Super Mario 64 stands head-and-shoulders above everything else this year. Resident Evil and WaveRace 64 deserve mentions as well.

I must say that none of the games really give run for the money for Super Mario 64. Mario Kart 64 is a distant second. Kind of sad though, considering SM64 isn't any Super Mario World or Super Mario Bros. 3.

With Mario 64 being what felt like my first proper 3D experience, even though I played some other 3D games before that, it feels like its in a tier of its own compared to the rest of the list.

Resident Evil would be my runner up.
Followed by Pokemon Yellow, and then Mario Kart 64.

There wasn't much competition for first place, so the 1996 Game of the Year is Super Mario 64, and the distant runner up is Pokemon Red/Green/Blue/Yellow.

Super Mario 64, hands down. It's the best game of its generation, and I would still say it's my second-favorite game of all time behind SMB3.