Best N64 Action Games of All Time

The N64 Action Library

The N64’s action game library built around the analog stick’s precision — the hardware capability that separated it most clearly from the PlayStation’s digital-only default. GoldenEye 007’s first-person shooter controls required analog aiming. Star Fox 64’s barrel roll and boost mechanics mapped precisely to stick movements. The console’s action titles consistently used the analog control as a primary design element rather than an optional input.

The first-person shooter category, essentially nonexistent on consoles before GoldenEye, became viable on the N64 specifically because the analog stick enabled more precise aiming than digital d-pads allowed. This opened a genre category that the PlayStation couldn’t fully address until the DualShock’s analog sticks became standard equipment.

GoldenEye 007 — The FPS Breakthrough

GoldenEye 007 (1997) proved that first-person shooters were viable on consoles — a fact the industry had contested after Doom’s Genesis and SNES ports demonstrated the format’s limitations on hardware without analog input. The N64’s analog stick didn’t match a PC mouse’s precision, but it provided sufficient control that Rare’s level design and targeting systems built around its capabilities.

The single-player campaign’s mission objectives — each level had Primary Objectives and secondary objectives unlocked on higher difficulty settings, with cheat codes earned by completing levels under target times — created replayability structured around skill acquisition rather than collectibles. Players who completed Facility in under 2:05 minutes on Agent difficulty unlocked Paintball Mode; players who completed it on 00 Agent difficulty while completing all objectives unlocked DK Mode. GoldenEye’s cheats were designed as skill rewards rather than secret discoveries.

Star Fox 64 — The Rail Shooter Perfected

Star Fox 64 (1997) replaced the original SNES Star Fox’s wireframe polygon rendering with filled-polygon models and added voice acting (and the Rumble Pak, included with the game, as the first first-party N64 peripheral that used force feedback). The branching route system — navigating between planets via route choices made during missions — created multiple valid paths through the Lylat System, with harder routes offering more points and higher scores.

The Corneria, Meteo, Titania, Bolse, and Venom routes each presented different challenge levels, and the multiplayer dogfight mode — four players in arwings or landmasters — used the N64’s four-port advantage for brief but satisfying competitive sessions.

Jet Force Gemini — Rare’s Hidden Classic

Jet Force Gemini (1999) was the N64’s third-person shooter that most players missed due to release timing and marketing. The game’s twin-stick-adjacent control scheme — before dual analog became standard — and its enormous interplanetary scope (12 planets, multiple characters with different movement capabilities) made it Rare’s most ambitious title outside GoldenEye.

The game’s Tribal rescue collectible system — completing each world required finding all surviving Tribals before the final areas could be unlocked — created a completionist framework that rewarded thorough exploration. Jet Force Gemini’s weapon variety, co-op mode, and visual quality made it one of the N64’s most technically accomplished releases.