25 Best Nintendo 64 Games #5 – #1

Starfox and the gang made their 3D debut in Starfox 64 and gave us new reasons to barrel roll. The adventure to protect the Lylat System from Andross was spectacular on the N64, giving us flashy graphics, memorable character voice-work, an updated version of the classic Starfox gameplay, and a pretty cool story to boot. The only thing we wish the game had was the option to delete Slippy. Sheesh, what an annoying toad. 

And now we have the first adventure starring the bird and bear combo, Banjo and Kazooie. In Banjo-Kazooie, the titular characters go on a journey to stop the evil witch Gruntilda from stealing Banjo's sister's youth. The puzzles kept you guessing, the platforming was challenging, and the environments were memorable. The Click Clock Wood level was particularly cool, because you could go back and change the seasons, giving you access to different areas and providing alternate interactions with its inhabitants. This kind of touch helped make Banjo-Kazooie one of the best games on our list.

There was a lot of arguing among Zelda fans about where this game falls in the Legend of Zelda timeline, but ever since the Hyrule Historia laid down the official sequence of events, we now know that this game takes place in an alternate timeline in which Link defeats Ganon in Ocarina of Time, is sent back to his youth, and then travels with Epona to Termina. And wouldn't you know it, he had to save this place too. So he kept repeating the same three days in order to stop the moon from destroying everything. All in a day's work for the Hero of Time. And any excuse to keep playing a Legend of Zelda game in 3D after Ocarina of Time was a good one, earning Majora's Mask a spot on our list.

If you ever got past the part of the title screen where you could grab Mario's face and pull his features around, then you were treated to an incredible platforming game starring the most beloved video game character of all time. How could we not stick this game near the top of the list? Mario's quest to collect stars and defeat Bowser in 3D had us kicking off of walls, jumping into paintings, sliding down mountains, and flying around thanks to some winged caps. We can still hear that castle music that played as we unlocked room after room and discovered some cool worlds with great themes. This one's a classic and stands as one of our very first, and very best, experiences on the Nintendo 64. 

And here it is, the very best that the N64 had to offer -- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. We daresay that this is one of the most, if not the most, perfect game ever made. It gave us innovations in gameplay (like Z-targeting), an amazing story of a hero fighting through time, memorable music that can elicit a range of emotions, and an experience that still holds up to this day. Whether you enjoyed riding around on Epona, shooting rupees at the range, running backwards to get Biggoron's Sword, or losing your mind in the Water Temple, Ocarina of Time had something that would hold a place in your memory. And for us, that's something worthy of making the top spot on our list of the 25 Best Nintendo 64 Games.