16 Best Looking N64 Games

Turok 3 is the third main game in the Turok series, and it picks up right where Seeds of Evil left off. This time the hero is a pair of siblings, Danielle and Joseph Fireseed, who carry the Turok title against a cosmic monster called Oblivion. It got generally favorable reviews when it came out, and Nightdive Studios released a remaster on November 30, 2023.

It made this list because players who have played most of the N64 library picked it out for its graphics. It came late, when studios finally knew the hardware, and it shows. If you liked Turok 2 but wished you could see a little further into the fog, this is the one.

World Driver Championship was made by Boss Game Studios and published by Midway. It is one of the last racing sims on the N64, and it was built to show off. The team used custom microcode and high polygon count models, which gave it a far draw distance, so you see much less fog and pop-up than in most N64 racers.

It even has a 640x480 high resolution mode that does not need the Expansion Pak. The trick is a letterbox mode that shrinks the screen, which keeps the speed playable. The driving physics and the music took some knocks from reviewers, and the cars are unlicensed. None of that changes how good it looks, and it earned its place here for exactly that.

Banjo-Kazooie came out of Rare in 1998, built by a 15-member team that started out on a role-playing game and turned it into a platformer. It was developed on a Silicon Graphics workstation and uses an advanced technique to render its graphics. Critics praised its visuals and its soundtrack, and it sold over three million copies.

What helps it most today is the style. The cartoon look plays to what the N64 was good at, and that is why it still looks great when a lot of the console's more realistic games have aged badly. Big chunky shapes and bright colours hide the low resolution textures better than any photo-real wall ever could. Also, the bear has a backpack with a bird in it, so you were never going to forget it.

Seeds of Evil was meant to fit on a 12 MB cartridge with no multiplayer, but it ended up on a 32MB cartridge. It supports the Expansion Pak, which lets you play at a resolution of 640x480 pixels. Reviewers praised its detailed graphics and its deep levels, and it sold 1.4 million copies by January 1999.

It also shows the price of chasing those visuals on the N64. The frame rate drops and the distance fog were common complaints, and anyone who played it back then remembers squinting into the mist for the next dinosaur. Turning on the high resolution mode is still half the fun.

Rayman 2 took the hand-drawn storybook look of the first game and moved it into 3D with lush, vibrant colours. It was critically acclaimed for its gameplay and its graphics. The N64 version supports the Expansion Pak, which lets it run at a higher resolution, while the PC version has more detailed graphics and CD music.

On the N64 it was one of the few third-party platformers that could stand next to Nintendo's own. The forests glow and the limbless hero is full of character. It made this list because players who loved its levels also remembered how pretty they were. If you grew up with Mario 64 and Banjo, this is the one that felt like a European cousin.

Paper Mario came out in Japan in 2000 and in the rest of the world in 2001. Intelligent Systems made it after Square, the first choice, was busy with Final Fantasy VII. Its look is the whole idea: flat, two-dimensional cut-out characters walking around three-dimensional backgrounds. GameSpot named it the best Nintendo 64 game of 2001.

That flat look is why it has aged so well. Most N64 games aimed for 3D models and textures that were stretched thin, but Paper Mario went for something the hardware could draw cleanly. It still looks like a pop-up book today, and it is the one game here where the art style does all the work instead of the polygon count. It is also a great RPG, which helps.

F-Zero X is the first F-Zero game with 3D graphics, and you race against 29 other machines at speeds of over 1,000 km/h. Getting that many cars on screen at that speed came with a cost. To hold its frame rate, the developers cut back on detail in the backgrounds and on the cars, and critics complained about its lack of graphical detail.

So why is it here? Because the trade paid off. Players remember how smooth and fast it was, and that is what made it look so good in motion. It is a different idea of looking good from the rest of this list. Speed was the special effect.

Infernal Machine started out on Windows, directed by Hal Barwood, and the N64 got an enhanced port made with Factor 5. It came out only in North America. The year is 1947 and Indy is racing Soviet agents to the ruins of the Tower of Babel to find the pieces of the machine. Reviews liked the story and the level design but criticised the controls.

Players who know the N64's tricks point to it as one of the most impressive things on the system. It is like Tomb Raider with better graphics, and it is the game on this list most people never played.

Jet Force Gemini is Rare's shooter about Juno, Vela and their dog Lupus fighting off an insect army. It was inspired by 80s arcade games and by Super Metroid and Super Mario 64, so it mixes shoot 'em up action with exploring. Reviewers praised its detailed graphics but criticised the controls and having to save every single Tribal to finish the game.

Players call it gorgeous. The planets are big and colourful, and the bugs burst apart in a way that felt very new in 1999. It tends to get lost behind Rare's bigger names, which is a shame. If you skipped it because of the Tribals, the good news is it came to Nintendo Classics in 2023.

Wave Race 64 started out as F-Zero on water, with transforming boats, until Shigeru Miyamoto had them swapped for Jet Skis. You race across nine courses, and the waves react to the way you and the other riders move. Critics praised its controls and its watery worlds, and it is called one of the best games ever made.

The water is the star. Players say the water graphics and physics were amazing, especially that early in the N64's life, and plenty of them call it gorgeous outright. It came out early in the N64's life, which is part of why it hit so hard. Nobody had seen water bounce and roll like that in a home game before. It is still a lovely game to just float around in.

Star Fox 64 exists because Nintendo cancelled Star Fox 2 on the SNES, worried its 16-bit graphics would look poor next to newer games. The new one had voice samples from 23 different characters and was the first game to support the Rumble Pak. It sold more than 4 million copies and came out in Europe as Lylat Wars.

Players say it blew them away the first time, and that it still holds up better than most N64 games. Part of that is the style. The ships and enemies were always simple shapes, so time has not been as cruel to them. Flying with the whole team talking in your ear felt like a film, and it still looks clean on a good screen today.

Resident Evil 2 was ported to the N64 from the PlayStation, and it is a very faithful port. Most of the changes are to the cutscene quality, because of storage limits. That is the whole story of this game. A cartridge holds far less than a CD, so somebody had to make it fit without losing the game.

They pulled it off, and players call the N64 version a technical marvel. Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield still get their whole night in Raccoon City. The movies took a hit, but the game is all there.

Super Mario 64 is the first Super Mario game with 3D graphics. Shigeru Miyamoto had the idea during the making of Star Fox in 1993. Reviewers praised its ambition and its visuals, though some criticised the camera. It is the best-selling N64 game, with nearly twelve million copies sold by 2015.

The game is old enough that it is easy to forget how it felt. Players say it blew their minds. Swimming underwater for the first time felt like magic. The look is simple, but it plays to what the N64 could do, and players say it still looks great today. For a game from 1996, that is the highest praise there is.

Perfect Dark is Rare's spiritual successor to GoldenEye 007. It came out in North America on 22 May 2000, and you play as Joanna Dark, an agent fighting the dataDyne corporation over 17 main missions. It is one of the most technically advanced games on the N64, with an optional high resolution mode and Dolby Surround Sound.

You need the Expansion Pak to play the campaign and most of the multiplayer. Players say it pushed the N64 to its limit. It came out late enough that Rare knew every trick the hardware had, and you can see it in the lighting and the size of the levels. It is the best argument there is for buying the Expansion Pak.

Majora's Mask is the direct sequel to Ocarina of Time, and it uses the same engine and visual style. The big change is a three-day cycle that you have to reset again and again to make progress. It is called one of the greatest games of all time, though critics had a few small complaints about its graphical limits at the time.

Players do not agree with those complaints now. They call it a technical marvel and say it shows what the N64 could do with the Expansion Pak. Its colour palette and art direction are a big part of why it holds up. The falling moon with its angry face is the most famous picture in the game, and it is still terrifying.

Conker's Bad Fur Day was first planned as a family game called Twelve Tales: Conker 64. After criticism at E3 1998 Rare turned it into an adult-oriented version, and it came out in North America on 5 March 2001. Critics loved its visuals and humour, but it sold well below expectations so late in the N64's life. It has a cult following now.

Players call it the best looking game on the system. They point to its advanced graphics and its sharp textures. Conker's face changes with his mood, and it all runs on a cartridge. It finished well ahead of every other game on this list.