Top 50 and Bottom 25 Nintendo 64 games list

[bangtango]

Inspired by my Best and Worst Wii games thread:


According to Gamestats.com, Metacritic.com, and Gamerankings.com, here are the overall top 50 Nintendo 64 games:

1. The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time - 9.8
2. Goldeneye 007 - 9.6
3. Super Mario 64 - 9.5
4. Perfect Dark - 9.4
5. Banjo-Kazooie - 9.3
6. The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask - 9.3
7. Banjo-Tooie - 9.2
8. Paper Mario - 9.2
9. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater - 9.2
10. Wave Race 64 - 9.1
11. Conker's Bad Fur Day - 9.1
12. Rayman 2: The Great Escape - 9.1
13. International Superstar Soccer '98 - 9.1
14. All-Star Baseball 2000 - 9.1
15. Madden NFL 2000 - 9.1
16. Beetle Adventure Racing - 9.1
17. NFL Blitz - 9.1
18. Donkey Kong 64 - 9.1
19. Star Fox 64 - 9.0
20. Mario Golf - 9.0
21. Mario Tennis - 9.0
22. Blast Corps - 9.0
23. 1080 Snowboarding - 8.9
24. Turok 2: Seeds of Evil - 8.9
25. WWF No Mercy - 8.8
26. Resident Evil 2 - 8.8
27. Excitebike 64 - 8.8
28. F-Zero X - 8.7
29. Tetrisphere - 8.7
30. Diddy Kong Racing - 8.7
31. NHL '99 - 8.6
32. FIFA '99 - 8.6
33. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron - 8.6
34. Mario Kart 64 - 8.5
35. Worms Armageddon - 8.5
36. Space Station Silicon Valley - 8.5
37. Rocket: Robot on Wheels - 8.5
38. The New Tetris - 8.5
39. San Francisco Rush 2049 - 8.5
40. Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber - 8.5
41. F-1 World Grand Prix II - 8.5
42. Wipeout 64 - 8.5
43. Extreme-G - 8.5
44. Vigilante 8 - 8.4
45. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter - 8.4
46. Ridge Racer 64 - 8.3
47. Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo - 8.3
48. Pilotwings 64 - 8.3
49. NBA Courtside 2: Featuring Kobe Bryant - 8.2
50. Pokemon Puzzle League - 8.2

What do you think? Is there a good variety of genres? Is there a good balance between hard core, casual, mature, and fun games?

For sports games, I only included the one with the highest rating. For example, several Madden NFL games received high scores, but I only included the highest one. Several All-Star Baseball games received high scores, but I only included the highest one...etc. That's fair, right?


By the way, this list is different from Joe's Top 25 Nintendo 64 (N64) Games thread from 2002 in that it's based on published review scores only.

- - -

According to Gamestats.com, Metacritic.com, and Gamerankings.com, here are the overall worst 25 Nintendo 64 games:

1. Carmageddon 64 - 2.3
2. Superman - 2.5
3. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker - 2.5
4. The Powerpuff Girls: Chemical X-Traction - 3.0
5. Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue - 3.0
6. Mike Piazza's Strike Zone - 3.3
7. Deadly Arts (a.k.a. GASP) - 3.4
8. Olympic Hockey '98 - 3.5
9. Dual Heroes - 3.6
10. Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals - 3.6
11. Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero - 3.8
12. Daikatana - 4.0
13. ClayFighter 63 1/3 - 4.2
14. South Park Rally - 4.2
15. Nagano Winter Olympics '98 - 4.3
16. Blues Brothers 2000 - 4.3
17. Polaris SnoCross - 4.4
18. Rugrats: Scavenger Hunt - 4.5
19. Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2 - 4.6
20. WCW Backstage Assault - 4.7
21. NBA In the Zone '98 - 4.8
22. World League Soccer 2000 - 4.8
23. WCW Nitro - 4.9
24. Rally Challenge 2000 - 4.9
25. War Gods - 4.9

Disagree with these

6. Mike Piazza's Strike Zone - 3.3
8. Olympic Hockey '98 - 3.5

Olympic Hockey 98 is as good as any of the Gretzky games. The only "bad" thing about it is that the game is a complete carbon copy of the two 3D Hockey games that came before it. Otherwise it plays fine.

Piazza's Strike Zone has crummy pitching controls but the hitting, fielding and home run derby components are all good. I thought it was better than N64 Griffey. Only difference is that Piazza's game seems to have a lot of home runs, mostly of the 600 foot arcade style variety but it is a nice game.

I've never played Superman 64.

As for the wrestling games, I thought WCW/NWO Revenge had a much better roster than No Mercy and played just as well.

I also thought one or two of the QB Club games played better than Madden, solely on N64. I do think Resident Evil 2 should have ended up a little higher on the list, too.