Best games
Best games of 1996
The 25 best games released in 1996, ranked from 7,196 critic and player ratings.
The best game of 1996 is Super Mario 64, with a critic score of 94/100 — updated September 2026.
How this ranking is built
- Games are ranked on the aggregated critic score out of 100 imported from IGDB and Metacritic, never on Tier's own grades.
- A game only enters the ranking with at least 80 external ratings, so a single enthusiastic review never outranks a proven classic.
- Community grades from F to S are shown next to every game, and only stated as a fact above 5 Tier ratings.
- Release window covered: 1996.
- 25 games are listed on this page, carrying 7,196 ratings between them.
- Rankings are recomputed hourly; this one was last rebuilt on 28 September 2026.
Top 25
01
S
Super Mario 64
Mario is super in a whole new way! Combining the finest 3-D graphics ever developed for a video game and an explosive soundtrack, Super Mario 64 becomes a new standard for video games. It's packed with bruising battles, daunting obstacle courses, and underwater adventures. Retrieve the Power Stars from their hidden locations and confront your arch-nemesis— Bowser, King of the Koopas! • Run freely in a grassy meadow, tip-toe through a gloomy dungeon, climb to the top of a mountain, or take a swim in the moat! • Leap headfirst into a watery painting and soon you'll be searching for the surface in an underwater realm! • On-the-fly, 3-D rendered gameplay delivers the action of ruthless enemy attacks from every angle! • Find the Caps that give Mario super powers and ponder the mysteries of the pyramid; you can even race Koopas for fabulous prizes! • With the Nintendo 64 Controller and its analog Control Stick, Mario can crawl, kick down obstacles, swim, do reverse flips, and even stick the landing on his backwards somersault! • Saved game information is stored for up to four players in memory.
94
/100
02
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
A JRPG entry in the Super Mario franchise in which Mario meets many unlikely allies in order to jump and fight his way through the Mushroom Kingdom and collect stars to repair the Star Road, the pathway that grants people's wishes, which was destroyed by Smithy, the otherworldly entity that hijacked Bowser's castle and threw the Kingdom into disarray.
90
/100
03
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
The Elder Scrolls - Daggerfall is the second fantasy RPG from The Elder Scrolls series. The game is situated in a city of Daggerfall and its surrounding areas. The emperor himself asked you, as your friend, to investigate the death of King Lysandus. The whole story is up to you. There is no straight line which you should follow. you have a number of options for character classes and numerous regions filled with cities, towns, and dungeons. Your journey starts on your way to the Kingdom of Daggerfall. Unfortunately your ship is wrecked in a storm and you end up in a small cave with only your bare life. Your first goal becomes to escape, and so your adventure begins. The game has a numerous options how to solve the crisis and numerous differed endings as well.
89
/100
S
Super Mario 64
Mario is super in a whole new way! Combining the finest 3-D graphics ever developed for a video game and an explosive soundtrack, Super Mario 64 becomes a new standard for video games. It's packed with bruising battles, daunting obstacle courses, and underwater adventures. Retrieve the Power Stars from their hidden locations and confront your arch-nemesis— Bowser, King of the Koopas! • Run freely in a grassy meadow, tip-toe through a gloomy dungeon, climb to the top of a mountain, or take a swim in the moat! • Leap headfirst into a watery painting and soon you'll be searching for the surface in an underwater realm! • On-the-fly, 3-D rendered gameplay delivers the action of ruthless enemy attacks from every angle! • Find the Caps that give Mario super powers and ponder the mysteries of the pyramid; you can even race Koopas for fabulous prizes! • With the Nintendo 64 Controller and its analog Control Stick, Mario can crawl, kick down obstacles, swim, do reverse flips, and even stick the landing on his backwards somersault! • Saved game information is stored for up to four players in memory.
94
/100
02
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
A JRPG entry in the Super Mario franchise in which Mario meets many unlikely allies in order to jump and fight his way through the Mushroom Kingdom and collect stars to repair the Star Road, the pathway that grants people's wishes, which was destroyed by Smithy, the otherworldly entity that hijacked Bowser's castle and threw the Kingdom into disarray.
90
/100
03
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
The Elder Scrolls - Daggerfall is the second fantasy RPG from The Elder Scrolls series. The game is situated in a city of Daggerfall and its surrounding areas. The emperor himself asked you, as your friend, to investigate the death of King Lysandus. The whole story is up to you. There is no straight line which you should follow. you have a number of options for character classes and numerous regions filled with cities, towns, and dungeons. Your journey starts on your way to the Kingdom of Daggerfall. Unfortunately your ship is wrecked in a storm and you end up in a small cave with only your bare life. Your first goal becomes to escape, and so your adventure begins. The game has a numerous options how to solve the crisis and numerous differed endings as well.
89
/100
04
Tomb Raider (1996)
Tomb Raider is a 3D action game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. The game follows the exploits of Lara Croft, a British female archaeologist in search of ancient treasures. The objective of Tomb Raider is to guide Lara through a series of tombs and other locations in search of treasures and artifacts. On the way, she must kill dangerous animals and other creatures, while collecting objects and solving puzzles to gain access to an ultimate prize, usually a powerful artifact. The game was critically acclaimed and widely influential, it spawned a number of sequels and a franchise of related media.
88
/100
05
Pokémon Blue Version
Pokémon Blue is the third core series Pokémon game released as a minor revision of Pokémon Red and Green, which were released earlier that year. It was thus the first solitary version in the core series of Pokémon games. Various fixes in the game include a graphics and sound upgrade, as well as the removal of several known glitches that had been found in the original pair. Outside of Japan, its graphics, game engine and script formed the basis of Pokémon Red and Blue, while the wild Pokémon and game-exclusive Pokémon lists were changed to match Red and Green.
86
/100
06
Broken Sword 1 - The Shadow of the Templars
86
/100
07
The Neverhood
The game follows the adventure of a claymation character named Klaymen as he discovers his origins and his purpose in a world made entirely out of clay.
85
/100
08
Diablo
Diablo is an isometric strategy RPG and one of the most well-known examples of the action-RPG subgenre. Although some of the game mechanics resemble a typical RPG, all actions are done in real-time just like in an action game. The player have to kill hordes of monsters through randomized dungeon levels in order to gain experience points, gold and a variety of equipment to bolster the hero's monster-killing potency.
84
/100
09
Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars
Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Jon Van Caneghem through New World Computing and published in 1996 by the 3DO Company. The game is the second installment of the Heroes of Might and Magic series and is typically credited as the breakout game for the series. Heroes II was voted the sixth-best PC game of all time by PC Gamer in May 1997.
84
/100
10
Quake
Quake is a first-person shooter video game, developed by id Software and published by GT Interactive in 1996 and featured music composed by Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. It is the first game in the popular Quake series. In the game, players must find their way through various maze-like, medieval environments while battling a variety of monsters using a wide array of weapons.
83
/100
11
Sid Meier's Civilization II
82
/100
12
Metal Slug
82
/100
13
Mario Kart 64
81
/100
14
Command & Conquer: Red Alert
81
/100
15
Kirby Super Star
80
/100
16
Stargunner
80
/100
17
Duke Nukem 3D
75
/100
18
Crash Bandicoot
75
/100
19
Pokémon Red Version
75
/100
20
Circle of Blood
75
/100
21
Twisted Metal 2
73
/100
22
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
70
/100
23
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
65
/100
24
Sonic 3D Blast (1996)
59
/100
25
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
50
/100
Tomb Raider (1996)
Tomb Raider is a 3D action game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. The game follows the exploits of Lara Croft, a British female archaeologist in search of ancient treasures. The objective of Tomb Raider is to guide Lara through a series of tombs and other locations in search of treasures and artifacts. On the way, she must kill dangerous animals and other creatures, while collecting objects and solving puzzles to gain access to an ultimate prize, usually a powerful artifact. The game was critically acclaimed and widely influential, it spawned a number of sequels and a franchise of related media.
88
/100
05
Pokémon Blue Version
Pokémon Blue is the third core series Pokémon game released as a minor revision of Pokémon Red and Green, which were released earlier that year. It was thus the first solitary version in the core series of Pokémon games. Various fixes in the game include a graphics and sound upgrade, as well as the removal of several known glitches that had been found in the original pair. Outside of Japan, its graphics, game engine and script formed the basis of Pokémon Red and Blue, while the wild Pokémon and game-exclusive Pokémon lists were changed to match Red and Green.
86
/100
06
Broken Sword 1 - The Shadow of the Templars
86
/100
07
The Neverhood
The game follows the adventure of a claymation character named Klaymen as he discovers his origins and his purpose in a world made entirely out of clay.
85
/100
08
Diablo
Diablo is an isometric strategy RPG and one of the most well-known examples of the action-RPG subgenre. Although some of the game mechanics resemble a typical RPG, all actions are done in real-time just like in an action game. The player have to kill hordes of monsters through randomized dungeon levels in order to gain experience points, gold and a variety of equipment to bolster the hero's monster-killing potency.
84
/100
09
Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars
Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Jon Van Caneghem through New World Computing and published in 1996 by the 3DO Company. The game is the second installment of the Heroes of Might and Magic series and is typically credited as the breakout game for the series. Heroes II was voted the sixth-best PC game of all time by PC Gamer in May 1997.
84
/100
10
Quake
Quake is a first-person shooter video game, developed by id Software and published by GT Interactive in 1996 and featured music composed by Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. It is the first game in the popular Quake series. In the game, players must find their way through various maze-like, medieval environments while battling a variety of monsters using a wide array of weapons.
83
/100
11
Sid Meier's Civilization II
82
/100
12
Metal Slug
82
/100
13
Mario Kart 64
81
/100
14
Command & Conquer: Red Alert
81
/100
15
Kirby Super Star
80
/100
16
Stargunner
80
/100
17
Duke Nukem 3D
75
/100
18
Crash Bandicoot
75
/100
19
Pokémon Red Version
75
/100
20
Circle of Blood
75
/100
21
Twisted Metal 2
73
/100
22
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
70
/100
23
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
65
/100
24
Sonic 3D Blast (1996)
59
/100
25
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
50
/100
Frequently asked questions
What is the best game of 1996?
Super Mario 64 currently tops the ranking with a score of 94/100 across 765 ratings. Ranking updated September 2026.
How is this ranking built?
Games are ranked on their aggregated critic score out of 100, with a minimum vote threshold so a single glowing review never outranks a proven classic; the Tier community's own F-to-S grades are shown alongside each game.