Rare N64 Racing Games With 3-Player Split Screen (Not Mario Kart)
Mario Kart 64 gets all the credit whenever split screen racing on the Nintendo 64 comes up, but it was never the only cart that let three friends cram onto one TV and go at it. If you’ve already logged hundreds of hours on Rainbow Road and you’re itching for something different at your next retro game night, there’s a small but genuinely excellent pool of N64 racers that support three-player split screen. Most of them are criminally underplayed today.
This guide rounds up the rare, often-forgotten titles that deliver three-player split screen racing, plus what makes each one worth tracking down for your collection.
Why Three-Player Split Screen Is So Rare on N64
The controller port limit wasn’t the bottleneck, four ports, no problem there. The real issue was rendering. Splitting the screen three or four ways put serious strain on the console’s modest hardware, forcing developers to cut draw distance, simplify textures, or drop frame rate just to keep things playable. Plenty of racing games capped multiplayer at two players for exactly this reason. That’s why three-player support became something of a badge of technical achievement back then.
It’s part of why these titles still feel special today. Getting three-player split screen running smoothly on N64 hardware took real engineering effort, not just a checkbox someone ticked off before shipping.
The Rare Three-Player N64 Racing Games Worth Hunting Down
Diddy Kong Racing
Rare’s own answer to kart racing, released in 1997, supports three and four-player split screen across its hovercraft, car, and plane vehicles. Adventure mode is single-player only, but the dedicated multiplayer racing and battle modes handle three-way splits surprisingly well, even by today’s standards. The track variety, plus the option to race mixed vehicle types in the same heat, makes it feel distinct from Mario Kart even now, nearly thirty years later.
Beetle Adventure Racing
An underrated gem from Electronic Arts. It supports three and four-player split screen through large, exploration-friendly tracks packed with shortcuts and hidden paths. Because the courses run longer and skip the item-combat chaos of typical kart racers, it plays more like a relaxed arcade cruise. A nice change of pace if your game night wants something calmer than another round of blue-shell carnage.
South Park Rally
Yes, really. This 2000 kart racer based on the South Park cartoon supports up to four players in split screen, three-player sessions included. It’s rough around the edges graphically (think muddy textures and stiff animations), but the irreverent humor and genuinely functional multiplayer make it a fun curiosity for collectors chasing something off the beaten path.
Top Gear Rally 2
Boss Game Studios’ rally racer supports three and four-player split screen with a surprising amount of track detail for its era. It leans toward simulation-style handling rather than arcade kart chaos, so it’s a solid pick if your group wants more technical racing with car physics that actually feel grounded.
Automobili Lamborghini
A lesser-known Titus Software racer that supports split screen multiplayer with licensed Lamborghini vehicles. Nothing flashy here, no power-ups, no gimmicks, but it fills a niche for players who just want straightforward racing with friends and real cars on the box art.
Tips for Setting Up Three-Player Split Screen on Original Hardware
- Use an RGB or S-Video cable if you can get one. Split screens expose compression artifacts badly on composite, and those jagged edges get worse once the viewport shrinks to a third of the screen.
- Clean your cartridge contacts. Three-player games push the hardware harder, and a flaky connection shows up fast as freezing or corrupted textures mid-race.
- Hook up to a CRT or a low-latency display. Split screen racing punishes input lag, especially once you’re down to a quarter-screen viewport with four players.
- Check for the N64 Expansion Pak requirement. Some of these titles need it for higher resolution or extra player slots. Confirm compatibility before buying a loose cart off eBay or a flea market table.
Final Thoughts
Mario Kart 64 might be the obvious pick for a three-player N64 racing night, but Diddy Kong Racing, Beetle Adventure Racing, Top Gear Rally 2, and even South Park Rally prove there’s a surprisingly deep bench of alternatives out there. These games reward the extra effort of hunting down loose carts or digging through flea market bins with genuinely solid, sometimes more technically demanding racing experiences. They’re a great way to shake up a retro multiplayer session that’s gotten a little too comfortable with Rainbow Road.