
The arrival of Rareware's classic Perfect Dark and Acclaim's Turok: Dinosaur Hunter via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack was a very welcome announcement in the June 2024 Nintendo Direct. Both titles are the first entries in Nintendo's new, separate N64 app with a 'MATURE 17+' label.
Following on from the Japanese version which launched when GoldenEye came to the service back in 2023, this 'adults-only' app will be a repository for any M-rated games with blood, language, or other naughtiness that the ESRB deems unsuitable for younger gamers. In the case of Perfect Dark and Turok, it's the blood and violence that sets them apart from the other family-friendly N64 games on NSO.
This opens the door for other adult-only N64 games to come, of course, so we've rounded up a selection that we'd love to see on Nintendo Switch Online. As you'll see, not all of them are stone-cold classics, but we'd argue that NSO is perhaps the best and most convenient venue for games that you wouldn't spend money on, but are still intriguing in some way and worth investigating. Very few people would buy a standalone release of, say, Winback, but as part of a service you already pay for, you might be charmed by it.
It should also be noted that a couple of the games below have already been ported to Switch. However, as evidenced by Turok's arrival, that doesn't preclude them being added to the Expansion Pack and we'd still appreciate having 'free' access to them. We've omitted the Quakes and Doom 64, but we couldn't resist adding others.
Let's start with the most obvious and celebrated 'mature' game in the N64's library...
Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64)
Another iconic entry in the N64 catalogue from Rare, Conker's Bad Fur Day stood out proudly from the pack of cutesy platformers as a fouled-mouthed, blood-filled, scatological comedy. We're still a little blindsided that a Nintendo second-party dev put out a game full of swears, to be honest — even the Xbox remake bleeped most of them out. Conker was a technological triumph for the ageing 64-bit system when it launched in 2001, and while the movie parodies are very much of their time and the humour won't hit the spot with everyone, the drunken squirrel still knows how to have a good time.
"I am the Grrreat Mighty Poo, and I'm going to throw my—" Oh dear.
Daikatana (N64)
Look, we're not suggesting this is going to be troubling any list of the top N64 games, but Ion Storm's FPS is a curio worth investigating, and not just for its infamous "John Romero's about to make you..." marketing. The titular blade was apparently inspired by Zelda's Master Sword, and the protagonist, Hiro Miyamoto, was, of course, a homage to Nintendo's most celebrated design guru, Eiji Aonuma.
What!? Just checking you were awake.
The point is, despite the game's reputation as a real steamer, there's an intent, history, and heritage in Daikatana that makes it of scholarly interest to video game lovers. It's a perfect candidate for an NSO release in our opinion. We'd like to see the Game Boy Color version added, too.
Duke Nukem: Zero Hour (N64)
Duke Nukem 3D came to the N64 as the imaginatively retitled Duke Nukem 64, but 1999's Zero Hour was an exclusive for Nintendo's console and a game we'd like to see become more accessible, mainly because we never got around to playing it ourselves.
Again, by all accounts, we're not looking at a classic here, but Eurocom's third-person spin on the Duke's M-rated escapades was always on our If-we-see-it-cheap list of old. We never did, so get it on NSO, please.
Resident Evil 2 (N64)
Resident Evil 2 is, in a sense, where the modern series as we know it began. The first game was terrifying, but the production values of the original version — with its cheesy FMV sequences and questionable dialogue — put it in the realm of the straight-to-video horror genre. That would get retconned with REmake, but Resident Evil 2 upped the ante considerably in every way and established the look and feel that the series embraced from then on.
The Nintendo 64 version of the PlayStation classic is a technically incredible port in its own right, with the GameCube version being sharper, but arguably less interesting. Considering the absence of the original Resident Evils on Switch, NSO feels like the perfect opportunity to showcase this one.
Hexen (N64)
Another curio that scratches a similar itch to Doom 64, Hexen also arrived on Nintendo's console in 1997 with a reasonable port that had the usual cartridge-based caveats (no FMV or CD-style audio). It offers a decent fantasy-themed take on a Doom-style shooter, although with GoldenEye arriving just a handful of months later and totally disrupt the FPS scene on consoles, Hexen was destined to be overlooked, even with a library as slight as the N64's.
All these years later, we'd jump at the chance to give it another shot.
Turok 2: Seeds of Evil (N64)
Nightdive's remasters of the Turok trilogy renders this a little superfluous, but everyone should get to experience wielding the Cerebral Bore at least one time in their lives. If you're not familiar with the best weapon from Iguana's 1998 sequel, it shoots a homing bullet/drill that burrows into the skull of the target and splatters brain goo all over the shop.
Oh, and we'd take Rage Wars and South Park if they're just throwing Turoks and Acclaim/Iguana first-person shooters at NSO.
Mortal Kombat Trilogy (N64)
The N64 wasn't blessed with many fighting games — and very few good or great ones — so we'd gladly take a Mortal Kombat or two. Trilogy was a decent summary of all MK until that point (1996), albeit with a few caveats like missing characters and inferior audio quality on N64. Mortal Kombat 4 offered some more modern and satisfyingly gruesome fighter fare two years later.
Mythologies: Sub-Zero? For completion's sake, sure. But that's not the one we'd pick first. Or second.
Forsaken (N64)
This 1998 FPS has been remastered courtesy of Nightdive Studios (who else?), but it hasn't made it to Switch yet. You pilot a hoverbike with full 360-degree movement, so while Forsaken is technically a first-person shooter, that label might give modern gamers the wrong idea if you're expecting a bloke running around with a gun. Set in a dystopian future, you fly around underground tunnels shooting scavengers to a soundtrack of drum and bass. Not an all-timer, but there's a lot to like.
Shadow Man (N64)
The Switch remaster from Nightdive (is there anything that studio hasn't remastered?) is a great way to play, but for a game as undeniably dated as this, the asking price of 'Has an NSO Expansion Pack sub' is perhaps the best way to get new players to try out this dark and obtuse gem. Coming from the same team that developed the 64-bit Forsaken — and based on the Valiant Comics series — Michael LeRoi (the titular Man o' Shadow) has a huge and disturbing world to explore, and the lily-livered among us would be grateful to have save states to fall back on as we do so.
Have we missed something you'd love to see on Switch? Let us know your favourite adults-only N64 games from the list above in this poll, and comment below if there's something else you fancy.
Comments 101
Shadow man and Duke Nukem would be phenomenal to see.
Resident Evil 2 is such a cool port, that one absolutely gets my vote.
I suppose anyone has forgotten about Nightmare Creatures, have they not?
That was ONE of the M-rated games I've played & the ONLY one at that too. I've ignore Conker's Bad Fur Day & Perfect Dark since I didn't really see them as any special.
I could say that most of N64's M-rated games simply didn't measure up to my liking. Cuz I was a ignorant kid at the time. plus, I was way more focused on the Saturn.
Duke Nukem 64, with split-screen co-op
Conker has to come to the Mature N64 app at some point, right? I’ve never played it, but always wanted to. Here’s hoping. Also, as someone who recently finished the RE2 remake on PS5, I’d love to check out the N64 port, too.
Resident Evil 2, Mortal Kombat Trilogy, and maaaybe Mortal Kombat 4 are really the only ones I can think of I'm all that interested in.
Body Harvest, please and thank you
While it wasn’t rated M at the time of release, it probably would be today so I’m throwing it in here - I would be really happy to see BattleTanx: Global Assault on NSO. Fun multiplayer, fun campaign, batshit story, and a huge improvement overall on its predecessor BattleTanx (1).
@AhabSpampurse I’d kill for that. Totally a must-have addition.
BMX XXX
Should be here as well...
I know, GameCube...
Duke Nukem 64 and Zero Hero were recently released for the Evercade (and the excellent Advance game too). I suspect that a console release may follow at some point, unless there’s some exclusivity agreement.
@Spider-Kev : Perhaps with a European exclusive properly uncensored nekky nokky nakey edition? (Europe has a number of exclusives containing full frontal nudity and/or sexual activity that would likely get an AO rating in the States, which is as good as banned in all but name)
@AhabSpampurse Body Harvest, a great pick. An overlooked gem. 👍
Daikatana would be pretty dope.
I am a sucker for forsaken
I only voted for CONKER. TBH, the six games I am wanting now on the N64 service is this, BODY HARVEST, TETRISPHERE, DIDDY KONG RACING, DK 64, and ROGUE SQUADRON. I mean, sure, I would take NO MERCY, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, CASTLEVANIA 64, and WETRIX as well (the latter two being most likely). But, with them already having WINBACK, PERFECT DARK, GOLDENEYE, and BLAST CORPS on there it's already pretty slammin'!
Errrr turok 2 and shadowman is all ready on the switch😋
But Duke Nukem Zero Hour great game
Conker mortal kombat and resident evil would be nice except it on the Nintendo pass so you will not own them any way😭
Conker all the way, baby!
It's funny how we scale up the age range of crude, juvenile humour and call it "mature" 17+. I'm not begrudging people's tastes, I still laugh at fart jokes, but Conker's is the opposite of mature.
@Yousef- shadowman and Duke nukem is all ready on the switch🙂
Hail to the king baby.!
At the moment they announced N64 NSO M17+ app, I screamed internally: CONKER !!!
Bio F.R.E.A.K.S. would be a great MA game added on there. 3D Fighter where you can chainsaw off opponents limbs and let pixelated blood spurt everywhere for the rest of the fight.
Mortal Kombat Trilogy all the way! That was by far my most favorite and most played MK game to date! What I loved about the N64 version was how OP'd and broken Sub Zero was. In the N64 they combined the old and new Sub Zero into one character, so he had all moves and combos of both.
I've said it before, but I'd love to have Conkers Bad Fur Day on Switch.
@Mirage-5x5 I see. Fair enough. I suppose there’s not much ground to cover anymore.
This is quite a boring list, and as some point out, Turok 2 is already on the platform with more comfortable controls.
How about a list of titles that not everyone already knows? I always wanted to try Body Harvest. Or Mace the Dark Ages? Or I seem to remember a game called War Gods?
… Wow, just found a list of all Mature N64 games, and boy is it short! Between the comments and their list, we might have them all… Body Harvest wasn’t even one of them! Possibly because you were mostly killing bugs with green blood?
@AhabSpampurse Body Harvest is a great shout, but it was rated T (for Teen).
Turok 2's remaster doesn't have local multiplayer, so there's an argument for putting the original on here.
Where is the old school Mortal Kombat Kompendium for modern consoles? I suppose it's a concession to people's preference for the older ones, and they don't want to cannibalize their audience. But yes, I'd love to see Trilogy.
@Purgatorium My mom would watch me play (I forget which game) and say "That doesn't look very 'mature'."
Conker is the pretty obvious choice but I personally would adore if Nightmare Creatures got added.
Conker for me but still, great picks both in the article and the comments, hope we'll eventually see most if not all of these on NSO!
@AhabSpampurse — YAAAS loved TF outta that game. It came out about 2 weeks before my 14th birthday. The SFX were god tier.
@OstianOwl — Now there’s a game that was stored as a core memory! I remember it scared me and intrigued me at the same time!
Definitely wouldn’t mind seeing Killer Instinct Gold! Any way to put that franchise in the spotlight is appreciated.
MK Trilogy would also be cool. I wonder if that remastered collection that was finished but never released would factor into that not being put on the app either, though.
MK4 was one of my favorites of the series. I'd love to see that added to the app. Though I wouldn't get my hopes up - Mortal Kombat hasn't exactly been all that great about reboots/remasters of the older games of the series.
@Purgatorium Indeed. This semantic problem was discussed quite a bit back in the early 00s when 'Nintendo is kiddy, PS/Xbox are for adults' was a talking point. If a game isn't rated M it's immature, right?
Obviously a game like Tetris is far more mature than Conker. It would've been better to give the rating a different name, or just 17+ as Nintendo does now, but it's too ingrained at this point for the ESRB to change.
A million votes for Turok 2. I absolutely LOVE that game.
Give me Forsaken
Would Hybrid Heaven end up here? It was an awesome game
Conker's Bad Fur Day, Duke Nukem: Zero Hour, and Resident Evil 2 are the only ones I would consider. The others... not so much, when there are better versions on Switch and other platforms.
Just gimme Conker (I love how colorful it looks compared to other Mature games, kind of like Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64) and then you can add whatever you want in there.
I forgot about Daikatana. I wouldn't mind giving that a shot. I guess fighters and FPSs are the main M rated games on N64.
@DanijoEX-the-Pierrot I played Nightmare Creatures in its N64 incarnation (among the many other emulation finds in my uni days), and it was pretty fun indeed. The importance of well-timed attacks and elusive maneuvers could almost make it feel like a distant soulslike predecessor now.
The Castlevania 64 games would be a really funny addition to the NSO collection.
Mortal kombat 4 and Body harvest.
This list confirms how depressing n64 library was. Still, i desperatly want conker.
Xbox version please, which is much more playable with normal controls and better graphics.
Hybrid Heaven, a Konami game a always wanted to play and never could
Resident Evil 2 would be very cool, I've never played the N64 version.
However I would prefer if Capcom would just release a collection of the original 3 RE games.
@dreadkong I remember renting that one back in the day and really enjoying it. Didn't get very far though, I didn't have a memory pak and therefore couldn't save the game.
I missed Conker first time round. The rest, I'd give a go if they were added to the app but can't say I'm desperate to play any of them.
@Thomystic was it Carmaggedon 64?
Mortal Kombat Trilogy for me.
The loading times for the PlayStation version are brutal, totally negates having the extra characters for me.
Rain and Sheeva are who I like to play as, and thankfully they are present in the N64 version.
Hybrid Heaven would be awesome!
Turok Rage Wars and WWF No Mercy (super duper unlikely)
This is weird, I seem to be able to select all games to vote because I want all of them to be available in NSOL
I'd love to see MK Trilogy, Mythologies Sub Zero, and 4, we can forget about the awful Special Forces. Resident Evil 2 would be an awesome addition, probably the best way to play the original, gameplay wise. Mace: The Dark Ages would also be a great addition to the app.
I was half expecting Conker when the Mature app was announced anyway, so there's that, and I remember Forsaken from other formats, so.
Counterpoint: Perfect Dark is the only decent game on this list.
Resi 2 has horribly blurry graphics compression. It’s not as graphically impressive as the PS1 original.
The Turok trilogy is only fondly remembered because of the gore and the novelty of a console FPS at the time. In their original forms they are all pretty terrible games.
Forsakes? Shadowman? Daikatana?!? Really?!?
I’ll give your Conker. That’s hilarious!
Mace: The Dark Age
ECW Hardcore
Mortal Kombat 4
I can’t really see a lot of those games coming to NSO, except Conker & Turok 2. So begs the question why make a separate app for 4/5 games?
As much as I wouldn't mind seeing RE2 on there, I think it might not look as nice as people hope when blown up in HD. Bear in mind, the backgrounds are actually in many cases lower res and more compressed than even the OG PS1 version. CRTs of the day did a lot to hide these downgrades, but HDTVs don't do this game any favour.
Nightmare Creatures and Hybrid Heaven
@Purgatorium Yeah "Mature" was the best term they could up with for "not intended for small children".
@nhSnork It took me about a month to get into the combat & everything. Once I got the hang of it, it got more interesting afterwards
@SillyG
There are no Duke Nukem 64 and Zero Hour on Evercade unfortunately. N64 games are not emulated yet on the Evercades.
What we got were the PS1 games, the GBA game and remastered ports of the sidescrolling PC games. As Zero Hour was exclusive for N64 it is missing.
Killer Instinct Gold
Worst answer would be StarCraft64
@DanijoEX-the-Pierrot
Nightmare creatures was a classic.
@shadowii
thank you!!!!!
I was trying to remember the name of hybrid heaven.
I only got to play a bit of it, but thought it was cool as a teen
Edit:
Going into the middle of the pack, I see a lot of people remember hybrid heaven!
Glad to see it hasn't completely disappeared into time
@HammerGalladeBro I think it was Turok actually, which is not particularly immature.
Aside from those listed:
Nightmare Creatures
Turok Rage Wars
Bio Freaks
and Body Harvest eventhough it is Rated T lol
Just give me that sweet, sweet Conker!
I think M rated games are terrible and should be banned. Just games featuring hunky cartoon worms for me. Thank you very much.
I want conker and resident evil 2. Never played conker so I want to try it, and I already finished resident evil 2 on psone but I want to play it again with no stress with the rewind feature 😃
I would flip for any of the classic AKI wrestling games. Licensing would make this endeavor impossible I'm afraid though. I realize these weren't M rated but we need them! The Japanese exclusive Virtual Pro series gets my vote!
BioFreaks, Mace: The Dark Age, and Turok: Rage Wars (with multiplayer). Embracing the esoteric.
How you could make this list and leave off Doom 64 is insane.
Also, you couldn't just round the number to 10 games instead of AGAIN copying IGNs stupid, played-out gimmick of making lists with X9 entries, time and time again? Pathetic.
@Skullkid87 I heard it has something to do with Japanese laws that prohibit them from putting mature-rated games on the app after it's already been rated below a mature rating.
The more probable reason is to simplify the parental controls, so you don't have to lock little Timmy out of Mario 64 just because Perfect Dark got released.
@EVIL-C You are really pressed over something so arbitrary and inconsequential, my guy.
@PoeTheLizard It's a very annoying trend. All of us, yourself included, have things that may be inconsequential, yet irk us. Welcome to humanity. 😉
Conkers Bad Fur Day for sure. Duke Nukem Zero 64 and Zero Hour are others I want to see as well.
Snowboard Kids 1/2
Mystical Ninja
Goemon's greatest adventure
Beetle Adventure Racing
Flying Dragon
Fighter's Destiny 1/2
Ogre Battle 64
Quest 64
Gauntlet Legends
Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero is actually a fantastic game with a dismal reputation. But if they put it on NSO, my whole life would become trying to defend a game I really like from an onslaught of hate, and that just sounds exhausting.
Voted for Conker, Shadowman and Hexen because of the limit of three, but I would also love to replay Forsaken which if I remember well had a very decent n64 port.
Not really interested in the others on the list. Other than that someone mentioned Nightmare Creatures and I would definitely replay this one if it was on nso.
Everyone who said Hybrid Heaven over some of the dubious choices here (Daikatana? Really???), I salute you. If they gave that the modern remake treatment it would hold up and then some.
I would like to have maybe Doom 64 for the N64 online.
@OldManHermit I've read its plot is very good, too much for its time type. Would love to play it now
Nightmare creatures. I started playing that last year on N64, I like it. It's a bit rough in some spots, but I really like it.
@EVIL-C I agree leaving doom64 of the list was wrong.... But, the new Doom64 is so so good. They nailed the controls, it's hard to go back to play it on my 64 now.
I don't know that it'd be considered M for Mature, bit I'd like to play Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire again.
I have zero hour physical for my 64... I do not like it, feels so wrong for duke to be third person. Yuck.
@Danrenfroe2016 Absolutely, the new Dooms are outstanding. Although I just played through Doom 64 for the first time after it was ported, and thought it too was fantastic. I really regret not playing it 20 years ago. 😢
@vanYth : D'oh. My mistake. Evercade have only recently started releasing 64-bit games on Evercade.
Hopefully we get a third Duke Nukem collection with Zero Hero, maybe the N64 port of DK3D as a bonus, and of course the GBC game (which wasn't included in either of the past collections for whatever inexplicable reason).
@EVIL-C : For years, I suspected that DOOM 64 was nothing but a cynical cashgrab capitalising on the DOOM brand without any of the elements that made the originals great, and while that is true in many respects (as it was developed by a different team, and the levels are often plagued with poor design choices), it aged surprisingly well in spite of its shortcomings, and plays as an enjoyable tribute to the classics.
But nothing will beat the originals in my eyes. I only wish that "Final DOOM" (which was developed by fans) had included some new enemy types and maybe a new weapon or two to serve as a proper send-off. The fact that this was once a full-priced release, all for a mere two DOOM II level packs, was absolutely absurd given that that the previous sequel was already comprised of mostly recycled assets.
@SillyG yeah, Glover is the first and only 64bit game on Evercade, released just a few weeks ago. But afaik it is not really an N64 emulation, but a port using the original source code. They altered some things as the controls and put Evercade‘s mascot Cadey in the game.
I'm worried that this mature-N64 app will have like 3 or 4 games
If they add Turok 2 (and 3), then might aswell add Turok Rage Wars too for the multiplayer part
@SillyG My very first original introduction to Doom was the SNES port, which if you haven't experienced before, was kinda rough to say the least, lol. 😂 So I didn't have the luxury of the expansions, in addition to the cuts and downgrades for consoles of the time. I did play some of that additional content when I was going through the entire series from I to Doom 3 on Switch, and it's amazing how well it still holds up today, even to an essentially new player. 😍 And with how good the reboot Series has been so far, I'm very excited for Dark Ages. 😁
@EVIL-C : I'm a little embarrassed to admit that this is the first I've heard of The Dark Ages. 😅
I hadn't played the SNES version, but the original developers were reportedly hopeless, and so some of the original ID boys stepped in and finished the port in about 2 weeks (or maybe I'm getting this mixed up with Wolfenstein 3D).
Either way, a good game is a good game. The GBA adaptations were really impressive too, in spite of the cutbacks (and ridiculously enough, both GBA games run on different engines from different developers, despite the originals on PC running on the same engine).
Problem is, too many of these either were remastered too recently [about 5 years seems to be the minimum for time between eShop and NSO] or were not released in Japan. Games released in both Japan and the West have the highest chances [expect Resident Evil 2 in October] as the quantity must remain close in both markets. Also, don't expect Turok 2 & 3 to show up, as 1 was merely a representative sample, added in part to keep the balance.
It may sound blasphemous but the Xbox Rare Arcade ports/remasters of some of these games would be dynamite if ported to Switch…
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