8. F-Zero X (N64)
Forum wars continue to wage over whether F-Zero X or its successor on GameCube is the superior white-knuckle futuristic racer. Both are essential, of course. The 64-bit entry is metal: pure, simple, guitar-screeching, all-out metal. EAD stripped back extraneous detail to achieve the smoothest, most blistering and nail-bitingly precise racing experience. At this speed, on these dizzying tracks, even the tiniest prod on the spindly analogue stick matters, and the original N64 pad offers peak precision for micro adjustments which make the difference between gracefully sweeping through a corner with nary a pixel to spare… or catching said corner and ricocheting between barriers to an explosive, humiliating retirement.
How much more metal could this get? None. None more metal. Flaming skulls and chromed motorcycles would actually reduce the metal content of this game.
7. Paper Mario (N64)
Two decades on and Paper Mario might not look as sharp as it once did, but it holds up very well where it matters and jostles with The Thousand-Year Door for the title of Best Paper Mario Game.
The N64 original does very well to ease Mario fans into a new style of adventure while providing a depth for RPG gamers that you might not expect from the paper-thin premise. With a great supporting cast and buckets of trademark Nintendo charm, the original is up there with the best. The ability to play it on Switch is great news to anyone who missed out but still enjoys the more recent, less vital entries in the Paper Mario series.
6. Star Fox 64 (N64)
Known as Lylat Wars in Europe, Star Fox 64 originally came in a whopping great box containing a Rumble Pak and was many a gamer's introduction to force feedback on console. It paired beautifully with the cinematic battles and derring-do of Fox McCloud and his team's cinematic dogfighting in this on-rails shooter. It's still an excellent game all these years later, with thrilling action, delicate and precise controls, stirring music, humour, spectacle, and edge-of-your-seat excitement. Sure, it's got a surplus of Slippy Toad, but you can't have everything.
Whether you're enjoying it on original hardware or playing via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pak, a quick blast through this and it's clear to see why so many people think the Star Fox series peaked with its first sequel. It's not just the nostalgia talking — it really holds up beautifully two-and-a-half decades on.
5. Banjo-Kazooie (N64)
Rareware put out several platformers on Nintendo 64, each with their own pros and cons, but the Twycross team arguably never topped the debut of the bear and bird. There's something in the precise platforming and fairytale formula of Banjo-Kazooie that resulted in the quintessential 3D collectathon. It's big, but not sprawling; sweet, but not sickly; challenging, but never unfair (okay, a couple of those Rusty Bucket Bay jiggys walk a fine line). From the roaming grublins to Mumbo Jumbo's hilarious transformations, its colourful characters and varied worlds are shot through with humour, adorable animation, tight controls and an 'oom-pah' musical box soundtrack that nails the spirit of a cheeky storybook adventure perfectly.
Mario 64 might have the edge when it comes to prestige, invention and influence — that's the 3D platformer you vote for with your head — but Banjo steals hearts. An absolutely brilliant game.
4. Super Mario 64 (N64)
The 3D platformer that defined what that label meant, it's remarkable just how much Shigeru Miyamoto and his team got right with its first foray. It feels effortless, as if these mechanics were somehow self-evident or arrived at through natural evolution. Nintendo absolutely nailed the formula from the very beginning – so much so that the basic 3D template hasn't really changed much, even today. We still control Mario much as we first did with that wonderfully odd-looking N64 controller.
Super Mario 64 is available on Switch if you nabbed a time-limited copy of Super Mario 3D All-Stars or as part of a Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack subscription, and we could go on endlessly about its genre-birthing mechanics, how it set the stage for 3D gaming as we know it, and blather on about the infinity of tiny details that make this a joy to fire up all these years later.
But you know all that. Do yourself a favour and blast through a couple of dozen stars next time you're pondering what to play. It still feels almost as good as it did the very first time.
3. GoldenEye 007 (N64)
The best movie tie-in ever made? Not only was Rare's game (which has finally broken out of its Nintendo 64-shaped cell onto Switch and Xbox) hugely influential on the console FPS genre, but it also gave N64 owners a proper 'adult' experience to sink their teeth into. At a time when PlayStation was too cool for school, GoldenEye 007 provided some real ammo in the console wars, and its four-player deathmatches — remarkably, a last-minute addition before the game went gold — led to some of the best multiplayer memories we have, for any system. You Only Live Twice>Bunker>Power Weapons? How about Licence to Kill>Facility>Pistols?
We're easy, but whatever you do, make sure you've got 'Sight ON Auto-Aim OFF'. And no Odd Job.
Let us know your thoughts below, and remember — if you haven't rated your favourite games from the list, you can still do so and influence the overall ranking. New games added to the service will appear here, too, so check back in the future and rank them as well. You know, if you like.
And if you're after a full list of every Nintendo Switch Online retro game currently available, we're happy to oblige.
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