The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is often considered one of the greatest video games ever made, and its influence on 3D adventures is difficult to overstate. Its memorable dungeons, expansive version of Hyrule, and time-traveling story helped establish a blueprint that countless games would follow. However, the Nintendo 64 was home to several other classics that excelled in different ways, offering experiences that can be even more enjoyable depending on what players value most.
From imaginative platforming to fast-paced shooting and unconventional storytelling, these games demonstrate how varied the console’s library was. While Ocarina of Time remains a landmark achievement, it doesn’t necessarily offer the best version of every idea the N64 explored. Some games have more replay value, others feature more inventive mechanics, and one even builds on the foundation of Link’s adventure to deliver a darker, more personal story.
Banjo-Kazooie
A Colorful Collectathon With Plenty of Personality
Banjo-Kazooie delivers the kind of colorful, playful adventure that makes returning to a classic platformer so rewarding. Banjo and Kazooie explore imaginative worlds filled with collectibles, environmental puzzles, and enemies, with their combination of abilities providing plenty of opportunities to experiment. The game’s humor and eccentric cast also give it a personality that distinguishes it from other 3D adventures.
Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero.
Where Ocarina of Time emphasizes combat, dungeon exploration, and a sweeping quest, Banjo-Kazooie focuses on movement, discovery, and the satisfaction of completing each level. Its interconnected progression through Gruntilda’s Lair gives players a reason to revisit earlier areas as they learn new moves. For anyone who prefers a lighter adventure with an emphasis on exploration and platforming, Rare’s classic offers an appealing alternative.
Star Fox 64
Branching Routes Make Every Playthrough Count
Star Fox 64 trades sprawling exploration for focused arcade action, and that decision gives it an advantage over Ocarina of Time in one important area: replayability. Players control Fox McCloud as he leads his team through dangerous missions across the Lylat system, blasting enemy fighters and taking on imposing bosses. Its responsive controls and fast-paced encounters make each mission immediately engaging, without requiring players to spend long stretches traveling between objectives.
The branching routes are what make the experience especially rewarding. Performance during missions can determine which paths become available, encouraging players to return and discover different stages. The supporting cast also adds personality through its frequent radio exchanges, making the battles feel like part of a larger conflict. While Ocarina of Time offers a richer sense of adventure, Star Fox 64 provides a tighter action experience that rewards repeated playthroughs. It’s an excellent choice for players who value exciting gameplay over a lengthy quest.
Super Mario 64
A Revolutionary Platformer Built Around Freedom
Super Mario 64 helped to define what three-dimensional platforming could become. Rather than restricting Mario to a linear sequence of obstacles, it gives players room to run, jump, climb, and experiment with movement across a collection of imaginative stages. Each world contains multiple Power Stars to collect, and the variety of objectives encourages players to approach familiar locations in different ways.
Its greatest strength is how naturally exploration and movement work together. Reaching a distant platform, scaling a mountain, or discovering a hidden route can be satisfying in its own right, even when the player isn’t following a specific objective. Although Ocarina of Time also uses three-dimensional environments to encourage exploration, its combat and puzzle-solving create a more structured experience. Super Mario 64 is less concerned with telling a sweeping story and more interested in giving players the freedom to master its mechanics. For platforming fans, that focus makes it an especially strong contender for the console’s best game.
Perfect Dark
A Feature-Rich Shooter With Plenty to Master
Perfect Dark demonstrates how much depth a first-person shooter can offer beyond its main campaign. Players control Joanna Dark, a skilled operative caught in a conspiracy involving powerful corporations and extraterrestrial forces. The story provides a compelling reason to move through its missions, but the game’s adjustable difficulty settings help make each level more than a straightforward shooting gallery. Higher difficulties introduce additional objectives, encouraging players to learn the layouts and approach encounters more carefully.
The multiplayer suite is another major strength. Players can customize matches, select different weapons and arenas, and adjust numerous rules to suit their preferences. This flexibility gives the game considerable replay value, especially when friends gather for local multiplayer sessions. Compared with Ocarina of Time, which centers on a single-player adventure, Perfect Dark offers more ways to shape the experience around individual preferences. Its blend of campaign depth, challenging objectives, and multiplayer customization makes it one of the N64’s most substantial action games.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
A Darker Adventure With a More Personal Story
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask takes the foundation established by Ocarina of Time and transforms it into something considerably stranger. Instead of exploring Hyrule on a traditional quest to defeat a great evil, Link finds himself in Termina, a world threatened by a falling moon. He has just three days to prevent disaster, forcing him to manage his time carefully and use his ability to reset the cycle to make progress.
This structure changes how the adventure unfolds. Characters follow schedules, events occur at particular times, and learning where people will be and what they need becomes an essential part of solving the world’s problems. The repeating cycle gives familiar locations new meaning as players discover how their actions affect the people living there.
The atmosphere also sets Majora’s Mask apart. Its unsettling imagery, melancholy tone, and focus on ordinary people facing an approaching catastrophe create an emotional weight that few N64 adventures attempt to match. Masks introduce additional abilities and identities, adding another layer to exploration and puzzle-solving. Although Ocarina of Time has the broader sense of a grand fantasy adventure, Majora’s Mask is more distinctive in how it combines its mechanics, characters, and themes. For players who appreciate experimentation and storytelling that lingers after the credits, it stands above its predecessor.
The Nintendo 64 Had More Than One All-Time Classic
Ocarina of Time deserves its reputation, but the Nintendo 64’s library offers plenty of reasons to look beyond Hyrule. Banjo-Kazooie excels at playful exploration, Star Fox 64 rewards repeated runs, Super Mario 64 remains a landmark in platforming, and Perfect Dark offers impressive depth for a console shooter. Each succeeds by prioritizing a different kind of experience.
Majora’s Mask takes the top spot because it builds on Ocarina of Time while pursuing a more unusual direction. Its three-day cycle, unsettling atmosphere, and memorable characters give it an identity all its own. Ultimately, the best N64 game depends on what a player wants from an adventure, but these five classics make a convincing case that Link’s first 3D quest doesn’t have to be the console’s undisputed champion.
- Brand
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Nintendo
- Original Release Date
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June 23, 1996
- Original MSRP (USD)
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$199
- Processor
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MIPS 64-bit RISC CPU (customized R4000 series), Clock Speed: 93.75 MHz
- Display
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256 x 224 ~ 640 x 480 dots, Flicker-free interlace mode support
- Memory
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RAMBUS D-RAM 36M bit, Transfer Speed: 4,500M bit/sec maximum.
