The Nintendo 64 was released in 1996 and was Nintendo’s first loss since entering the console market in 1984. Nintendo insisted on continuing to use cartridges when the rest of the industry had moved to CDs which lead some developers to abandon the company; a good example of this was Squaresoft who wanted to make an epic RPG but the limited storage capacity on cartridges made it impossible.
The Playstation 1 used CDs and enticed many of the third-parties that used to work closely with Nintendo to begin to work with Sony. Though Nintendo lost to Sony, there were still many great games released for the Nintendo 64, with many of them being first-party titles. However, Nintendo’s 64-bit system did have many great games that didn’t come from the house of Mario. Here are 10 of the best lesser-known Nintendo 64 games that could use some more love.
10 Robotron 64
Robotron 2084 is an arcade game released in 1982. Instead of having a singular joystick, Robotron 2084’s arcade cabinet has two, one for shooting and one for moving, in turn, making the very first twin-stick shooter, a format used in games like Enter the Gungeon and Smash TV.
Robotron 64 offers the same gameplay found in the arcade original but brings it into the third dimension. The game offers a few different options for controlling the game, you can use the joystick, C buttons, or direction pad to control either your moving or shooting.
9 WinBack: Covert Operations
WinBack: Covert Operations is credited as the very first game to ever use third-person, cover-based shooting, a style of gameplay that is found in the most recent Grand Theft Auto games, the Gears of Wars series, and countless other games. The lack of a crosshair that was instead replaced by a laser-sight mechanic created by this game went on to inspire the gameplay in Resident Evil 4.
WinBack: Covert Operations was released on the Nintendo 64 and the Playstation 2 with the sequel WinBack 2: Project Poseidon being released on the original Xbox and the Playstation 2.
8 Beetle Adventure Racing
While the initial idea of having a racing game featuring Volkswagon Beetles exclusively seems like a dull idea, Beetle Adventure Racing turns out the be on the better racing games on the Nintendo 64.
Though the car selection is limited, the track selection is fantastic as each track has a variety of different short cuts that you must find in order to get your Beetle from the start to finish line in as little time as possible. There are also crates littered throughout each race that will provide your car with a temporary boost.
7 Body Harvest
Body Harvest was developed by DMA Designs who would later turn into Rockstar North. Like Rockstar’s later games, in Body Harvest you roam around a large open world, drive vehicles and get into gunfights. However, instead of driving around in a parody of a city in the United States and taking jobs from mobsters, in Body Harvest you drive around an alien planet and take out large insects. Originally, Nintendo was going to publish the game and have it as a launch title for the Nintendo 64 but after seeing the violence in the game they dropped in until it was picked up by Midway who published the game.
6 Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon
Many of the games in the Goemon series have unfortunately been left in Japan but luckily both Goemon’s Great Adventure and Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon were released in North America for the Nintendo 64 with the latter being the better of the two.
In Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, you can play as one of four characters. There is Goenmon who is based on the thief Ishikawa Goemon, Ebisumaru who is a chubby man, Sasuke who is a mechanical ninja, and Yae a sword-wielding kunoichi. The story center around the group of friends looking to stop whoever destroyed Oedo Castle.
5 Mischief Makers
Mischief Makers is one of the few 2D side-scrolling games that were released on the Nintendo 64. The fifth-generation was seemingly very anti-2D, especially in the west. The release of Super Mario 64 set the gaming world ablaze and caused most developers to stick to 3D. However, Mischief Makers decided to stand out and be something a little more unique than another 3D platformer that consisted mainly of collecting different things. In Mischief Makers you play as Marina, a robotic maid who is on a mission to save her creator from the emperor of Planet Clancer.
4 Pokémon Puzzle League
While most of the Pokémon games released for the Nintendo 64, like Pokémon Snap and Pokémon Stadium, are well known Pokémon Puzzle League is rarely spoken of. Pokémon Puzzle League’s gameplay is very similar to that found in Tetris Attack for the Super Nintendo.
In Pokémon Puzzle League, you go through a series of different puzzle challenges against many of the opponent’s Ash from the Pokémon anime had to face like Sabrina the psychic and Gary, Ash’s rival. The game also includes full-motion animated videos that share the same animation style and voice actors from the Pokémon anime.
3 Sin and Punishment
Sin and Punishment, like Bangai-O and Mischief Makers which are also featured on this list, was developed by Treasure, the masterful company that created cult hits like Gunstar Heroes and Ikaruga. Nintendo also helped develop the game and created the name Sin and Punishment to make it stand out more than the original name which was Glass Soldier. Sin and Punishment is one of the very few gallery shooters with other notable games in the genre being Wild Guns and NAM-1975. You run towards the screen and must dodge enemy fire while also firing yourself.
2 Bangai-O
Bangai-O is a Japanese exclusive that was later ported over to the Sega Dreamcast. Bangai-O is a sprite-based 2D action game where you pilot a mech with a large variety of abilities. You can hover around the screen, take enemies out with a laser-sword, machine gun, and homing missiles, and much more. There are 44 different stages in the game and you must find and destroy the boss within each level to progress. There are 2 different pilots that can be changed at any point. There is Riki who fires homing missiles and Mami who fires bullets that will bounce off of surfaces.
1 Harvest Moon 64
While the Harvest Moon series is somewhat well known these days, the Nintendo 64 version wasn’t given a lot of love and remains one of the more collectible games on the system due to the limited amount of copies available. Harvest Moon 64 is the second game in the series to be released outside of Japan, with the first being released on the Super Nintendo. Like other games in the series, in Harvest Moon 64 you must grow and harvest plants that you can then sell to help improve your farming abilities or your farm.
NEXT: Ranking The 10 Best Nintendo 64 Remakes & Remasters
