23rd June 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the N64, Nintendo’s first console designed with full 3D in mind.
Originally planned to be the Ultra 64, this console helped shape the burgeoning era of 3D gaming with classics like Super Mario 64, Star Fox 64, and Wave Race 64 (the games were more imaginative than the names, promise) showing players and developers alike the potential of polygons, and how to design games in the third dimension.
The system had a much smaller library than Sony’s PlayStation, the new kid on the block, but it punched above its weight with games like Ocarina of Time laying foundations that developers have been building on ever since. Granted, its odd-looking three-pronged pad caused some confusion (and today, too, with dual analogue now the standard), but it was with that strange, wonderful device that we took our first steps into Kokiri Forest and trained our sniper rifle on distant guards in GoldenEye.
The nostalgia is strong with this one — especially given its facility with four-person multiplayer, which created so much joy and drama — so we’re asking you to send us your Nintendo 64 memories for a feature we’ll publish next week. We’ll look through the entries and reproduce the ones that move us most in this community feature (similar to our Pokémon Memories earlier this year).
Whether you were there back in 1996 — ’97 in Europe — or you first played the 64-bit classics in the generations that followed (or even on Switch via NSO), we’d love to hear your thoughts. Good, bad, or ugly, what are your strongest memories of the Nintendo 64? Check out the guidelines below, and we’re looking forward to hearing from you!
Nintendo Life N64 Memories submission guidelines
- 100 words, maximum – We’d like to feature as many as possible in the finished article, so please keep things concise! (Remember, 100 is the max – it can be shorter!)
- Don’t go crazy with multiple submissions – You’ve likely got many, many memories from playing this series, but please just pick the best one.
- Remember, we can’t pick ’em all! – We imagine we’ll have a lot to choose from, so please understand if yours doesn’t feature in the finished article. We will be reading ’em all, though!
- Submissions close on Friday 19th June 2026 – Make sure to get your message sent before the weekend arrives!
How to send a Nintendo 64 Memory
- Head to Nintendo Life’s Contact page and select the subject “N64 Memories” from the drop-down menu (it’s already done for you in the link above). Type your name, email, and beautifully crafted submission into the appropriate box, hit send, and boom — you’re done!
