Also, does any other console have this many legit top 10 games of all time contenders as exclusives?

For my money, Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, GoldenEye are all solidly on the list, with Majora's Mask and Mario Kart 64 in the conversation.

(Even though I agree that Diddy Kong was the better game, it just doesn't have the iconic status of an MK64.)

Donkey Kong 64 never gets enough love. It probably makes my personal 10.

The one that immediately comes to mind is GameCube, which imo gets a pretty bad rap.

You're talking Super Smash Bros Melee, Metroid Prime, Wind Waker, Resident Evil 4...

And I count RE4 because it was released and marketed as exclusive for a year before they put it everywhere else due to legal shenanigans.

But even with that list of bangers, it's not touching N64.

Smash Bros
Ocarina
Ogre Battle 64

Kind of an outlier there for #3.

Ocarina
Smash Bros
Mario Kart

Ocarina of time
Perfect dark
Mario 64

Goldeneye is about the only FPS I could really get behind on N64.

Everything else, while good for a console, ultimately paled in comparison to it's PC counterpart -- so if you were already up to speed on PC networking, then games like Duke Nukem 64 and even Perfect Dark were fun as first person games but behind the times in multiplayer. Nothing quite beats that first time you saw another Doom player run across your computer screen and realizing it's your buddy -- though the first time you control Mario in Mario 64 comes close.

My most vivid N64 memories are definitely these...

1. First time controlling Mario in Super Mario 64 (My first ever 3D game)
2. Exploring Kokiri Forest for what felt like days and being instantly invested. Took me hours to find the sword.
3. Pulling the Master Sword for the first time.
4. Turning on Majora's Mask for the first time and being ridiculously hyped for a sequel to my favorite game of all time.

NBA on NBC was also a super fun one, especially for fans of NBA Jam.

Can't beat that theme by John Tesh.

GoldenEye & OOT should easily be in the top3 for any of us

#3 for me is NFL blitz

Only for casuals…if you've ever played perfect dark you'd know better

Does Perfect Dark have DK mode? Or badass pause screen music? Or slappers only?

I thought it did but it's been so long I'm not sure

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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jr15aggie said:

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If I'm picking games to play today:

Mario Kart, Zelda OOT, Starfox 64.


If I was picking back in the day, Goldeneye definitely would have been in there, but those shooters have not aged well and are somewhat unplayable in their original form.

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I replayed through the whole game on Switch this year and still had a blast.

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I've played a bit of it on the Xbox and it's not bad. But I'm referring to playing it straight up on the N64 and the N64 controller.

The whole package, in its original form, is pretty rough. But yeah, the upgraded versions on modern dual stick controllers is OK nostalgia.

But if I had a N64, I'd much rather play Zelda, Banjo, Mario 64, Starfox, Blast Corps, etc ... those games still hold up pretty well.

OasisMan said:

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GoldenEye & OOT should easily be in the top3 for any of us

#3 for me is NFL blitz

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Except that Perfect Dark is literally Goldeneye, but improved in every single way.

And Majora's Mask is an amazing fever dream that out does OOT.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Does Perfect Dark have DK mode? Or badass pause screen music? Or slappers only?

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Slappers only? Perfect Dark sees your few game modes and raises you literally a limitless number of game modes with, yes, slappers only.

Have you ever played a challenge where you fight 20 Peace Sims at once?

Way too hard to only pick 3!

Single Player
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarnia of Time
2. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
3. Banjo Kazooie

Multiplayer
1. Super Smash Bros
2. Perfect Dark
3. Mario Kart 64

Super Mario 64 and Banjo Tooie are the best games not pictured.

1. Zelda OOT
2. Jet Force Gemini
3. Smash

No love for Conker's Bad Fur Day?

Noblemen06 said:

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No love for Conker's Bad Fur Day?

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Great game. Love it.

Just not in my top 3.

OOT
Super Mario
Wave Race 64

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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The one that immediately comes to mind is GameCube, which imo gets a pretty bad rap.

You're talking Super Smash Bros Melee, Metroid Prime, Wind Waker, Resident Evil 4...

And I count RE4 because it was released and marketed as exclusive for a year before they put it everywhere else due to legal shenanigans.

But even with that list of bangers, it's not touching N64.

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The GameCube is definitely the forgotten console. I don't think I know anyone that even had one, I know I never played one.

Super Nintendo has a pretty strong case

Super Mario World
Super Metroid
StarFox
MarioKart
Zelda-Link to the Past
Mega Man X
Donkey Kong Country

That's just off the top of my head and those are all hall of famers

This seems like an appropriate place to make this confession… It feels like an N64 safe space… I don't care for the Zelda games. NES, SNES, GameCube, Wii. Tried them on all of those platforms and they just don't do much for me. And I love 3rd person action/RPG games. It's weird.

But here's why I'm posting this here… I'm about to give Ocarina another go. It's been fully decompiled and re-released as Ship of Harkinian and it looks incredible. Full free roam camera is what has me interested.


https://www.shipofharkinian.com

THQ Wrestling. Used to play that game for hours.

I thought we were picking 3 from the picture, not our top 3 N64 games.

I think SNES is the GOAT, personally. But we may all be biased toward our childhood era.

But man it was RPG heaven.

Goldeneye never worked for me, but I'd been playing FPS games with a mouse for 4 years at that point. It was really issues dealing with the joystick.

I need to get an Everdrive clone off Ali Express already, and a second controller so I can have fun on actual N64 hardware again.

1. Goldeneye
2. Mario kart 64
3. Starfox 64