“The Top 10 Nintendo Games Of All Time” revealed a list which shouldn’t surprise, and yet some of it may do exactly that! Over the hour-long panel, panelists discussed their picks and whittled them down to ten game titles over Nintendo’s long existence; titles varied and eventually the winners emerged.
The assembled panelists for “The Top 10 Nintendo Games Of All Time”! Picture credit to Twitch
The final picks — in no particular order — were thus:
Link runs from danger in “Breath of the Wild”! Picture credit to telegraph.co.uk
1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Brenden Groom [host of “Pass The Controller“] had this to say: “There are few times in my entire life playing video games where I feel like a game resets how I look at games going forward. And for me, the way ‘Breath of the Wild’ made me feel, it sort of broke a lot of games for me after that.”
Link blows a tune in “Ocarina of Time”! Picture credit to nintendolife.com
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Alanah Pearce [Writer for “Sony Santa Monica”] had this to say: “I remember just, like, running out into that vaguely open world and being eyes wide as a child on the floor with my Nintendo 64 being like ‘Oh my God! This is what video games can be?’ I feel like it had such an impact on so many people, and is still fun to play!”
“Wii Sports” allows players a variety of fun activities! Picture credit to gamespot.com
3. Wii Sports
“Not only is ‘Wii Sports’ super-fun, but it is the reason an entire generation — being the older generation — got into video games!” said Pearce. “One of the best-selling games of all time, one of the most accessible games of all time where, you know, like I said, getting people who aren’t gamers involved is concerned.”
“A Link to the Past” showing the adventurous Link triumphant! Picture credit to gameinformer.com
4. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
“It’s in my opinion the best 2D Zelda game!” said Groom. “I think ‘Link to the Past’ arguably has some of the best music in the Zelda franchise, it has some of the best dungeon design. And I think it’s just, you know, it is a perfect game in my opinion.”
See the rich artistry within “Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver”! Picture credit to thegamer.com
5. Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
“The art style for this game is so beautiful; the music is so good!” said Greysun Morales [Lead Guides Editor for “Game Rant“]. “They added a lot of-… Not a ton of content, but, like, these fun little side mini-games and activities and just, like-… You know, just, like, why ‘[Pokémon] Crystal’ is great, you’re able to go through two entire Pokémon regions.”
Beware Bowser in “Super Mario Bros. 3”! Picture credit to wcrz.com
6. Super Mario Bros. 3
“This game to me is-… is the best 2D Mario.” said Groom. “I know a lot of people would say Mario World, but for me I think that Mario 3 does a lot of things that obviously were different for Mario at the time. They opened up this whole verticality with the Tanooki suit and the ability to fly. It introduced us to a bunch of other suits.”
See Samus run and gun in “Super Metroid”! Picture credit to polygon.com
7. Super Metroid
“The original ‘Super Metroid’ does an incredible job.” said Pearce. “Like, still to this day, incredible, of pairing the art style, the game-play, and the music in a way that none of those things are lost and they all feed into this same extremely atmospheric machine, that even now I-… I feel like I’m blown away by ‘Super Metroid’!”
A brawl to settle it all in “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate”! Picture credit to theguardian.com
8. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Tim Gettys [Co-Founder of “Kinda Funny“] had this to say: “At the end of the day, this is a game-… this is a franchise I’ve played for the majority of my life with everyone from my closest friends to my closest enemies! And all the way, I’ve had fun being able to play all the different characters; and I love that this game brought them all back!”
Get ready to do battle in “Fire Emblem Awakening”! Picture credit to YouTube (via “Analog Vernacular” channel)
9. Fire Emblem Awakening
“This game is just a complete masterpiece in my eyes!” said Cameron Hawkins [Writer]. “I think it’s a ten out of ten game. I think that the story is incredible. I think the ending to the game is one of the, like, best endings to a video game. I think, like, all the characters are super well-written and interesting.”
Mario navigates around New Donk City in “Super Mario Odyssey”! Picture credit to theverge.com
10. Super Mario Odyssey
Morales had this to say: “The way that Mario controls in the 3D space is, like, so perfect and refined and just feels so good to play. Like, I’ve finished that game, like, three times at this point, I think; and I still think about going back!”
Not a bad list, I’d say! All picks came with some solid reasons; mine would be mostly nostalgic. I’m glad “Super Mario Bros. 3” made the cut; it’s a top contender among Nintendo games!
What Nintendo games do you think should have made the list? Comment below! Watch the panel on the official Twitch channel videos for PAX Online East 2021; also, check out Geek News Now article “E3 2021 Nintendo Quick Recap!” which discusses recent Nintendo news at this year’s E3 expo!
