10 Best N64 vs 10 Best PS1 Games
10 Best N64 vs 10 Best PS1 Games
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we are putting the 10 Best N64 games beside the 10 Best PS1 Games, and letting you all decide who has the best lineup. I’m not deciding, because to be honest I’m scared of the comments, so I’m just presenting the facts and I’ll let ya’ll fight it out. These are the 10 Best N64 vs 10 Best PS1 Games. Let’s go!
“Super Smash Bros.” (1999)
"Super Smash Bros." started with a wonderfully silly idea: grab a bunch of Nintendo characters who had absolutely no reason to punch each other and make them do exactly that. Mario, Link, Kirby, Pikachu, Fox McCloud, Ness, Captain Falcon and others were suddenly sharing stages and knocking one another into the sky. It was awesome, more awesome than you could imagine today. What began as a fairly small side project quickly became a massive success, largely because the concept was just too much fun. Future games turned the roster into a gigantic gaming crossover, eventually bringing in outsiders like Solid Snake. Even so, the Nintendo 64 original still works surprisingly well, especially when four players are crammed around one television, pushing each other and knocking controllers out of each others hands.
“Vagrant Story” (2000)
"Vagrant Story" is the kind of PlayStation game that throws a mountain of ideas at you and somehow keeps the whole thing standing. Directed by Yasumi Matsuno, it mixes political drama, ancient history and dark fantasy with an absurdly detailed combat system, which I know sounds boring but it’s actually the goddamn best. Weapons can be built for specific enemy types, armor can be customized, special attacks need careful timing, and puzzles regularly interrupt the dungeon crawling. Even basic fights demand attention, while the bosses can be absolutely brutal if you walk in unprepared. It sounds like a recipe for complete disaster, but everything clicks together remarkably well. It released too late in the PS1’s lifecycle to be FF7, but it’s just as good!
“Paper Mario” (2000)
"Paper Mario" wins you over almost immediately with how cheerful and inviting everything feels. The paper-cutout art style still looks great, the soundtrack is full of playful little tunes, and the turn-based combat keeps you involved instead of letting you switch your brain off. The story is hardly revolutionary, but the cast has enough personality to carry it. It may not have the same weird magic as "Super Mario RPG", but on an N64 desperately short on RPGs, it was a huge treat. Chapter 2, "The Mystery of Dry, Dry Ruins", is a standout, especially with Parakarry tagging along while you explore temples, solve puzzles, and basically let Mario rival “Tomb Raider”.
“Silent Hill” (1999)
Few PlayStation games could make an empty street feel as threatening as "Silent Hill". Rather than relying entirely on monsters jumping out every five minutes, it builds fear through fog, strange noises, unsettling environments and the constant feeling that something is following you. "Silent Hill 2" would later receive much of the series’ praise, but the original deserves enormous credit for establishing that identity of Silent Hill. Its town feels mysterious, hostile and almost impossible to understand, which only makes exploring it more uncomfortable. At a time when horror games were still finding their feet, "Silent Hill" showed how good classic horror games are, despite looking blocky, and a little blurry.
“Star Fox 64” (1997)
Jumping back to Nintendo, let’s go to space. "Star Fox 64" takes everything the original was aiming for and makes it feel faster, smoother, and far more confident. Andross is back causing trouble in the Lylat system, so Fox McCloud, Falco, Peppy, and Slippy jump into their Arwings to deal with him again. The big improvement is how polished the 3D shooting feels, with more intense battles and better control over the action. It also introduced proper voice acting, giving us endlessly quotable lines like “Do a barrel roll,” whether we wanted them permanently stuck in our heads or not. We did not. Goddammit.
“Tomb Raider” (1996)
"Tomb Raider" works because so much of the adventure feels strangely lonely. Lara Croft spends huge stretches exploring enormous ruins with little more than distant animal noises and the occasional thing trying to kill her. Sometimes that means wolves and bears. Sometimes it means dinosaurs, because apparently ancient tombs keep things cool for centuries. Core Design’s levels were the real star, though, packed with huge chambers, clever platforming, hidden paths, and environments that felt genuinely mysterious. Lara became one of gaming’s biggest icons, and when that shotgun goes off, it still sounds like somebody just fired a cannon inside your living room. Rocked my ears, and Lara rocked my world.
“Conker's Bad Fur Day” (2001)
"Conker's Bad Fur Day" looks like another colourful Nintendo 64 platformer right up until the jokes start arriving. Conker wakes up after a massive night out, realizes he has absolutely no idea where he is, and spends the rest of the game trying to stumble back home through increasingly ridiculous situations. I know this sounds like a raunchy Sony game, but I promise it’s Nintendo. Along the way there are drunken scarecrows, rude bees, a giant singing pile of poo, and enough filthy humour to make it stand apart from almost everything else on the console. Under all that chaos, though, there is a genuinely fantastic platformer aimed at players who already know the genre.
“Gran Turismo 2” (1999)
"Gran Turismo 2" took an already successful racing formula and absolutely stuffed it with content. The original "Gran Turismo" may have sold more copies on the PlayStation, but plenty of fans still prefer the sequel because it simply gives you more to do. There are hundreds of cars to collect, loads of events to enter, and a progression system that makes every new purchase feel earned. It still takes its driving seriously, with the realistic handling and attention to detail the series became known for, but it never forgets to actually be fun.
“Banjo-Kazooie” (1999)
The PlayStation liked experimenting, while the N64 locked down how to make a perfect platformer. If you had both consoles, you’d be in heaven. Focusing on the N64 again, "Banjo-Kazooie" gives you one of gaming’s strangest rescue teams: a laid-back bear and an extremely loud bird living in his backpack. Their mission is to save Banjo’s sister Tooty from Gruntilda, a witch who plans to steal her beauty for herself. It is a ridiculous setup, but that fits perfectly with Rare’s sense of humour. The real strength comes from the worlds themselves, which are packed with collectibles, puzzles, secrets, memorable characters, and plenty of reasons to poke around every corner. It’s replayable, and cozy, PERFECT for a kid of the 90’s, or an adult for the 2020’s. Me.
“Tekken 3” (1997)
"Tekken 3" is one of those fighting games that made owning a PlayStation feel completely justified. The series already had a strong foundation, but this entry tightened everything up with faster movement, smoother combat, and a huge roster filled with memorable fighters. Better still, the console version was not simply a watered-down arcade port. It added extra characters like Gon and Dr. Bosconovitch, plus wonderfully strange side modes such as "Tekken Force" and "Tekken Ball". That gave players plenty to do even when nobody else was around to fight. Me and my buddies still do a yearly Tekken 3 tournament, it’s unreal, and super nerdy.
“Mario Kart 64” (1996)
"Mario Kart 64" may not be the series at its absolute best anymore, but it still knows exactly how to ruin a perfectly good friendship. The tracks are packed with memorable moments, from gambling on the Koopa Troopa Beach shortcut to barely surviving Bowser’s Castle or sailing over the huge jump in Royal Raceway. Banshee Boardwalk remains pure panic, especially when someone is breathing down your neck with a red shell. The handling can feel a little slippery compared with newer entries, but multiplayer still carries the game beautifully. Battle Mode is where things really shine, with Block Fort, Big Donut, and Skyscraper turning four-player matches into total chaos. This game filled my childhood with some of my favourite gaming memories.
“Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2” (2000)
"Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2" arrived at exactly the right time, when skateboarding culture was everywhere and the PlayStation was sitting in millions of homes. Plenty of skating games tried to cash in on that moment, but this was the one that completely nailed it. Neversoft gave players huge levels to explore, ridiculous trick possibilities, and controls that were easy to understand without making the game feel shallow. You could spend hours chasing high scores, finding gaps, completing objectives, or just seeing how badly you could destroy Tony Hawk’s knees. Although it later appeared on the N64, the PS1 version was where the game really exploded.
“Goldeneye 007” (1997)
There was absolutely no reason for a licensed James Bond game on the Nintendo 64 to be this good, yet "GoldenEye 007" somehow became one of the console’s defining releases. The single-player campaign turned familiar moments from the film into open-ended missions filled with objectives, stealth, gadgets, and plenty of guards who reacted a little too slowly to being shot. Then there was the multiplayer, ooh boy the multiplayer, which completely took over living rooms. Four-player split-screen matches on maps like Facility became instant chaos, especially once someone picked Oddjob and ruined everyone’s afternoon. The controls have definitely aged, but the game’s influence has not.
“Resident Evil 2” (1998)
When you take everything that works in your first game and build upon it, you are going to make gold. In “Resident Evil 2”, instead of being trapped inside one mansion, Leon and Claire have to survive a Raccoon City that has already gone spectacularly wrong. Ammo is limited, healing items matter, puzzles break up the panic, and even a single zombie can become a problem if you waste too many bullets. The police station remains one of horror gaming’s most memorable locations, but the adventure constantly expands beyond it. The 2019 remake may be the version newer players know best, yet the PS1 original still holds enormous importance. I played it after enjoying the remake so much, and it holds up you guys!
“The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask” (2000)
"The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask" wastes no time making things uncomfortable. Link leaves Hyrule behind and ends up in Termina, a strange world living under the shadow of a gigantic moon that is slowly falling toward the ground. Everything revolves around a repeating three-day cycle, forcing you to learn routines, solve problems, and eventually reset time with the Song of Time before everything gets flattened. That mechanic gives the game a completely different rhythm from "Ocarina of Time", because progress often comes from knowing exactly where to be and when. The darker mood can feel intimidating at first, but it is also what makes the adventure so freakin cool.
“Castlevania: Symphony of the Night” (1997)
"Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" showed up on a console obsessed with 3D graphics and casually reminded everyone that 2D games were doing just fine. Instead of simply sending players through another linear castle, it opened Dracula’s home into a huge interconnected maze packed with secrets, upgrades, bosses, and areas you could completely miss. The gothic artwork still looks fantastic, the soundtrack is brilliant, and exploring the castle remains dangerously easy to lose hours in. More importantly, it completely changed what "Castlevania" could be, blending action platforming with RPG-style progression and open exploration. It’s also kinda cool that Sony stole this property from Nintendo, backstabbing is the best.
“Super Mario 64” (1996)
Peach invites Mario over for cake, which sounds lovely until he arrives and discovers Bowser has turned the entire castle into a giant hostage situation. From there, "Super Mario 64" sends players diving through magical paintings into open 3D worlds packed with Power Stars, secrets, shortcuts, and strange little challenges. At the time, simply running around these spaces felt revolutionary. Mario could jump, flip, climb, swim, crawl, and explore with a freedom the series had never offered before. Each level also had its own identity, from snowy mountains to haunted mansions. It was groundbreaking at the time, and really truly still holds up today, with or without nostalgia.
“Final Fantasy VII” (1997)
Before it became one of PlayStation’s defining games, "Final Fantasy VII" was originally being planned for the N64. Yoink! Moving to Sony’s console changed everything. CD-ROM storage gave Square far more room for pre-rendered backgrounds, lengthy cutscenes, huge locations, and the kind of cinematic presentation that simply would not have fit comfortably on a cartridge. The result was a JRPG that felt enormous in 1997 and still carries that reputation today. Between its memorable cast, Materia system, massive amount of optional content, and one particular story moment nobody has ever stopped talking about, "Final Fantasy VII" became bigger than the series itself. It helped push JRPGs into the mainstream and remains one of the PS1’s best releases.
“The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” (1998)
I cannot think of another game that completely swallowed, and continues to swallow my free time like "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time". In 1998, Hyrule felt enormous, mysterious, and somehow real enough that being told to go outside genuinely felt like an interruption. Some parts have aged, of course. The inventory is clunky, combat is simple, and the world feels smaller now. But the story still hits incredibly hard. Watching Link grow from a child into an adult and seeing familiar places ruined gives the adventure a sadness that sticks with you. Play a song from the soundtrack, and I will get emotional, it’s weird!
“Metal Gear Solid” (1998)
Of course I put this in first place, couldn’t help myself. Eight years after the series had last appeared, "Metal Gear Solid" returned and suddenly made video games feel a lot closer to movies. Hideo Kojima filled Shadow Moses with lengthy conversations, dramatic camera work, strong voice acting, memorable villains, and enough plot twists to keep everyone guessing what was actually happening. Thankfully, it was not just a very long film with occasional button prompts. Sneaking past guards, watching patrol routes, hiding in boxes, and avoiding detection made stealth feel exciting in a way few games had managed before. It is an incredible game that NEEDS a remake NOW.
