The 25 greatest Nintendo games of all time
Ninty's absolute essentials from across the years, ranked
The 25 greatest Nintendo games of all time
Nintendo might be the single greatest game developer of all time, so attempting to whittle down a list of its 25 top creations created some heated moments among the Stuff staff. Ultimately, we realised that while we had lots of common favourites from across the years, we also each had some personal picks that had to fall by the wayside. But we got there, and we’re proud of this big, diverse list of undoubtedly brilliant games. Without further ado, these are our 25 favourite Nintendo console and handheld exclusives up till now.
25) ADVANCE WARS (GBA, 2002)
Strategy games are synonymous with PC nerdery, given their epic proportions and complexity. Yet Advance Wars managed to balance simplicity and depth so adeptly that it was able to cram a fantastically addictive strategy game into the handheld Game Boy Advance. You didn’t need to set up a whopping battle station to play, which is precisely why this sadly overlooked gem should be a prime contender for a mobile revival.
24) DONKEY KONG (ARCADE, 1981)
Nintendo has been making games for longer than we’ve been alive, but its output has barely changed: it always wants to show you a good time. In a totally PG way, of course. This philosophy was founded with Donkey Kong, and it’s arguably never been bettered. Just keep running and jumping until you free the princess. Who could argue with such brilliance? Not us.
23) SUPER METROID (SNES, 1994)
Samus Aran has always been an odd fit in Nintendo’s cornucopia of heroes: she’s a woman who doesn’t need rescuing, with an awesome laser gun to get the job done. Given that Princess Peach won’t be taking over interplanetary exploration any time soon, this all serves to make Super Metroid that little bit more special. As well being one of the known universe’s finest 16-bit adventure games, it stars the galaxy’s premier badass as well.
22) CHRONO TRIGGER (SNES, 1995)
The Final Fantasy series might take most of the fame, but for many a 16-bit role-playing fan, Chrono Trigger was really where it was at. This mesmerising, time-travel tale kept players captivated with intriguing characters and optional side quests, plus the multiple endings provided a level of replay value practically unmatched for the era. Add in graphics from Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama, and Chrono Trigger was an essential adventure worth taking time and time again.
21) BANJO-KAZOOIE (N64, 1998)
Much has been made over which N64 platformer is better: Super Mario 64 or Banzo-Kazooie. Well, it’s Super Mario 64. But that doesn’t mean that Rare’s follower didn’t also provide a damn good time, especially in the absence of a 3D Mario successor. Banjo’s larger worlds offered ample reason to explore while soaking in the bright, colourful graphics, and it packed an absolute wealth of challenges to dig into.
20) SECRET OF MANA (SNES, 1993)
Further apologies to Final Fantasy, because our other favourite Nintendo-exclusive Square RPG from the era is actually Secret of Mana. This 16-bit odyssey was colourful and alluring, with brilliant graphics and music, along with compelling combat – but the coolest and most unique feature among SNES role-players had to be simultaneous three-player support.
19) WARIOWARE, INC: MEGA PARTY (GC/GBA, 2004)
Look, we’re not saying that inebriation was essential to get the most out of Mega Party Games, but you wouldn’t have a room full of delinquents screaming “cucumber” at their TV otherwise. With the right, intoxicated group of friends this delirious compilation of seconds-long mini games proved perfect party fodder. We can imagine the chaos a Switch-based installment in the series might inspire.
18) WII SPORTS (WII, 2006)
Sure, it was far from perfect and almost laughably easy to exploit, but Wii Sports was the best example of Nintendo’s then-objective: to usher in an entirely new generation of casual gamers. The simplicity of the Wiimote’s motion controls meant that joypad-phobic Grandma could finally get involved, with a bit of practise serving aces like an on-form Federer. Just brilliant.
17) MARIO KART 8 (WII U, 2014)
One day an internet-based idiot will claim the Wii U was Nintendo’s greatest ever console. They’ll be so wrong it’s barely comprehensible, but that doesn’t mean Mario Kart 8 wasn’t the best-yet entry in the franchise’s history. Finally, you could wreak blue shell-related destruction in HD, and that meant the birth of Luigi’s infamous death stare.
16) F-ZERO X (N64, 1998)
As a Super Nintendo launch title, the original F-Zero basically invented the anti-gravity racing genre – and then F-Zero X for N64 made it way more fun. What F-Zero X lacked in visual detail it more than made up for with speed, with blistering races on winding tracks filled with huge packs of floating speedsters. The game’s futuristic tone still shone through even with the system’s clunky graphics, and the wailing guitars still ring beautifully in our ears.
15) DONKEY KONG COUNTRY (SNES, 1994)
Second only to Super Mario World in 2D platforming terms, Donkey Kong Country has a joie de vivre that’s still utterly infectious over two decades on from its SNES debut. Whether leaping, rolling and swinging through the thing on your lonesome, or mine cart-riding with a mate in toe, DK and Diddy Kong prove great company over the course of this 16-bit romp. The sheer variety of level design is genius.
14) STREET FIGHTER II (SNES, 1992)
Hands down, Street Fighter II is the most important fighting game of all time – and the SNES had the definitive home console version. Capcom’s six-button brawler simply didn’t play properly on Sega’s Mega Drive, but the SNES let you pull off those all-important combos and shoryuken uppercuts right out of the box. Ryu, Ken, Chun Li and the rest would show up again countless times across different games, but this is where we first met.
13) SUPER SMASH BROS. MELEE (GC, 2002)
Nintendo’s take on the 1v1 fighter might have started out as a “party game,” but the GameCube’s Super Smash Bros. Melee evolved it into so much more. The fact that it’s still played in tournaments around the world today, even after two new iterations tried to take its place, shows just how much love there is for this manic brawler. Fox is still overpowered, though. No arguments.
12) SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 (WII, 2010)
Super Mario Galaxy was absolutely brilliant, evolving the classic Super Mario 64 formula and extending it into space with some wacky, 360-degree planet levels – and then Super Mario Galaxy 2 ended up being even better. Easily the Wii’s best original game, Super Mario Galaxy 2 mostly felt like more of the same, but it allowed Nintendo to stretch the formula in fun new directions.
11) METROID PRIME (GC, 2002)
Many a Metroid fan griped about Nintendo’s classic sci-fi franchise going 3D… until they actually played this absolute gem. Super Metroid showed that a 16-bit side-scroller can feel vast and atmospheric, and Retro Studios more than ably expanded that premise into the third dimension with Metroid Prime, which was huge, engrossing, and felt totally authentic to the series.
10) THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK TO THE PAST (SNES, 1991)
Our top 10 is thick with Legend of Zelda games (spoiler!), and this SNES classic deserves as much praise as any of them. Not only did Nintendo’s action role-player elevate the series significantly from its 8-bit roots, but it also established many of the fundamental elements that future 3D entries would follow. Most importantly, it was an absolutely captivating adventure on its own, as you wielded the Master Sword, explored the Dark World, and attempted to vanquish the evil Ganon.
9) GOLDENEYE 007 (N64, 1997)
All hail the golden age of split-screen gaming. The shooter genre has progressed dramatically over the last two decades, but GoldenEye 007 is still the pinnacle of same-TV blasting. It’s also the best Bond game ever made, with a fun and nicely diverse campaign mode that captured the flavour of the flick. But truly, nothing can top the fun of four-player shenanigans with your crew huddled around the N64.
8) RESIDENT EVIL 4 (GC, 2005)
From bath-bound zombies to haggard old spider-ladies, there have been a lot of unpleasant things in Resident Evil games. Still, those priests with earwig-style insect heads in the series’ fourth installment rank among the most stomach-churning foes we’ve ever had slowly amble towards us. Of course, it helps that Resi 4 was also a bombastic mix of shotgun-toting action, schlocky B-movie dialogue and oblique puzzling.
7) THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD (SWITCH/WII U, 2017)
Usually taking a wildly successful formula and unceremoniously sticking it in the bin isn’t the greatest of ideas. And yet, Breath of the Wild is an exceptional open-world adventure precisely because it scrapped 30 years of gaming legacy. Instead of traipsing from dungeon to dungeon, this Zelda almost immediately gives you the freedom to go wherever you want, take on whatever beasts you please and cook up all manner of concoctions.
6) POKÉMON BLUE & RED (GAME BOY, 1999)
We’re all obsessed with collecting stuff. Nintendo and Game Freak wisely took advantage of that urge with a game that challenged you to “catch ’em all.” But rather than stockpiling stamps, you got to amass an army of powerful monsters ranging from fire-breathing dragons to psychic ducks. Ever since the ’90s the craze has only grown bigger, with the total number of Pokémon to collect rising from 151 to a staggering 802. Yikes! But it all started here in these significantly more focused dual classics.
5) SUPER MARIO KART (SNES, 1992)
Super Mario Kart took the beloved characters and settings from the platform franchise and built a weapon-tossing racer around them, not only spawning one of Nintendo’s most enduring series but also an entire genre. And we’d wager that pretty much every human you know has a favourite Mario Kart game from over the years. It all started right here.
4) THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE OCARINA OF TIME (N64, 1998)
Not only is this the best Zelda game of all time, which is an achievement in itself, but it’s also one of the most influential video games of all time. Back in an age when 2D was still the standard, Nintendo let us loose on the sprawling 3D world of Hyrule. But at the heart of this game is an epic adventure, featuring a time-travelling ocarina, hordes of foul pig monsters and puzzles more brain-taxing than a Rubik’s Cube on steroids (especially that damn Water Temple).
3) SUPER MARIO WORLD (SNES, 1991)
Meet the absolute greatest side-scrolling Mario of all time: SNES launcher Super Mario World. The pixel plumber’s 16-bit debut blew out the classic premise with loads of distinctive new worlds, all sorts of fresh play mechanics, loads more visual detail than was possible on the NES, and one of the greatest soundtracks in the history of gaming. It’s massive, seminal, and absolutely perfect.
2) TETRIS (GAME BOY, 1989)
Tetris was a dream for the two-button, green-scale Game Boy: this block-dropping, line-clearing puzzler is incredibly easy to learn, but it requires quite a bit of strategy and becomes very punishing on the upper levels. We played it endlessly, as did millions of early Game Boy buyers, so much so that the tinny chiptune tracks still cycle through our brains on occasion.
1) SUPER MARIO 64 (N64, 1996)
Super Mario 64 didn’t create 3D gaming, obviously, but it set so many fundamental elements for modern platformers and beyond. And for Nintendo’s first-ever attempt at fully 3D gaming, it worked spectacularly. Super Mario 64 packed in loads of creativity and personality as you guided the chunky hero through loads of different worlds, and while the genre has evolved significantly since, it’s still an absolute blast to play through. It’s legendary, and it deserves top billing here.
