N64 Month | Cubed3's Top Nintendo 64 Games: Part 2

It's the second week of Cubed3's Nintendo 64 celebrations and the team has rekindled its romance with five more must-play games as part of the Cubed3 Nintendo 64 Top 20. Whilst, of course, not a definitive list, here are what Cubed3 deems to be the essential titles that are worth a look-in, creeping closer to the coveted Top 10.

15) Jet Force Gemini

Akin to Starship Troopers, the game featured humans and a dog up against armies of insect aliens, ant-like drones, while trying to save bear-like tribals. It became one of the more unique experiences on the system. The time spent exploring every inch of each of the planets for those cutesy tribals, taking advantage of unique character abilities and searching for pieces of armament was a gripping experience.

Also worth mentioning are those delightfully beautiful real-time cinematics. One familiar scene shows a tribal working hard to clean the floor, until one of the drone soldiers kicks his bucket and he ends up gazing at his own reflection in a puddle of water. It is one of the most memorable on the Nintendo 64, and is still burned into the memories of every fan to this very day. Almost every scene in the game made some clever use of cinematography to induce the feeling of watching a movie. The only other games that come to mind are both Zelda games. The excellent soundtrack helped this greatly too!

Gameplay aside, the most defining aspect of Jet Force Gemini has to be its difficulty. Who doesn't remember the twin Mantis and the final battle against the evil Mizar? Just seeing the ending was no small task and the sections where players had to control Floyd the little flying robot to get a golden medal had the potential to drive people mad. Jet Force Gemini is full of absolutely memorable moments. Here is one last memory: the night club on Ichor. Classic!
Rudy Lavaux

14) WWF No Mercy

No Mercy was the game that took every great feature of the previous AKI brawlers and made them submit in inferiority. A Story Mode, King of the Ring elimination, Ladder Matches, Royal Rumble, Ironman Matches, Handicap Bouts, Street Fights -- they were all here in their blocky glory, backed up by one of the most satisfying and robust gameplay engines in a competitive videogame, perfectly mapped to what was certainly the strangest controller at the time. No Mercy featured all of the biggest names in what was the World Wrestling Federation's prime: Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Andre the Giant -- you name it. Voicework was but a pipe dream at the time, but the titantron music for each wrestler was intact and the unique tunes during matches certainly stuck in the mind long after play.

Although syn Sophia's gameplay style has shown up in later games like the GameCube's Def Jam Duo and Japan's Ultimate Muscle, No Mercy was the last of the WWF line from the team, and has yet to be topped for sheer lunacy, hilarity, and content. A tip for all those still enjoying this masterpiece: get into the highly detailed Create-a-Wrestler Mode, make anyone you wish, and assign them the ring-bill as a weapon. You will thank me later...
Shane Jury

13) Mario Tennis

What amazes me about Mario Tennis is how varied and yet how simple the formula was and still is. With multiplayer games, it is usually hard to find the same appeal when playing alone, but Camelot's Nintendo 64 masterpiece got this balance just right. The Ring Shot, the Return Challenge -- the tournaments for singles/doubles (I had every cup with almost every character) makes for a lasting relationship with the console.

I remember casually playing it at my uncle's house with my cousins and falling in love with the game. From the nail biting tournaments to the adrenaline boosting battles with four human players, it is a must for all Mario and sports fans!
Susan Gray

12) International Superstar Soccer '98

That did not matter in the slightest to true football purists who wanted the best entertainment from their footballing shenanigans, and things did not get much better that International Superstar Soccer '98, with its solid visuals, fast gameplay, quick passing, intuitive control settings, and fantastic tactical aspects that all helped to make it the pinnacle of multiplayer fun on the Nintendo 64.

In fact, so good an improvement it proved to be, that with its eventual successor, Major A struggled to come up with enough new content for International Superstar Soccer 2000 and ended up ruining the experience slightly by squeezing in an unnecessary RPG element. The second International Superstar Soccer on the N64 continues to be the best in the now deceased series, yet whilst gone, the fond memories will never fade.
Adam Riley

11) Banjo Tooie

Banjo-Tooie was one of the very last great classics to grace the console; yet for all the improvements, it lacked that little something that made the original so magical. Perhaps this was because it didn't have the same "novelty" factor, plus the soundtrack, although good in its own right, ultimately wasn't quite up to par with that of Banjo-Kazooie.

Finally, being so advanced for the system in terms of visuals, the frame-rate tended to drop in detail-heavy sections. However, these tiny setbacks shouldn't be any reason for anyone not to play this gem. You are not a true Rare or Nintendo 64 fan unless you have given this classic a try!
Rudy Lavaux

What do you think of the latest additions to the Cubed3 Nintendo 64 Top 20 games? Are you also fans of these titles, or do you disagree?

• Top 20 Nintendo 64 Games - Part 1 (20-16)
• Top 20 Nintendo 64 Games - Part 2 (15-11)
• Top 20 Nintendo 64 Games - Part 3 (10-6)
• Top 20 Nintendo 64 Games - Part 4 (5-1)