Quarterback Club ’98 | 86% | 3 | 1997-10-24 | 10 | A beautiful looker, but needs tweaking on the gameplay front if it wants to be the best on the block. | It’s got the curial NFL license but it doesn’t quite manage to displace Madden. More for purists. |
| Automobili Lamborghini | 67% | 2 | 1997-11-22 | 10 | Nowhere near as comprehensive as TGR and without the handling of MRC, Lamborghini is a competent but unsatisfying addition to the N64’s racing family. | Not bad, just competent. |
| FIFA ’98 The Road to the World Cup | 83% | 2 | 1997-12-20 | 10 | A real surprise. Massively comprehensive, technically very-nearly-there end and, most importantly, a roaringly good football game. | There’s promise here. Not perfect, but better. |
| Duke Nukem 64 | 86% | 3 | 1997-10-31 | 10 | Second to GoldenEye, but excellent multiplayer options and 28 varied levels mean Duke Nukem’s still very much in contention. Definite;y worth investigation. | A commendably violent and vastly enjoyable conversion. A brilliant multiplayer game as well. |
| Chameleon Twist | 70% | 2 | 1997-12-09 | 10 | Good fun, despite looking a bit rubbish, but only the multiplayer mode offers any long-term potential. | Thrills and spills but it won’t take you long to finish. The multiplayer game is okay, mind. |
| Puyo Puyo Sun 64 (Japan) | 80% | 2 | 1997-10-30 | 10 | A true classic – very good and very old. Hence our reservations about its place on the N64. | N/A |
| J-League Eleven Beat (Japan) | 52% | 0 | 1997-10-24 | 10 | Lacks both Dynamite Soccer’s gradual, involving something and ISS64’s all-conquering brilliance. Thus, Eleven Beat is another disappointing Hudson Effort. | N/A |
| San Francisco Rush | 82% | 3 | 1997-11-07 | 11 | Far from the serious racing that made up Top Gear Rally not the pinnacle of N64 gaming, SFR is nonetheless refreshingly different and thoroughly entertaining. | Gravity-defying leaps, rattling top speeds, mid-air multi-car pile-ups an tons of explosions. |
| Aerofighters Assault (USA) | 60% | 1 | 1997-11-21 | 11 | Good-looking, and with a pleasing ‘feel’. but there’s not enough to do in it. | N/A |
| Wild Choppers (USA) | 79% | 3 | 1997-11-28 | 11 | Good controls and plenty to blow up – everything a chopper game should have. | N/A |
| 64 O-Sumo [64 Ōzumō] (Japan) | 90% | 3 | 1997-11-28 | 11 | Will probably only appeal to a limited, select audience, but for them it’s Sumo heaven. Possibly more exciting than the real thing. | N/A |
| Wheel of Fortune (USA) | 17% | 0 | 1997-12-02 | 11 | Repulsively awful and, at £35, criminally priced. Grotesquely ugly and about as much fun as falling into a vat of industrial strength acid. | N/A |
| WCE vs NWO World Tour (USA) | 70% | 2 | 1997-12-02 | 11 | The sort of game we’d imagined it would be. Perfectly acceptable in all departments, and even rather entertaining in spells, but never enough to sustain interest and, ultimately, expensive at the asking price. | N/A |
| Famista 64 (Japan) | 68% | 1 | 1997-11-28 | 11 | Has the brains and the looks but, somehow, soon descends into boredom. Let’s hope next time we hear from Namco it’s with something a little bigger. | N/A |
| MK Mythologies Sub Zero (USA) | 9% | 0 | 1997-12-11 | 11 | It’s MK Trilogy – but with some platform and RPG bits. | This could only be less enjoyable if it squirted sulphuric acid into your face. |
| WCW vs NWO World Tour | 70% | 2 | 1997-12-02 | 12 | For those keyed into wrestling this is the definitive console outing. But, for the rest of us, this is a diverting, accomplished game but one without enough energy or excitement. | A perfectly acceptable, technically soled beat-’em-up. Not quite Tekken, though. |
| Nagano Winter Olympics | 32% | 0 | 1997-12-18 | 12 | Beautiful but cripplingly dull. Konami need to regain their sense of fun pronto. | Luge, bobsleigh, halfpipe, curling, they’re all here and they’re all extremely boring. |
| Yoshi’s Story (Japan) | 86% | 5 | 1997-12-21 | 12 | Lots of very familiar fun, but perhaps not the all-time classic we were expecting. | N/A |
| Tamagotchi World 64 (Japan) | 79% | 3 | 1997-12-19 | 12 | A flavourful and rewarding party board game with Tamagotchis in. Maybe a bit overlong, but classily enjoyable. And the blobs live on at the end. | N/A |
| Dual Heroes (Japan) | 28% | 0 | 1997-12-05 | 12 | Meybe not as bad as Clayfightr. But, after all the build-up, Hudson have let us down badly with Dual Hroes. Pray it never makes it out over here. | N/A |
| Tokon Road [Shin Nippon Pro Wrestling: Toukon Road – Brave Spirits] (Japan) | 49% | 3 | 1998-01-04 | 12 | Fine, but it’s arrived about the same time as the superior WCW vs NWO: World Tour, and it’s in Japanese. | N/A |
| Snowboard Kids (Japan) | 88% | 4 | 1997-12-12 | 12 | The biggest surprise so far. Sorry for the mix-up, Snobow, we love you to bits. | N/A |
| Robotron 64 (USA) | 75% | 2 | 1998-01-05 | 12 | It’s good. It’s extremely good. But it could, I feel, have been so much better. | An entertaining update of the arcade game. |
| Art of Fighting Twin (Japan) | 78% | 2 | 1997-12-18 | 12 | A simple but effective game that should please anyone waiting for a decent beat-’em’up on the N64. I’d wait a couple of months to see if it gets a US or UK release to get the very best from it, though. | N/A |
| Aero Gauge (Japan) | 10% | 0 | 1997-12-19 | 12 | Actionably incompetent and violently loathable. | N/A |
| Denryu Ira Ira Bou (Japan) | 65% | 2 | 1997-12-19 | 12 | Impossibly simple, ruthlessly challenging fairground game. But on the N64. We respect it. | N/A |
| Fighter’s Destiny | 86% | 4 | 1998-01-31 | 13 | The N64 will be denied no longer. An inventive, superlative fighter that banishes the memory of Mortal Kombat Trilogy forever. Three cheers for Ocean. | Gorgeous animation, likeable characters and a clever Master Challenge. In a very real sense our Tekken. |
| Tetrisphere | 69% | 2 | 1997-08-11 | 13 | Major league weird. Play this for any length of time and your brain turns to shower gel. Lots of entertaining options for the solo player, but the two-player mode doesn’t have the stating power of a beat-’em-up or racing game. | Confusing, complicated and frustrating. |
| Cruis’n USA | 24% | 0 | 1996-12-03 | 13 | With the N64 now housing THR and MRC, Cruis’n USA’s no longer even a novelty. A Grade Z stinker. | Dump. Less about driving, more a rule book on how to cock-up console games. |
| Sim City 2000 (Japan) | 83% | 3 | 1998-01-30 | 13 | The best strategy game on the N64, as much by virtue as by default. Arcade fans are advised to steer clear, though. | N/A |
| Pachinko World 64 (Japan) | 12% | 1 | 1997-11-28 | 13 | At least the N64 mah jong games were competently programmed. This is an experiment to see if monkey’s can use computers. And it is complete tripe. | N/A |
| Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon | 90% | 4 | 1997-08-07 | 14 | This is a sprawling, enjoyable adventure that works it socks off to square up to Mario. | With plenty to do, this sprawling, enjoyable adventure tries really hard to square up to Mario. |
| NBA Pro ’98 | 71% | 1 | 1998-01-29 | 14 | Good, but hardly brilliant. The question is: do you really like basketball? | An enjoyable multiplayer and lots of options. |
| Snowboard Kids | 86% | 4 | 1997-12-12 | 14 | Mario Kart on ice. Technically a little ragged but still enormously good fun. | Mario Kart on ice. Technically a little ragged but still great fun. Check out the multiplayer! |
| NHL Breakaway | 62% | 2 | 1998-02-25 | 14 | NHL Breakaway ’98 is just a painfully average game. | Little excitement, nowt original. Gretzky’s better. |
| 1080° Snowboarding (Japan) | 89% | 4 | 1998-02-28 | 14 | We admire it for its brilliant, but somehow we don’t love it yet. | N/A |
| Augusta Masters ’98 (Japan) | 40% | 0 | 1997-12-26 | 14 | Your N64 could run this with the power off. Augusta Masters is a poor conversion of a dated game design. | N/A |
| Yoshi’s Story | 86% | 5 | 1997-12-21 | 15 | Perhaps not everything we were expecting and certainly not an all-time classic, but Yoshi’s Story is still a superbly playable and lovingly crafted game. | Surprisingly, a Nintendo game that lacks longevity. But it’s amazing to play and beautiful too. |
| Wetrix | 74% | 3 | 1998-05-30 | 15 | If only it had a little more ‘pizzaz!’ and novel features, we’d like it more. | Reasonably priced take on the age-old Tetris theme, with water and mountains. |
| Quake 64 | 79% | 2 | 1998-03-24 | 15 | A disappointment. Quake 64 is little more than a straight port of the PC original. That’s okay in some ways, but we hoped for more. | Tidy new light sourcing, polygonal monsters, a lame two-player deathmatch and lots of blood. |
| GASP Fighters NEXTream (Japan) | 52% | 1 | 1998-03-26 | 15 | Even given the limited competition, G.A.S.P. is rooted down at the lower end of the N64 fighter’s hierarchy. | N/A |
| Susume! Taisen Puzzle Dama (Japan) | 78% | 3 | 1998-03-26 | 15 | A rattlingly good puzzler with a few nifty additions. But, it’s Puyo Puyo at £35. | N/A |
| Olympic Hockey Nagano ’98 (Japan) | 60% | 0 | 1998-02-23 | 15 | Marks have been deducted for the sheer cynicism of it all. | Cheap, cynical cash-in on a sporting non-event. |
| World Cup ’98 | 73% | 1 | 1998-05-19 | 16 | It’s okay. You could learn to like it and the licence is a good enough reason to want to. But wouldn’t it bother you that there was a far better game available? | Competent, licence-led but sluggish, frustrating and now with semi-automatic tackling . Hmm. |
| Aero Fighters Assault | 58% | 1 | 1997-11-21 | 16 | It’s not a bad game, but there are at least 30 others you should consider buying before this. | Good in spells, but flawed and disappointing at length. Feels realistic but is too dull, too often. |
| Forsaken | 87% | 4 | 1998-04-30 | 16 | A spectacular, nerve-jangling experience. Not for everyone, maybe, but then the best things in life seldom are. | A fabulous Descent-style shoot-’em-up with great lighting and visuals. Weak multiplayer, though. |
| Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey ’98 | 70% | 2 | 1997-12-03 | 16 | Still a good game but virtually identical to the original. | When all’s done and dusted, is it really different enough to warrant buying? No. |
| Rampage World Tour | 54% | 0 | 1998-03-30 | 16 | You’ll get sick of it long before you finish it, and it’ll make your N64 look like an Amiga, but it’s still Rampage. | This conversion of the age-old arcade classic is fun but, ultimately, it’s expensive and limited. |
| Air Boarder 64 (Japan) | 62% | 2 | 1998-03-27 | 16 | Potentially a quirky little game. Sadly Human forgot to include objectives with any longevity, enemies or variety. Whoops, eh? | N/A |
| Jeopardy! (USA) | 9% | 0 | 1998-02-25 | 16 | A sorry excuse for a computer game. | N/A |
| GT 64 | 67% | 0 | 1998-04-14 | 17 | GT64 plays well enough to cope with its visual hindrances, but you’ll need to ramp the difficulty up straight away. This could, and should, have been so much better. | Handles well, but it’s slow, ugly and there’s far too much po-up. Not what we were hoping for. |
| Bust-A-Move 2 | 80% | 4 | 1998-04-30 | 17 | Don’t be put off by its looks. One of the best puzzle games in the world, and the finest so far on N64/ | One of the best puzzle games in the world, and certainly the finest so far on the N64. |
| Dual Heroes | 50% | 0 | 1997-12-05 | 17 | It’s better than we thought it would be but it’s only really worth renting for a couple of nights. | Stashed full of innovate features, this is sadly ruined by some terrible AI. Shame, that. |
| AeroGauge | 10% | 0 | 1997-12-19 | 17 | Spend £50 on this and there will be tears. | A real stinker of a Wipeout clone with pop-up, cheating opponents and terrible controls. |
| Bomberman Hero (Japan) | 66% | 2 | 1998-04-30 | 17 | An improvement, but not enough of an improvement to make the necessary impact. Strangely compulsive at times, but for the most part, a genuine disappointment. And there’s no multiplayer game. Tut, tut. | N/A |
| Koby Bryant’s NBA Courtside (USA) | 90% | 4 | 1998-04-27 | 17 | The sneaker-squeaking king of American sports. | N/A |
| Power Pro Baseball 5 [Jikkyō Pawapuro Puroyakyu 5] (Japan) | 78% | 3 | 1998-03-26 | 17 | Knock 10% off if you’re not a fan of Japanese weirdness. Or baseball. | N/A |
| Banjo-Kazooie | 92% | 5 | 1998-06-29 | 18 | Mario’s still king but Banjo-Kazooie is worthy company for him. Ace. | Rare’s mastery is once again demonstrated in this vast, stunningly beautiful Mario-alike. |
| NBA Courtside | 90% | 4 | 1998-04-27 | 18 | The best and most playable American sports game on N64. | Fluid gameplay, sharp graphics and a simple control system make this the best basketball game ever. |
| Jikkyou World Cup ’98 (Japan) | 91% | 4 | 1998-06-04 | 18 | Jikkyou World Soccer ’98 is the football game everyone still has to better. Utterly sublime. | N/A |
| Mortal Kombat 4 (USA) | 84% | 2 | 1998-06-23 | 18 | You can’t take it seriously, but an MK4 tournament with friends will provide more visceral thrills than any of the competition. Well worth the look. | N/A |
| Quest 64 (USA) | 71% | 2 | 1998-06-10 | 18 | Not brilliant, but certainly ‘nice’. Entertaining…while it lasts. | N/A |
| Major League Baseball (USA) | 74% | 4 | 1998-05-25 | 18 | A Wayne Gretzky sort of baseball game. Fast and furious, but is that what baseball fans enjoy? | N/A |
| All-Star Baseball (USA) | 84% | 3 | 1998-04-27 | 18 | About as good as baseball sims are ever likely to get. | N/A |
| Bio FREAKS (USA) | 76% | 3 | 1998-05-19 | 18 | Bio Freaks will delight casual players, but disappoint brawling purists. | N/A |
| Virtual Chess (USA) | 76% | 2 | 1998-06-10 | 18 | Shabbily presented but as close to a rattling good think-frenzy with Kasparov as you’re going to get. Your move, then. | N/A |
| Mission: Impossible | 75% | 3 | 1998-07-16 | 19 | Promising, but heavy on faults, and occasionally shabby. The sequel has a lot of work to do. | Horrendous AI, clunky engine and bad controls. |
| Iggy’s Reckin’ Balls | 56% | 0 | 1998-08-01 | 19 | A prime example of a try-before-you-buy type of game. And a frighteningly ugly one at that. | Push Left or Right and watch the CPU opponents win every time. As dull as Chris Tarrant. |
| WWF Warzone | 85% | 3 | 1998-08-11 | 19 | Not perfect, by any means, but a total riot in multiplayer mode. One for the fans. | A fantastic fat-fest with hi-res visuals, plenty of fighters, TV-shucking and a fab create-a-player mode. |
| All-Star Baseball | 84% | 3 | 1998-04-27 | 19 | The pinnacle of baseball games. A spectacular technical achievement and, for fans of the sport, essential action of the highest order. | A meticulously put together baseball sim, with hi-res graphics and ultra-detailed gameplay. |
| F-Zero X (Japan) | 91% | 1 | 1998-07-14 | 19 | A brilliant successor to a brilliant original. The best straight racer on the N64 and the fastest thing on silicon. | N/A |
| Star Soldier (Japan) | 62% | 1 | 1998-07-10 | 19 | Fun for a 15-minute blast every now and then, or an endless score challenge, depending on how big a Super Aleste fan you are. | N/A |
| Dezaemon 3D (Japan) | 82% | 3 | 1998-06-26 | 19 | Top idea, and a totally different way to exploit the power of the 64. If we ever get an English instruction manual, we’ll be playing nothing else. Well, maybe. | N/A |
| Off Road Challenge (USA) | 21% | 0 | 1998-06-30 | 19 | Makes you pray for a power cut | N/A |
| ISS ’98 | 92% | 5 | 1998-06-04 | 20 | It’s a fantasy dream team, with Pele, Cruff, Maradona and Best on the bench. | Enhanced and update and, now more than ever, the finest football game in the world. |
| Bio FREAKS | 76% | 3 | 1998-05-19 | 20 | Fun for a while, but not a long-term prospect. | Looks excellent but shallow gameplay. |
| F1 World Grand Prix | 93% | 5 | 1998-07-27 | 20 | The finest driving simulation the world has ever seen. But it. | Astonihingly realistic, visually stunning racing sim that really shows of the N64’s power. |
| Mortal Kombat 4 | 84% | 2 | 1998-06-23 | 20 | A tidy little fighter, and a pleasant surprise. Super-bloody and super amusing. | The best version of MK yet. |
| Cruis’n World | 38% | 0 | 1998-06-25 | 20 | Destined for life in the N64’s scrapyard o’ dung, Cruis’n World is dross of the highest order. | Why Nintendo put their name to this appalling sequel is a mystery of Area 51 proportions. |
| Chopper Attack | 81% | 3 | 1997-11-28 | 20 | Few frills and average graphics don’t stop Chopper Attack from being a simple, yet engrossing shoot-’em-up. Great fun. | A simple yet engrossing helicopter shoot-’em-up, very much in the Desert Strike tradition. Top! |
| Buck Bumble | 70% | 2 | 1998-09-30 | 20 | Not a great game, but not the mess it initially seems. Worth a look… but be sure to go beyond the first level or so. | Dodgy graphics, unconvincing controls, but not the worst shoot-’em-up we’ve ever played. |
| Rakuga Kids (Japan) | 80% | 3 | 1998-07-23 | 20 | A beat-’em-up that looks like nothing else and fights a bit like SF2. Great stuff. | N/A |
| Waialae Country Golf Club (USA) | 49% | 0 | 1998-07-27 | 20 | About 2% more enjoyable than its jap counterpart but out last verdict still stands: your N64 could run this with the power off. | N/A |
| Bomberman D-Daman [Super B-Daman: Battle Phoenix 64] (Japan) | 23% | 0 | 1998-07-24 | 20 | Loads of forgettable sub-games packed onto one forgettable…erm. What were we talking about? | N/A |
| Choro Q 64 (Japan) | 56% | 0 | 1998-06-30 | 20 | There’s a game in there somewhere, but we’re damned if we can find it. | N/A |
| Super Robot Spirits (Japan) | 58% | 3 | 1998-07-17 | 20 | A crushing disappointment for fans of the cartoons, and another average beat-’em-up for the N64. | N/A |
| Pocket Monsters Stadium (Japan) | 85% | 3 | 1998-08-01 | 20 | More excitement than one person should have in a day. If you’re a Pokémon fan, this will breathe new, firely life into the series for you. | N/A |
| Turok 2: Seeds of Evil | 95% | 4 | 1998-12-10 | 21 | The start to a thrilling new era for the N64. Turok 2 is bigger, bolder, ballsier and, without a doubt, the best game of the year so far. 30-15 to Iguana, then Rare… | A breathtaking follow-up to a superb original Alongside Zelda, an essential purchase. |
| Gex 64 Enter The Gekko | 59% | 1 | 1998-08-25 | 21 | We’d hoped for so much more. Our faith was misplaced. Pity. | This rough-around-the-edges 3D platformer isn’t so much dreadful as painfully average. |
| Glover | 83% | 4 | 1998-11-16 | 21 | Very original, very difficult, and ultimately very rewarding – if you’ve for the patience. | An inspired, superbly odd idea turns out to be a stonking, but hard, 3D adventure. |
| Bomberman Hero | 66% | 2 | 1998-04-30 | 21 | It’s nothing special but it’s good enough to keep you at it. Quirky, happy and above average. | Uninspiring 3D adventure, but compulsive at times. Up against Banjo, mind, it looks rubbish. |
| Waialae Country Golf Club | 49% | 0 | 1998-07-27 | 21 | Waialae doesn’t improve on August Masters. It’s just got new courses that are equally bad. | It’s golf, but golf that looks like it’s been through a meat processor. |
| 1080° Snowboarding | 89% | 4 | 1998-02-28 | 21 | If you class yourself as a ‘hardcore’ gamer, this is one you simply must play. | It takes a while to get into, but stick with it and that familiar Nintendo magic shines through. |
| Trump World (Japan) | 21% | 1 | 1998-08-07 | 21 | Repetitive and almost impossibly difficult. This is for card game freaks and Alice in Wonderland fans only. | N/A |
| V-Rally 99 | 90% | 4 | 1998-12-07 | 22 | Not as perfect as we’d normally demand, but the new leader in its field. And for that it deserves full recognition. | Finally, the N64 gets an ‘arcade’ racer to compete with the PSX’s best. Fast and furious, this is terrific. |
| Space Station Silicon Valley | 91% | 5 | 1998-10-21 | 22 | Silicon Valley can be a frustrating little *@*! at times, but you’ll soon forgive it. Lovely, and indeed, jubbly. | The most original console game ever. A breathtakingly clever and supremely playable platformer. |
| NFL Blitz | 87% | 4 | 1998-09-12 | 22 | Nothing like you’d expect an American football game to be. A must for fans of the arcade version, and well worth a go for anyone else. | Arcade-style American football. Fast play with plenty of scraps and a customisable editor. |
| Body Harvest | 91% | 4 | 1998-09-30 | 22 | Body Harvest is a grand-scale blaster of the highest order. If you’re looking for a slice of mayhem this Crimbo, make this a priority. | Brilliant shoot-’em-up with stacks of bug-bashing, tonnes of vehicles and huge worlds. |
| WCW/NWO Revenge | 75% | 3 | 1998-10-26 | 22 | An improvement on its predecessor, but still nowhere near the giddy heights of WWF Warzone. | Plenty of new characters and faster gameplay, but nowhere near as good as WWF Warzone |
| Starshot Space Circus Fever | 68% | 2 | 1998-12-04 | 22 | Without its glaring flaws, Starshot might have challenged the early 70s, but as it is, it’s just not good enough. | A 3D platformer that’s been pre-dated by Banjo. |
| F-Zero X | 91% | 1 | 1998-07-14 | 22 | A masterpiece, with a few real flaws. Possibly the fastest racing game you’ll ever play. | The fastest racer on earth, and one of the most exhilarating four-player games you an buy. |
| Rakuga Kids | 80% | 3 | 1998-07-23 | 22 | Cute, sweet, and as good a beat-’em-up as almost anything else you’ll find. | The most adorable characters in the world scrap it out in this 2D graffiti-’em-up. |
| NHL ’99 | 74% | 3 | 1998-10-01 | 22 | Not bad. But not brilliant. If EA can sort out the seemingly dodgy AI for next year’s release, we’ll be more than happy to greet NHL 2000. | Good but not great. Buy Wayne Gretzky instead. |
| GASP! | 47% | 1 | 1998-03-26 | 22 | A rea; War Gods of a game that’s simply got worse as time has passed. Avoid like the plague. | We sprang out and punched it in the face. |
| NASCAR ’99 (USA) | 59% | 0 | 1998-09-10 | 22 | If you want to spend your day driving a car in a circle, then this is the game for you. | N/A |
| The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Part 1) | N/A | 5 | 1998-11-21 | 23 | We can’t score it yet because we haven’t finished it. If you’re only going to buy one game for Christmas, though, we’ve got no doubt it should be this one. | N/A |
| Extreme G2 (XG2) | 85% | 3 | 1998-11-17 | 23 | A game you’ve seen before, but one with a complete new soul and a complete respray. | XG2 is considerably easier to play, better to look at, and sports a vastly improved multiplayer. |
| SCARS | 79% | 3 | 1998-12-05 | 23 | A bit of a missed opportunity. Fun to play, great to look at, but ultimately not quite the Wipeout-thrasher it could have been. | Kind of like a futuristic version of Mario Kart but there are several better alternatives out there. |
| Madden NFL ’99 | 88% | 5 | 1998-09-22 | 23 | Madden hasn’t sold millions of copies by accident, and this is the best version yet. | This hi-res version plays just as well and also has a play editor, a practice mode and lots of new options. |
| NFL QBC ’99 | 90% | 5 | 1998-11-10 | 23 | Sets the new standard for American football. Beautiful and thorough. | Incredibly realistic American footie sim featuring the best motion-captured animation ever seen. |
| Wipeout 64 | 88% | 4 | 1998-11-04 | 23 | Another racing triumph for the N64. Very different to F-Zero X but perfectly suited as a companion. Harsh, sweaty, rewarding and, above all, rattling good fun. | The trendiest future racer around finds its natural home on the N64. Looks and sounds terrific. |
| NASCAR ’99 | 59% | 0 | 1998-09-10 | 23 | Not badly programmed. Just incredibly dull. And it’s got Dick Trickle in it. | A tedious slog round a succession of oval tracks. Kind of like spinning round on a swivel chair. |
| Turok 2: Seeds of Evil | 95% | 4 | 1998-12-10 | 23 | Turok 2 is bigger, bolder, ballsier and, without doubt, the best game of the year so far. | A breathtaking follow-up to a superb original Alongside Zelda, an essential purchase. |
| Holy Magic Century | 71% | 2 | 1998-06-10 | 23 | Not without its merits, but limited, repetitive, and up against The Big Z. In can’t win. | RPG which could have been better but for the tedious random battles and Americanised plot. |
| Let’s Smash [Centre Court Tennis] (Japan) | 67% | 3 | 1998-10-09 | 23 | Not everything we hoped for from the N64’s first tennis game, but an entertaining, jolly little game, nonetheless. One to ponder. | N/A |
| Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time | 98% | 5 | 1998-11-21 | 24 | A peerless example of Nintendo doing what they do best. An epic in every sense of the word. | Simply the greatest game ever created. Utterly amazing. This must be one of your Desert Island Carts. |
| Top Gear Overdrive | 79% | 2 | 1998-11-23 | 24 | Top Gear Overdrive is a fun, peachy-looking racing game but none with some obvious problems. Still, as an alternative to V-Rally, it could be worth a dabble. | Arcade-standard visuals adorn a racer that you so desperately want to love…but just can’t. |
| NHL Breakaway ’99 | 64% | 2 | 1998-11-30 | 24 | Not really an improvement over the ’98 version, Breakaway ’99 is a lacklustre offering that sits uncomfortably amongst Acclaim’s generally excellent sports range. | Midly divertign hocket sim: can’t touch Gretzky. |
| NBA Jam ’99 | 83% | 2 | 1998-12-03 | 24 | Stick at it, basketball fans, and your initial scepticism and anger will be replaced by a warm feeling inside. | Not quite up to the standard of NBA Courtside. |
| Twisted Edge: Extreme Snowboarding | 60% | 2 | 1998-11-11 | 24 | Twisted Edge is fun for a while but nowhere as good as Nintendo’s infinitely better 1080° | An amateur snowboarding outing. Just competent. |
| Rush 2 Extreme Racing USA | 73% | 3 | 1998-11-11 | 24 | Simple at heart, Rush 2 is a fun little slice of racing mayhem. It’s the game San Francisco Rush should have been over a year ago and the competition’s far tougher now. | You’ll either love it or hate it. |
| Bust-A-Move 3 | 82% | 4 | 1998-11-30 | 24 | The finest bubling money can buy, with a bonus four-player mode for those of us with a widescreen telly. | Bust-a-Move as it’s always been, except for a simultaneous four-player mode. Recommended. |
| NBA Live ’99 | 64% | 2 | 1998-11-04 | 24 | Not bad, definitely not great, NBA Live straddled the word mediocre with big basketball legs. | The poor man’s basketball game. |
| Knife Edge | 42% | 2 | 1998-11-10 | 24 | I’ve forgotten it already. Thankfully. | A light gun game when there isn’t one. Dull. |
| South Park (USA) | 73% | 1 | 1998-12-21 | 24 | It isn’t bad, but you’ll only really enjoy South Park if you’re a devoted fan of the cartoon series. | N/A |
| Star Wars: Rogue Squadron | 85% | 4 | 1998-12-08 | 25 | Not the greatest space-shooter ever, not even the greatest Star Wars game ever, but a tremendously fun, beautifully varied slice of Lucas-inspired mirth. | Rattingly good Star Wars combat flight game, with incredibly effective 3D sound and great graphics. |
| South Park | 73% | 1 | 1998-12-21 | 25 | A fairly monotonous first-person shooter, but the greatness of South Park has rubbed off on it well. | Monotonous and basic first-person shooter. |
| Micro Machines 64 Turbo | 86% | 4 | 1999-03-24 | 25 | Micro Machines is getting on a bit now, but its’s impossible to dislike. Simple, furious racing fun. | Classic multiplayer action for up to eight miniature racing fans sharing four controllers. |
| Centre Court Tennis | 67% | 3 | 1998-10-09 | 25 | Centre Court is a sturdy tennis game, with an attractive multiplayer. It’s a long, loooooong way from being perfect, but, well, it’s a good first effort. | Not the tennis game we were hoping for. We still yearn for a 64-bit version of Super Tennis. |
| Penny Racers | 58% | 1 | 1998-06-30 | 25 | Translated into English, but only marginally more interesting. Stick with Mario Kart. | Slow and boring, even when it speeds up. Dump. |
| Mario Party (Japan) | 80% | 3 | 1998-12-18 | 25 | You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll lose friends. Mario Party: Does exactly what it says on the box. | N/A |
| Nightmare Creatures (USA) | 57% | 1 | 1998-11-30 | 25 | 18 months ago we might have welcomed this kind of game to the N64, but it’s just an unnecessary blast from the past. Things have moved on. | N/A |
| Kiratto Kaiketsu 64 Tanteiden (Japan) [Detective Club 64] | 60% | 2 | 1998-10-23 | 25 | The huge array of interactive actions, NPC involvement and random mission generation save 65 Tenteidan from joining Triv in the bottom cupboard. You’ll need to know a lot of Japanese to play it, though. | N/A |
| Pikachu Genki Dechu (Japan) | 75% | 3 | 1998-12-12 | 25 | The PGD experience is a bold step. Pikachu really does respond to your voice, just like a real pet. Well done again, Nintendp | N/A |
| FIFA ’99 | 83% | 3 | 1999-01-01 | 26 | The best FIFA yet, even given the stubborn problems that never get taken care of, regardless of how many times they’re pointed out. ISS ’98, though, still reign supreme. | The best FIFA game yet. It’s no ISS ’98 though. |
| All Star Tennis | 68% | 3 | 1999-01-29 | 26 | Depressingly ordinary. If only the developers could have decided on either an arcade game or a simulation, not some average hybrid of the two. | Schizophrenic tennis game that can’t decide whether it wants to be sim or arcade. |
| Chameleon Twist 2 | 55% | 1 | 1998-12-25 | 26 | There’s potential platforming fun available, but it’s crushed under the weight of tedious puzzles and difficult navigation. | Unimaginative, short-lived platform dross. With no multiplayer it’ll last you all of two hours. |
| Milo’s Astro Lanes | 38% | 0 | 1998-11-24 | 26 | The trouble with Milo’s Astro Lanes is that, even before Crave added the space bit, a bowling game was a stupid idea. So, you know, draw your own conclusions. | ‘Stunningly dull’. Give it a miss. |
| Virtual Pool 64 | 77% | 4 | 1998-12-17 | 26 | It’s only a set of balls and a big stick, but its accuracy means it’s as difficult to put down as the real thing. Only let down by the insane camera. | Surprisingly playable pool sim. |
| BattleTanx | 74% | 3 | 1998-12-29 | 26 | Never outstanding but an amusing straightforward little game of wanton destruction. | Strangely compulsive multiplayer tank blaster. |
| Smash Bros. (Japan) | 90% | 5 | 1999-01-21 | 26 | An inventive, innovative fighting game in a class of its own. If you’re an NTSC N64 owner, rejoice; if not, start campaigning for the PAL release now. | N/A |
| Castlevania (USA) | 81% | 3 | 1999-01-26 | 26 | Irritating problems weigh it down, but Castlevania still looks, feels and plays like the finest slice of horror hokum. | N/A |
| Golden Nugget (USA) | 52% | 1 | 1998-12-01 | 26 | Well, it’s okay, but it’s all a bit niche. And you’d have to import it. Which makes it a waste of time in our book. | N/A |
| Fox College Hoops (USA) | 25% | 0 | 1998-11-23 | 26 | Fox College Hoops is awful. Steer clear or, alternatively, run it over. | N/A |
| Ganbare Goemon 2 (Japan) | 69% | 2 | 1998-12-23 | 26 | After the wonders of Ganbare Goemon 1, Konami have sadly meandered off in the wrong direction. A 2D platformer that’s several years out-of-date. | NA |
| Snow Speeder [Big Mountain 2000] (Japan) | 71% | 2 | 1998-12-26 | 26 | Imagineer bake a good cake – they just can’t seem to ice it. Likably underwhelming, it that makes sense. | N/A |
| Tetris 64 (Japan) | 42% | 1 | 1998-11-13 | 26 | The Bio feedback could have saved it – it doesn’t seem to have much effect, though. Stick with the Game Boy version. | N/A |
| Doraemon 2 (Japan) | 52% | 1 | 1998-12-11 | 26 | This was rather more impressive a couple of years ago. Nowadays it just seems terribly primitive. | N/A |
| Magical Tetris (Japan) | 59% | 1 | 1998-11-20 | 26 | An amiable puzzle game. But would you like it enough to buy it? Almost certainly not. | N/A |
| Get A Love Panda Love Unit (Japan) | ??% | 1 | 1998-12-04 | 26 | Women you could take home to meet your parents, lots of Japanese but, strangely, no pandas. | N/A |
| Legend of the River King [Nushi Tsuri 64] (Japan) | 56% | 3 | 1998-11-27 | 26 | A mildly intriguing and quirky fishing game. But not one you’ll want to play for long. | N/A |
| Mario Party | 85% | 3 | 1998-12-18 | 27 | Incredibly close to redefining a genre, Mario Party ends up “just” a hugely entertaining multiplayer game. The party for the people, but an evolutionary rather than a revolution. You have to love it, really. | Book an evening off, get some friends together and you’ll have the most outrageous fun. Yup. |
| NHL Pro ’99 | 69% | 2 | 1999-04-05 | 27 | Not the greatest, but certainly diverting fare. If you’re looking for a sports game, you could choose far worse… | An above-average slice of ice-based hockey. |
| NBA Pro ’99 | 52% | 2 | 1999-04-08 | 27 | In a backwards world, this would still be very average. ?raeh’Y .daetsni tnayrB eboK teG .ti yub t’nob oS. | Painfully average. |
| Flying Dragon | 73% | 2 | 1997-12-18 | 27 | Likeable and hard working, Flying Dragon has potential, but it just doesn’t use it in the right places. Pity, because it could have been great. | Fairly enjoyable but instantly forgettable. |
| Castlevania | 82% | 3 | 1999-01-26 | 27 | Vamp-filled fun, that is by turns smashing and wrist-slashingly frustrating | Learn to live with the ropey camera and the 3D Castlevania delivers shocks aplenty. |
| Beetle Adventure Racing | 81% | 4 | 1999-03-23 | 27 | The racing equivalent of a shoot-’em-up: Fast and immediate, nothing too taxing, and something you’ll keep on coming back to for the occasional blast. | Squillions of shortcuts and stacks of detail. |
| Monaco Grand Prix | 87% | 3 | 1999-06-30 | 27 | The result of a lot of hard work by Ubi Soft, Monaco is fast, furious racing fun. | Not as deep or complex as Paradigm’s F1 WFP, but a tyre-squealingly good game all the same. |
| WCW Nitro (USA) | 42% | 0 | 1999-02-09 | 27 | Why would you want to bother with this worst-than-sub-standard PlayStation conversion when there are at least two miles better alternatives? Avoid this like the plague. | N/A |
| Duke Nukem: Zero Hour | 90% | 4 | 1999-08-31 | 28 | Not quite varied enough but Zero Hour is still a brilliantly-executed blasting trip. | A new third-person view, but the same great gameplay. Not perfect, but when it’s good, it’s very good. |
| All-Star Baseball 2000 | 80% | 4 | 1999-04-08 | 28 | A spot-on interpretation of baseball, and an improvement on the original, but it impresses us less than it used to. | Not much of an update but still quite impressive. |
| Vigilante 8 | 74% | 3 | 1999-03-17 | 28 | You’ll rip through the one-player game, but the multiplayer is a mostly fine effort. | Average Twisted Metal clone. |
| Snowboard Kids 2 (USA) | 80% | 4 | 1999-02-19 | 28 | You’ll want to like it, but… it’s.. just… too… damn… slow… to be as much fun as it should be. Shame. | N/A |
| California Speed (USA) | 36% | 1 | 1999-03-18 | 28 | It tries to be fun, but California Speed just isn’t very good where it matters. Instantly forgettable. | N/A |
| Lode Runner 3D (USA) | 70% | 3 | 1999-03-30 | 28 | A carefully thought-out and surprisingly enjoyable retro update, but the old-skool gameplay looks positively embarrassed next to recent N64 hits. | N/A |
| Smash Bros. (USA) | 90% | 5 | 1999-01-21 | 28 | Nintendo triumph again with a beat-’em-up that breaks all the rules, and replaces them with its own. A must-have. | N/A |
| Harvest Moon 2 [Harvest Moon 64] (Japan) | 82% | 5 | 1999-02-05 | 28 | Jap text or no Jap text, this is a quality piece of software. But before you import, bear in mind that you’ll get an awful lot more out of an English translation. | N/A |
| Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon 2 | 69% | 2 | 1998-12-23 | 29 | A solid 2D platformer in its own right ,but it lacks the innovation, invention, imagination and sheer fun shown in the 3D Mystical Ninja | After the excellent Mystical Ninja 3D adventure, Goemon steps back to the days of the SNES for this average 2D platform romp. Disappointing. |
| Lode Runner 3D | 70% | 3 | 1999-03-30 | 29 | Captivating in bursts, Lode Runner 3D is a well thought-out classic puzzler that seems sweetly outdated rather than clumsily old-school. | A retro puzzler with gameplay unchanged since the Commodore 64. There’s plenty of it too. |
| Mario Kart 64 (Player’s Choice) | 91% | 5 | 1996-12-14 | 29 | Arguably the best multiplayer game ever made, and a damn good time trial challenge. | N/A |
| Lylat Wars (Player’s Choice) | 90% | 5 | 1997-04-27 | 29 | One of the landmark N64 games, and still the best shoot-’em-up. No free rumble pak at this price, though. | N/A |
| Snowboard Kids (Player’s Choice) | 86% | 4 | 1997-12-12 | 29 | The sequel is the more accomplished game, but the original Snowboard Kids remains a charming and playable experience. | N/A |
| Wave Race 64 (Player’s Choice) | 90% | 5 | 1996-09-27 | 29 | The fact that it hasn’t been betted since makes it all the more impressive. An essential purchase for racing fans. | N/A |
| F1 World Gran Prix (Player’s Choice) | 93% | 5 | 1998-07-27 | 29 | Until the sequel arrives, F1 WGP remains the pre-eminent Nintendo driving game. | N/A |
| Pokémon Snap (Japan) | 80% | 4 | 1999-03-21 | 29 | A real innovation in gaming that’s relatively short-lived, but brilliant fun all the same. | N/A |
| Rampage 2 Universal Tour (USA) | 22% | 0 | 1999-03-30 | 29 | In no shape of form is this a game you should even give the time of day. If you smell it coming, run like hell. | Utterly rancid arcade yawn-fest. One of the most tedious games you could waste your money on. |
| Triple Play 2000 (USA) | 50% | 2 | 1999-03-24 | 29 | Criticise over-complicated American sports sims all you like, but TP 2000 fails because of its relative simplicity and lack of polish. | N/A |
| Star Wars Episode 1: Racer | 88% | 5 | 1999-05-18 | 30 | The Star Wars name along will sell millions of copies of this game. Thankfully, it’s actually worth the hype. | Blindingly fast future racer, with the kind of atmosphere you can only get in Star Wars games. |
| Charlie’s Blast Territory | 52% | 3 | 1999-04-02 | 30 | A game where you push bombs around. As repetitive and uninteresting as it sounds, and badly put-together to boot. | Creaky old Amiga game, Bombuzal, given a most basic tarting up with dodgy 3D graphics. |
| Super Bowling (Japan) | 72% | 3 | 1999-03-26 | 30 | Yes, it’s a bowling game. But someone out there’s spent a long time making sure it’s fun. | N/A |
| Bottom of the Ninth (USA) | 44% | 2 | 1999-04-14 | 30 | With All Star Baseball 2000 doing the sport bigger, better and beefier, Bottom of the Ninth pales into insignificance before you’ve started a match. | N/A |
| Premier Manager 64 | 82% | 4 | 1999-08-30 | 31 | Some absolutely shocking exclusions, but Premier Manager 64 is still an enthralling slice of dugout action. | By no means perfect but at times it’s compelling and as the N64’s only footie management sim, we have to recommend it. |
| Shadowgate 64 | 43% | 0 | 1999-06-09 | 31 | Remarkably similar to the decade-old NES games, Shadowgate 64 is a game lost in time. Too little, far too late. | An old-school RPG that’ll see you drifting into a deep slumber after about 20 minutes of play. |
| Superman | 14% | 0 | 1999-05-28 | 31 | An utterly hopeless, consistently appalling leper of a ‘game’, Bordering on the illegal. | DO NOT, repeat, DO NOT but this. |
| Mario Golf 64 (Japan) | 90% | 5 | 1999-06-11 | 31 | Mario continues to leap beyond the world of platformers, with yet another top quality game. It’s only golf, but we love it anyway. | |
| A Bug’s Life (USA) | 40% | 0 | 1999-01-01 | 31 | Bashed out cash-in of a great film that fails to make any impact whatsoever. | |
| Fighting Force (USA) | 26% | 1 | 1999-06-01 | 31 | Uninspiring, outdated and misguided from the outset, Fighting Force deserves nothing less than your utter contept. | |
| Shadowman | 93% | 5 | 1999-08-31 | 32 | Sadowman is all that we hoped and much, much more. An out-and-out bloodstained classic. | Vast, believable worlds, a superb plot, serial killers and a dash of voodoo magic. Unmissable. |
| World Driver Championship | 91% | 5 | 1999-06-15 | 32 | One of the best racing games you’ll ever play, and certainly the best on the N64. Wondrous. | It might take you a while to get into but this is superb, with stunning visuals and well designed tracks. |
| WWF Attitude | 88% | 4 | 1999-08-09 | 32 | Comprehensive and authentic wrestling, which improved on the original with stunning visuals and a host of extras. | The closest you’ll get to real wrestling on your N64. Check out the create-a-player mode – it’s hilarious. |
| Quake II | 90% | 4 | 1999-07-07 | 32 | A stunning conversion of the PC fave, with a hugely addictive deathmatch option that more than makes up for a slightly dates one-player game. | The one-player game is a little outdated but the multiplayer game is absolutely stunning. |
| F1 World GP 2 | 72% | 3 | 1999-07-02 | 32 | Far too like the original to be a serious upgrade option. Add 20% if you’ve never played the first and can’t find a £30 copy on Player’s Choice. | There’s not enough new here. |
| Command & Conquer | 75% | 3 | 1999-06-29 | 32 | A lazy four-year-old PC conversion, C&C is still pretty solid but never very spectacular. | It’s four years old on the PC and this conversion is nothing special. Good but never spectacular. |
| Pocket Monsters Stadium 2 (Japan) | 83% | 5 | 1999-04-30 | 32 | An essential addition to ant Pokémon trainer’s collection, and almost certainly a Star Game when the UK and US versions arrive. | N/A |
| Hybrid Heaven | 83% | 3 | 1999-08-05 | 33 | Frustrating and compelling, Hybrid Heaven is by turns flawed and inspired, but ultimately great fun. | Niggly sci-fi RPG, but a superb story and ingenious battle system pull it through. |
| Michael Owen’s WLS 2000 | 84% | 4 | 2000-11-09 | 33 | Plays like a dream at time. If only it was a bit friendlier and a bit nicer to look at. Still, it’s a fine alternative to ISS ’98. | Silky smooth, goal-drenched football game, with real league teams. No ISS, mind. |
| Tonic Trouble | 55% | 1 | 1999-08-31 | 33 | A painfully average platformer which shameless steals form a host of much better N64 games. Ignore it. | Occasionally fun, but more often dull and remarkably uninspired 3D platformer. |
| The New Tetris | 88% | 5 | 1999-07-31 | 33 | At long last the N64 has the puzzle game it deserves. Don’t miss out, even if you think you’ve already seen everything Tetris has to offer. | At last! The definitive no-GB Tetris game. Superb music, ace four-player ents. |
| Rugrats Treasure Hunt | 48% | 1 | 1999-06-29 | 33 | A board game that fails to either take advantage of its license or exploit a fraction of the N64’s potential. Sad. | Dire rip-off of Mario Party. Crud. |
| Monster Truck Madness | 66% | 1 | 1999-07-30 | 33 | It could have been great fun, were it not for the face that you never have complete control. There’s plenty to do, but it’s just too frustrating to stick with. | Okay-ish conversion of a kanckered old PC game. |
| Re-Volt | 73% | 3 | 1999-08-18 | 33 | A disappointing racer, which is fast and exciting one minute, and frustrating and flawed the next. | Better-than-average racing game. |
| J-League Perfect Striker 2 (Japan) | 90% | 5 | 1999-07-29 | 33 | While hard to recommend to English-speaking importers, Perfect Striker 2 is still a thoroughly wonderful football game. | N/A |
| Last Legion UX (Japan) | 60% | 3 | 1999-05-28 | 33 | Completely different to any other N64 fighting game, but not quite good enough to make it into the premier league. | N/A |
| Jet Force Gemini | 93% | 5 | 1999-10-11 | 34 | A welcome return to the old-school value of playability. So much fun you’ll want to shout and thank rare that somebody still cares about gameplay. | Wonderous marriage of stunning looks, hectic blasting and deep gameplay. Rare at their best – again. |
| Mario Golf | 90% | 5 | 1999-06-11 | 34 | The best gold game you can buy, and Mazza’s finest outing since he last strapped himself into his kart. | Not just a top-hole golf simulator, this is simply great fun for everyone. The plumber does it again. |
| In-Fisherman Bass Hunter 64 | 67% | 3 | 1999-07-30 | 34 | A fine, if unexciting, attempt at producing the N64’s first full-blown, real-life fishing simulator. | A comprehensive package of all things angling. |
| Magical Tetris Challenge | 51% | 1 | 1998-11-20 | 34 | It’s, well, okay, if you ignore the fun-destroying shapes. Other than that, it’s bog standard Tetris. | Contemptible attempt to update Tetris with rubbish new shapes. Avoid, please. |
| F-Cup Maniax [Fighters Destiny 2] (Japan) | 85% | 4 | 1999-08-27 | 34 | It might be very similar to the original but it’s still a great game. PAL release as soon as possible, please. | N/A |
| Neon Genesis Evangelion (Japan) | 61% | 3 | 1999-06-25 | 34 | In its own way, NGE is fascinating stuff, but it’s not really much of a game at all. Rent the videos instead. | N/A |
| Ogre Battle 3 (Japan) | 82% | 3 | 1999-07-14 | 34 | More of a real-time strategy game than an RPG, Ogre Battle 3 is complex and involving. | N/A |
| Turok: Rage Wars | 87% | 4 | 1999-11-23 | 35 | Despite minor faults, this bold experiment in N64 first person shooters has yielded superb results. A blast. | The third Turok proves to be an immensely enjoyable deathmatch-based shooter. |
| Rainbow Six | 87% | 4 | 1999-11-17 | 35 | Despite the lack of a deathmatch mode, Rainbow Six is an utterly compelling, commendably brave stealth-’em-up. | Complex, hard-as-nails stealth-’em-up with one-shot kills and tactical planning. Ace! |
| Earthworm Jim 3D | 68% | 3 | 1999-11-04 | 35 | Earthworm Jim is great – but his latest game, despite the inspired lunacy, is simply 3D platforming-by-numbers. A shame. | It’s Jim again, in 3D. Mediocre but enjoyably silly. |
| Knockout Kings 2000 | 82% | 3 | 1999-10-10 | 35 | The N64’s first boxing game is unexpectedly entertaining and refreshingly different. | Unexpectedly entertaining boxing sim, complete with Mohammad Ali and create-a-player. |
| Rayman 2 | 73% | 3 | 1999-10-29 | 35 | Not the world’s worst platformer by a long shot, but despite enjoyable moments, it’s often linear and frustrating. | Another armless and unlovable Ubi Soft character stars in another below-par Mario clone. |
| 40 Winks | 71% | 2 | 2019-04-15 | 35 | A very professional, uninspired platform game. Perhaps a little too basic for those who’ve already finished Banjo-Kazooie. | Good-looking, professional but totally uninspited and only marginally enjoyable 3D adventure. |
| Winback: Covert Operations (USA) | 83% | 4 | 1999-09-23 | 35 | Not a GoldenEye-beater, but a top shooter in its own right. There’s nothing else quite like it on the N64. | N/A |
| Donkey Kong 64 | 93% | 5 | 1999-11-22 | 36 | Incredibly, Rare have bettered Banjo. Weeks of play wrapped up in one impressive package. | It’s Banjo-Kazooie+, but it’s still gaming at it greatest. An absolutely awesome adventure. |
| Super Smash Bros. | 90% | 5 | 1999-01-21 | 36 | Once again, Nintendo enter the fray and revitalise a long-running genre. A truly original beat-’em-up which offers unrivalled enjoyment. | Beautifully playable, totally original Nintendo platform beat-’em-up. Smasher. |
| WCW Mayhem | 78% | 2 | 1999-09-23 | 36 | Its pace makes it unique in the wrestling market, but it’s not as polished or exhaustive as its rivals. | EA’s first WCW game is lightning quick, but disappointingly lacking in moves. |
| Resident Evil 2 | 90% | 4 | 1999-10-31 | 36 | While the controls are showing their age, this flawless conversion is scare, deliciously gory and utterly gripping. | Super-scary, if sortlived, zombie finery. Looks the absolute business in hi-res. |
| WWF Wrestlemania 2000 | 90% | 4 | 1999-10-12 | 36 | A highly impressive WWF debut from THQ offering a perfect alternative to Acclaim’s WWF Attitude. | The best wrestling game yet. Playable, comprehensive and a mighty good larf too! |
| Roadsters | 80% | 4 | 1999-12-14 | 36 | Well behind World Driver in terms of quality, and downright niggly in places, Roadsters is still fantastic fun. | Not perfect, but quick. Great. |
| Rocket: Robot on Wheels | 88% | 4 | 1999-11-17 | 36 | A top-hole 3D platformer, and a real surprise coming from first-timers Sucker Punch. Great stuff. | The most original, inventive 3D platformer you’ll play in a long time. Top grade. |
| Carmageddon 64 | 8% | 0 | 1999-10-22 | 36 | A shocking travesty. If you see Carmageddon 64 in the shops, take it off the shelves, rip up the box and throw the cart repeatedly against the wall until it breaks. | This will violate your very soul with its shocking awfulness. Absolute dog turd. |
| Paperboy | 62% | 2 | 1999-10-31 | 36 | f you were fond of the original arcade game this 64-bit update is good fun while it lasts. | Pleasant enough rendition of a simple classic, but you’ll complete it in minutes. |
| South Park Chef’s Luv Shack | 83% | 3 | 1999-10-12 | 36 | Terrific fun and cleverly simple, Chef’s Luv Shack takes all the best bits from South Park and creates a fantastically amusing quiz show. | Genuinely amusing Mario Party rip-off. |
| Lego Racers | 70% | 3 | 1999-10-12 | 36 | An above average karting clone with some highly original ideas. It’s no Mario Kart, but it’s fin all the same. | Highly original Mario Kart clone with some nice ideas. Shame about the handling. |
| Xena Warrior Princess | 81% | 3 | 1999-12-07 | 36 | There are more comprehensive beat-’em-ups out there, but Xena offers fast, frantic fighting. Recommended. | Fast-paced, four-player beat-’em-up. |
| Worms Armageddon | 85% | 4 | 1999-12-11 | 36 | Incredibly violent, incredibly cute. A welcome conversion of one of the most original four-player games you can buy. | A brilliant conversion of the PC original, with a fab multiplayer and random landscapes. |
| Rat Attack | 70% | 2 | 2000-04-21 | 36 | Incredibly simple, but well-executed, this is a pleasant enough slice of button-bashing action. | Simple, well executed puzzle-’em-up with cats trying to catch rats. And that’s it. |
| NFL QBC 2000 | 60% | 2 | 1999-08-26 | 36 | Something has gone badly wrong at QBC HQ. This isn’t the update we expected. Stick with last year’s version, the far superior QBC 99. | Duff update. Stick with last year’s version. |
| Hot Wheels | 61% | 3 | 1999-05-11 | 36 | A competent, fast, but ultimately tiresome cartoon racer. | Big jumps, big speeds, bit action! Er, well, sort of. Fun for a while at least. |
| Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes | 67% | 2 | 1999-09-28 | 36 | Great fun in parts, Army Men’s ace premise is wasted with a sub-standard execution. A shame. | A brilliant idea – toy soldiers fight it out – is let down by sloppy execution. |
| Road Rash 64 | 68% | 2 | 1999-09-22 | 36 | Probably the best Road Rash ever, but, as a game, it was never that fantastic anyway. Ultimately good rather than great. | Solid, entertaining but unspectacular. |
| Destruction Derby 64 | 65% | 3 | 1999-09-30 | 36 | It’s three years out of date – and it shows – but there’s some fun to be had in DD64. | Mind-meltingly simple, strangely compulsive, sometimes dull crash-’em-up. |
| Gauntlet Legends | 81% | 4 | 1999-08-31 | 36 | Grab some friends, grab some controllers, and this old-school romp won’t disappoint. | Enjoyable update of creaky old classic. T’rific in multiplayer, dull on your own. |
| Gex Deep Cover Gekko | 22% | 0 | 1999-09-28 | 36 | Someone must have really upset Crave to make them bring this travesty to the N64. | Another turgid Gex ‘game’ strikes like a nasty case of shingles. Leave it to die. |
| Bakuretsu Muteki Bangaiō (Japan) | 84% | 4 | 1999-09-03 | 36 | Fantastic, effortlessly playable, old school shoot-’em-up. Somebody give it a PAL release please. We’ll buy it! | N/A |
| Ready 2 Rumble | 81% | 3 | 1999-11-16 | 37 | Not bad at all, with an enjoyable multiplayer. But the N64’s got a host of much better fighting games. | Ploddy but enjoyably cartoony boxing romp. |
| NBA Jam 2000 | 80% | 4 | 1999-11-30 | 37 | A huge game which we’d recommend to any basketball fan. Recaptures the spirit of the old Jam arcade games. | Smooth passing an a top create-a-player. |
| Armorines: Project SWARM | 76% | 2 | 1999-12-09 | 37 | An enjoyable, if unspectacular, bug-fest that lacks the excitement of the Turok games. | Tonnes of potential, but let down by woeful visuals and peashooter-style weapons. |
| Fighting Force | 26% | 1 | 1999-06-01 | 37 | Boring, boring, boring. Standing still and staring into the middle distance is more fun than Fighting Force. | Dreadful 3D Final Fight rip-off. |
| Toy Story 2 (USA) | 71% | 2 | 1999-11-16 | 37 | A pleasant – and surprisingly accomplished – 3D platform adventure, based on the upcoming film. Undemandingly enjoyable fun. | N/A |
| Pokémon Snap (USA) | 80% | 4 | 1999-03-21 | 37 | Innovative, challenging and guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. | |
| South Park Rally | 88% | 3 | 2000-02-28 | 38 | An enjoyable and surprisingly successful variation on the Mario Kart formula. In a word: sweet. | Missions, computer bots and every South Park character you can think of. Great stuff! |
| Top Gear Rally 2 | 90% | 5 | 1999-12-03 | 38 | The best rally game on the N64, and a superb racing game in its own right. Top stuff indeed. | Brilliant rally game with arcade handling. There’s even a random track generator. |
| PGA European Tour Golf | 80% | 4 | 2000-05-30 | 38 | A decent golf game lurks beneath the rough exterior. If looks aren’t important to you, EPGA Golf is definitely worth checking out. | Looks dodgy but plays a very solid game. Serious golf fans should check it out. |
| Asteroids Hyper 64 | 53% | 2 | 1999-12-14 | 38 | One for retro enthusiasts only – Asteroid Hyper 64 is tiresome and repetitive shoot-’em-up that deserves to remain only as a fond memory. | Dull and repetitive arcade update for retro enthusiasts only. Don’t give it the time of day. |
| NBA Live 2000 | 65% | 3 | 1999-10-29 | 38 | Dedicated Michael Jordan fans will lap it up but MBA Live 2000 isn’t the basketball game for us. | Huge and difficult basketball game starring Michael Joran. One for the fans. |
| Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness | 75% | 3 | 1999-12-08 | 38 | More of the same really, but Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness is still an entertaining, but flawed, vamp-filled romp. | Revamped version of the original, with two new characters and extra levels. |
| ECW Hardcore Revolution | 80% | 2 | 2000-02-17 | 39 | Acclaim’s wrestling is still comprehensive and authentic, but lacks both improvements and a big-name license. | Fun rasslin’, rubbish licence, dull characters. |
| Nuclear Strike | 82% | 3 | 1999-11-30 | 39 | Its whole is more than the sum of its parts. An entertaining, challenging blast for all Strike fans. | Top notch update of classic ‘copter game, with lashings of great missions. |
| Hydro Thunder | 84% | 4 | 2000-03-06 | 39 | A real surprise – Hydro Thunder is San Francisco Rush on water, but manages to be much, much better than that sounds. Top fun. | Fantastic sub-Wave Race water racer. |
| Supercross 2000 | 76% | 3 | 1999-10-31 | 39 | Perhaps overly-complex, this is nonetheless a fine – if hardcore – game of men and bikes. | More-than-passable bike sim. |
| A Bug’s Life | 31% | 0 | 1999-01-01 | 39 | Bashed-out, cobbled together and hopelessly lazy – this cash-in is an attempt to relieve you of your dosh. Don’t be fooled. | Absolutely awful 3D ‘adventure’. Avoid like true evil itself. |
| Toy Story 2 | 71% | 2 | 1999-11-16 | 39 | Likeable and imaginative, Toy Story 2 ranks alongside the likes of Rayman 2 and 40 Winks as a solid, hard-working 3D adventure. Shame about the shocking PAL conversion, mind. | Surprisingly good 3D platformer, with fun levels and sturdy puzzles. |
| Mario Party 2 (Japan) | 87% | 4 | 1999-12-17 | 39 | Unique, packed with extras, and a laugh a minute. Best wait for the PAL version, though. | N/A |
| Harvest Moon 64 (USA) | 90% | 5 | 1999-02-05 | 39 | It doesn’t get much better than this. Don’t miss out on one of the sweetest games of the year. | N/A |
| Ridge Racer 64 | 91% | 5 | 2000-02-14 | 40 | It might lack depth, but Ridge Racer 64 is easily one of the N64’s most exhilarating games. A perfectly-crafted marvel. | Stunning greatest hits package of the PlayStation games, tipped with some exclusive N64 extras. |
| Battlezone 64 | 73% | 3 | 2000-04-14 | 40 | Sprawling and exhaustive, but curiously uninvolving, Battlezone nonetheless offers a slow but ultimately enjoyable experience. | Sprawling but slow, complex and uninvolving mix of Command & Conquer and Quake. |
| BattleTanx: Global Assault | 81% | 3 | 1999-10-12 | 40 | One of the best multiplayers money can buy. Global Assault is definitely worth the money if you have three friends to hand. | Tremendous multiplayer shenanigans marred by a boring single-player game. |
| Disney’s Tarzan | 35% | 0 | 2000-02-15 | 40 | This tired old platform game is a total waste of time. Save yourself a few quid and go see the film instead. | 2D platformer completely bereft of imagination, invention or any sense of fun. Utterly odious. |
| CyberTiger Woods Golf | 72% | 3 | 2000-03-08 | 40 | Basically a solid game, but its failed experiment with the power meter means CyberTiger can only play second fiddle to Mazza and EPGA. | Not-bad golf game, complete with wacky power-ups and rubbish control system. |
| Jeremy MgGrath Supercross 2000 | 53% | 1 | 2000-02-28 | 40 | Jeremy McGrath is so enormously monotonous that even the Americans couldn’t like it… or could they? | As uninteresting as Anne Robinson.” ‘Nuff said. |
| Vigilante 8 Second Offence | 69% | 3 | 2000-02-01 | 40 | Fun in brief spurts, Second Offence is simply too similar to the original and too frustrating, to really succeed. File under ‘average’. | Polished-looking but ultimately tedious update of last year’s original. |
| Pokémon Stadium | 90% | 5 | 1999-04-30 | 41 | A consistently thrilling battle game packed full of perfectly-realised 3D Pokémon, and a flawless demonstration of the Transfer Pak’s potential. | Download your GB Pokémon to your N64, and battle them in glorious 3D. Tremendous fun. |
| Daikatana | 67% | 3 | 2000-03-31 | 41 | Daikatana at least tries to do something a bit different but at heat it’s just a very average first-person shooter. | Very average Quake-clone with RPG titbits. |
| Operation Winback | 83% | 4 | 1999-09-23 | 41 | Great stuff, with just a few reservations. If you’ve always wanted to feel like Clint Eastwood, this is a .44 Magnum. | Looks a bit ropey but full of stealth. Plays like a combination of GoldenEye and Metal Gear Solid. |
| International Track & Field 2000 | 86% | 4 | 2000-05-28 | 41 | Basic and shallow but beautifully presented and superb fun. Lacking for the single player perhaps, but still recommended. | Impressive update of the Olympic button-basher, with superb graphics and finger-knacking gameplay. |
| Tony Hawk’s Skateboarding | 86% | 5 | 2000-03-15 | 41 | Original, intuitive and enjoyable. The N64’s first skateboarding game sets a very high standard. | Very playable skateboarding sim with the emphasis on tremendous stuntwork. |
| Custom Robo (Japan) | 83% | 4 | 1999-12-08 | 41 | A tremendously quirky game, obviously inspired by Pokémon. Building robots and making them fight has never been such fun. | N/A |
| Perfect Dark | 96% | 5 | 2000-05-22 | 42 | Supremely playable, dauntingly huge. If you had to choose just one game for your N64, this would be it. No contest. | Absolutely stunning. If you had to choose just one fame for your N64, this would be it. Unmissale. |
| Mario Party 2 | 87% | 4 | 1999-12-17 | 42 | It’s £45 for a game that’s only fun with friends. But it’s brilliant fun, and a marvellously unique Nintendo experience. | Not much fun on your own, but find three friends and you’re in for one hell of a party. |
| Kirby 64 (Japan) | 72% | 4 | 2000-03-24 | 42 | The gut-wrenching feeling that comes with the potential for something great being wasted. Short-lived and repetitive. | N/A |
| Excitebike 64 | 90% | 5 | 2000-05-02 | 43 | Sublime handling and dreamlike track design much like Excitebike a truly glorious racer. Essential. | Delicious handling, top tracks and a heap of extras make this easily one of the finest racers on N64. |
| Taz Express | 27% | 0 | 2000-08-01 | 43 | A missed opportunity to exploit a tasty Warner Bros licence. Not even younger gamers will be amused by third-rate platforming. | Utterly hateful. Only slightly more involving than a Kevin Bacon convention, and just as ugly. |
| The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (Japan) | 95% | 5 | 2000-04-27 | 43 | It’s Zelda: what more can we say? Another mindblowing masterpiece from Nintendo. | N/A |
| NBA In the Zone 2000 | 69% | 2 | 1998-01-29 | 44 | It’s competent, but that’s not quite enough to make the NBA’s seemingly millionth game stand up against rival Kobe Bryant 2 | Competent, but not as good as NBA Courtside 2. |
| NBA Courtside 2 (USA) | 87% | 4 | 1999-11-08 | 44 | The world’s best basketball game. What a shame Nintendo don’t feel like giving us a PAL version. | N/A |
| Top Gear Hyperbike (USA) | 64% | 3 | 2000-03-17 | 44 | Top Gear Hyperbike is above average, but there’s really only one choice if you want to race bikes on your N64. | N/A |
| Namco Museum 64 (USA) | 70% | 3 | 1999-11-29 | 44 | Six near-faultless conversions – but one for teary-eyes nostalgics only. | N/A |
| Space Invaders (USA) | 73% | 3 | 1999-11-30 | 44 | The original game, intelligently tweaked to create a fresh experience. | N/A |
| All Star Baseball 2001 (USA) | 81% | 4 | 2000-03-31 | 44 | Good-looking, smart, and it handles well. Like a fine wine, ASB subtle improves with age. That said, it’s for hardcore fans only. | N/A |
| Pokémon Snap | 80% | 4 | 1999-03-21 | 45 | Highly original and great fun to play. Shame there aren’t at least 88 more monsters, though. | Gorgeous photo-snapping safari on Pokémon Island – but only 63 monsters? |
| Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards | 72% | 4 | 2000-03-24 | 45 | 2D platforming has almost reached its zenith with Kirby and Yoshi’s Story. Let’s hope future efforts aren’t as numbingly simple and repetitive. | N/A |
| Starcraft 64 (USA) | 78% | 3 | 2000-06-30 | 45 | A comprehensive conversion, but it’s annoyingly fiddly – and two years too late. | N/A |
| Fighter Destiny 2 (USA) | 85% | 4 | 1999-08-27 | 45 | Basically a re-hash of a proven premise. It won’t quite mangle the world’s best fighters, but it’s still perhaps the only decent fisticuffs on the N64. | N/A |
| Rally Challenge 2000 (USA) | 61% | 3 | 1999-08-06 | 45 | Consistently unexciting, Rally Challenge 2000 would have looked dated even as an N64 launch game. Instantly forgettable. | N/A |
| Bomberman Second Attack (USA) | 52% | 2 | 1999-12-03 | 45 | Somebody seems to be relying on a trusted name to flog an average game. None of the sparkle that we saw with the SNES outing. | N/A |
| Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion | 82% | 2 | 2000-09-06 | 46 | A real mixed bad of gut-tightening brilliance and abject tedium, and nowhere near a match for Perfect Dark. | Brilliant in places but plain tedious in others. No match for the sublime Perfect Dark. |
| ISS 2000 | 90% | 4 | 1997-07-01 | 46 | The ISS name has always been a guarantee of quality, and while this isn’t a huge update, it’s still a fantastic game. | Not a huge update, but ISS 2000, complete with an all-new career mode, is still a fantastic game. |
| Blues Brothers 2000 | 28% | 0 | 2000-10-13 | 46 | A member of that special league of games headed by Superman. A third-rate movie licence is not a licence to print money. Under no circumstances should you buy this. | About as bad as the movie. Purchase at your peril. |
| Army Men: Air Combat (USA) | 83% | 3 | 2000-07-18 | 46 | A very good (if slightly retro) action game. Definitely worth considering, even if it does have its faults. | N/A |
| Doraemon 3 (Japan) | 54% | 2 | 2000-07-28 | 46 | Mediocre Mario clone, with tatty buts stuck on, that should stay in its Japanese home. | N/A |
| Mario Tennis | 91% | 5 | 2000-07-21 | 47 | As different from normal tennis games as Mario Kart is from normal driving games. Another unmissable hit from Nintendo. | It’s Mario. It’s tennis. It’s absolutely gobsmackingly ace. The multiplayer’s a joy, to. Get it in! |
| Duck Dodgers | 75% | 3 | 2000-08-15 | 47 | If you can avoid bursting a blood vessel over the camera, this is one of the N64’s more rewarding platformers. | Let down by a duff camera, but otherwise a surprisingly decent Warner Bros platformer. |
| F1 Racing Championship | 72% | 3 | 2000-12-08 | 47 | It’s a good game, but we’ve seen it all many times before. F1WGP2 suffered for being the same as its predecessor, and so does this. | Decent, realistic racer, but doesn’t quite match the splendour of F1WGP. |
| Mario Story [Paper Mario] (Japan) | 85% | 5 | 2000-08-11 | 47 | Mario Story already occupies a warm place in our hearts but keep your eyes peeled for the PAL review. | N/A |
| San Francisco Rush 2048 | 91% | 4 | 2000-09-06 | 48 | Forgive its niggles and you’ll discover an absolute corker of a game. Beautiful, fun, challenging and lasting. | Super-fast, car-flipping futuristic racer with countless hours of exploration in it. |
| Hercules The Legendary Journeys | 66% | 2 | 2000-08-18 | 48 | Rabid fans of the TV show who’ve never played Zelda will lap it up. However, those of us with multiple brain cells should give this one a wide berth, | Fairly good Zelda clone, but nowhere near as much depth. Shame. |
| Pokémon Puzzle League (USA) | 89% | 5 | 2000-09-25 | 48 | An unusually cynical cash-in from Nintendo – but also a flawless puzzler overflowing with loveable Pokémon. | N/A |
| Ms Pac-Man Maze Madness (USA) | 72% | 3 | 2000-11-12 | 48 | If complicated games are getting too much for you, Ms Pac-Man is the perfect tonic. Simple, enjoyable retro-based fun. | N/A |
| The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask | 96% | 5 | 2000-04-27 | 49 | A stunning, bewilderingly accomplished sequel. This is a hair’s breadth away from perfection. Buy it. Now. | Rich and inventive, with enough intricate puzzles and heart-rending moments to blow your brain open. |
| Donald Duck Quack Attack | 69% | 2 | 2000-12-08 | 49 | A competent enough platformer that lacks originality and challenge. Only younger Disney fans need apply. | Simple platformer executed reasonably well. Er, that’s about it. |
| Batman of the Future: Return of the Joker | 16% | 1 | 2000-12-13 | 49 | In the modern world, publishers will knock out a truly appalling game and it will sell simply because of its licence. You have been warned. | Lamentably retro sideways-scrapper that’s over before it’s begun. |
| The World Is Not Enough | 88% | 4 | 2000-10-17 | 49 | It might not have many new ideas, but TWINE shoots, sneaks and snipes with the best. | Great bond shooter: the true successor to GoldenEye. But niggly in places, and pales in comparison o PD. |
| Tom & Jerry Fists of Furry | 35% | 1 | 2000-11-08 | 49 | This could have been really great but Fists of Furry is ruined by a complete lack of thought and effort. Shame, that. | Duff cartoon scrapper. Without a four-player mode! pants. |
| WWF No Mercy | 92% | 5 | 2000-11-17 | 49 | Bandannas off to THQ for producing, yet gain, the most respectable game of its type. Even hardened cynics should lap this up. | A huge improvement on already by far the best wrestling series, laden with options intrigue and violence. |
| Mickey’s Speedway USA | 80% | 4 | 2000-11-13 | 50 | It’s no Mario Kart, but Mickey’s Speedway USA is a worthy – if often terrifically unoriginal – rival. | Mario Kart clone that’s short on innovation, but long on thrills. |
| Hey You, Pikachu (USA) | 56% | 2 | 1998-12-12 | 50 | Fair play for trying, but this really is pretty dismal. Only pre-schoolers need apply – if they can afford it. | N/A |
| Ogre Battle 64 (USA) | 87% | 4 | 1999-07-14 | 50 | A great combination of thoughtful strategy and exciting combat, with an RPG plot to draw the player into the action. | N/A |
| Cruis’n Exotica (USA) | 43% | 1 | 2000-10-17 | 50 | The Cruis’n series has tken baby steps from the word go. Simplistic and dull, don’t even consider it. | N/A |
| Midway’s Greatest Arcade Hits (USA) | 71% | 3 | 2000-11-14 | 50 | The quality of Midway’s six-pack just pips Namco Museum, but it’s still of limited appeal to most. | N/A |
| Ready 2 Rumble Round 2 (USA) | 76% | 3 | 2000-11-13 | 50 | Not much has changed since the original, and that’s not a good thing. Fun for a while, but not as competent as Knockout Kings. | N/A |
| Tigger’s Hunny Hunt | 36% | 1 | 2000-11-01 | 51 | Another hurried Disney-based title, rushed out for those who don’t know any better. | Another tiresome Disney-themed platformer that even youngsters will loathe. Pooh. |
| Rugrats in Paris | 67% | 3 | 2000-11-08 | 51 | Mario Party with a third-person twist and noticeably fewer games . It’ll provide a few hours of top entertainment for your eight-year-old sibling. | A sparse but relatively enjoyable collection of cartoony minigames for kids. |
| Sin & Punishment (Japan) | 89% | 5 | 2000-11-21 | 51 | A simply stunning shoot-’em-up that shows the N64 running at full steam. If you own an NTSC machine or converter cart, this is essential. | N/A |
| Spider-Man (USA) | 78% | 4 | 2000-11-21 | 51 | Highly enjoyable arachnid action, let down a little by the odd control difficulty. Watch out, Spiderfans! | N/A |
| NFL Blitz 2001 (USA) | 78% | 4 | 2000-09-14 | 51 | Still the most out-and-out fun American footie game, with a lovely NFL license to boot. Shame it isn’t better -looking by now, but don’t let that put you off a perfectly enjoyable romp. | N/A |
| Scooby-Doo! Classic Creep Capers | 23% | 1 | 2000-11-30 | 51 | Cartoony clone of Resident Evil 2 that’s as tedious and badly put-together as it is downright ugly. Scooby Dooby Don’t. | N/A |
| Pokémon Puzzle League | 89% | 5 | 2000-09-25 | 52 | The finest puzzler on the N64. Simplistic enough to be addictive, with enough depth to last. | Top-notch tile-matching with those loveable monsters, and the best puzzling to be had on the N64. |
| Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue | 9% | 0 | 2000-09-27 | 52 | More a form of torture than a game, Power Rangers is ugly, crude and all but unplayable. Get it out of our sight. | Constipated puppet-men jerking their way around Lego-built cities. Dire. |
| Pokémon Stadium Gold/Silver (Japan) | 90% | 5 | 2000-12-14 | 52 | A Pokémaniac’s dream come true, but we advise waiting for the English version if you want to get the most out of it. | N/A |
| Mario Party 3 (Japan) | 74% | 4 | 2000-12-07 | 52 | Still enjoyable, but it’s high time Hudson came up with new ideas. If you own either prequel, don’t bother with this. | N/A |
| Conker’s Bad Fur Day | 89% | 5 | 2001-03-05 | 53 | A bold attempt at doing something different which mostly works – but too many faults prevent it hitting the magical 90% mark. | Shoddy in places, but crude jokes, smooth play, movie spoofs and a top multiplayer make it unputdownable. |
| Star Wars Episode 1: Battle for Naboo | 78% | 4 | 2000-12-15 | 53 | It could have been so much better with some extra tweaking, but Naboo is still highly enjoyable, and a must for Star Wars fanatics. | Rogue Squadron for the new millennium. A tasty shooter, but just misses the mark. |
| Scooby Doo! Classic Creep Capers | 23% | 1 | 2000-11-30 | 53 | Terra Glyph try to slip a rushed, shoddy Scooby cash-in past unwitting N64 gamers. And they would’ve gotten away with it, too… | Dire Resi rip-off that’s abysmal in every sense of the word. Avoid. |
| Paper Mario (USA) | 90% | 5 | 2000-08-11 | 53 | Not as childlike as you might think. Paper Mario is a lovely blend of trademark Nintendo ingenuity and solid gameplay. Top stuff. | N/A |
| Mega Man 64 (USA) | 70% | 3 | 2000-11-22 | 53 | Not what we hoped for, but still surprisingly involving and good fun through to the end. | N/A |
| Banjo-Tooie | 81% | 4 | 2000-11-20 | 54 | Enjoyable enough, but lacks the spark we’ve come to expect from the folk down Twycross way. Go for Bad Fur Day instead. | Rare’s beautiful brand of platforming is looking slightly old hat these days… |
| Custom Robo V2 (Japan) | 84% | 4 | 2000-11-10 | 54 | Pure, simple fun, hampered slightly by the language barrier. Still a frighteningly good laugh, though. | N/A |
| Super Bowling (USA) | 72% | 3 | 1999-03-26 | 54 | By rights, this should be eyelid-droopingly dull. But Athena’s attention to detail makes Super Bowling an unexpected pleasure. | N/A |
| WCW Backstage Assault (USA) | 46% | 2 | 2000-12-12 | 54 | Smacking someone over the head with a urinal should be a lot more fun than this cack-handed enterprise. Best left well alone. | N/A |
| Polaris Snocross (USA) | 57% | 3 | 2000-12-27 | 54 | Average is as average does. Apart from some critical flaws, Polaris is a passable racer which some folk just might enjoy. The definition of a middling game. | N/A |
| Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine | 81% | 4 | 2000-12-14 | 55 | Much better than the PC original, Indiana Jones is an ace Tomb Raider-style romp spoiled only by an excess of 3D platforming clichés. | A highly enjoyable Tomb Raider-alike that relies a bit too heavily on dull platforming conventions. |
| Aidyn Chronicles | 60% | 3 | 2001-03-14 | 55 | Another game that leads you on, promising to be great, but which disappoints you when you actually play it. It’s a cliché, but this is for RPG nuts only. | Slow-moving, traditional medieval RPG with a curious combat system. Average. |
| Pokémon Stadium G/S (USA) | 90% | 5 | 2000-12-14 | 55 | Strictly for Pokémon fans only – but if that’s you then this is an absolute joy to behold, and not to be missed. | N/A |
| Excitebike 64 | 90% | 5 | 2000-05-02 | 56 | Excitebike is up there with best racers money can buy. Gorgeous handling topped with crunchy track design. Yum. | N/A |
| Animal Forest [Dōbutsu no Mori] (Japan) | 80% | 4 | 2001-04-14 | 56 | From what we can tell, this is another ace for Shigsy, but the language barrier prevents us from passing a final judgement. | N/A |
| Dr Mario 64 (USA) | 43% | 2 | 2001-04-09 | 56 | A below-par puzzler that should never have made it into the 21st century. Dull, rushed and completely without merit. An insult, frankly. | N/A |
| Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards | 72% | 4 | 2000-03-24 | 57 | There’s nowt wrong with 2D gaming, but Kirby ends up as a second-rate platformer with first-rate innovations. Definitely worth renting over a weekend. | Repetitive yet oddly engaging platforming with the marshmallow blob. Just a bit too easy. |
| Mario Party 3 (USA) | 74% | 3 | 2000-12-07 | 57 | Three years on and it’s still good fun, and the minigames are still amusing. Despite that, it’s still just another Mario Party… | N/A |
| Paper Mario | 90% | 5 | 2000-08-11 | 58 | The finest example of a ‘true’ RPG on N64. Plenty to keep you occupied and a jot from start to finish. Excellent. | Quirky but endearing 2D-meeets-3D looks on the surface, with a pleasing RPG core. Not just for the kids. |
| Pokémon Stadium 2 | 90% | 5 | 1999-04-30 | 60 | As good a companion to the Game Boy games as you could ever wish for. Thoroughly wonderful. | N/A |
| Mario Party 3 | 72% | 4 | 2000-12-07 | 60 | That’ll do, ta. Still enjoyable for a short while. Just don’t expect to be playing it this time next week. | N/A |
| Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 | 90% | 5 | 2001-08-21 | 62 | A superbly engrossing title offering loads of depth, longevity and oodles of fun. Worth every penny. | N/A |