The N64 is a strange beast. It was not nearly as successful as its main competitor, Sony’s PlayStation, and also had an infamously unwieldy controller that only worked well for first-party titles. At the same time, it is home to some of the most legendary games of all time, such as Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
While these two have been remastered and brought to more modern systems, many timeless classics are stuck on the box. A couple of the games below were released on the Virtual Console for either the Wii or the Wii U, but these add nothing to the package. Additionally, the Wii store is closed down permanently, so time will only tell when the Wii U’s storefront suffers the same fate.
10 Goeman’s Great Adventure
While the N64 revolutionized 3D gaming, starting with Super Mario 64, Goeman’s Great Adventure retained the side-scrolling gameplay of the prior generations, albeit with 3D graphics.
The gameplay is good enough on its own, but Goeman’s Great Adventure is filled with quirky humor and a story one can only call ridiculous. The game also has co-op, making it even more appealing to anybody with a friend. Why it has not been re-released is a mystery.
9 Chameleon Twist
This 3D platformer did not receive particularly great reviews upon release, but it quickly became a cult classic on N64 due to its unique mechanic. As the name implies, the main character has a long tongue players use to reach far off platforms and defeat enemies.
It is difficult and the controls are not smooth enough for today’s standard of quality, but a re-release could tighten these up and let people experience this unique platformer in the best possible manner.
8 Wave Race 64
It might be difficult to understand why one of the console’s most celebrated games is a jet ski racing simulator. Play just a few minutes and it is easy to understand why. Players really have to understand the physics of the water to best each track.
Wave Race 64 is available on the Wii U Virtual console, but a proper Switch re-release with extra features and online multiplayer is what this legendary title truly deserves.
7 Castlevania 64
Before their respective releases, people were more excited for Castlevania 64 than Symphony of the Night. The latter turned out to be the more respected and venerated entry in the storied franchise.
Still, Castlevania 64 is not a terrible game. It does some interesting things and is a grand late 90s 3D adventure. With a little more polish and a re-release could help the game shine brighter than it did on the N64.
6 Body Harvest
Many may not be familiar with the name DMA Design Limited, but it’ll ring some bells when you learn they developed Grand Theft Auto III and changed their name to Rockstar North shortly afterwards. Body Harvest’s story involves time travel and the missions require the player to complete them before the alien threat kills too many civilians.
Levels are comparatively open and vehicles play a big part in the gameplay, two elements that future games from the studio would really run with.
5 Pokemon Stadium
Don’t expect an RPG experience with Pokemon Stadium. It is all about battling in this N64 game. Players also use a transfer pack to bring their Pokemon from Red, Blue, and Yellow into the N64 game.
Considering the Game Boy’s limited technical capabilities, it was a pleasure to see the titular monsters in 3D, powered by the N64. Since the Switch is both a home console and a portable device, the novelty of a Pokemon Stadium game would be redundant. Still, it would be nice to have the original as a novelty.
4 Tetrisphere
While the name might be similar to Tetris, the rules vary greatly. Upon first glance, it is clear something is different. Instead of taking place on a 2D plane, the pieces are on a 3D ball and the goal is to eliminate all the pieces and reach the center.
The game was fairly successful, though no sequels came to fruition and it is still stuck on the N64. Maybe it is time to change that.
3 F-Zero X
F-Zero has been out of the spotlight for so long, fans would be happy with a comprehensive re-release or remake of a classic F-Zero game to satisfy fans. F-Zero X on the N64 was particularly impressive for its day because of the smooth performance.
Graphical fidelity is sacrificed for it, but for racing games, a solid frame rate is the number one priority. If we won’t get a new F-Zero soon, then just re-release F-Zero X for the Switch.
2 Pokemon Snap
With New Pokemon Snap having been recently released, many fans of the series are occupying themselves with the new spin-off. The idea of taking photos of the creatures in a 3D environment while traveling along a set path is not for everyone, but hardcore fans eat it up.
Why not make the original easy to access, as well? The gameplay is largely similar to New Pokemon Snap.
1 GoldenEye
This is perhaps the saddest entry because of how close we got to actually seeing a remaster of GoldenEye for the Xbox 360. A build of the cancelled project leaked on the Internet recently, and most fans showed approval for how it was shaping up.
As of now, the only way to play this title officially is on the original hardware. At least its spiritual successor, Perfect Dark, has since been re-released.
