10 N64 Games That Actually Need A Remake

Despite the fact that the Nintendo 64 is unquestionably one of the most recognisable consoles ever made, the library of games available on the console with the silly controller isn’t that big. There’s a couple of hundred games, but the library of N64 games is nowhere near as large or as diverse as the console’s contemporaries. Compare the library of the N64 to the PS1, and it’s almost a night and day difference, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t games on the Nintendo 64 that deserve to be remade on modern platforms.

From platformers to racing games, fighting games and everything in between, the N64 holds plenty of treasured games that deserve a second chance to shine, even if that’s just because old 3D graphics are kind of crap at this point. Here’s our picks for the N64 games that we reckon should get a remake at some point in the future.

 

1. Ready 2 Rumble Boxing

We can pretty much all agree that the world needs more boxing games, right? We took the overabundance of Fight Night games for granted, and now we’re lucky to see anything similar. Sure, there’s Undisputed that’s still in early access, with a full release planned for October 2024, but there were also plenty of arcadey 3D boxing games during the PS1/2 and N64/GameCube era. One boxing game in particular that deserves to make a comeback in some capacity is Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, which arguably takes the cake as one of the most ridiculous sports games ever made.

Admittedly, the original characters on offer in this game stray wildly into stereotypes, but the Ready 2 Rumble series of games is perhaps most notable for two things, both of which were from the sequel, Round 2. Firstly, it allowed players to have a match between Michael Jackson and Bill Clinton, which is pretty silly already, but the real lunacy comes with the game’s final boss: a Hulk-like version of veteran announcer/legend Michael Buffer referred to as Rumbleman.

 

2. Body Harvest

Games about an alien invasion are about as commonplace as that character you always see in TV and movies who explains exposition like everyone watching is five years old. Anyway, the concept of Body Harvest might not sound that engaging when you first hear about it, as you control Adam Drake as he tries to put a stop to an alien invasion, but the twist here is that the aliens have been coming for the past century; once every 25 years, to be precise. As Adam, you’ll travel back to each individual invasion and try to put a stop to it.

Body Harvest comes from a pre-GTA 3 DMA Design, and showcases elements of the gameplay that the team who’d later rebrand as Rockstar North would become known for, including free roaming gameplay and various missions to complete. A time hopping adventure against an alien menace might not be an original pitch these days, especially as there’s still Serious Sam games being made, but one that gives players wide open levels to explore and does some interesting things with its time mechanics might be worth re-exploring in the future. Maybe if Rockstar decides they’ve made enough money from GTA Online Shark Cards.

 

3. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

Kirby might have become a genuine mascot for Nintendo at this point, thanks to his continued appearances in Super Smash Bros. and the success of games like Kirby And The Forgotten Land, or Kirby’s Return To Dreamland. The pink ball of joy who regularly fights inter-dimensional horrors beyond human comprehension, Kirby is definitely in a better place culturally than he was when Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards first launched on the Nintendo 64, so why not have HAL Laboratory and Nintendo give it another go here?

Like Return To Dreamland and other traditional Kirby games, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards is a 2.5D platformer that sees Kirby and friends working together to eat enemies and claim their abilities for their own. What made Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards unique among other games in the series was the ability to combine copy abilities, with Kirby able to create up to 28 different combinations of already existing abilities, adding extra layers of fun to an already varied and enjoyable platformer. The original game is available on the Nintendo Switch Online emulator, but let’s put a fresh coat of paint on this bad boy.

 

4. Hybrid Heaven

Hybrid Heaven is one of those games that simply refuses to be pigeon-holed, as it borrows elements from action adventure/platformers like the original Tomb Raider games, turn-based RPGs, sci-fi plots like Blade Runner and, of all things, wrestling. If that all sounds like your jam, allow us to remind you that Hybrid Heaven was developed by Konami, and while the Japanese company is deep in their remake era at the minute, with MGS 3’s remake on the way, Hybrid Heaven is probably a bit too obscure to get the same treatment.

Players control a lad by the name of Mr Diaz, a hybrid created by a secretive alien race living in a bunker underneath Manhattan. There’s a lot going on with the plot and worldbuilding in this game, but basically, some alien bad guy wants to conquer Earth by replacing world leaders with alien/human hybrids like it’s a forgotten Treehouse of Terror episode, and so you’ll team up with some good aliens to stop it from happening. What this translates to is multiple hours of running, jumping and suplexing your way through underground bunkers and research labs, which you only really get in Resident Evil 4 these days. With a weird plot, unique gameplay mixtures and ludicrous characters, there’s plenty of reasons why Hybrid Heaven deserves another chance.

 

5. Mischief Makers

You want to talk about a studio that’s dropped nothing but hidden gems and bangers just waiting to be remade? Let’s talk about Treasure. The Japanese outfit hasn’t really be that active in the past 10 years, but in the 90s and 2000s, they were responsible for some of the best games on consoles, including the Genesis (Alien Soldier, Gunstar Heroes, Dynamite Headdy) and SEGA Saturn (Guardian Heroes, Radiant Silvergun), but perhaps their most underrated game is the N64’s Mischief Makers, a platformer where you grab and shake pretty much everything in sight.

Admittedly, Mischief Makers might have been overlooked by some for being a 2.5D platformer on a console trying to embrace full 3D, but despite the supposed handicap, Mischief Makers allowed Treasure the opportunity to do what they do best: create amazing enemies and worlds that play with perspective and scaling. While other Treasure N64 games like Bangai-O and Sin & Punishment would also make for a worthwhile remake, Mischief Makers feels like it’s been lost to time.

 

6. Blast Corps

Also known as that brutally hard game that was released as part of Rare Replay on the Xbox One in 2015, Blast Corps is a fiendishly difficult driving/destruction hybrid that tasked players with destroying key objectives in either a certain time limit, or with some other restrictions in place. It’s hard to put into words just how difficult and frustrating Blast Corps could be, especially when you’re playing as a dump truck that likes to drift as if you’re playing Burnout, but when you’ve finally nailed a tricky level, it’s endorphins and serotonin overload.

A remake of Blast Corps would be interesting, even if it’d be unlikely considering it’s an Xbox property at this point, as Rare or whoever would be in charge of developing it would be able to leverage modern technology to create some realistic but still fun destruction physics. Using your vehicle to strategically topple a building instead of just ramming it and hoping the whole thing drops would be interesting. It seems like indie creators agree that Blast Corps should be remade too, with games like ABRISS – Build To Destroy, Instruments Of Destruction and Teardown leading the charge of a new wave of Blast Corps-esque destruction porn, though none have had the difficulty or memorability that Blast Corps ever had. We need more drifting dump trucks, basically, even if that level gave everyone who played it trauma.

 

7. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron

The Star Wars: Rogue Squadron games are up there with some of the most requested video game remakes of all time, and it’s not hard to see why. Respawn currently has the lightsaber battles on lock with the Jedi series, while Ubisoft are giving players the experience of being a miscreant in the galaxy far, far away with Star Wars Outlaws, but we’d love another chance to be a part of the coolest part of the whole franchise: the ship battles. A remake of Star Wars: Rogue Squadron would fit that bill entirely.

Set during the first two films, players control both Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles as they lead the titular Rogue Squadron in missions against the Empire across the Galaxy. While the formula and gameplay of Rogue Squadron were improved in the sequel, Rogue Leader for the Nintendo GameCube, the basics on display here in Rogue Squadron have cemented its place as one of the most iconic Star Wars games ever made. Let’s have another one, shall we? In fact, throw Rogue Leader and Rebel Strike in there for good measure. We’ve been ever so good this year.

 

8. Snowboard Kids 1 + 2

Games of the mid to late 90s, heading into the 2000s, were very much obsessed with extreme sports, snowboarding especially. The N64 alone already had 1080 Avalanche, and there’s obviously the legendary SSX series once you reach the PS2, Xbox and GameCube generation, but one snowboarding game that’s been overlooked over the years is Snowboard Kids. Perhaps that’s because the game was compared rather unfavorably to Mario Kart back when it first launched, but snowboarding and Mario Kart style power-ups sound fine to us.

Developed by ATLUS, who probably have a lot more important things going on right now than working on a remake of a snowboarding game, Snowboard Kids was still an incredibly enjoyable and competitive take on going downhill fast. Its sequel, the aptly named Snowboard Kids 2, improved on the formula even more with additional characters, new tracks and an actual single-player Story Mode, making for an even better game. Stick both of them together in a remake, and maybe we could use it as an agenda to bully EA into an SSX remake. It’s all about the long game, baby.

 

9. Wave Race 64

Is it tempting to say we want an F-Zero X remake? Absolutely, but we’re saving that energy for an F-Zero GX remake (with additional AX content), which is obviously never going to happen. Instead, let’s talk about Wave Race 64, which was originally pitched and referred to as “F-Zero on water” thanks to the fact that it would have featured boats instead of jet skis. Thankfully, Wave Race 64 stuck to jet skis instead, and it was a much better game for it, and now we’re hoping that Nintendo actually does something with this franchise.

While Nintendo might have had a decent supply of racing games already between Mario Kart 64 and F-Zero X, Wave Race 64’s connection to the water made for an experience completely different from those two games. It also allowed Nintendo the ability to showcase the enhanced graphics and physics that the N64 was capable of, with a wide range of weather and water conditions that would affect the race as a whole. Showcasing the power of a console with Wave Race was a trick that Nintendo would use again with Blue Storm, and Nintendo would be wise to do it again with their new Switch console.

 

10. Space Station Silicon Valley

You want an example of a game being massively ahead of its time? Compare Space Station Silicon Valley to Super Mario Odyssey, and you’ll see a lot of the same DNA in both games. Granted, Nintendo already had a pretty solid base to work from when it came to 3D Mario platforming, but the added element of Cappy hijacking enemy’s minds so Mario can harness their abilities was lifted almost entirely from Space Station Silicon Valley. Turns out that DMA Design was ahead of their time in more ways than one.

Players control a robot named Evo, who has unfortunately been reduced to a microchip because of a ship crash. Rapidly losing power, Evo is forced to attack various animals in order to hijack them and use their abilities for their own purposes. Sound familiar? What adds another dimension to Space Station Silicon Valley’s gameplay is that certain animals can only exist or survive in their preferred environments, so good luck trying to make a polar bear survive in the jungle biomes. It didn’t work in Lost for that polar bear, it’s not going to work here. With a new coat of paint, or some new biomes and animals, Space Station Silicon Valley deserves another go.

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