Nintendo 64 console and two controllers
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10 Best Multiplayer N64 games

The good old days...

Back in the ‘90s, diving into a multiplayer game of anything was much more difficult than it is now. Nowadays, you can play against or with people from every corner of the planet with minimal effort, a massive change from the limitations of times past. 

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When the Nintendo 64 was released in 1996 (I know, I feel old too, I’m sorry), multiplayer console gaming was still a relatively new concept, but that didn’t prevent Nintendo from releasing a very long list of games that could be played with friends or family through split screen. 

Here are 10 of the best multiplayer games from the golden era of the Nintendo 64. 

GoldenEye 007 

GoldenEye 007 box for Nintendo 64
Image via Nintendo

Starting off with what is widely deemed to be one of the best N64 games of all time, GoldenEye 007. There are multiple different multiplayer deathmatch modes to enjoy, all of which will see you squaring off against other players to try and come out on top. 

Perhaps the most enjoyable mode is “The Man With the Golden Gun”, which places a Golden Gun at a fixed point on the map. This gun is capable of one-shotting any other player, and the only way to take it from another player is by killing them. Whoever holds the gun for the most amount of time wins, and things never fail to get highly competitive. 

Mario Kart 64

Mario Kart 64 box for Nintendo 64
Image via Nintendo

It’s nearly impossible to write any list of N64 bangers without including multiple Mario entries, and this one will be no exception. The first of Mario’s appearances on this list comes in the form of Mario Kart 64, which is an undeniable classic these days and just a small part of the franchise still beloved by Nintendo fans everywhere. 

There’s something absolutely addictive about racing around a track against friends, shooting out traps to sabotage their efforts to beat you. There’s a thrill every time you hear another player groan when they slip or get shot from behind, and winning might not get you anything other than bragging rights, but those bragging rights are oh-so sweet.

Mario Party 2

Mario Party 2 box for Nintendo 64
Image via Nintendo

While the first Mario Party is definitely fun, it does have some challenging minigames that can, at times, feel almost impossible to win. It’s widely accepted that Mario Party 2 took the successful concept of the first game, and just made it better in every possible way. 

The idea is to purchase the most stars using coins earned through winning various minigames around a virtual board game. Virtual dice rolls dictate where you can go, and the board is filled with traps that mean even just winning minigames isn’t enough to ensure that you win the game overall. 

Quake II

Quake II box for Nintendo 64
Image via Nintendo

Admittedly Quake II was released (and has since been re-released) on a multitude of platforms, but it was released on the N64 at some point, and it gets a spot on this list because it’s just so good. 

Like GoldenEye 007, Quake II features a variety of different multiplayer modes. However, while Quake II has all of the competitive modes, such as the 1 vs 1 deathmatch or Capture the Flag, it also has a mode that enables players to team up and take on a multiplayer version of the main game. 

Worms Armageddon

Worms Armageddon box for Nintendo 64
Image via Nintendo

Worms might not be the first franchise that you think of when considering titles for the N64, but it definitely should be considered among the best examples of multiplayer on any platform. Worms Armageddon is not only fun, but it will also get you thinking tactically and getting competitive with whoever you’re playing against. 

You can create your own custom teams to test out, with each worm given a name of your creation. This does end up in tragedy when that worm takes a dive off the map, however. There are endless weapons, resulting in endless possibilities for new and hilarious catastrophes to befall enemy teams. 

Super Smash Bros. 

Super Smash Bros. box for Nintendo 64
Image via Nintendo

Super Smash Bros. has been causing arguments between friends and family since 1999. It’s the ultimate rage-fueled button-mashing experience, and I’ll never be convinced that anyone actually has a clue what they’re doing. Regardless, Super Mario Bros. might be the pinnacle of multiplayer fun on N64. 

You set your own rules in multiplayer, and then regularly live to regret them. Ending a match with two or more players having the same score will result in sudden death, which is always a tense time, even without mentioning the additional 300% damage for all players during that portion. 

Donkey Kong 64

Donkey Kong 64 box for Nintendo 64
Image via Nintendo

Donkey Kong 64 is such a nostalgic game for anyone who was around during its release, and playing through the main story is something to enjoy even now. However, the multiplayer modes are perhaps one of the best features of Donkey Kong 64, and there are multiple to choose from. 

There are six multiplayer minigames, to be precise, and all of them will set you against other players to come out victorious. Whether you want to outright take lives from other players until only one person is left standing in Monkey Smash, or you want to knock each other off the platform in Battle Arena, dragging your friends into Donkey Kong 64 is always worth it.

The New Tetris

The New Tetris box for Nintendo 64
Image via Nintendo

Let’s face it, Tetris has strange addictive qualities, likely thanks to its simplistic nature that requires nothing more than dropping shaped pieces into a space to make lines. It’s easy, and that makes it fun. 

The New Tetris takes that beloved concept and adds up to three other players to play against, all vying for the high score. It also adds the concept of “Blocks” which can be made by creating 4×4 squares rather than lines, which then add additional points when a line within that block is cleared. 

Lego Racers

Lego Racers box for Nintendo 64
Image via Nintendo

As a kid, there was no game that could keep my attention for longer than Lego Racers. Building your own car out of Lego pieces, taking on the courses one at a time, and unlocking new parts for your car were all just so enjoyable. 

The multiplayer Versus Race mode is simple, allowing two people to play on a split screen with just the two of them on the track, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less fun. You can pick from pre-built or custom cars, and test out your skills on any of the tracks from the single-player mode. 

Perfect Dark

Perfect Dark box for Nintendo 64
Image via Nintendo

If you liked GoldenEye 007 and its multiplayer capabilities, then there’s absolutely no way that you wouldn’t like its spiritual successor Perfect Dark. It takes everything good about GoldenEye 007, and improves the mechanics and gameplay by a huge degree, rendering perhaps the best N64 multiplayer game of all time. 

There are various different types of deathmatch modes to play with friends, as to be expected, but there are also other elements. Players can team up to take down bots (or control them, depending on modes), complete challenges, and just have endless fun while also trying to get the highest grade at the end of a match. 


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Author
Image of Paula Vaynshteyn
Paula Vaynshteyn
With her first experience of gaming being on an Atari ST, Paula has been gaming for her entire life. She’s 9,000 hours deep into Final Fantasy XIV, spends more time on cozy games than she would care to admit, and is also a huge bookworm. Juggling online adventuring with family life has its struggles, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.