The Nintendo 64 was a fantastic little piece of video game technology that was a staple in many households in the late 90s. It had a lot of classics that players still love and enjoy today!
But it also had its fare share of cheap junk that hasn’t increased in value since its release. You can easily find a number of N64 games in thrift shops and retro game stores for only the change in your pocket. But can you have fun with any of these super budget titles in 2024?
Let’s find out together in this list! But a few rules to get out of the way before starting. We are going to exclude any yearly release sports titles as those are almost always pennies on the dollar and while many of them are fun, it wouldn’t make for a fun list if every game is just Madden, FIFA, MLB and NBA releases.
- . F1 World Grand Prix
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The cheapest game currently for the N64 is also one that is worth every penny, especially if you are a fan of Formula 1 racing. James Ashton from N64 Magazine said in his review of the game that the N64 version was “the finest driving simulation the world has ever seen.” The game sold well winning an award in EU for making over 20 million Euros during its release year.
There is a lot of customization options and those that really love to tinker with their rides will have a great time here. I clearly remember renting this game one weekend when all other N64 classics were already gone. I grabbed this one and it helped kick off my love for this type of racing! This is one that you should add to your collection.
Price: $3.25
- . Waialae Country Club
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Waialae Country Club is a weird one in my memory banks. I always assumed, even at the time, that Waialae Country Club was a launch title because of how average it looked. The courses were in 3D but all the player models were what I believe were digitized sprites. This was a strange look at the time and a game I always passed over no matter what, whether on the rental shelf or in the clearance bin.
Funny enough, Waialae Country Club is part of a long-running series which got another release on the N64, but only in Japan. Now that I’m older this sort of sprite mixed with 3D is really charming and for less than a fiver I’d easily snap this one up to play a little virtual golf. And if I had seen the commercial at the time I know I would have picked it up just because how insane it was.
Price: $3.74
- . WCW Mayhem
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The first WCW game produced by EA, WCW Mayhem was a mediocre mess, especially after the incredible AKI releases that made the N64 the home for wrestling and gave WCW fans something to brag bout to their WWF friends. If those games weren’t already on the table Mayhem wouldn’t actually be all that bad for a first effort. Sure, it doesn’t play as well as any of the AKI releases but Mayhem is really smooth and looks great for its age.
If you are looking for a great wrestling game that still holds up today I’d say spend a few extra bucks and get Revenge, but if you do come across Mayhem for only a couple of bucks you’ll still find some fun with it despite its poor collision detection and lack of diverse movesets during the death days of the WCW brand.
Price: $4.66
- . Star Wars Episode I Racer
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One of the few saving graces of Star Wars Episode 1, Star Wars Episode 1 Racer is one of the best racing games to release on the N64 and sold millions of copies. This is a legendary title, so much that it has recently got itself a remastering for modern consoles.
There are 25 podracers to choose from and you can mix and match parts from each machine giving you a lot to play with across the games 25 courses on 8 different worlds. And because the game uses the N64 expansion pack you will get a fantastic looking and sounding racing game.
Price: $5.50
- . Nagano Winter Olympics ’98
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I don’t think there has ever been a realistic Olympics based video game that has ever been good and Nagano Winter Olympics ’98 is no different. Developed by Konami, the game featured a ton of events to take part in. I clearly remember renting this title a whole bunch of times because it was stupid simple fun and I love button mashing.
The most commonly cited problem that reviewers and players had is that the controls for many of the events are so simplistic that the player feels no connection to the action occurring onscreen. This is true, but most of these game are simply pressing a button as hard and as fast as possible. This one holds a special place in my heart but I know its probably a miss for most people.
Price: $6.41
- . Automobili Lamborghini
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Here’s a racing game that a lot of people either overlook or simply don’t even remember existing, myself included. This is an arcade racer that is heavily inspired by titles like Ride Racer with a number of fun modes, great visuals, and a high framerate . It also actually felt fast, something a lot of racers of this era struggled with thanks to that framrate bump.
But what really made it special at the time was the multiplayer. The game allowed you to have human and A.I. opponents at the same time, something that was not common on the hardware. You either raced the AI in single player or you would race another player with all the AI cars gone to save on resources. If you want a fun little racer for only a couple of bucks this one will fir the bill.
Price: $6.91
- . MRC Multi Racing Championship
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Here’s a racing title that I owned but don’t remember buying or getting as a gift. It just sort of appeared on my shelf and I played on a regular basis. It’s also one of those racers that felt slow to play, especially for a racing video game. It wasn’t a bad video game by any means and one thing that I really liked was the terrain system it used.
Each course had multiple paths and certain paths worked better depending on the car you choose. You could customize you car to fit the path you like best making for some strategy and fun. It alos looked pretty good for the time and if you are looking for a racer that’s a little different, this one is a good one to pick up.
Price: $7.31
- . Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue
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Up until this point every single game that we’ve featured has some sort of redeeming value, at least for the cost. Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue is the first title on this list that you is simply bad. The regular kind of bad and not the ‘so bad it’s good’ sort of bad for those wondering.
Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue was only released in North America as no other region could be bothered. This is really bad video game that was only released to make a few bucks of parents and really young kids who were still invested in a dying franchise. The graphics are poor, the cutscenes are comic panels drawn by a chimp, the world is empty, and the action feels lifeless and dull.
Price: $7.44
- . Mission Impossible
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Mission Impossible is a massive franchise that has been around since the 60s. That being said, the series doesn’t have a lot of video games based on it. Mission Impossible for the N64 is a strange one as it sort of follows the Tom Cruise movie of the same name, but only loosely. It’s like a mix of the 60s show and 90s movie, probably due to character likeness rights.
The game is fairly ugly and far too complicated for its own good at many points, especially with a lack of checkpoints and its no-linear structure with little help or wiggle room. Still, there are a couple of missions that are pretty dang cool in terms of scope and ahead of their time in many respects thanks to having access to all the tools of the movie including the face swap device Ethan uses.
Price: $7.50
- . Wipeout
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The original Wipeout helped make the PlayStation, especially in Europe. What’s crazy is that this Sony owned product got ported (sort of) over to the rival console via Midway. The original was a lot of fun with the music becoming iconic to a generation of gamers. The strange this here is that while called Wipeout, it wasn’t a direct port of the PS1 original.
The game boasts better graphics, higher frame-rates, better physics, and a series of tracks that were not in the original as it’s really its own game built off the Wipeout 2077 engine. There are only seven tracks in the game and without a Grand Prix mode, the game really suffers as there just isn’t all that much to do other than complete challenges.
Price: $7.66
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