for me, NiGHTS 100%. SM64 is good but was definitely feeling the growing pains of 3D gameplay, whereas NiGHTS was the cumulation of all of the 2D gaming that came before it while also utilizing the new technology available to it's fullest. as an arcade score-attack style game it also has near infinife replayability, and the soundtrack is one of if not the best of all time. i guess it's kind of apples to oranges, though- farer to compare two arcade style games like NiGHTS and Star Fox 64 or two 3D platformers like Super Mario 64 and Burning Rangers
suprised to see how many commenters here haven't even heard of NiGHTS. a remake of the original game is dirt cheap on Steam and definitely worth taking for a whirl. it is a truly amazing game
SM64 was definitely more influential in the gaming industry. I haven’t actually played Nights into Dreams, so I can’t speak to its quality, but SM64 sets a high bar. I played it again recently, and still had a ton of fun (despite some frustrations)
I’m going to say Mario 64 just because it was a really good game that I enjoyed back in 96 and I’ve never heard of Nights Into Dreams until this post right now lol
Edit: after looking up the game I’m going to say a LOT of people probably don’t know Night Into Dreams because it was released for Sega Saturn and not that many people actually bought that system at the time.
Sonic Team’s follow-up to the Sonic franchise. Released on the Sega Saturn, so despite it being one of the Saturn’s better-selling games, few people played it back when it was new. It has a decent cult following of fans and seems to be generally regarded as a good-but-not-spectacular game (like a solid 7-8 out of 10), but it’s nowhere near Mario 64’s caliber.
Weird question. Mario 64 and it’s not even close. Most game devs agree that Mario 64 is a masterpiece. Bonus points for being on a platform that had just launched in a completely new paradigm.