Which Of Rare’s Classic N64 Games Would You Like To See On Switch Online?

Diddy Kong Racing N64
Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life

Update: Well, there’s a turn-up for the books. Nintendo has announced that Jet Force Gemini is coming to the Switch Online Expansion Pack in December. We’ve got to say, of all Rare’s N64 games, we didn’t fancy this one’s chances — as you’ll see below — but we’re very happy Switch gamers will be able to access this particular gem.

In honour of the news, we’re republishing this article from earlier in the year as a reminder of Rare’s remaining N64 jewels that could, potentially, still come to NSO. If you didn’t vote in the poll back in January, it’s still functioning at the bottom of the page, so feel free to join in — and congratulations to the 5% of Jet Force Gemini lovers out there!


Looking at the library of N64 games currently available if you’re a Nintendo Switch Onlne subscriber at the Expansion Pack tier, we now have access to not one, but two of Rareware’s all-time 64-bit classics in the form of Banjo-Kazooie and, now, GoldenEye 007. Just a handful of years ago this might have seemed like a pipedream, but with Banjo and Kazooie’s appearance in Smash Bros. Ultimate apparently helping to establish a ‘relationship’ between Nintendo and Microsoft — the owners of Rare for over 20 years now — having the Twycross developer’s work appearing once again on a Nintendo platform isn’t such a strange idea anymore.

There’s still a suite of games from the developer’s golden years that could potentially come to Nintendo Switch Online. Most are available on Xbox as part of the sublime Rare Replay package, and some of them, specifically those featuring Nintendo IP, are perhaps more likely to make an appearance on Switch than others.

So, we thought we’d round up the handsome stragglers and ask you which of them you’d like to see come to NSO in the most ideal of ideal worlds. You’ll find a poll at the bottom but first, let’s remind ourselves of the candidates from the era when Rare could seemingly do no wrong. We present nine games in chronological release date order, starting with a real Killer…

Killer Instinct Gold (N64)

Killer Instinct Gold (N64)

Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Rare

Release Date: Jul 1997 (USA)

A port of Killer Instinct 2 from the arcades, Killer Instinct Gold was the second KI to appear on Nintendo platforms (well, third counting the Game Boy port) following the original on Super NES. The N64 didn’t get many great fighting games — the legacy of Smash Bros. is far and away the console’s greatest contribution to the genre, but platform fighters are very much their own sub-genre these days — and KIG is one of the system’s few fighters of note.

The chances of us getting this on NSO seem remote, seeing as the series was revived on Xbox in 2013. Imagine if KI was announced and not, say, DK64? We like a little KIG (we actually quite like saying ‘KIG’, too), but we don’t imagine this will come first in the poll at the bottom of the page.

Blast Corps (N64)

Blast Corps (N64)

Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Rare

Release Date: 28th Feb 1997 (USA) / 1st Sep 1997 (UK/EU)
Diddy Kong Racing (N64)

Diddy Kong Racing (N64)

Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Rare

Release Date: 24th Nov 1997 (USA) / 21st Nov 1997 (UK/EU)
Jet Force Gemini (N64)

Jet Force Gemini (N64)

Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Rare

Release Date: 11th Oct 1999 (USA) / 2nd Nov 1999 (UK/EU)

Diddy Kong Racing N64
Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life

Update: Well, there’s a turn-up for the books. Nintendo has announced that Jet Force Gemini is coming to the Switch Online Expansion Pack in December. We’ve got to say, of all Rare’s N64 games, we didn’t fancy this one’s chances — as you’ll see below — but we’re very happy Switch gamers will be able to access this particular gem.

In honour of the news, we’re republishing this article from earlier in the year as a reminder of Rare’s remaining N64 jewels that could, potentially, still come to NSO. If you didn’t vote in the poll back in January, it’s still functioning at the bottom of the page, so feel free to join in — and congratulations to the 5% of Jet Force Gemini lovers out there!


Looking at the library of N64 games currently available if you’re a Nintendo Switch Onlne subscriber at the Expansion Pack tier, we now have access to not one, but two of Rareware’s all-time 64-bit classics in the form of Banjo-Kazooie and, now, GoldenEye 007. Just a handful of years ago this might have seemed like a pipedream, but with Banjo and Kazooie’s appearance in Smash Bros. Ultimate apparently helping to establish a ‘relationship’ between Nintendo and Microsoft — the owners of Rare for over 20 years now — having the Twycross developer’s work appearing once again on a Nintendo platform isn’t such a strange idea anymore.

There’s still a suite of games from the developer’s golden years that could potentially come to Nintendo Switch Online. Most are available on Xbox as part of the sublime Rare Replay package, and some of them, specifically those featuring Nintendo IP, are perhaps more likely to make an appearance on Switch than others.

So, we thought we’d round up the handsome stragglers and ask you which of them you’d like to see come to NSO in the most ideal of ideal worlds. You’ll find a poll at the bottom but first, let’s remind ourselves of the candidates from the era when Rare could seemingly do no wrong. We present nine games in chronological release date order, starting with a real Killer…

Killer Instinct Gold (N64)

Killer Instinct Gold (N64)

Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Rare

Release Date: Jul 1997 (USA)

A port of Killer Instinct 2 from the arcades, Killer Instinct Gold was the second KI to appear on Nintendo platforms (well, third counting the Game Boy port) following the original on Super NES. The N64 didn’t get many great fighting games — the legacy of Smash Bros. is far and away the console’s greatest contribution to the genre, but platform fighters are very much their own sub-genre these days — and KIG is one of the system’s few fighters of note.

The chances of us getting this on NSO seem remote, seeing as the series was revived on Xbox in 2013. Imagine if KI was announced and not, say, DK64? We like a little KIG (we actually quite like saying ‘KIG’, too), but we don’t imagine this will come first in the poll at the bottom of the page.

Blast Corps (N64)

Blast Corps (N64)

Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Rare

Release Date: 28th Feb 1997 (USA) / 1st Sep 1997 (UK/EU)
Diddy Kong Racing (N64)

Diddy Kong Racing (N64)

Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Rare

Release Date: 24th Nov 1997 (USA) / 21st Nov 1997 (UK/EU)
Jet Force Gemini (N64)

Jet Force Gemini (N64)

Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Rare

Release Date: 11th Oct 1999 (USA) / 2nd Nov 1999 (UK/EU)

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