15. Mario Golf
Developer/Publisher: Camelot/Nintendo
PAL Release: 14/9/99
Camelot reappears in the list with another Mario sports title. It appears higher in the list than Mario Tennis, not just because it was the first of the N64 Mario sports titles, but because it was an altogether more deep experience that achieved more than the quick pick-up-then-put-down multiplayer madness of Mario’s racquet-based successor. Mario Golf did the same job as tennis by taking a sport and adding in crazy characters, brightly coloured Nintendo themed courses and cool powerups to make the sport of golf infinitely more exciting. There were tonnes of courses and a variety of different modes that could take forever to fully master and produce better scorecards. The game also had a brilliant replay mode that could let you save your best shots if ever any boasts needed backing up. As was evidently the case with Camelot/Nintendo games on the N64 the game was made with great attention to detail and a very robust control system with a perfect balance between arcade fun and serious realism and as such is another classic Mario Sports title that is still ridiculously playable today. Only 4 words are needed – match play drinking game.
Best moment: Without a doubt, there is no greater feeling in golf than hitting a hole in one, and Mario Golf’s greatest moments came on the incredibly rare occasion that you would pull off one of these miracles. Hit one on a par 4 course? Friends don’t believe you? Be prepared to feel infinitely smug as replay mode beautifully backs you up as your mates eat humble pie.
Playability today (out of 5): 4
14. Super Smash Bros.
Developer/Publisher: HAL Laboratory/Nintendo
PAL Release: 19/11/99
UK gamers should be very grateful we got to play this game in the first place as it wasn’t until a petitioned campaign (which I, of course, took part in) by the magazine now named NGamer that Nintendo even planned to release the title over here. And how lucky we were to get to play this simple to pick up, yet chaotically frantic beat ‘em up featuring an all star cast of Nintendo mascots.
The fighting is controlled mainly by using 2 buttons, one for normal attacks and one for character specific special attacks and works brilliantly well, and has thus been kept the same for the 2 equally excellent sequels. The on screen mayhem is beefed up with a whole variety of mental items including a SNES Superscope and Pokeballs. Smash Bros is a fine example of less is more; you don’t need ridiculous combos or buckets of blood to make a great fighting game – here is a brilliant game perfectly accessible for anyone and a simple press of the A button lets you hit Jigglypuff in the face with a baseball bat.
The series has definitely improved with subsequent installments but so good is the formula and so frantic the action that Smash Bros remains one of the most playable of the N64 titles today.
Best moment: The game is so packed with Nintendo fan service it’s hard to pick out singular moments, but finally sealing the fate of the ridiculous giant hand boss at the end of the main mode takes ages, especially on harder difficulties, and at the end of a long slog it’s a great moment.
Playability today (out of 5): 5
13. WWF No Mercy
Developer/Publisher: Aki/THQ
PAL Release: 15/12/00
The very late 90s and early 00s was truly a golden era for wrestling games. THQ oversaw several excellent titles across various platforms that went from strength to strength. The Playstation had the, admittedly brilliant, Smackdown! titles and the N64 had WCW/nWo Revene, Wrestlemania 2000 and No Mercy. No Mercy was the pinnacle of wrestling games at the time and featured several improvements over the previous game in the series – the fantastic Wrestlemania 2000.
The roster was bigger; players could now engage in ladder and special guest referee matches; backstage areas were opened up for hardcore carnage and you could put opponents through the ringside announce table. It really was the most comprehensive wrestling game ever made and the perfect sequel to WM2000, leaving the fantastic gameplay system largely untouched.
The game’s career mode was perhaps the greatest improvement over previous games, with different stories available for each of the different title belts. No Mercy featured awesome branching storylines that meant that you could carry on in a different direction through the story even if you lost a match. Forget what current games boast – No Mercy has one of the greatest rosters of characters (possibly because of the era in which it was made) and one of the best and most accessible control systems ever, especially as more recent games seem to get more convoluted with each release. It will live long as a timeless classic that possesses that little bit of charm and developer care that current wrestling games simply haven’t replicated. Ah, the good ol’ days!
Best moment: Ironically, the best moment is probably due to the horrible fault that early builds of the game had where the cartridge would randomly delete all the save data during the career mode. This affected so many gamers that the BBC program Watchdog ran a special on it. Seeing Anne Robinson reading out letters from disgruntled parents who bought their kids the broken game was a sight to behold. The company did replace any faulty carts with new ones and therefore the best moment came when gamers could finally play through the excellent career modes without fear of their effort being completely pointless. Much like Anne Robinson.
Playability today (out of 5): 4
12. Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey
Developer/Publisher: Williams/Midway
PAL Release: 10/10/97
Perhaps a surprising entry so high up for some, but Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey is a game that never fails to provide brutal, fast paced and high octane multiplayer experiences that will leave you crying with laughter. Ported from arcades in ’96 in the US, Gretzky was actually the first sports game AND the first four player game to be released on the console. To say it set the standard for four player gaming on the N64 is putting it lightly.
Being originally an arcade game, it’s no surprise that Gretzky is less about simulation and more about fun and the fun comes by the bucket load. Playing as a three on three game with no rules makes the game feel like the most brutal game of prison rules hockey ever. Bone crunching body checks, turbo boosts and the obligatory fighting sections make Gretzky the perfect game representation of what ice hockey is – ridiculous and brutal.
With the scaled down three on three games, the rink is made smaller and therefore the action feels faster and more compact, giving way to an absolute ruckus of non stop shots, saves, goals, checks, trips and fights. It’s one of the most perfect arcade sports titles ever made because it takes out stats and tactics and provides a chaotic experience that players who have no idea about ice hockey can get enjoy. The polygonal players may look a bit dated nowadays, but for fast and furious action for any sports fans, Gretzky still stands right at the very top for sheer balls-out non-stop action.
Best moment: The game is so fast paced and full of incident that there will be so many great moments in every match you play, but using a turbo boost to give more shot power unleashed hilarious results; knocking the goalie and net flying backwards towards the wall or even setting the net on fire. Goals can be scored so quickly due to the small rink that even the last 20 seconds of a game can see 5 goals go flying in, providing non-stop drama and miraculous last second comebacks.
Playability today (out of 5): 5
11. Mario Kart 64
Developer/Publisher: Nintendo/Nintendo
PAL Release: 24/6/97
It seems that if you ask 5 gamers which is their favourite version of Mario Kart, you would most probably get at least 3 different answers. Mario Kart 64 isn’t generally regarded as the best entry in the series but it can definitely be credited with adding a real sense of mayhem to the formula and solidifying Mario Kart as the terrific multiplayer experience it still is today.
Mario Kart 64 is another of those N64 titles that made 4 player split screen gaming, an increasingly distant memory in today’s faceless online world, and 4 player gaming is the focal point that stands out in the memories of MK64. The game was utterly chaotic with more and crazier items being introduced as well as those classic shortcuts that everyone remembers.
Some of the courses in MK64 were admittedly wider than those in the SNES original, but that doesn’t mean that the game required any less skill to get round the tracks. On higher classes like 150cc and Mirror Mode, drifting and boosting are necessities for success.
The courses also provide several great memories and MK64 definitely has some of the series’ best. There’s the inclusion of Peach’s Castle landmark on Royal Raceway; the frenzy of oncoming traffic in Toad’s Turnpike; the huge river jump on DK’s Jungle Parkway and the many different routes of Yoshi’s Valley, the game has an endless number of high points and is still immensely playable today, with or without those nostalgia goggles.
Best moment: There are great moments of triumph in the game like nailing that shortcut in Mario Raceway or bursting through the waterfall shortcut in Koopa Troopa beach. But there are also moments of extreme frustration that can, somehow, be equally enjoyable and provide more stories to tell and reasons to play the game again. Most notably has to be getting hit by the lightning bolt going over that jump in Wario Stadium, meaning you don’t quite make it over and instead land on the track down below, having to make your way back again for another try from a distinctly worse race position. Possibly the most evil tactic in gaming when pulled off.
Playability today (out of 5): 4
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