F-Zero X does everything right. It surpasses the limits of the Nintendo 64 in order to offer silky-smooth, skill-based, high-grit racing goodness. Combine that with the tension (and hilarity) offered by having to go at it personally with up to three of your right-hand men, and you've got the finest 4-player offering as well as the finest racing game on this console.

I regret having not looked into playing this particular game earlier. Nintendo and tennis have gone hand in hand before, but no iteration hits it home quite like the one with its own mascot front and center. The game is functionally straightforward, but the true fun lies in the differences each course and each set of characters offer.

Side note: Camelot went wild when making this game. They're incredibly talented developers who made the most out of a cute little Mario game.

Kirby 64 has three minigames that are all small-scale in nature, but progressively increase in depth. In short, you get so much out of so little if you give these games a try.

The first is 100-Yard Hop, a hopping race minigame where you can either press A to jump two spaces, or B to jump one space. A 3-year-old could grasp the concept. The fun part is doing it fast.

The second one is a game where you tussle with your fellow men to see who collects the most fruit, as they fall from a tree. You can either push against, or places with, your opponents, and it can get brutal at times.

The third--best for last--, is Checkerboard Chase. This one is grid-based, and quite amazing. The nature of it, where you can remove the ground other players stand on, makes for a world of replay value. You will not want to stick to playing this minigame once. This minigame alone pushes Kirby 64 to the #3 spot in this ranking. My earnest recommendation to all who read this, is that they give this particular minigame a shot with their friends.

The fact that I can place Dr. Mario 64 on this list is wonderful. (The fact that I can't place Pokémon Puzzle League on this list is not.) I was already a huge fan of this game on the NES, and I was surprised by how much the 4-player touch adds to the experience, even if only slightly. It's not as competitive as Puyo Puyo is, and it works in its own, more unique way. It's got a little bit of a learning curve, and thus frankly no Tetris, but Dr. Mario 64 in particular is quite a lovely and charming game, with its own cute visual flair for a 2001 N64 game.

Star Fox 64 is fantastic, but maybe suited a little more for single player than multi player. The single session that we had played was on quite lengthy, and frankly, even a bit drab. The game controls sleek, but it's a bit of a tussle when playing against others who have the same exact playstyle at their own disposal.

In comparison to F-Zero X, Mario Kart 64 feels quite paltry, both visually and mechanically. It doesn't help that Mario Kart is a very incremental series that already has a pristine, hi-quality offering on the Switch. This one, of all the ones I've played, aged a little on the worse end. I will say, though, the way the items function is drastically different, and less tailored to the player's position, which means that there's a twinge more to be asked of the player when it comes to staying ahead of the rest.

Mario Golf is one that I would definitely have to go back to, and also one of few that is considerably set back by the fact that I played it on Nintendo Switch Online rather than on a real Nintendo 64. It's developed by Camelot, who later go on to make the better game Mario Tennis. The game is moderately impressive for N64, but requires input precision that cannot be consistently done when doing peer-to-peer multiplayer with three other people.

MID Back... The cover-based shooting gameplay does well for a game that uses the Nintendo 64 controller, to be clear, and the game's aesthetic has hammy charm to boot. Despite those cute facets, the four-player here felt like a dollar store alternative to GoldenEye 007's much more exciting and appealing gameplay. Probably unfair of me to compare a third person shooter to a first person shooter, but Koei ultimately did not hit the mark here.