The N-Europe top 10 Nintendo games of all time.

[Pestneb]

It is a better version, but the base and core is the same. Splitting votes would be a bit like splitting pokemon red/blue, it makes a fair difference to the result. For example, right now if deluxe and MK8 are together, they take the top spot, while if that is split I assume Deluxe sits far below MK8 (as deluxe was only specified once I believe)
So from 1st position to MK8 sitting in fourth and deluxe way down like 15th or something like that. Again with pokemon which is 2nd placed, red would sit alongside MK8 with blue sitting down in the twenties...

[Hero-of-Time]

Unlike something like Wind Waker HD, TPHD, MK8D, OOT3D, MM3D, Starfox 64 3D etc. Pokemon Red and Blue were released at the same time. The other games I mentioned came generations after the originals.

Something like OOT3D should be ahead of the original as it's got many QoL improvements and looks much better. The only way originals would win out over remasters would be due to nostalgia, which I thought was off the table with this poll.

[markderoos]

I'd say HD/Definitive/Deluxe versions add up to the originals. If we count them seperately I'll need to adjust MK8 into MK8DX

I also gave a combined vote for Red/Blue because the gameplay experience was exactly the same.

[nekunando]

Mario Kart 8 would make it into my list regardless of whether it is the Wii U or Switch version.. but Wind Waker on Gamecube wouldn't have made it unlike the HD iteration. With that in mind, I'm not sure how to deal with remakes!

[Pestneb]

Even with MK8, my no.1 improvement would be to add a proper battle mode, which MK8 Deluxe addresses so it is a conundrum. Personally I would be inclined to have MK8 + MK8 Deluxe combined and then name which ever of the two gained the most points. Maybe at a push have the "other" title as a subscript, or have a note to clarify that the result was the combined MK8+MK8 deluxe. Either way probably best for people to be as precise as they can be. For example, BotW, switch or Wii U, more so with twilight princess, GC, Wii or HD?

[Jonnas]

Honestly, original versions and their respective remakes / updated rereleases should count as the same game for the purposes of this list. Even Virtual Console releases provide auto-save, should the Virtual Console version of Legend of Zelda count as a different game from the NES original? How about the Gamecube & Wii versions of Twilight Princess? Or original Link's Awakening and DX? If we're compiling what we think are the best Nintendo games of all time, it's silly to split the vote between Mario Kart 8 (Wii U version) and Mario Kart 8 (Switch version) when the people voting are clearly talking about the same game. Even markderoos admitted that he wasn't thinking about the existence of different versions when he voted.

As for my Top 10, give me some time, this will not be an easy list.

3 hours ago, bob said:

I think Glen-i was actually talking about my number 1 choice, as he still can't come to terms with the fact that Pokemon Red is the best Pokemon game.

Maybe it's because you described it as a Game Boy Colour game when it was clearly an original black&white Game Boy game. I, personally, am outraged at that claim. Quite so.

Edited September 20, 2017 by Jonnas

[Nicktendo]

I have been thinking about this all day and I want to stop thinking about it, so here goes...

10) Splatoon 2 - I adored the first game, this one improves on it in almost every way imaginable. In my teens I'd been into online shooters in the heady days of Xbox Live Halo 2 and the first couple of years of the 360 before growing disillusioned and dismissing the whole experience of competitive online as a waste of time. After a good 6 or 7 years, Splatoon brought me back, with it's new fresh approach, bright colours and J-Rock tunes. By rights that game should be here, but Splatoon 2 is just so much better it seems silly to even consider it. Even it's current young state it's one of the best games I've ever played. The Splatfests and Salmon Runs with team N-E have been a blast, and I'm hoping Nintendo will be joining the 21st Century in the near future so we'll all be able to communicate in a non-ridiculous way as we tear team G&K Douchebags a new one. 

9) Goldeneye 007 - Facility. Proximity mines. No Oddjob. Need I say more? I'm certain this game is responsible for 99% of the N64 Action Replay sales. WHAT? You can reach the other side of the dam? Wanted to, and went on to explore every single inch of this game. Also noteworthy for retaining the best cheats to ever feature in a video game.

8) Banjo-Kazooie - The pinnacle of 3D platformers. I had 35 N64 games before I got rid of it, Mario 64 was never one of them, I had no want or need for it with this gem sitting on the shelf. My speedrun record is 7 hours, 20 minutes, so I was kind of sad when Sam smashed it at last year's MadDog Marathon, but I'm remain impressed with how fun the game still is. 

7) The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - If I really had to, I would probably choose Breath of the Wild instead of this, but seeing as this is the peak of 2D Zelda gaming and my 3D one is coming up later, LTTP gets the nod. I actually only played this properly after OOT, but it's still one of my most cherished gaming experiences and one of the only games I regularly replay, purely because of how fun it is. Fantastic design, unforgettable music (I'm going to be talking about that a lot), and a polished experience which would go on to become typical of Nintendo products. 

6) Wii Sports - Nintendo at their absolute best. Easy to pick up, endlessly fun with friends, grandparents and communist uncles, but beneath the simple core is a selection of games that can be truly mastered to the point of absolute absurdity. My 13-under-par in Wii Sports Golf is, to this day, one of my most cherished gaming memories / achievements, purely from the amount of time I spent learning and mastering the course and the mechanics which lead to the eventual rewards. I still despise Reggie for his "blue ocean strategy" PR bullshit, but my god, it worked. 

5) Animal Crossing GC - This game single handedly save my failing relationship (which eventually failed after we stopped playing). I jest, partly, but this "communication game" did exactly what Miyamoto San hoped it would do, and for 2 full years, it was the hot-topic of discussion between me and my missus as we did stupid shit, sent stupid letters and bullied stupid residents who we mutually hated. I don't know many people who had 8 different memory cards 59s for thire GameCubes, each with a different Animal Crossing town saved to it, but we did. The holy "Master" town memory card (an official Nintendo memory card, of course) was used as a base to jump from in order to steal oranges, peaches, items and recycle residents from far and wide, and where my super collection of rare and wonderful NES roms was housed. Cheif was my bestie, and he is yet to show up in any other AC game I've played since.  New Leaf is obviously a million times better, but Animal Forest+ will forever hold that special place in my gaming heart.

4) Pokemon Silver / Gold - Team Silver here. Pokemon Red and Blue for nostalgia purposes should be here, but I won't do that because GS are better games. I played Pokemon Blue before everyone else in my school even knew what a Japanese pocket monster was. My next door neighbour brought it back from America and me and my brothers crowded around my 10-inch hitachi CRT on the SNES GameBoy Player for 3 nights straight seeing how far we could get (we weren't allowed to overwrite his save file). It was my first experience of RPG games and I was immediately in love. In year 8 I was the kid who was covered from head to toe in Pokemon merch, I was made fun of but I just didn't care. The anime, the games and the trading cards took over my life. So when my friend figured out how to download ROMs and emulators we were immediately on to Pokemon Gold - JP version. I knew, vaguely, what I should do having put 100s of hours into Blue, but this experience was the next level. I was enthralled by the new Pokemon, and the day / night cycle (which incidentally was completely broken in the illegal version and didn't match real time, but instead continued from when you started the game. So if you started at 8am, it would match your play time, not the actual time. Frustrating) But this was a proper sequel. It looked amazing in colour, the game was twice as big, the music twice as good and I ended up playing Silver, Gold and eventually Crystal to full completion. 

3) Super Smash Bros. Melee - Hands up if you plugged four controllers in a left a 99 stock death match running to unlock Mewtwo. I know I'm not alone. The N64 original provided HOURS of entertainment, but like Splatoon 2, this perfected it in every way. The graphics were amazing at the time, jaw-dropping 60FPS, utterly, utterly sublime controls. This is me mentioning music again. My god, THE MUSIC. The stages. The sheer number of characters. The Franchises. The History. The Lore. The Easter Eggs. Sorry Sakurai, no matter how many hours you work, no matter how much you run yourself into the ground, you will never top this game. 

2) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time - Despite it not making my personal number one, I still consider it to be the greatest video game ever made. Do I need to explain why? Probably not. It encapsulated me. So much so that I ended up submitting a written novel of the game for my year 9 English coursework. I got an A. My teacher must have been a Sony fanboy, who didn't know what an N64 was.

1) Super Mario World - The first game I ever played on a home console and one which is solely responsible for my unashamed 26-year adoration of this company. A masterpiece and easily the best 2D Mario. The physics are spot on, the variety in level design is excellent and the music has never been (and never will be) topped. 

Honerable, honerable mentions for: Mario Golf 64, Luigi's Mansion (guess I lied), Jet Force Gemini, Mario Kart 8, Mario Party, Metroid Prime.

Edited September 20, 2017 by Nicktendo

[Ronnie]

Oh I'd definitely count MK8/MK8Deluxe as the same game. If not then obviously my MK8 vote goes to MK8D. 

Even Wind Waker/Wind Waker HD should count as the same game. Because 99.99% of it is the same. 

Unless a remake is DRASTICALLY different like Return of Samus/Samus Returns I think they should just count the same.   

Edited September 20, 2017 by Ronnie

[Ronnie]

Also @Nicktendo have you played Goldeneye recently? I tried a few months back and found it and it's 15 fps unplayable !! Amazing at the time of course, but it's a good indicator of how tough it is to remove nostalgia from these sorts of lists. 

Edited September 20, 2017 by Ronnie

[Grazza]

Darn it, I can't think of a 10th game from a franchise I like enough to include.  I can think of 2x Metroid, 2x Zelda, 2x Mario, a Fire Emblem, an Animal Crossing and an F-Zero, but nothing else.

[Ronnie]

Captain Toad needs more love

@Hero-of-Time will put it right... I hope...

Edited September 20, 2017 by Ronnie

[nekunando]

52 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Also @Nicktendo have you played Goldeneye recently? I tried a few months back and found it and it's 15 fps unplayable !! Amazing at the time of course, but it's a good indicator of how tough it is to remove nostalgia from these sorts of lists. 

I played through it last year and loved it I'm not really an FPS guy but Goldeneye has always been the exception! Yes, the nostalgia is strong but you can never switch that off completely!

I love Captain Toad too but it's not enough for top 10, like plenty of other candidates..

[Sheikah]

Also[mention=2520]Nicktendo[/mention] have you played Goldeneye recently? I tried a few months back and found it and it's 15 fps unplayable !! Amazing at the time of course, but it's a good indicator of how tough it is to remove nostalgia from these sorts of lists. 

Why would you want to remove nostalgia though. If it's the kind of nostalgia that means you remember it better than it was then sure, try to avoid that. If it's you remembering how much fun you had at the time then I think that's perfectly fair. Reason being, if you judge every game by how good it is by today's standards then every top 10 list should by rights be the latest games in a series unless the latest games were terrible or the original games epic beyond belief. Especially for many of Nintendo's games where formulas are often adhered to (Mario Kart, Pokémon, Smash, etc).  For example I would rate Pokemon Red and Blue very highly and above the latest games even though many of the latest ones followed near enough the same formula but had many quality of life and graphical improvements. I think you have to recognise the games that had the biggest impact at the time due to them being fresh and novel as well as great games that first demonstrated brilliance. If games in a series continue to rehash a formula then there's no way I can justify rating the latest game in a series higher than the original. Mostly because I'd have been nowhere near as excited about a game the 7th time round versus the 1st. Sure, the 7th generation might have improved in a bunch of ways, but ultimately I'd mark it being much of the same.

 

I don't see the point in going back and judging old games by today's standards because it's not like I'm going to go back and play them today. You don't see review sites going back and remarking old games because it doesn't make much sense. For Goldeneye, the fact the FPS is dogshit by modern standards doesn't matter to me much, as someone who has no intention of revisiting it today, but I could still class it as one of the best games in the genre based on the enjoyment I had when it arrived and the utter brilliance of the game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Glen-i]

The amount of Red/Blue votes sicken me. Especially when FireRed/LeafGreen exist. If you're gonna choose Gen 1, then at least choose the better version!

Edited September 21, 2017 by Glen-i

[Hero-of-Time]

9 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Captain Toad needs more love

@Hero-of-Time will put it right... I hope...

I still don't know what the rules are.   Are we allowed multiple entries of a series? Can we play on nostalgia or not?

To be honest, i'm just happy reading through the chaos that is this thread.  

54 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

The amount of Red/Blue votes sicken me. Especially when FireRed/LeafGreen exist. If you're gonna choose Gen 1, then at least choose the better version!

Going by what has been said, it would still be listed as Pokemon Red though, right?

Your hatred for gen 1 lovers always amuses me. Anytime someone mentioned Red or Blue I instantly think of how you will react. Actually, what is your favourite mainline Pokemon game, @Glen-i?

[markderoos]

1 hour ago, Glen-i said:

The amount of Red/Blue votes sicken me. Especially when FireRed/LeafGreen exist. If you're gonna choose Gen 1, then at least choose the better version!

I voted it because at the time they released I had never seen a game like this before. It's exactly as @Sheikah says: the original had the greatest impact because of it's freshness. Of course newer games are enhanced and improved. It's just that they wowed me less and as such have had less impact on my gaming life.

Edited September 21, 2017 by markderoos

[Hero-of-Time]

This thread reminds me of this.  

 

[Ronnie]

6 hours ago, Sheikah said:

Why would you want to remove nostalgia though. If it's the kind of nostalgia that means you remember it better than it was then sure, try to avoid that.

And that's the thing I think a lot of votes fall into this category.

Quote

I don't see the point in going back and judging old games by today's standards because it's not like I'm going to go back and play them today.

But surely if they're worthy of being called one of the top 10 Nintendo games of all time you should absolutely be keen to go back and play them today?

[Ronnie]

3 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I still don't know what the rules are.   Are we allowed multiple entries of a series? Can we play on nostalgia or not?

Two entries per series maximum. Up to you re: nostalgia, I didn't, others did.

[Kaepora_Gaebora]

This is turning into Terry Gilliam's Don Quixote; in the end we won't have a top 10 list it will all be about the carnage of trying to make a top 10 list 😂

Saying that, I'll have a think through my favourites and start adding to the chaos as well!

[Sheikah]

The amount of Red/Blue votes sicken me. Especially when FireRed/LeafGreen exist. If you're gonna choose Gen 1, then at least choose the better version!

People are choosing Red and Blue for the same reason they're saying Mario 64 and not 64 DS, and Ocarina of Time and not Ocarina of Time 3DS.

 

I don't know about everyone else but when the original titles came out they were groundbreaking and I was absorbed. To me it seems a little strange that you would bestow honours on the remasters that, let's face it, are the true nostalgia cash ins. I think there is something to be said for giving credit to the original source, as there is in nearly any other setting.

 

Just my own personal experience with Pokémon Blue - I was young and completely absorbed by the game. Me and my friends were playing and trading and battling Pokémon, and trying to work everything out in the days where the internet wasn't really commonplace. I loved how new the concept of Pokémon felt and how it tapped into something that no game ever really had. The cutesy pixelated style, seeing Missingno, stumbling upon Mewtwo, and finally finding a Pikachu in Viridian forest...

 

The Fire Red and Leaf Green remakes were a stroll down memory lane. I enjoyed them, but they were ultimately a throwback to a fantastic time and experience. I don't remember doing much trading in that game, because by then most people had moved on.

 

For me, all games can ultimately be compared on a general scale of enjoyment they gave me when I played them rather than to any modern standard. I can't reasonably expect to feel that same enjoyment today for each game because of changing circumstances and the fact the game isn't new to me anymore.

 

This will always be a subjective exercise so trying to be objective about it probably isn't going to work, at least not for me.

 

 

 

[Ronnie]

Influential and groundbreaking at the time aren't qualities that should be in a top 10 games of all time list though. Otherwise Pong, Super Mario Bros etc would be at the top of any list for the next fifty years.

Nostalgia choices are fine but I feel that you should be able to play them nowadays and have them hold up as solid games. Things like Super Mario 3 is absolutely still a great game, but Goldeneye or Banjo Kazooie?

And I still say OOT and OOT 3D are the same game for the purpose of this list, because they are the same core game with a few tweaks here and there. 

Edited September 21, 2017 by Ronnie

[Sheikah]

Influential and groundbreaking at the time aren't qualities that should be in a top 10 games of all time list though.

Well that's like, your opinion.

What qualifies for me is how much I enjoyed the game, far more so than how the FPS holds up today.

Giving enjoyment to people is essentially why games are made, so I can see no finer reason for selecting games than that. And if a game was groundbreaking or fresh when it came out, chances are I enjoyed it more and it'll be on my list.

You know, when I get around to actually posting it. [emoji14]

[Londragon]

In reverse order; then again if I make a list next week it'll probably be different; all depends on my mood;

10. Mario Golf World Tour (3DS)

9. Pilotwings Resort (3DS)

8. Splatoon 2 (Switch)

7. Super Mario 64 (N64)

6. Goldeneye 007 (N64)

5. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)

4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)

3. Metroid Prime (GameCube)

2. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)

[Kav]

1. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

2. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

3. Metroid Prime

4. Super Mario Galaxy 2

5. Super Mario Galaxy

6. Super Smash Bros: Melee

7. Perfect Dark

8. Goldeneye

9. Super Metroid

10. Mario Kart 64

Edited September 21, 2017 by Kav