Nintendo 64 and the original PlayStation brought the gaming world into the third dimension. With this leap in computing power came the ability to bring previously overlooked genres to home consoles. First-person shooters had found success on PCs, but the slate of home consoles was never powerful enough to create fully realized 3D first-person shooters until the N64 generation.
The Nintendo 64 was primarily aimed at a younger audience. This, combined with the limited capacity of N64 cartridges, meant not a lot of first-person shooters were developed for the console. Even with this limitation, the console was still able to produce some fantastic first-person shooters for its day.
10 007 The World Is Not Enough
077 The World is not Enough is the follow-up to Rare’s shining achievement, GoldenEye. Unfortunately, its sequel couldn’t match the quality or success of its predecessor.
The World is not Enough is still a great first-person shooter for the Nintendo 64. The gameplay is tight and fun, the controls work well for the systems controller and the story follows along closely with the plot of the film. The main issues holding this game back are the terrible AI in the single-player campaign and the lack of innovations over GoldenEye.
9 Forsaken 64
Forsaken 64 takes a lot of inspiration from other first-person shooters of this era, like Quake and Descent. While it could never make the same impact as these classics, Forsaken 64 is still a fantastic first-person shooter with quick action and fun vehicle mechanics.
The biggest hindrance that Forsaken 64 faced was its brutal difficulty. The game was so difficult that the developers actually made a 1.0 patch to ramp down the difficulty. Unfortunately, without an internet connection, the N64 was never able to receive this patch. The game received a remaster for PCs in 2018, which is the best way this game can be experienced.
8 Quake
Quake had already become a mainstay of PC gaming by the time it was released for the N64 in 1998. The super fast movement and level verticality made this game a go-to for competitive multiplayer.
The N64 version couldn’t capture the magic of the PC version, but it is still a solid port and runs very well on Nintendo’s hardware. It’s impressive that id Software was able to pack this game into an N64 cartridge, and it gave console players a taste of what first-person shooters would soon become.
7 Turok 3 Shadows Of Oblivion
By the time Acclaim released Turok 3, they had already proven that they could make great first-person shooters for Nintendo’s console. GoldenEye may be the most well-remembered first-person shooter for the console, but the Turok series showed that an FPS series could have longevity on a home console.
Turok 3 is a fantastic FPS title, even if it doesn’t hit quite the same highs of the series’ previous entries. The game suffers from the N64’s hardware limitations with frequent frame rate drops that hindered multiplayer, but the single-player campaign and graphics were some of the best on the console.
6 Quake 2
Quake 2 took everything that made the original Quake excellent and expanded on it in meaningful ways. The N64 port was almost identical to the PC version, albeit with a worse control scheme.
The biggest upgrade over Quake was the fantastic story that Quake 2 delivered. The story is not a direct sequel to the original Quake, but it does tell a more cohesive one and features upgraded graphics. If you are going to play one Quake game on the Nintendo 64, this is it.
5 Turok Dinosaur Hunter
Acclaim had some bold ambitions when it came to the Turok series. They wanted to develop an original first-person shooter IP for the N64 console and make it into a series. They used a license they already had with the Turok comics and created the Turok Dinosaur Hunter series.
The first game in the series is also one of the best. The graphics pushed the limits on the Nintendo 64 and the gameplay was designed around Nintendo’s weird controller. They would eventually outdo themselves with Turoks sequel, but the first game in the series remains a fantastic entry for the series.
4 Doom 64
Doom 64 felt like such an odd release for the Nintendo 64. Nintendo had worked hard to maintain its family-friendly image, and the Doom series didn’t align with that branding. Despite this peculiar pairing, Midway games developed this Doom spinoff specifically for the N64.
Doom 64 is a fantastic first-person shooter and continuation of the franchise. The game maintains the brutal kills and heavy metal aesthetic that made the game a classic and plays perfectly on Nintendo’s hardware. It remains a cult classic to this day with several ports available for current hardware.
3 Turok 2 Seeds Of Evil
Turok 2 is the follow-up to Acclaim’s original N64 title, and it’s the best Turok game released for the Nintendo 64. The graphics of Turok 2 were unparalleled at the time which sometimes proved detrimental to the frame rate.
Turok 2 took the winning formula of the Turok series and perfected it. The bosses in the single-player campaign are the best of the entire series and the multiplayer levels are second only to GoldenEye. Developing a first-person shooter series for consoles at the time seemed like a big risk, but Acclaim took the risk and in the end, left us with three classic games.
2 Perfect Dark
Rare was one of the strongest developers for the Nintendo 64, coming in second only to Nintendo itself. They followed up the massive success of GoldenEye with this original IP that took all the elements of a classic spy film and added a brilliant female protagonist.
Perfect Dark features some of the best moments in first-person shooting history. The level design and ability to play the campaign co-op are staples that continue with the genre today. A remaster of Perfect Dark is available for Xbox and is the definitive way to play this all-time great.
1 GoldenEye
GoldenEye takes the cake as the best first-person shooter for the Nintendo 64. The N64 was the first console to feature four controller ports, and while the single-player experience of GoldenEye is great, it’s the four-player multiplayer that gives this game the top spot on our list.
The campaign of the game follows closely with the story of the film and features some incredible levels. Rare magically turned these single-player levels into multiplayer deathmatch arenas and added game-changing elements like finding the golden gun or slapping your opponent to death. After years of waiting, we are finally able to relive this classic on current hardware, but there is still nothing that compares to playing this game with three of your friends in 1997.
