For those who grew up gaming in the late 90s during the fifth console generation, the Nintendo 64 likely stirs up nostalgia for blowing on cartridges, using that tiny rumble pak accessory, and of course, playing groundbreaking 3D adventures that redefined genres.
While the N64 wasn‘t known for RPGs compared to the mighty stacks of discs on competing PlayStation systems, the few RPG gems released have stood the test of time as some of the most creative, innovative, and enduringly fun masterpieces ever enjoyed.
But what specifically earned these games the title of the absolute best N64 RPGs to grace the 64-bit console? Grab your controllers as we countdown and celebrate these legends while exploring what made them so special.
Defining the N64 RPG
First, let‘s clarify what even constitutes an "RPG" since it can be a fuzzy genre. RPG typically stands for "roleplaying game" where the player controls a central character (or party of characters) that evolves by gaining experience points to increase stats and learn new abilities for battling foes.
Core features often include questing in an interactive world, customizeable equipment, some character customization systems, and a story allowing players to feel immersed in the role of the protagonist. Of course, variations abound.
So why does picking the best N64 RPGs get tricky? Well, the N64 wasn‘t designed with traditional turn-based RPG mechanics in mind. Instead, most incorporated real-time action elements resulting in experimental mashups between game genres.
You‘ll see everything from puzzle games to platformers to dungeon crawlers on this list that stretched the definition of what a video game RPG could be at the time. But their innovation paved the way for venerable franchises and inspired game design for decades since.
Now, let‘s revisit 7 of these revolutionary masterpieces that pushed creative boundaries far beyond what anyone thought technologically possible in the medium.
The Absolute Best N64 RPGs of All Time
1. The Legend of Zelda Series
Obviously no discussion of the greatest N64 games can exclude the two entries widely considered among the best video games ever made:
Ocarina of Time (1998) and Majora‘s Mask (2000).
Both revolutionized 3D open world level design and illusion of freedom with lock-on targeting, context actions, day/night cycles, richly detailed settings like Hyrule and Termina overflowing with hidden secrets, and one of the medium‘s most iconic player characters ever in Link.
Ocarina pioneered cinematic techniques in gameplay with sweeping camera cuts for emotional story beats. Riding across Hyrule Field on Epona the horse as Koji Kondo‘s strummed melody fades in implanted the sequence permanently into gamers‘ memories.
The ocarina playing melodies to manipulate time and teleport around the world added incredible atmosphere. Meanwhile, Majora‘s Mask built on this foundation but dared to get weird with a Groundhog Day time loop story requiring careful scheduling over 3 days to stop the Moon from annihilating the land by awakening guardians.
Putting on masks allowed transforming into different beings with specialized abilities for puzzles and combat. No other games delivered gameplay mechanics so creative yet successfully integrated into the story and progression.
Both garnered nearly perfect review scores for their genre-defining ambition. As GameSpot‘s Ocarina review said in 1998, "Ocarina of Time is one of those once- or twice-in-a-decade experiences that transcends gaming and becomes a cultural phenomenon." Rarely do game franchises achieve such unanimous reverence and influence.
Key Features:
- Open-ended 3D world exploration
- Lock-on targeting system
- Contextual actions for puzzles and combat
- Transformations (in Majora‘s Mask)
- Character growth via items and extended health/magic meters
- Side quests like Gold Skulltula hunts
Why They‘re The Best:
These two games set the gold standard for every 3D action RPG ever since with their incredible level design, gameplay innovations, unforgettable music, emotional storyline, and sheer ambition of scope conceptually and pushing hardware limits. They made a generation fall in love with gaming.
2. Paper Mario (2001)
Transporting the Super Mario series into new genre territory, Nintendo‘s development studio Intelligent Systems crafted an instantly charming paper-themed hybrid RPG adventure.
Beyond just the papery aesthetic allowing Mario and companions to fold, flip, crumble and float around diorama-style 3D environments, the turn-based battle system iterated on RPG tropes.
Timed button presses during attacks amped up interactivity while FP introduced a separate meter governing powerful abilities from inventory hammer strikes. Badges altered combat skills and world interactions extensively.
Side quest rewards like recipes even affected Mario‘s status entering battle. Partners brought specialized skills like Parakarry‘s flying and mailbox access for progression. And the writing…oh the hilarious, wacky dialogue!
As just one example, IGN praised in their review:
"Its RPG elements combine the accessibility that Nintendo is famous for with enough depth and innovation to make this an instant classic."
Blending accessibility with challenge for veterans thrilled gamers worldwide, kickstarting a beloved franchise now 5 entries strong.
Key Features:
- Whimsical paper visual motif
- Timed attacks during turn-based battles
- FP meter for special moves
- Status-altering consumable items/badges
- Partner characters with specialized skills
- Funny writing and NPC side quests
Why It‘s One of the Best:
Paper Mario reinvigorated the RPG genre by streamlining repetitive tropes into snappy, fast-paced battles complimented by charming writing where everything from the props to NPCs brimmed with personality. It expanded Mario‘s world through a new playful lens focused on fun over stat management.
3. Harvest Moon 64 (1999)
In an era dominated by fantasy swords and sorcery adventures, the cozy gameplay of Harvest Moon 64 enchanted gamers seeking a more relaxed role-playing experience.
As a budding farm owner inheriting their grandfather‘s property, players pass seasons tending crops, raising cows/chickens, foraging mountain herbs, and customizing a humble cottage into a homestead over years.
Romancing one of 5 villager candidates adds subplot drama through the tricky choreography of gift-giving, letter-writing, and talking at just the right moments to woo a partner without rival couples interfering.
While basic graphically, the open-ended formula allowing players to set their own goals month-to-month persisted as endlessly playable thanks to variable events, romantic subplots, and resource strategies.
Gameplay rewarded diligent routine akin to real farm life over slackness. As one reviewer described:
"It‘s the perfect game for obsessive compulsive people that take joy in repetition and patterns." (Nintendo World Report)
And indeed the satisfaction of a job well done when your homestead thrives through effort makes Harvest Moon therapeutic. The cozy pace distinguished itself on a console dominated by action games.
Key Features:
- Open-ended goals across 4 seasons/years
- Crop harvesting and livestock raising
- Home customization system
- Friendship/romance systems
- Foraging and collectables hunting
Why It‘s One of the Best:
Few other games exude such charming atmosphere or make mundane real-life activities fun through resource management and routine-building. As a "zen" RPG, Harvest Moon stands the test of time for delivering a unique, memorable experience.
4. Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber (2000)
While the N64 wasn‘t designed with tactical RPGs in mind, the underrated masterpiece Ogre Battle 64 overcame limitations to deliver one of the most ambitious RPG war sagas ever seen.
Spanning 30+ hours just on a single playthrough, players command armies of customizable troops led by young officer Magnus Gallant, arranging over 75 character types across squads in real-time battles.
The staggering amount of customization in gear/skills plus multiple possible endings and paths to the finale based on choices such as liberating towns makes this a hallmark of replayability on N64.
As RPGamer‘s review stated:
"With Ogre Battle 64, Atlus has crafted an excellent game that possesses depth, challenge, replayability, and beauty."
The scope of tactical options coupled with a political drama storyline woven amid scenes of marching armies crossing sprawling lands created an unforgettable adventure marrying RPG progression with large-scale war chess.
Key Features:
- Real-time tactical battles
- 75+ troop types for army customization
- Weapon/armor/skill crafting
- Army management simulation aspects
- Multiple endings based on choices
Why It‘s One of the Best:
Ogre Battle 64 achieved the impossible in translating complex tactical systems into one of the most engrossing RPG war stories on a system pushing polygons to the max just to render battlefield visuals. The commitment to depth with meaningful choices exemplified how N64 could realize ambitious game designs through compromise and imagination.
5. Gauntlet Legends
Gauntlet Legends may sport crude visuals by modern standards, but as a local 4-player party experience this hack-and-slash dungeon RPG knocks it out of the park.
Selecting from Warrior, Valkyrie, Wizard, or Archer, players traverse fantasy realms from forests to lava pits battling mythic Skorne‘s minions across 40+ levels crunching bones and robots beneath boots.
Character builds diversify based on preferred playstyles of melee, ranged attacks, or spellcasting as players unlock new abilities slaying monsters. Special turbo attacks and acquired potions aid tough boss showdowns.
While rudimentary narratively, the compulsive gameplay kept friends adventuring for hours, mobbing enemies, grabbing gold chests for items, and toppling colossal bosses together through teamwork. It was digestible arcade chaos.
Up to 4 could play simultaneously while online functionality enabled saving character progress through password codes typed at the start. As AllGame‘s review raved in 2000:
"Gauntlet Legends is one of the most entertaining multiplayer N64 games released."
The ultimate party experience, Gauntlet Legends distilled RPG joy down to monster bashing simplicity anyone could pickup and play…especially with beers and buddies on the couch.
Key Features:
- Local 4-player co-op
- Realms with 40+ levels
- 4 playable character classes
- Unlockable special attacks
- Online cross-console character saves
Why It‘s One of the Best:
The delightful, silly fun of plowing through creepy dungeons smashing skulls shines brightest enjoying Gauntlet‘s straightforward systems designed around delivering quick pick-up-and-play fun for players of all ages rather than complex mechanics. Toss in 3 friends and it became magical.
6. Custom Robo V2 (2000, Japan Exclusive)
The tragically Japan-only release of Custom Robo V2 meant many N64 owners missed out on this creative battles of customized bots action RPG.
As young Robo Commanders, players build fierce mini-mechs from hundreds of parts like weapons, pods, CPUs, and reinforced armor to take into urban arenas dueling other owners‘ designs or challenging AI in story mode.
The customization depth allows tweaking weight, battery output, offensive capabilities, and movement type between bipedal walkers vs more agile hovering models. Players familiar with mechanics like hit stun, cancelling lag, or spacing dominated through expertise.
Beyond robot construction, the gameplay relied entirely on skill directing Robos in battle; a satisfying hybrid of real-time third-person combat, collecting gear blueprints, and becoming the ultimate engineer architecting mechanical fighters.
This ingenious concept inventing battles between elaborate Swiss army knife-like robots, unfortunately, never reached America fully. But as legend tells, for Japanese kids, this exceeded even Pokémon in obsession and competitive fun.
Key Features:
- Customizable robot creation
- stat-altering robot part collection
- Real-time robot battles
- Robo Commanders story mode vs AI bosses
Why It‘s One of the Best:
The sheer depth of strategic customization paired with skill-based fights between personalized mecha displays tremendous ambition within hardware limitations that foreshadowed the mech action genre. It‘s a shame Custom Robo existed as Japan‘s best kept N64 secret for so long.
Top N64 RPGs Side-By-Side Comparison
| Game | Release Year | Developer | Genre | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ocarina of Time | 1998 | Nintendo EAD | Action RPG | 7.6 million |
| Majora‘s Mask | 2000 | Nintendo EAD | Action RPG | 3.36 million |
| Paper Mario | 2001 | Intelligent Systems | RPG | 2.28 million |
| Harvest Moon 64 | 1999 | Victor Interactive Software | Simulation RPG | Over 250,000 |
| Ogre Battle 64 | 2000 | Quest | Strategy RPG | Over 155,550 |
| Gauntlet Legends | 1998 | Atari Games | Action RPG | Over 1 million all consoles |
| Custom Robo V2 | 2000 | Noise | Action RPG | Over 250,000 Japan |
Conclusion
The N64 may have lacked the quantity of heavyweight RPGs seen on competing PlayStation or even previous Nintendo systems.
Yet the few RPG epics that did manifest for those enchanting 64-bits punched far above their weight class in creative vision, genre-bending innovation, unforgettable atmosphere, and laying groundwork for venerable franchises.
Indeed, iterations on The Legend of Zelda‘s gold standard template for 3D open world design, Ocarina of Time and Majora‘s Mask specifically influence game developers and comparisons between new titles and these masterpieces made decades ago to this day. Talk about timelessness!
However, the other RPG greats highlighted here also made positive impacts redefining gameplay formulas, visual presentation, integrating storytelling, and complementary multiplayer dynamics that strengthened bonds between players on couches and bean bags everywhere.
So while limited in number, the best Nintendo 64 RPGs represent shining milestones in the gaming medium‘s ongoing evolution. Their design philosophies distilled complex mechanics down to accessible, immediately enjoyable yet deceptively deep essentials.
If you ever encounter someone who claims N64 didn‘t deliver memorable RPG experiences, kindly refer them to this curated collection of classics cradling myriad brilliant ideas that developers still emulate and iterate upon across platforms and genres today.
Just make sure the cartridge contacts are clean before inserting your favorite and reliving childhood!
