In Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, HAL Laboratory managed to keep the core structure many knew and loved about the Kirby series while glossing it up with a shiny coat of polygonal paint for the new console generation.
Kirby's 64-bit foray into the third dimension (well, kinda — it's 2.5D, or on-rails 3D, if you prefer) stands out as one of the more unique entries in the series, feeling somewhat fresh in comparison to the many, many 2D Kirby platformers and still pleasurable to play to this day.
Blast Corps involves clearing a path for a slow-moving truck carrying a malfunctioning nuclear missile to a safe detonation zone — a zone which is blocked by buildings and other structures ripe for destruction.
As with many 64-bit titles, its early polygonal visuals are arguably looking a little dogged these days, but don't let its looks put you off. This incredibly silly concept makes for a Rare gem and one of the most fun games on the N64.
Camelot brought Mario and his golfing pals onto the 3D fairways in this excellent entry in his catalogue of sports games. This game also linked up with the superlative Mario Golf for Game Boy Color. They're very different games, and the handheld version is probably even better thanks to its brilliant RPG elements, but together they make an unbeatable pair.
When we're disappointed that later games like Mario Golf: Super Rush don't match the quality of older entries, it's Mario Golf that we're remembering with a faraway wistful look in our eyes.
A very strong 3D platformer from a time when you couldn't move for them, Rayman 2: The Great Escape saw Ubisoft's gangly protagonist make the jump from 2D in a colourful adventure that delivers practically everything you could want from the genre.
It's not quite on the level of Rare or Nintendo's efforts, perhaps, but it's still a fine, fine game up there with the very best.
Sitting in a vehicle moving along a set path as you take photographs might not seem like much fun, but Pokémon Snap quickly proves to be a highly enjoyable, if short-lived, experience.
The quest to find a few more Pokémon or score better to open up new stages or get a useful item keeps you engaged for the game's brief duration, and the variety of creatures and their actions keeps things interesting when replaying stages. There are only 63 Pokémon to find, and it can be cleared very quickly, but there's plenty of opportunity for new and improved (or funnier) photos with each playthrough.
The Switch sequel may have far eclipsed this one, but Pokémon Snap's inhabitants will surely bring a smile to your face.
The original Pokémon Stadium was fine, but Pokémon Stadium 2 expanded the concept of a 3D companion cartridge to play alongside the mainline Game Boy games.
It included Pokémon from both the Johto and Kanto regions and offered some juicy extras if you owned the Game Boy entries (we pity whoever had a Pokémon Stadium game without owning Blue, Red, Yellow, Gold, or Silver!).
Only in the soundtrack department did it arguably not live up to its predecessor, but otherwise this felt like the 'proper' execution of the concept.
Gamers in the West wouldn't be able to get their hands on Treasure's hectic N64 on-rails shooter (not easily, that is — there was always the option to import) until it came to the Wii Virtual Console.
On original release it quickly became a cult classic thanks to its developer's heritage and its Japan-only status, and while it's probably not worth importing a Japanese console to enjoy this game alone (we did, but we're a bit obsessive) — and its sequel Sin and Punishment: Star Successor for Wii arguably improves on this foundation in every way — this is still a very fine shooter from a very fine developer.
Cracking box art, too.
The first in the Mario Tennis series (second, if you count Mario's Tennis for the Virtual Boy) was one half of a winning doubles team in the Mushroom Kingdom sports department from Camelot — the studio also released the brilliant Mario Golf for N64, as well as Game Boy Color versions of each game that linked up with their home console cousins via the Transfer Pak.
Mario's played a lot of tennis over the years, but this remains one of his finest on-court displays.
Whatever you do, don't go back and play Wave Race 64.
Its incredible water physics, tight controls, chunky visuals, and titanic brilliance will immediately have you degenerate into a forum-lingering whinger and you won't be able to stop yourself complaining about the absence of this series (and F-Zero, and 1080° Snowboarding) from Nintendo consoles since the GameCube, and how Nintendo hates its fans and doesn't want their money, and how the success of the Switch means there's space for these 'lesser-known' franchises to make a return, and how we can't have nice things, and...
The third and final fiesta thrown by Mario on the Nintendo 64, the Mario Party formula was well-established by this point.
Hudson Soft saw no reason to change it in any way or kick it up a gear beyond a new influx of minigames, but that doesn't stop Mario Party 3 from being a quintessential entry in the series: a riot with multiple friends, and a soul-crushing grind for a lonely single player... but why would anyone play Mario Party on their own? Well, for the brand-new story mode of course!
We all know the real reason this places as high as it does. No, it's not the fact you can hold three items, but rather that Daisy and Waluigi make their polished party debut. As the final Mario game to be released on the N64 (except in Australia), it was a darn good send-off.
While the racers themselves might not have been truly 3D (rather they were detailed Donkey Kong Country-style sprites created from 3D character renders), Mario Kart 64's huge, undulating circuits still showed off the benefits of 64-bit hardware. It added inclines, items, obstacles, and a four-player multiplayer mode to the winning formula Nintendo cooked up on Super NES. This is also the game which gave us Toad's Turnpike.
Each iteration of the Mario Kart series adds a little something new, but following on from the flat circuits of Super Mario Kart, there's arguably been nothing quite like this first jump to 3D-except-for-the-racers. Like any Mario Kart game, add three friends and you'll have an epic time in no time.
There ain't no party like a Mario Party, although he sure has thrown an awful lot of them.
Of the three Hudson-developed minigame bonanzas that came out on N64, Mario Party 2 is arguably the fan favourite. This is where Battle, Item, and Duel minigames got their start, and you could spend all the time in the world practising them before you start, so you can ensure you're prepped for party play.
Obviously, you'll still need three friends to get the most out of this, but the first sequel built on the foundation of the original and steered the series on a steady course which now extends well into double figures. Even decades on, it stands as one of the best party games ever, and it's available on Switch via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack.
Just watch those Joy-Con analogue sticks — they're fragile at the best of times!
Following the James Cameron school of thought for sequels, Banjo-Tooie takes a 'more is more' approach, with larger worlds, a host of minigames, an expanded moveset (including new first-person sections), Mumbo Jumbo as a playable character, bosses, and a multiplayer mode, plus the ability to separate the dynamic duo at certain times.
Although it arguably flirts with the sort of excesses that made Donkey Kong 64 feel grindy at times, it's a big, chewy sequel, and one that holds up very well all these years later — perhaps thanks to a couple of decades' worth of training in the huge and interconnected open worlds of other games.
Banjo-Tooie is filled to the brim with the series' trademark brand of cheeky fairytale wonder and fans will find a whole lot to love.
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