The Nintendo 64 came at a time when the Pokemon franchise was really starting to hit its stride. The Gameboy games were blowing people’s minds, and Nintendo knew that they were onto a winner. This meant that they had to start launching Nintendo 64 games too.
One of our favorite things about the Nintendo 64 games is how original they were. Each of them brought something slightly different to the table, and each of them allowed Nintendo to experiment with something a little bit different.
On this page, we are going to take a look at the best Pokemon games for N64. The list is in the order that we think is the best. However, let’s be honest, all of them are great.
Pokemon Snap
Pokemon Snap has recently enjoyed a brand-new game on the Nintendo Switch, but it all began several decades ago with the original Pokemon Snap.
Pokemon Snap was an on-the-rails shooter, but with a twist. Rather than mowing down Pokemon with a gun, you would be taking photographs of them.
There were a ton of ways to snap pics in this game and, as you progress, you would unlock more tools that would get the Pokemon into the positions that you wanted them in.
Pokemon Snap tops our list because it was just so different from everything else in the Pokemon franchise at the time. It was just pure relaxation.
To check the current price and availability of Pokemon Snap, click here to view the listing on Amazon.
Pokemon Stadium
Pokemon Stadium took those 2D battles on your Gameboy and launched them into the 3D world.
Pokemon Stadium was a collection of 3D Pokemon battles and mini-games. However, the real thrill of Pokemon Stadium came when you connected up your Transfer-Pak.
The Transfer-Pak allowed you to play the Pokemon that you had caught in the Gen 1 versions of the game (Blue, Red, Yellow, and Green if in Japan) and fight with them in Pokemon Stadium. You could even play the game cartridge on your screen.
Pokemon Stadium allowed you to unlock Pokemon that you could bring over to your Pokemon games on the Gameboy, providing new ways to access Pokemon that your version may not have had access to.
To check the current price and availability of Pokemon Stadium, click here to view the listing on Amazon.
Pokemon Stadium 2
Pokemon Stadium 2 was the sequel to Pokemon Stadium. This game allowed you to get Gen 1 and Gen 2 Pokemon into the games.
Everything was better here. More Pokemon. More mini games. Better multiplayer.
The reason why we are not including Pokemon Stadium 2 ahead of the original is due to the way that the game worked. The game was incredibly hard. It pretty much required you to have a Transfer-Pak. If you didn’t have that, then you wouldn’t be able to get that much out of the game. It’s a shame, really. The game was amazing apart from that.
Still, if you had the Transfer-Pak, then Pokemon Stadium would have beaten the original hands-down.
To check the current price and availability of Pokemon Stadium 2, click here to view the listing on Amazon.
Pokemon Puzzle League
We suppose the best way to describe Pokemon Puzzle League is as ‘similar to Bejeweled’, although not quite.
Pokemon Puzzle League is a puzzle game. You would be faced against a competitor, and your goal was to match three colors up to eradicate them form the screen, scoring you points.
Honestly, Pokemon Puzzle League was not really anything original. It was a classic Japanese game (something that Nintendo had released before) with a Pokemon skin slapped onto it.
Still, we can’t help but feel a ton of love for Pokemon Puzzle League. It had cool animated scenes. It played into the Pokemon theme pretty well, and the AI in this game was probably some of the most advanced for a puzzle game at the time.
We know that Pokemon Puzzle League is not going to be for everybody. It is not for those that are looking for the classic Pokemon experience. It is for those that really want to put their brain to work. It’s fun, but in small doses.
To check the current price and availability of Pokemon Puzzle League, click here to view the listing on Amazon.
Hey You, Pikachu
At the same time that Pokemon was popular, another craze was sweeping the world. You had the Tamagotchi. Now, for those who are unaware, the Tamagotchi was a virtual pet that you could walk around with. It would cry out for attention, and you would have to feed it.
It made sense that Nintendo would take stock of this and develop a similar game for the Nintendo 64. This is where Hey You, Pikachu comes into play. At the heart, it was pretty much a Pikachu Tamagotchi that wouldn’t scream out whenever it was hungry. It only needed attention when the game was turned on. This game probably would have sold well in itself.
However, Nintendo likes to experiment. So, it developed a special microphone accessory for the Nintendo 64 where you could talk to your Pikachu, if you wished. It recognized a good number of voice commands, and it made the game so much more interactive.
Honestly, the innovation in Hey You, Pikachu could have put it higher up the list. However, sadly, there wasn’t a whole lot to do in Hey You, Pikachu, and that microphone accessory didn’t get much use in further games. Not to mention the fact that it struggled to recognize people who had slightly heavier accents.
The game was also a little bit too complicated for the younger children. It was for the older kids which, sadly, meant the game didn’t sell anywhere near as well as it should have done.
To check the current price and availability of Hey You, Pikachu, click here to view the listing on Amazon.
Final Thoughts
There were a lot of Pokemon games released for the Nintendo 64. We hope that you agree with our list of the best Pokemon games for N64.
If you want to try out some of these games (Pokemon Snap and Pokemon Puzzle League), then they are currently available on the Nintendo 64 emulator on the Nintendo Switch. It is unlikely that the other games will ever come to the Switch, which means that you will need to track them down for the original console.
We hope that you have fun playing these tremendous games! Even decades later, they are still awesome.