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

[Grazza]

Yeah, I personally think 10 games each, max two per franchise is a great formula for this.

[Ronnie]

1. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - Visually stunning and timeless, full of charm, big adventure, great story, top notch animation, lovely soundtrack
2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Re-defined openworld games, prioritised adventure and discovery, great combat, brilliant traversal
3. Super Mario 3D World - It knew exactly what it was and delivered 3D platforming perfection, every level different from the last. A beautiful looking game too.
4. Super Mario Galaxy - Amazing soundtrack, colourful sprawling levels, epic gameplay
5. Animal Crossing New Leaf - The game consumed me, I barely missed a day in my year or so of playing it. Full of charm and moments to make you smile
6. Splatoon - Typically Nintendo, redefining a popular genre and putting their own spin on it. Very clever, very fun. Bright and colourful and a great new IP
7. Mario Kart 8 - The Deluxe version on Switch. Beautiful graphics, perfected gameplay, a good battle mode, and the new standard for the series
8. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker - Never has a game been more charming, and full of little touches to make you smile. Another gem on the Wii U.
9. Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon - Fantastic atmosphere, full of small details, engaging gameplay and the multiple mansion mechanic kept things fresh
10. Starfox Assault - An under-rated game IMO and my favorite Starfox title. Surprisingly engaging storyline, brilliant visuals, top notch gameplay

Honourable mentions to: Pikmin 3, Paper Mario Colour Splash, Pilotwings (SNES), Wii Sports Resort, and about 100 others...

Edited September 20, 2017 by Ronnie

[dazzybee]

Hard. Also is it NOW, best games NOW taking everything into consideration, or completely relative. For example - if it's taking everything in to consideration Tetris GB would maybe make it, even though Tetris DS is a far better game, but either way the game is a masterpiece and that one in particular has stuff going for it. On the other hand it can't be just relative can it, if so GoldenEye would maybe make it, but no way do I feel close now as it's aged terribly (like pretty much all N64 games  )

[dazzybee]

I have half the games you do Ronnie

[Ronnie]

Just now, dazzybee said:

Hard. Also is it NOW, best games NOW taking everything into consideration, or completely relative. For example - if it's taking everything in to consideration Tetris GB would maybe make it, even though Tetris DS is a far better game, but either way the game is a masterpiece and that one in particular has stuff going for it. On the other hand it can't be just relative can it, if so GoldenEye would maybe make it, but no way do I feel close now as it's aged terribly (like pretty much all N64 games  )

I think it should be as games are NOW. Nintendo's best work. Tetris, SMB, LOZ are hugely influential and important but I wouldn't call them Nintendo's "best games".

[dazzybee]

1 minute ago, Ronnie said:

I think it should be as games are NOW. Nintendo's best work. Tetris, SMB, LOZ are hugely influential and important but I wouldn't call them Nintendo's "best games".

Okay, though I think tetris and SMB still are  They're both in my maybe pile either way, but okay, GoldenEye and any N64 game is out! Except maybe Excitebike 64

[nekunando]

18 hours ago, Pestneb said:

I'm just going to give a list! if we go for one game only, mine is the first game, otherwise if it's top ten, in the following order:

  Hide contents

Splatoon

Given the hours I sank in this game it should sit fairly high! The gameplay really got me in this game. When you're on fire the game just sings, swimming through the ink ambushing inklings, painting the whole stage. Highlights for me were N-E teams and playing matches with are! The main issue has been my net connection, which independently of splatoon caused huge connection issues, effectively retiring this game from my collection prematurely the connection has since improved, and I still play the occasional match - aiming with motion controls is the best shooter experience I have ever had on a console, about on par as a keyboard + mouse setup personally.

Mario Kart 8

Mainly as a game I play online against my best mate from time to time. Mario kart has always been a favourite series, but this is the first one since the original where I felt the controls were nailed! lag can be an issue, but due to the fairly random nature of play I don't find it to be a problem. If only there was voice chat in race and a proper battle mode! Lots of classic moments, now I am looking forward to MK9 which will hopefully take mario kart ot the next level!

 

Smash bros Brawl

 While the two earlier games, melee in particular, were great games, for me brawl just edges it. The roster was huge, but with a thoughtfully crafted single player mode it was fun getting to grips with all the fighters, learning how to fight with them. Having seen how I am with smash 4, I really appreciate how the character specific stages in single player modes really encouraged me to explore all the characters and get the most out of the game, so not only was the roster large, but I got to be proficient with each fighter.

 

Breath of the wild

Maybe not classic Zelda in some ways, but I really enjoyed the feeling of progression as link grew stronger! I haven't gotten round to completing the game yet, but so far in I have really enjoyed the exploration aspects, building up my armour and just playing in the sandbox. A slightly stronger storyline could have pushed this game closer to perfection, but even as it is I find the game great fun and really compelling - I'm still stumbling across areas that are new, discovering new nuances in the gameplay. Fantastic game!

**Whoops!**

Super Mario Sunshine

The controls, the gameplay, I just found this game really fun. I suspect that everything I loved about sunshine will come out in odyssey but until I've played that, sunshine is my favourite mario game!
 

Metroid fusion

This was the first 2-d metroid I ever played, and I loved it. everything seemed perfect, pacing of the game, lay out of the map, exploration, combat, the art style and the music. It was too short, but it was a marvellous game nonetheless!

 

1080 avalanche

The controls are good, graphics for the time were great, I just wish they'd release a new game in the series! I loved the build up to just before a race, the music track (not so sure I'd appreciate it as much now) and the fact that for the most part I could relax and enjoy the game. The avalanches were quite neat, and I can only imagine what this game could be with an updated game engine.

 

Wario ware inc mega party games

Not a single player thing, but this really was a great game to play with a group, the balance on everything was just perfect. It was really random but if people could get past that, it's a good fun game!

 

Wii Sports resort

Mainly I loved flying around the island - I think I'd probably like a pilotwings game but I have yet to do so, perhaps something to add to my "to buy list"
Aside from flying, plenty of little games, I spent a good amount of time on the table tennis with one flat mate in particular, this was another good sociable game from Nintendo

 

 

When I played Super Mario Sunshine last year, it cemented it as my least favourite of the 3D Mario titles and I don't think it holds up particularly well, unfortunately

Apart from that, I LOVE that you have 1080 Avalanche and Wii Sports Resort on your list Neither will make it into my top 10, which I'll hopefully compile later, but it's awesome to see these great games get some recognition!

[dazzybee]

Sunshine has always been my worst ever main line Mario game (until NSMB 2 on 3DS) even when it came out I didn't;t love it.

[markderoos]

1 hour ago, Ronnie said:

Maybe two max per franchise would work best.

Yeah, or max two nominations per 'big' franchise (like Pokemon, Mario, Kirby, Metroid, Donkey Kong, Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem, Kart, Smash and/or Zelda) and max one for all other franchises? Nominating two Wii Fit entries comes to mind

 

[markderoos]

Either way, my top 10:

1. Ocarina of Time,

2. Super Mario World, 

3. Mario 64,

4. Super Smash Bros Melee,

5. Mario Kart 8,

6. Donkey Kong Country,

7. Metroid Prime, 

8. Pokemon Red/Blue, 

9. Paper Mario the Thousand-Year Door

10. F-Zero GX,

 

[Pestneb]

1 hour ago, dazzybee said:

Sunshine has always been my worst ever main line Mario game (until NSMB 2 on 3DS) even when it came out I didn't;t love it.

 

1 hour ago, nekunando said:

When I played Super Mario Sunshine last year, it cemented it as my least favourite of the 3D Mario titles and I don't think it holds up particularly well, unfortunately

Interesting - what is it that doesn't work for you guys? I think my favourite part is the controls, I'm hoping that odyssey feels like sunshine did in regards to controlling mario. I liked the mechanic of the increasing light as a tangible consequence of your progress, the under island system with exploring, the FLUDD was perhaps a little less attractive as a "power up" than traditional mario style power-ups, but it was still an interesting mechanic. I also wish Yoshi could swim - I suspect there was a technical reason that he couldn't. The Yoshi vomit was perhaps a little questionable as well by no means is it a perfect game but for me it's still solid and if I was forced to only ever play one mario ever again in my life... well it would be between this and odyssey.

[bob]

Ok, imma join in!

10) For The Frog The Bell Tolls (GBVC) (Ok, i've never played it, but it gets into my list based on that name alone)

9) New Super Mario Bros Wii (Wii)

8) Mario Kart Wii (Wii)

7) Banjo Kazooie (N64)

6) Animal Crossing (GC)

5) Super Smash Bros Melee (GC)

4) Wario Ware Inc (GC)

3) Goldeneye 007 (N64)

2) Super Smash Bros (N64)

1) Pokemon Red (GBC)

 

[Glen-i]

I'm gonna ignore bob's number 1 pick for a moment...

This is legitimately hard, I know my first two picks, but after that, it gets messy. I'm gonna need a day or two to figure this out. I'll be back.

 

[Happenstance]

Ok I think my list will be:

1. Animal Crossing (GC)
2. Super Mario Bros (NES)
3. Tetris (GB)
4. Pokemon Blue (GB)
5. Super Smash Bros Melee (GC)
6. Super Mario Bros 3 (NES)
7. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GC)
8. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS)
9. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GC)
10. Warioware Inc (GBA)

To be honest I probably would have put New Super Mario Bros (DS) in there somewhere but I figured that would count as 3 from the Mario platformer franchise.

[Pestneb]

20 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

I'm gonna ignore bob's number 1 pick for a moment...

This is legitimately hard, I know my first two picks, but after that, it gets messy. I'm gonna need a day or two to figure this out. I'll be back.

I also thought it was his number one choice, but it looks like it's actually his number 10 pick... maybe we should stipulate that we have to have played the games we pick though. I o have to agree with bob though... maybe we could do a top ten on games we want to play but haven't gotten round to yet...

[bob]

I also thought it was his number one choice, but it looks like it's actually his number 10 pick... maybe we should stipulate that we have to have played the games we pick though. I o have to agree with bob though... maybe we could do a top ten on games we want to play but haven't gotten round to yet...

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.

[Nicktendo]

This is legit hard. Like harder than choosing which family members you'd let live in a hostage situation. 

[Pestneb]

Pokemon red/blue, Mario kart 8, super smash bros melee, legend of Zelda Breath of the wild and splatoon make top 5 after 5 rounds of voting....that's not a bad variety

[Ronnie]

The nostalgia is strong in this thread!!

[bob]

The nostalgia is strong in this thread!!

I thought that when choosing mine, but I only had around 4-5 games for the Wii U, and haven't got a Switch yet, so it makes it hard to choose more recent games.

[nekunando]

It's a lot harder to create a top 10 list than you initially think it will be. There are so many sacrifices to make but I've restricted myself to only one game in each franchise.. but even that is difficult! The order isn't that important but I wanted to get some nice variety into my list

Super Mario 64 (N64)
Metroid Prime (GC)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (Wii U)
Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
Wave Race: Blue Storm (GC)
Banjo-Kazooie (N64)
Wii Sports (Wii)
Goldeneye (N64)
F-Zero GX (GC)

Choosing between entries in both the Mario and Zelda franchises was almost impossible as I almost always find the one I most played recently to be my new favourite I could easily have went with Ocarina of TIme or maybe even Skyward Sword! Likewise with Mario, I nearly settled on Super Mario World while Super Mario Galaxy 2 could easily have been selected!

Edited September 20, 2017 by nekunando

[Pestneb]

do mario kart 8 deluxe/wind waker HD count? Just from the IGN video, they only allowed the original super mario 3, not the later release with e-reader support as an example....

Just asking for clarification if re-releases count....

Edited September 20, 2017 by Pestneb

[Hero-of-Time]

5 minutes ago, Pestneb said:

do mario kart 8 deluxe/wind waker HD count? Just from the IGN video, they only allowed the original super mario 3, not the later release with e-reader support as an example....

Just asking for clarification if re-releases count....

I'd think so. Most re-releases are the better versions of the game.

[Pestneb]

ok... so MK8 looks likely to make it to the top ten, I presume MK8+MK8D get counted up together?

[Hero-of-Time]

1 minute ago, Pestneb said:

ok... so MK8 looks likely to make it to the top ten, I presume MK8+MK8D get counted up together?

I'd count them separately. Both were separate releases. MK8D has battle mode and all the DLC. It's very much a better version of the original. The only reason to vote for the original would be if you hadn't played the DX version.