What are your top five favorite Nintendo games of all time?

[Achamo]

Each franchise is in its own pile, but this is it!

Pokemon.
The Legend Of Zelda
Bravely Default / Second
Etrian Odyssey.
Fire Emblem.

I also threw in Sonic because I enjoyed Sonic Adventure 2 Battle.

 

[Kowai Yume]

Let's see

F-Zero GX for its sheer difficulty
Fire Emblem because of it's chess-like gameplay
Skyward Sword for its story and art style. The controls wern't that bad either, you got to get use to them at first.
Mario Kart, to the point my friends banned me from playing with them.
Splatoon (Duh) even though it causing me headaches.

 

[Aori]

Oh boy.
1. Kirby Air Ride
2. Kirby: Planet Robobot
3. Smash series
4. Splatoon obviously
5. Mario Kart...? Or maybe Earthbound.

 

[Xanjos]

1. Pokémon Ruby or basically every main series Pokémon game ever, Pokémon made me a gamer.

2. Another code Two Memories (Trace memory) and it's sequel. It's a very surprising gem for the DS.

3. Virtue's Last Reward or just the Zero Escape series, these just keep you at the edge off your seat all the time, it was very hard to put down.

4. Splatoon off course

5. Lost in Blue 2: I remember wanting the first one but never finding it and then randomly finding the second one and absolutely loving it, though it has a lot off flaws.

 

[Award]

You guys ask the hard questions....I'm an old school Nintendo vet, so I'll have to have a list of 10, and even that's too few! Not all in my list are made by Nintendo but were Nintendo exclusive:

1. Super Mario World. Still to this day that remains the be all end all of 2D platformers. It personifies everything gaming in my mind.
2. Super Mario Bros. 3. Before there was SMW, SMB3 was the best platformer. And still today it's odd physics, unique visual styling and themes, and unusual elements and level design remains unique and unmatched. Giant Land, and Pipe Land are unlike any other platformer thematically. Honestly I've always found it hard to choose between SMW and SMB3 as the "best"
3. Loz: A Link to the Past. One of the very best games that has ever been made. It set the concept of what a Zelda game is, and managed to be vast and addictive. In retrospect, it doesn't hold up as well as the Marios do given it's brutality later on. A Link Between Worlds in many ways is a superior game. I nearly chose LBW, however, one can't shake the nostalgia of these rose colored glasses.
4. Legend of the Mystical Ninja (Goemon): Slightly obscure, very Japanese, it was a truly memorable action adventure romp.
5. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the 7 Stars. My first Squeenix RPG, and still today holds its own as excellent with a wonderful world and charming dialogue.
   
6. Animal Crossing: New Leaf. A magical game. Not sure if playing another would be quite as magical, but as my first AC game, it's an amazing experience that will never be forgotten.
   
7. Fantasy Life: Like Animal Crossing, but with MMO ARPG gameplay! Addictive hack & slash with very charming characters and world.
   
8. Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers: Come on old gamers, unite, you remember the classic Capcom Disney tie-ins! They were great!
9. Castlevania: Super Castlevania was by far the superior game, but it was the original that started the addiction!
10. Splatoon: It's really hard to put Splatoon above so many other classics I can remember, but I can't deny the impression it's left as an addiction. It has to join the list of classics.

This mostly ends up a list of games that have the greatest impact and lasting memory, more than the games that were the most technically competent. The list would look different save for #1 & 2 if going for that. These are the games that are the most MEMORABLE or had the greatest impact lasting the longest time. And the list could be quite a bit bigger for other impact games! The list gets pretty big when you've been playing Nintendo since the NES came out and were graced by the ability to rent every single game that came out in the 80's & 90's :)

 

[Bloop]

i don't have a specific order but:

mother 3
earthbound
super mario galaxy 2 (my first game i've ever completed 100%)
legend of zelda: majora's mask
pokemon black

honorable mentions:
super smash bros series
super mario galaxy
splatoon
mario & luigi: partners in time(i know it's not the best but i was so into it when i first got it, it has a special place in my heart)

 

[Inumi]

10. Pokemon X/Y - It's seriously my favorite Pokemon game. I love the legendaries, the dark backstory of it, the main baddies (team flare), the gym leaders, the option to "custom" your trainer, the Elite Four (except that I'll not lie, I found that the idea of the Elite four in ORAS when trying to beat it for a a second time, having more Pokemons, having a mega-evolued pokemon as last Pokemon and having a higher level was better than XY Elite four, but I prefer the look of XY elite four better and had more trouble to beat them then in ORAS), the Champion (I prefer Diantha over Steven cause of her theme, how the room where you're with her looks like, her pokemons and I seriously had more trouble beating or reaching her, fainting multiple times and I think I even took a pause of trying it but failing for a month or something like this before finally beating her. Plus I beat Steven in my first try. And even after the Delta episode of ORAS, even if I was under leveled for the new elite four and champion, I beat it again first time. So i don't understand how a lot of top 10 or top 5 or top 20 champions in Pokemon put him number one and say that Steven is hard and put Diantha low saying she is weak when I beat it first shot twice, the second time even underleveled!), it's the first Pokemon game I beat and it's the first appearance of my fav pokemon (Braixen).
9. Paper Mario: Sticker Star - I didn't played to a lot of Paper Mario games (only two of them). So probably if I had played more, this one would be replaced by another one. Also, after seeing how the bosses look like, I can say that I am really disapointed about the Final boss. I don't really understand if Bowser was being brainwashed cause of the crown or if what he was doing was on purpose or whatever and it is sad that here was a lack of explications or "hype" when you're at this moment of the game. It should be the most epic one (with exceptions)! However, I really like the jazzy music of the game and the humor in it, especially Kamek's sense of humor with his tricks and fourth-wall breaks, and the Toad who was stuck under the fountain that the basement of his tiny house is a freaking huge sticker museum. And I like the Mario rpgs so far, not like the other styles of RPG like Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy that I don't really enjoy. Another little thing I don't like (and not only for this particular Paper Mario game but also the other that I didn't played) is that even if you block you get damages. Also, I didn't played a lot of it, but if I remember, you don't get more health after lvl upping or you lvl up only after you beat one of the bosses thar wear a Royal Sticker. My issue here is the health. I had a lot of troubles with it. I don't really like how the battles work too. The only battle stickers I seem to understand how they works are the jumping ones and the mushroom for healing (I think I understand it). And maybe the special stickers about objects. How to get an "Excellent" with the other stickers is not really clear. They should have put more ideas and effort for the special object stickers so they could have mechanism of their own and that would be funnier than what we have now (for exemple, having draw circles in certain directions and the fastest possible with the fan except of spamming the A button for every stickers of this kind). Another lack are to pay coins to attack multiple times and to not being able to choose who will be attacked. But overall, I like the game.
8. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - I really love this one. Having the entire story around Bowser for this time and him being the real main character of this M&L game is really fun. Plus theh bringed back the second or third best antagonist of the Mario universe in my opinion: Fawful. It's really fun that Fawful was in the three first Mario & Luigi games (being the servant of the main antagonist of the first game, Cackletta, and being an hidden character that you can visit with the babies in Partners in time and if I remember, you can buy him things in exchange of beans. He also tell the babies his story the first time you visit him and tell them how much he hate the mario bros). Fawful fast became one of the most iconic characters of the Mario and Luigi franchise, if not the most iconic. And I love everything about him in Bowser's inside story, where he took his revenge. His expressions that means absolutely nothing are hilarious. He his crazy but also really clever. His boss fight when he took some power of the Dark Star to become Dark Fawful was also fun ans he's final boss form as Dark Bowser and the Dark Star Core is one of the best boss of the entire Mario universe. The game is really fun. It have the best last boss soundtrack of all the Mario games. The add of the gauntlet to replay better versions of bosses previously fought and the suprise hidden boss in the boss medley is a fun add in the Mario & Luigi franchise and an awesome but difficult challenge to complete. Seriously a game that I should replay. Also, if you want to know where I am into the completion of the gauntlet bosses, I am stuck to Junker X.
7. Hyrule Warriors Legends - Being a LoZ fan, Hyrule Warriors was a good surprise as a "part 2" of the first Hyrule Warrior. The reason of why I prefer Legend instead of the first one is because of the gameplay modification they added, it is even more longer than the first one, they already have everything except multiplayer and the mode where you can play as Ganon or the Giant Cucco. Everything else is better. Yes here's less ennemies and maybe the game run slower on the normal 3ds byt the same day I got it I bought a New 3ds XL LoZ edition so I didn't have this problem. I love the new things they added. Linkle is really funny. The wind waker hidden ending in the story mode after beating the main story and Cia's tale is awesome. The game is way longer, the My Fairy mode that first seems superficial is in fact really isefull, the add of the Ocarina and the Owl Stones is genius, and the DLCs are awesome. I love that they added Medli as a free DLC. She's my fav character in the serie and I think that Hyrule Warriors Legends is the ien between the two Hyrule Warriors that you'll have more fun to experience she and the other DLC characters. And I think that the adventure mode of Legends have more potential than the ones of legends and is more difficult cause of having to do specific things to get the other maps that were DLCs in the original Hyrule Warriors. And is harder.
5. Super Paper Mario - Remember when I said I only played two Paper Mario games before? The 2nd is this one. A lot of people complain that Super Paper Mario is not good cause it was more a platformer than an rpg but I don't care. Cause I usually hate RPG video games. Again, another game that have a lot of humor despite being kinda darker. This game is creepy. But it is really fun. I played durong a long time to this game and I absolutelly wanted to complete it. Cause I saw how the last boss was looking like. And I was freaking happy. I have a lot of good memories playing this game. I remember that the puzzles was surprisingly very hard sometimes. A lot of times I had to go to my computer to found where to go or what to do when I was blocked. It was also the first time I was playing characters of the Mario franchise that was not playable in my mario core games such as Bowser and Peach. And Iiked this. But the thing I loved the mkst about this game is two of the baddies: Dimentio, who reveal himself being the true antagonist of this game, and Mr L. Especially Mr L. I loved Luigi and when I was younger, he was my fav Mario character. So it was a good surprise to see Luigi as a bad guy and especially as the Last Boss of the game. I thinked that the Count Bleck and Tippi died at the end of the game but I was wrong and the end is surprisingly cute. Another thing that is really fun is trying to beat the two pits of 100 trials, thing that I never accomplished and that if I had the game again would try my best to do. Here's also this world that have been ereased cause of the lack of tine during the main story that is restored aftee beating the game. Another funny thing. This game is by far my fav Paper Mario game. Oh, and the combo Dimentio and Mr L are my fav antagonist in the mario franchise. I hole that they will be back someday.
4. Splatoon - ...






Do I really need to explain myself on this website? xD
3. Mario Kart Wii - This was my favorite game on the Wii and is my favorite Mario Kart ever. I started to speedrun with Mario Kart Wii. I loved the characters choices of Mario Kart Wii. I loved to see the incredible WR in time trial in Mario Kart Wii. I loved most of the new maps. And I loved playing online. I can't really say something else than I love everything in Mario Kart Wii.
2. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team - Yes, here was a Mario & Luigi game that i liked even more than Bowser's Inside Story and it's dream team. It was very rare that I was bored while playing. Maybe the only part was the long way in Bowser's Dream. The game is a two in one. In my opinion, it's the most hilarious game with all the silly things and references they added. Like Popple that is back from Superstar Saga, the Elite Trio that seems like the worse idiots ever byt when you have to battle them they became one of the most creative and hard battle ever. Bowser act as a douchebag and it's reallt fun. Yes, I'm pretty sure you remember Bowaer saying that being big was his thing at the start of the battle against him while in his dream. And that is a reference of Bowser's Inside Story. Also, I'm sure that you remember that time when Kamek disguised himself again as Peach and being proud of it. Another thing I love in this game is the bosses. Best in the entire franchise. The most creatives one. And the hardest too. In the Battle Ring, I'm stuck to Pi'illodium X. And I really want to beat him and Antasma X to have the thing I want the most of the entire game: beating Bowser Jr. Jr is my favorite Mario character and my third favorite Nintendo character ever. And I'm glad that as his appearance as a secret boss in Dream Team, he became the Hardest boss of the entire Mario games. Bowser Jr is more powerful than his own dad, Bowser as Dreamy Bowser however being close too. And Antasma X too. Oh wait, Dreamy Bowser and Antasma X are also in Dream Team!
1. Kirby Triple Deluxe - Kirby is my favorite Nintendo franchise. And Kirby Triple Deluxe is my fav game of all time. Why? Because everything. Except the new copy abilities neing kinda meh, everything else is cool. Paintra veing Drawcia's sister? Nice. Taranza? My 2nd fav Nintendo character. Queen Sectonia? My favorite video game boss who also have my favorite boss theme. I also love the two minigames in the game, especially Dedede's Drum Dash. Speaking of Dedede, playing as him in Dedede's Tour is really fun. And what's the bess thing in any Kirby game? Answer: The returning bosses. It was an amazing surprise to see Masked Dedede back as a boss. And Dark Meta Knight too! First time that it's not Galacta Knight! Not like in Returns to Dreamland and Planet Robobot. Also, Soul of Sectonia is my favorite hidden boss. I will not precisely say the last thing I love about the game but the ones who say that Kirby is a game for kids should really read the bosses pause screen descriptions. Maybe the Kirby universe is darker than what you think. And same about a precise moment during the cutscene we receive after completing 100% of the game.


Honorable Mentions:
Mario Golf Toadstool Tour
Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon
Kid Icarus Uprising
Mario Kart 8
Kirby Planet Robobot
Mario Party 4/Mario Party DS/ Mario Party Island Tour/ Mario Party 9

 

[The Salamander King]

1. Pikmin 3
2. Splatoon
3. Fossil Fighters
4. Spore
5. Pokemon White Version

 

[OctoInk20]

1. Splatoon - I was essentially coming out of that CoD semi-fan phase, looking for a new game of a somewhat similar genre, and even dove in to Battlefield a little before quitting entirely on that corner of things, until Splatoon's E3 2014 reveal, which had me curious, then got me quite hyped! It was unlike anything I'd seen at the time: It was bright, colorful, yet looked just as hectic and even intense as that which I had given up on. It's not very often a game similar to it completely sticks like that with me, and this is one of those instances.

2. Tomodachi Life - Somewhat similar story, but with a different game series in mind: Animal Crossing. I hadn't played Animal Crossing since City Folk, which was great, but I was willingly ready to give another, similar-in-concept game to try; That's when I'd learnt of Tomodachi Life, so I thought, hey, why not go to the game store, purchase it, and try it? I was instantly hooked, and started to create many, MANY pairings of my and friends' Splatoon characters we'd made and it went on from there.

3. Majora's Mask 3D - I hadn't essentially played Majora's Mask since the N64, by which time I had no N64 anymore, so I spent some years Majora's Mask-less, then around the time post-OoT3D, I'd wondered whether there'd be a similar remake for MM. And, after waiting for those long LOOOONG months, even years, along with the rest of the world, it had finally happened. I immediately sought out a copy, then eventually got the MM3D Limited Edition New Nintendo 3DS XL, which I still have to this day!

4. Diddy Kong Racing- I hadn't really played any real racing games up until Diddy Kong Racing; I remember when I'd first picked it up, I was HOOKED. I can still recall the day when I was... 5? I think. Memory's foggy, but at around that age or so, I'd 100% finished it, but foolishly erased the save file, and had my mother call Nintendo to fix it; Needless to say, it was completely gone, and I haven't 100%'d it since. I'll always remember the fun I had competing with my own mother in this game, what with the bragging and ****y attitude, it was still all great fun. :'3

5. Animal Crossing: New Leaf - After having taken a hiatus from Tomodachi Life, I sought to see what was new with Animal Crossing, and there wasn't much. Some time later, I found New Leaf, and eventually picked it up, started playing it in albeit short periods of time, putting it down for a couple weeks to a few months, then pick it up again, rinse, lather, repeat.

 

[SuperLuigi231]

5. Super Paper Mario
4. Splatoon
3. Pokemon TCG Online (technically not a console game, but I am HOOKED on it)
1 & 2: Tie between Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

I've played so many games, it's kinda hard to rank them... I guess this is as accurate as possible.

 

[veenickz]

Ah, memories.... games has been giving me great moments, and for me Nintendo games quite stand out. Looking back, its quite difficult to just pick 5. I quite like this game, but on the other hand i like playing that game as multiplayer. So, my list consist mostly the memories from playing the game. Here we go...

5. Luigi's Mansion. I didnt own a Gamecube. But there were times when i went to my cousin each morning and before he woke up i would play this game. The dark hallway, screaming "Mario, Mario!" just because the voice is so funny, opening doors i havent visited yet, sucking out curtain and tablecloth (and ghost of course), and finding all the Boos. Completing the game was very satisfying experience for me, not to mention i rarely finished any game at the moment.

sm4sh. Well to be honest, it's Melee. Oh, how i still remember learning this game with my cousin. We were playing team battle against CPU lv3 and it took us days to finally able to win consistently. Then we raised the CPU into lv7, being defeated and learned more, then CPU lv9 before we finally decided the game to be free for all. I mained Fox and Pikachu, my cousin Mario and Falco. We also tried playing with 4 players and we had a blast playing. I didnt really enjoy Brawl, but sm4sh is my biggest reason for buying a Wii U, my first home console after the first playstation

3. Megaman Battle Network (Rockman.EXE) series. I kinda suck at platforming games (also the reason there is no "true" Mario game in my list), but i always liked the Megaman games, even though i barely beaten any. One time i look my cousin was playing the original Battle Network game. It looked like a cool concept, but that was it. Not long after, the sequel game was released, so i played it. Played it. Finished the story. Conquering the Undernet. My cousin did, too. We loved this game, a lot. We even tried netbattling using the giant, ugly cord. Then more sequels were coming and i cleared them all, including the first one in the series. Exploring the town, finding secrets here and there, collecting chips and building my arsenal, the series were so much fun. Too bad it had to end, and the spiritual successor in NDS was kinda suck. The best game in the series for me is undoubtly the 6th, but i would say my favorite is the 2nd game, which is the first one i played.

Honorable mention: Yo-kai Watch. I see myself playing Megaman Battle Network while playing this game. Exploring the town, active battle system, and so many things to be collected. A bit unrefined on some parts, but looking at the first game, this franchise is very promising. Sorry Pokemon, i see your appeal but you are just not fun for me

2. Mario Kart series. The SNES one is fun, even though at the time i couldnt play well at all. Kinda hate the 64 and GBA version. Double Dash is so cool, i like it a lot, especially the Rainbow Road. I didnt play the Wii version. MK7 customization is great. MK8 tracks are very very good, and online mode make this game very enjoyable even though there is no one to play with. But the best one for me is, you guessed it, MKDS. I still remember during one semester break i played this together with 3 friends. We had dinner - MKDS - light meal - MKDS - breakfast - sleep - MKDS - repeat. Snaking is imbalanced, yeah, say whatever you want. But without snaking we wouldnt had played it that much. Snaking competition against each other is just so much fun. We had 300pts marathon consecutively. At that point it was more of test of endurance, as our skills are somewhat equal. That could be the most hardcore sessions i had ever played in my life. Oh, good times.

Games that dont make into the list because i am too lazy to make a top 10 list:

• Zelda series, because we have to mention Zelda when talking about Nintendo, right? A Link to the Past is among my first completed games, and i feel epic clearing that one
• Mario Party series, especially the earlier games when we all could go separate way
• Xenoblade Chronicle X. Epic world, very deep mechanic, very satisfying experience. It could be the RPG with highest playtime for me
• Jump Ultimate Star. Creating decks for favorite characters and playing them against friends is just so much fun. Too bad i didnt have the chance to play it more

And of course my number one is...

Splatoon

Well i dont think i need to explain how great the game is, so, some background... I enjoyed playing shooter games with friends, but never being great at it. And its not really my favorite genre so i dont think i would play alone. Then i watch the Splatoon reveal trailer and immediately thought, "this game will be a hit". And i wasnt wrong. Ever since the first global testfire, i keep coming back into this game. Mainly because of Splatfest. But even though the final Splatfest is long gone, the game is still appealing. It has definitely become the single game with the highest playtime for me, and still increasing

 

[Splash]

Top 5 Nintendo games huh? That's a tall order, but I'll try to manage here. From 1 to 5, 1 being best:

5. Super Paper Mario: The Paper Mario series was one I stepped into late and hesitantly. Super Paper Mario was admittedly my first experience with the series, which is probably much of the reason I hold it in higher regard than all the other Paper Mario games. I originally rented the game at a local video game rental store for my sister back when it first came out, but curiosity got the best of me and I decided to play it for myself when she wasn't around one day. I was hooked immediately! The story, the characters, the locations, I loved this game my first time playing it, albeit the game being quite easy to beat and lacking in any sort of challenge whatsoever! Repeat playthroughs were kind of a slog, seeing I knew how the story ends, so this doesn't quite get higher on this list, but the time I had with it when I first played this game was an experience I haven't had since the next game on this list, which I'll get to in a moment. But even to this day, I still find this game to be the most enjoyable in the series and I think the reason is because I'm not a fan of the RPG series and the first two games in the series, which are held in the highest regard of being the best in the series, are RPG's. Super Paper Mario was the black horse of the series, with it dropping all the mechanics of the original with the exception of the level up system, which honestly, good! Then again, saying Super Paper Mario is the best in my opinion is also an unfair statement because people say Thousand-Year Door is the best out of the series, which is one I still haven't been able to obtain and probably won't be for a while yet because life takes priority over buying video games these days. The original Paper Mario has aged terribly and some of the bosses in that game seemed really arbitrary to defeat, plus some of the puzzles were really convoluted to solve. Not the best game design, but again this was testing waters for a new series in the Mario franchise that was meant to be the predecessor for Super Mario RPG (which is also a good game, I recommend playing it), so I still give it a pass. With Sticker Star, I never really had a 3DS, so I'm gonna assume the negative reviews people give it are true and leave it at that. Color Splash however, pissed me off! Battles were pointless, the paint mechanic got old real fast, the waypoint system was non-existent, puzzles were unfair in design, literally a waste of $80, don't buy this game! It's a shame to see this series fall in decay over time, so to sum this up, until I play Thousand-Year Door, Super Paper Mario gets the #5 spot on this list!
4. Super Mario Sunshine: This game doesn't deserve the hatred it gets for being "different". Super Mario Sunshine is a beautiful game from both a visual and aesthetic viewpoint. When I first played this game, this was the first game where even as a child, I was at awe with how stunning the graphics were for this game. It really showed off the capabilities of the Nintendo Gamecube at the time, and to this day makes me confused why both this game and the Gamecube in general was so underappreciated (even though the Gamecube was a purple lunchbox, with a stupid handle LITERALLY NO ONE EVER USED!) Was it because it's gameplay strayed so far away from Mario 64's? Is it because people weren't used to the change? That they'd have to adapt to something entirely new scared them? Was it the god awful voice acting? I'll actually give you that one if it was! I'm just gonna say it, Mario 64 sucks! It's aged like trash, the mechanics were wonky, the camera was uncontrollable, the stages were convoluted and unfair in design, not to mention a lot of them looked similar to each other, solutions to puzzles made no sense, it just wasn't a good game. It never was. And yes, while there were mechanics to Mario Sunshine that sucked, like collecting 240 Blue Coins (which was optional) and the fact that Yoshi's can't touch water, those are just a few examples. The good out-weights the bad here. The F.L.U.D.D. mechanic, while polarizing at first, is really fun to use, especially once you unlock the attachments for it (though for practical use, the Turbo nozzle is, for the most part worthless), the stages were all amazing, (despite a few of them having really confusing puzzles to solve, like all of Sirena Beach), Yoshi is in this game, which owns, the camera is, well an improvement at least, the characters all felt unique in dialog and personality, and the story was simple enough for a Mario game. Maybe it's nostalgia blinding me, but I just love this game to no end, despite being able to pick out all of it flaws. Maybe Galaxy should of been here instead, but then I remember those missions where you have to blow up the space garbage and think, maybe not. Also the tropics top space any day of the week, but I also could be saying that because I'm Canadian and it's bloody cold here, but that's a mute point. I want a sequel Nintendo. Get on it!
3. Splatoon: By far the best game on the Wii U, hands down, and this is kind of a surprise because when I first saw Splatoon, I didn't think I would like it. It appeared at first glance like Nintendo were trying to imitate the current competition by creating their own shooter IP, something that I initially thought would flop because of Nintendo's lack of expertise in that field of gaming. But lo and behold, beating out every other shooter for Best Shooter of 2015 at the VGA's, Nintendo pulled through and Splatoon raked in well over 4 million in sales, being one of the best selling video games on the Wii U. Splatoon quickly became Nintendo's new pride and joy! I decided picking up Splatoon on a whim recently, and doing so I missed out on a lot of what Splatoon offered, like Splatfests for example. Plus with it's mediocre single-player mode "Octo Valley" and poor online matchmaking servers (seriously, if you just let players join in midway through a match, this would of actually been #1), giving it the #3 spot on my list is being extremely generous. But I used to have a soft side for the shooter genre. Unreal Tournament 2004 is and always will be my favorite game of all-time just because of how much fun and different each mode, weapon and map felt and played, and for the nostalgia I have for it playing it as a kid. Then with the release of more modern shooters like Gears of War and Call of Duty, I felt the shooter genre had fallen into a massive decline in terms of creativity and overall fun and I judged Splatoon on what it could of been, a generic shooter with no soul or purpose, rather than what it was, a joyful 4-on-4 game of paintball with fun-loving squid kids, and as a result, I spent around 20 hours straight playing it when I first got it! And now look at me! My avatar is a squid kid, I've joined an awesome community that all share the same opinion on this game being great, I've fallen in love with this game's amazing art style, and now thanks to this game alone, I am now super excited for the release of the Nintendo Switch! I can't wait for Spla2n! Splatoon made me think an entire genre I'd once cherished had just been revived from the dead, and that alone makes it #3 on this list!
2. Mario Party 2: A lot of Mario here, but for good reason. I grew up with the Mario Party series, as Mario Party 1 came out in Japan on December 18th, 1998, less than one month of my 2nd birthday. I first played this game when I was 4 with my sisters and cousins. They had all the Mario Parties for the N64, but the one that stood out to me the most was Mario Party 2. The first one... was kinda garbage. It was basically an unfinished 2. Think of what Mother 1 was compared to Earthbound. It laid the ground work, but it was broken unfair mess in most areas, that it's sequel took the reins of cleaning up and finishing what it's predecessor never could. With 3 though, it felt like it was trying to do too much. The maps were large and cumbersome, the gimmicks were overbearing, the minigames either felt convoluted and difficult or simple and boring, it just wasn't a good mix and it felt like they were trying too hard to improve upon 2, a lesson in which Hudson Soft never did learn from. But with 2, a feel a perfect balance has been met here, even to this day. The simplicity of just collect the coins, get the star , play minigames for coins, avoid the Bowser and have the most stars at the end to win was really all the Mario Party series needed. 1 made it so minigames could cost you coins for losing, 3 made it so you could gamble away all of your coins, which was mandatory (if it wasn't, it might of been here instead of 2). and after Mario Party 5, collecting coins and buying stars no longer became the premise. There became alternate methods to earning stars, which while I know they did it to freshen up the series, in the end, it also hurt the series a ton. But going back to 2, it picked up where 1 left off. The penalty for losing minigames was gone. The minigames themselves while reused for the most part from 1, were refurbished and redesigned to look much better than it's predecessor. A bank space was added in. Duel battles were introduced to take coins more easily from rivals. Items were introduced, which was a big thing the original needed to break up the slow pacing of the game. The maps were all themed and your character would dress to match the map's theme, which even today I still find to be a nice touch. The maps, while with a few exceptions, were designed to be fair to the player. Basically, it's simple formula just knocked everything else at the time out of the park, and even today with how dated the graphics are, this is still my go-to party game to play with friends.
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Honorable Mentions:
1. Pikmin 3: Pikmin was always a series you could sell on it's stunning visuals alone, and this one exceeded all expectations followed up by the previous two in the series. Gone are the days of Olimar, Louie and Hocotate in general. You now take control of the Alph, Brittany and Charlie of the slowly dying planet Koppai, travelling across the universe in search of a planet with food they can harvest and bring back home to feed their overpopulated society, but their systems malfunction when they come across a planet classified as PNF-404. Following the tradition of Pikmin, they crash their ship and the 3 of them are stranded and are now trying to re-unite with each other. A game that doesn't stray far away from it's predecessors, the real difference here is there are 3 of you and you are searching for fruit instead of treasure or ship parts. Honestly being one of few Wii U games to actually impress me, the simplicity of it all is what makes it fun to play. You are trying to survive on a desolate hostile planet and your only offense is from the assistance of these little alien plant creatures called Pikmin whom you control with your every whim and will do whatever you ask them to. My biggest problem with Pikmin and why it can't be on this list is I'm not a fan of the day/night mechanic. It makes this game play like a RTS, which is a series I am really not a fan of, and I'd find the game much more fun if I was allowed to do things at my own pace, rather than have to get my Pikmin back to base before nightfall or suffer the consequence of them all dying because they were eaten by the inhabitants of the planet. Ultimately, the day/night mechanic ruins the pacing of the game and prevents progress from happening. I know without it, the game wouldn't be as difficult, but that is a sacrifice I am will to take.
2. Super Smash Bros. Melee: Smash Bros. is an amazing game... when you have friends to play it with. Playing it alone, is just boring, so for that reason alone I can't really give a Smash Brothers game much more than an honorable mention. I'm also not a competitive gamer. I suck at video games admittedly. I just don't have the time to play them 24/7, unlike I used to. But if I had to pick one, I'm gonna go with the mainstream choice of Melee. The original, has aged poorly, but also I never really played 64 Smash for more than like 15 minutes, so I can't really have too much of an opinion on it. Brawl, I played recently and it feels gross to control! Most of the character control like butter. The random slipping mechanic is a pain. Really Brawl's only saving grace is Subspace Emissary, which makes it the only Smash Bros you can enjoy alone. Wii U's Smash, I mean I have it and I know I can play people online, plus it's ironed out all the problems I had with Brawl, but again, I just don't ever have the will to want to play it for long periods of time. Melee felt perfect in execution and is the Smash Brothers I've played the most. I 100%ed this game! That's no simple feat! That's shows how much I played it when it came out. However, children are stupid! As a kid, when Brawl first came out, I pawned off Melee for $30 so I could get Brawl because I thought it would be so much better. Now Melee goes $60 and up CAD. God. Dammit! Really for that reason, I have to give it to Melee. I owe it that much at least.
3. Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal (the original, not the remake): I don't care much for Pokemon. Even as a kid, I just couldn't be asked to try to beat one of these games. But if I had to pick a favorite to consider in my Top Nintendo games, the second generation would be it based on nostalgia alone. I never really played past the 3rd generation, Pokemon Emerald was the cut-off point for me. But my problem with the first gen was, well it was the first generation. The algorithm was still a work in progress, the Psychic type was busted and the Pokemon introduced lacked creativity in design. But the problem with the third gen was it took place on an island and 70% OF IT WAS WATER AND WATER POKEMON!!! No. The second generation, while having one of the worst opening gyms with Whitney of Goldenrod City and her goddamn Miltank destroying entire teams with it's bloody rollout move, also introduced some of my favorite Pokemon to come out of the series, including my favorite Pokemon Xatu, and mechanics to be seen in later Pokemon games. What? I actually liked the day/night mechanic. Fight me! Besides that though, yeah can't really give Pokemon much praise. It's a series I never got sucked into myself, but the amount of nostalgia I have for this generation still warrants a honorable mention.
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***SPOILER WARNING FOR #1 IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED IT OR DON'T KNOW THE STORY TO IT YET. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED***​

1. Mother 3: If ever there was a game to make you feel something powerful and remind you that you are not actually dead inside, Mother 3 will rock your view of this world and teach you that life sucks, pain is a virtue and all we can do is deal with whatever adversities we face and move on. Any game that starts out with your mother being killed and your brother going missing is sure to turn into an emotional rollercoaster, especially when your main character is an young child named Lucas who is only about 8 or 10 and is having to deal with tragedies unimaginable to a small child. And the game reminds you that the whole way through Lucas's repressed memories of his mother and how she is no longer with him to help guide him in life. But that's not the only tragedy that takes place in this game. This game is full of them, starting with the death of your mother and disappearance of your brother, a humble society being corrupted by capitalism and greed, the radical movements of a pig army regime terrorizing the world and destroying the environment, the natural wildlife being killed and made into chimeras of mass destruction, the destruction of the world itself, the list goes on an on. So why is this #1 on my list? Well, because never has any game like this had an emotional effect on me. This game made me want to laugh, cry, get pissed and vomit so many times during it's duration, but the ending of this game will break anybody. I highly recommend people to check this game out. It never came out in North America, and due to many disturbing themes this game covers and contains, I don't think it should either. But this game taught me not all video games have to have fun interesting mechanics to still be a good game. The gameplay is as generic as RPG's get, same as Earthbound, this game's predecessor (I recommend you play that as well). So at times, battling does get repetitive and it's hard to want to keep going, it was for me at least. But video games also need a compelling story to keep the player from quitting. This game is all story and it's all it ever tried to be. And that's OK. Because a good story is one you remember. And that's why this gets #1 on my list.

 

[BenjieJay]

1) Star Fox 64
2) Banjo-Kazooie/Banjo-Tooie
3) Smash 4 (Wii U)
4) Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time
5) Splatoon

 

[Amarae]

Damn what a question ehy?

Well, in no particular order here we go:

1) Splatoon. Not only my favourite Nintendo game, but my favourite game of all time. One of my favourite genres, Shooter, with the delightful charming aesthetic that only Nintendo seems to ever bring. It feels good to play and it's super fun with friends while lso maintaining a very deep level of strategy, tactics and skill that give ise to the competitive scene we see today. It's often likened to grassroots competitive Smashbrothers, but anyway. The music, the visuals, the gameplay it all amounts to something that's become my very favourite gaming experience so far.

2) Pokémon series. Maybe it's cheating, and if it is I'll just say ORAS which is my favourite (Haven't played S&M /cry) but Pokémon was my first big gaming craze, I've grown up with it as a person and gamer and it still holds up today. The creatures, the characters, the worlds, the strategies it's all so interesting. Pokémon is also one of the few games that I play largely for that sense of adventure. Going through a new world, discovering new pokemon and is a kind of experience I really only get from, Pokémon. Furthermore it's got rocking music which is always a win. Pokémon is my favourite because it was such a good and rther unique experience.

3) Super Mario World. Back when I was a wee lass, Super Mario World was one of the first games I ever got to play for more than ten minutes. It's very short, and very easy compared to most Mario games, which gives it an absolutely miniscule play time count compared to the two above but the experience it gave it me a very memorable one. I would absolutely cite Super Mario World as one of the leading influences that gave rise to my life as a gamer. It has the charming Mario aesthetic, with great feel good controls and delightful music. This and its lower difficulty making it a more casual experience made Super Mario World one of the greatest games I still pick up and play from time to time.

4) Super Smash Brothers. Admittedly, a game I don't really play anymore, and purely for my own faults with being competitive as a person, but terrible at Smash. However, I must add it here as it has been another of my most influential games, and among the games on this list, Smash bros *still holds my record to hours played. Thousands of hours of Melee, Hundreds of hours of the other 3 entries (For reference I've been playing Splatoon for ten months now and have 1300 hours) makes it probably the longest running game in my entire library for me besides maybe Halo and League of Legends. Smash Brothers is great because it's just an amalgamation of different games we already love in a simple but deceptively deep 2-4 player fighter format. One of the very first games I got on my N64 back in the day, it's combination of remixes from all the different Nintendo OSTs, characters and feel good controls make it a super win in my book.

5) The Legend of Zelda... Okay I admit this one is harder for me but I'm gonna say Wind Waker with a very close second Twilight Princess.
Admittedly, I've beaten Twilight Princess *twice and I HAVNE'T EVEN BEATEN WIND WAKER! I did get all the way to the end, but lent my copy to a friend and never saw it again (´ω｀). Perhaps it's the lack of closure that makes WW so memorable to me, but despite everyone else being initially mad at the graphics, I think Nintendo really knocked it out of the park. I'm tempted to say 7/10 too much water, but the Sailing and exploring is actually one of the best parts even if it trudges on a bit haha. But the game has the best OST in Zelda imo, wihch is saying a lot for Zelda, even beating Twilight Princess melacholy tunes which are a personal favourite. The controls are probably the best in any zelda I've played, and the unique world is definitely the most fun to explore if not necessarily traverse. I think Wind Wakers weakest element is actualy its story, since despite its place from a greater timeline perspectice, the immediate start to finish in-game story is actually kinda... weird? Like (SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY PLAYED THIS AMAZING GAME)Tetra becomes Zelda and then just chills in the castle forever (´ω｀) and it's just kinda.. I dunno I didn't get a lot of feeling out of it. Everything else about the game being so stellar however, gonna say it takes up my fifth slot.

Honorable Mentions: Won't get into details on these, but they stand out in my Library as fantastic games.

Metroid Prime Series - Quality exploration and puzzle game.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance - I love me some tactics games, (No I haven't played Fire Emblem Dx)
Super Mario RPG - More classic RPG style, mostly love the story and aesthetic.
Mario Kart Series - Hardly a favourite, but so easy to pick up and have fun with it stands out anyway.
Pokemon Trading Card Game - You know that old GBA one with only the Base/Jungle/Fossil set? Yeah that one. Hundreds of hours..
Pokemon Snap - No joke, over a hundred hours in this game you can beat in 30 minutes. It's POKEMON PICTURE SAFARI GUYS! Also my first N64 game.
Hyrule Warriors - Honestly actually really liked this one somehow. I mean it's just Dynasty Warriors but Zelda ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Nero86]

Games for Nintendo Videos consoles, not just made by Nintendo right? So hard to choose only five, but there goes:
1. Splatoon
2. Rockman 2
3. Shin Megami Tensei IV
4. Super Mario World
5. Dragon Quest III

 

[spoxbox]

In no particular order:

1. Mega Man 3 (I'm a HUGE Mega Man fan, my favorite title in the series is Mega Man 9, and while that may have been on the WiiWare shop, it saw a PS3 release as well. 1-6 are more deeply rooted into the NES era.)

2. Splatoon (This game has taken ahold of like 80% of my free time for the past 5 months lol. I love the game that much. And with Splatoon 2 on the horizon things are looking bright.)

3. Paper Mario (This one is a big childhood nostalgia hitter for me since i grew up with an N64. As a kid my selection of games was fairly limited so this was one of the many titles i replayed to death, and i could still replay it today.)

4. Pokemon White 2 (I'm pretty big on Pokemon as well, and this game is bursting with content. Only Pokemon Platinum or Heartgold/Soulsilver can really rival it in that department.)

5. Yoshi's Island/Mario World 2 (Also a large part of my childhood. A fantastic game with amazing sprite animation that also manages to be a unique platformer from start to finish.)

 

[Mikaya]

1. Splatoon
2. The Legend Of Zelda ~ Ocarina of Time
3. Super Mario Galaxy
4. Donkey Kong Country
5. Pokemon Emerald

There are lots more titles that I thoroughly enjoyed but my list would be endless. xD

 

[iceage99]

1. Super Mario Sunshine
Super Mario Sunshine is the first game that I ever 100% completed and it was also one of the first games I ever played. If I remember right the first game I ever played was Super Mario 64. Even though I wasn't good at it because I was was like four or something I would play it all the time and I eventually ended up finding shortcuts for a lot of the levels on my own. Such as using the hover nozzle to get to the tallest tree in Pianta Village instead of the rocket nozzle. It was on of the funnest games and in my opinion the best Mario game.

2. Twilight Princess (and the Zelda series in general)
Twilight Princess I think is the best Zelda game. I absolutely love the graphics. I know many people thought there was too much brown or that it was too dark but I liked it. I liked the sense of realism. and even though Breath of the Wild has an extremely realistic landscape, it ultimately lacks the realistic colors that Twilight Princess has. At least that's how I see it. The game has the best companion.(spoilers if you haven't played twilight princess) Midna has her own personality and starts off almost as your enemy. She has more character development than the other companions. The scene where Zelda saves her gets me every time. The ending is so sad and caught me off guard since it's in the middle of the credits. Overall, 10/10

3. Splatoon
Splatoon has to be my favorite multiplayer game ever. It's so fun and different from other games. It's a really fresh (pun intended) game. I like how there's so much variation in the weapons when compared to something like csgo. There's really not that huge of a difference most of the time between the weapon classes. But in Splatoon the weapons do more than just shoot projectiles forward. The projectiles have limits on how far they travel. Some aren't projectiles at all but are focused on covering more ground. The turf war aspect of Splatoon made so many opportunities for new weapons. and styles of play because it forces you to have to move to new areas and you can't camp as much. I still do in some areas but there comes a point where where you're sitting is all your own ink and you have to move to a new area.

4. Super Smash Bros Melee
I love Super Smash Bros guys. I haven't been as into it lately or it would've been 2 or 3 on the list. I try to do some of the techs but I'm not very good at them. I would say I'm ok at smash bros. I was better when I played with a group that played competitively all the time. I've never done a tournament but I would consider it. I love that smash bros is easy to play for anybody. Unlike games like mortal kombat the attack system isn't as complicated. Combos don't consist of rotating the stick in a specific way and then pressing like three buttons or something. There's also a lot more aerial combat in smash bros. My favorite is when you're fighting someone in the air and you both can't return to the stage and both SD off the side.

5. Luigi's Mansion
Luigi's Mansion is an amazing game. I used to be terrified of it but when I watched a Versus of it, I wanted to play it again and I loved it. If you're wondering what a versus is, here's the channel where they do it https://www.youtube.com/user/versus (warning: not appropriate to listen to around parents). Although the Luigi's Mansion one is on Josh Jepson's channel. But anyway I liked the addition of getting a rank based on how you played the game. How many coins you got and how well you fought each of the bosses. My personal favorite is the one that is in the dining room eating everything. Or the twins since they're named after important people from each region. In the US they're named after Henry Ford and Orville Wright. I thought that was a neat thing about the localization of the game.

Honorable Mentions:
Mario Party 5: Has the best mini games hands down.
Mario Party 4: Has the second best mini games
Super Mario Galaxy: Super fun and new, but not as good as the others.
Pikmin 3: Love the game but I never beat it lol
Super Paper Mario: Loved the story but not that into the game otherwise

 

[Glimster]

1. Splatoon
2. Mario Kart Wii
3. GoldenEye Wii
4. Animal Crossing City Folk
5. Pokemon X/Y

Probably should give reasons for my choices but I'm too lazy atm xD. Decided to leave out Black Ops 2 for the Wii U as it isn't exactly a Nintendo game. Anyways,now that I think about it my memories from that game is just a whole lot of rage.

 

[RespawningJesus]

Top 5 Nintendo games?

1. Custom Robo
- This was by far my most played GameCube game, and is my favorite Nintendo series of all time. Such a shame we only saw Arena, and nothing more from the series.

2. Metroid Fusion
- Metroid is another one of my favorite Nintendo franchises. In fact, if it wasn't for Custom Robo, Metroid would be my number 1 pick right now. This game was a tough one to choose, because it was either Metroid Fusion, or Metroid Prime. But I went with Fusion because the story was well done, and the sense of dread and panic you felt when seeing the SA-X is unlike any other.

3. F-zero GX
- My favorite racing series of all time, and the best game of the whole franchise. Also was another game I put a lot of hours into. Such a shame we haven't seen more from the series.

4. Splatoon
- I like to play shooter games. A lot. From Halo to Cod, from Unreal Tournament to Quake, I have played a wide variety of shooters. When I first saw Splatoon, I wasn't really impressed until I saw the first Splatoon Direct. Played the test fire, and I had tons of fun.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- My favorite game in the Zelda series. Previously, Wind Waker was my favorite, but then I played this game. The exploration is fun, and I just loved discovering new things by experimentation or by random.