The following list is compiled using the User Ratings (out of 10) given to each N64 game scheduled to arrive on Switch in the West. It should be noted that this ranking is not set in stone and will automatically fluctuate over time depending on assigned User Ratings (and new additions to the NSO library, of course).
Think a game below deserves to be higher up on the list? Simply click on the ‘star’ button and score it yourself — your personal rating could boost its placement in the overall ranking.
So, sit back and enjoy the best N64 games playable on Nintendo Switch…
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo
This puzzler is essentially a 64-bit remake of the original Dr. Mario and was never released in Europe or Japan (although it did appear in the Japan-only Nintendo Puzzle Collection on GameCube alongside Panel de Pon and Yoshi’s Cookie). Dr. Mario 64 is just Dr. Mario, but prettier than it had ever been; a solid puzzler with little to get too angry or excited about.
Publisher: Koei / Developer: Omega Force
We don’t know about you, but games like Operation: WinBack (as this was known in Europe and Australia) and Konami’s Hybrid Heaven occupied a the B-tier on our ‘to get’ lists back in the day — they looked interesting, but they were way down the list behind the first-party purchases and many of us simply never got around to catching up with them once the 64-bit generation came to an end.
While Koei’s third-person shooter wouldn’t go down in the annals of covert ops gaming as a classic, its cover system felt fresh back in 1999 and the ability to check out the game on Switch and place it in its historical context is most welcome.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo EAD
Coming after the incredible (and incredibly beautiful) Yoshi’s Island on SNES, it’s no surprise that Yoshi’s Story rubbed some people the wrong way with its accessible, storybook approach and cutesiness. It’s certainly not the strongest or most complex 2D platformer you’ll ever play, but it’s brimming with the Yoshi series’ trademark charm and we’d say it’s worthy of reassessment if you’ve dismissed it in the past.
The N64 wasn’t blessed with an abundance of side-on platformers, but armed with the knowledge that this isn’t a 64-bit Yoshi’s Island, this is a great little game starring everyone’s favourite fruit-munching dino.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo Software Technology
Pokémon Puzzle League is really just Panel de Pon / Tetris Attack with a Pokemon makeover. That’s not bad though, because it’s still the same brilliant block puzzler.
As opposed to Tetris, here the blocks slowly rise up from the bottom of the screen as you try to line up rows or columns of three identical blocks. On top of the addictive Panel de Pon puzzling, the game is based on the Pokemon anime, and aside from the obvious use of characters like Ash, Brock, and Misty, this also means that, yes, Pokémon Puzzle League has a ton of voice acting and music from the series and movies.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo EAD
Pokémon Stadium was a home console companion piece that used the Transfer Pak to bring your Pocket Monsters over to your television, showcasing all 151 monsters from the original Game Boy titles in full-fledged 3D. Bringing a host of minigames to the party should you get bored of battling — hey, it can get a bit repetitive and lengthy — the awesome visuals, animations, and commentary here keep things lively. A previous iteration launched in 1998 in Japan which had only 40 Pokémon available to battle, but this version (released as Pocket Monsters’ Stadium 2 in Japan) launched internationally and featured the lot.
Pokémon Stadium is far tougher to recommend to anyone who doesn’t have a collection of critters on a Game Boy cart, but there’s plenty to love here if you’re an OG fan.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Left Field Productions
Canadian developer Left Field Productions, the team behind the fondly-remembered NBA Courtside games, was responsible for this brilliant entry in Nintendo’s motocross series. Shifting the gameplay from side-on to behind-the-rider 3D, it melded the careful pitch and throttle control of the original game with the subtle mechanics of N64 stablemates Wave Race 64 and 1080° Snowboarding to produce something just as deep, rewarding and addictive as those racers.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: HAL Laboratory
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.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Hudson Soft
The game that started it all! The series got off to a raucous start with Mario Party, and without it, we wouldn’t be able to keep holding the most almighty of Nintendo parties at NL Towers. Conspiracy theories that Nintendo created this game solely to force the purchase of additional controllers after Aunt Susan and Uncle Stan destroyed your analogue sticks are spurious, and feuds that have lasted a lifetime may have spawned from this very day in 1998. It’s an all-timer for those things alone.
But Mario Party’s slate of minigames truly shines, with Bumper Ball, Face Lift, and Mushroom Mix-Up helping to cement a legacy. No one knows how to party like Mario, and they never have done, as proven right here.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: HAL Laboratory
The whole concept of catching Pokémon and making them battle each other doesn’t bear thinking too deeply about, but the idea of going out on a safari and shooting the critters was never going to wash. Switch a gun for a camera, though, and you’ve got yourself a fun little ‘mon-filled rail-shooter.
Pokémon Snap might have only had 63 Pocket Monsters available, but the outpouring of love shown for the original game when the long-awaited sequel came to Switch in 2021 is testament to its charm. The act of hunting down Pokémon arguably wouldn’t be bettered until years later when Niantic caught the world’s attention with Pokémon GO.
The following list is compiled using the User Ratings (out of 10) given to each N64 game scheduled to arrive on Switch in the West. It should be noted that this ranking is not set in stone and will automatically fluctuate over time depending on assigned User Ratings (and new additions to the NSO library, of course).
Think a game below deserves to be higher up on the list? Simply click on the ‘star’ button and score it yourself — your personal rating could boost its placement in the overall ranking.
So, sit back and enjoy the best N64 games playable on Nintendo Switch…
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo
This puzzler is essentially a 64-bit remake of the original Dr. Mario and was never released in Europe or Japan (although it did appear in the Japan-only Nintendo Puzzle Collection on GameCube alongside Panel de Pon and Yoshi’s Cookie). Dr. Mario 64 is just Dr. Mario, but prettier than it had ever been; a solid puzzler with little to get too angry or excited about.
Publisher: Koei / Developer: Omega Force
We don’t know about you, but games like Operation: WinBack (as this was known in Europe and Australia) and Konami’s Hybrid Heaven occupied a the B-tier on our ‘to get’ lists back in the day — they looked interesting, but they were way down the list behind the first-party purchases and many of us simply never got around to catching up with them once the 64-bit generation came to an end.
While Koei’s third-person shooter wouldn’t go down in the annals of covert ops gaming as a classic, its cover system felt fresh back in 1999 and the ability to check out the game on Switch and place it in its historical context is most welcome.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo EAD
Coming after the incredible (and incredibly beautiful) Yoshi’s Island on SNES, it’s no surprise that Yoshi’s Story rubbed some people the wrong way with its accessible, storybook approach and cutesiness. It’s certainly not the strongest or most complex 2D platformer you’ll ever play, but it’s brimming with the Yoshi series’ trademark charm and we’d say it’s worthy of reassessment if you’ve dismissed it in the past.
The N64 wasn’t blessed with an abundance of side-on platformers, but armed with the knowledge that this isn’t a 64-bit Yoshi’s Island, this is a great little game starring everyone’s favourite fruit-munching dino.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo Software Technology
Pokémon Puzzle League is really just Panel de Pon / Tetris Attack with a Pokemon makeover. That’s not bad though, because it’s still the same brilliant block puzzler.
As opposed to Tetris, here the blocks slowly rise up from the bottom of the screen as you try to line up rows or columns of three identical blocks. On top of the addictive Panel de Pon puzzling, the game is based on the Pokemon anime, and aside from the obvious use of characters like Ash, Brock, and Misty, this also means that, yes, Pokémon Puzzle League has a ton of voice acting and music from the series and movies.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo EAD
Pokémon Stadium was a home console companion piece that used the Transfer Pak to bring your Pocket Monsters over to your television, showcasing all 151 monsters from the original Game Boy titles in full-fledged 3D. Bringing a host of minigames to the party should you get bored of battling — hey, it can get a bit repetitive and lengthy — the awesome visuals, animations, and commentary here keep things lively. A previous iteration launched in 1998 in Japan which had only 40 Pokémon available to battle, but this version (released as Pocket Monsters’ Stadium 2 in Japan) launched internationally and featured the lot.
Pokémon Stadium is far tougher to recommend to anyone who doesn’t have a collection of critters on a Game Boy cart, but there’s plenty to love here if you’re an OG fan.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Left Field Productions
Canadian developer Left Field Productions, the team behind the fondly-remembered NBA Courtside games, was responsible for this brilliant entry in Nintendo’s motocross series. Shifting the gameplay from side-on to behind-the-rider 3D, it melded the careful pitch and throttle control of the original game with the subtle mechanics of N64 stablemates Wave Race 64 and 1080° Snowboarding to produce something just as deep, rewarding and addictive as those racers.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: HAL Laboratory
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.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Hudson Soft
The game that started it all! The series got off to a raucous start with Mario Party, and without it, we wouldn’t be able to keep holding the most almighty of Nintendo parties at NL Towers. Conspiracy theories that Nintendo created this game solely to force the purchase of additional controllers after Aunt Susan and Uncle Stan destroyed your analogue sticks are spurious, and feuds that have lasted a lifetime may have spawned from this very day in 1998. It’s an all-timer for those things alone.
But Mario Party’s slate of minigames truly shines, with Bumper Ball, Face Lift, and Mushroom Mix-Up helping to cement a legacy. No one knows how to party like Mario, and they never have done, as proven right here.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: HAL Laboratory
The whole concept of catching Pokémon and making them battle each other doesn’t bear thinking too deeply about, but the idea of going out on a safari and shooting the critters was never going to wash. Switch a gun for a camera, though, and you’ve got yourself a fun little ‘mon-filled rail-shooter.
Pokémon Snap might have only had 63 Pocket Monsters available, but the outpouring of love shown for the original game when the long-awaited sequel came to Switch in 2021 is testament to its charm. The act of hunting down Pokémon arguably wouldn’t be bettered until years later when Niantic caught the world’s attention with Pokémon GO.
